doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Straight grip or not?

Should I consider a straight grip (English grip) for Skeet or is it designed specifically for upland game?
John

If you intend to play the pre-mounted NSSA game you'll find a pistol grip the consensus favorite. Next question would be what sort of PG do you favor. Most target guns seem to have fairly tightly curved (sometimes bulbous) grips. I think the idea is to place the trigger finger in a very consistent location. Older K-guns often have a very nice, almost POW, gently curved PG.

If you take the view that skeet is practice for field shooting then go with whatever grip you prefer in the field.

Vintage skeet guns - from the pre-mounted gun days - with straight grips seem to find their way into my life....and stay.

Sam

Sam's right - if all you care about is breaking clays with a pre-mounted gun, PG is your choice. But remember that skeet was born as a way for upland gunners to sharpen their reflexes, and shooting a SG low-mount SxS is true to the spirit of the game.

Incidentally, skeet was originated by, among others, William Harnden Foster, whose New England Grouse Shooting is an enduring classic in American wingshooting literature.

I used to think I only wanted straight grip guns. But after a while I realized that, like almost every other aspect of gun design, it doesn't make a single bit of difference.


If you're thinking about the gun's stock, LOP, forearm, chokes, barrel length, etc. when you are shooting then you're not thinking about the right thing.

Buy whatever is a good deal and looks good to you.

Perhaps not to you. For me, PG works well in the duck blind when there's usually time to prepare for a shot and I'm wearing warm gloves. But it does make a difference for me in the grouse woods. For quick, instinctive shooting the PG seems to get in the way a bit, and I feel that a SG mounts quicker. But, as you say, whatever works for you.

For skeet, I always shoot low-gun with the safety on when I call for a pull. The point is to make the whole mount-and-shoot action instinctive, so that the only thought is the bird itself.

On a double barrel, SXS with two triggers I perfer the straight stock. On my skeet guns, pistol grip. jd

I had a LCS skeet special with a straight stock and shot it well but never entered compition with it, just a fun gun.
bill

I also think it makes a difference. My opinion a straight grip is faster and smoother on a fast shot in the woods. I prefer a pg on clays.

Like Sam and Jack, I think I have uses for both.

I prefer a full, modern shaped, tightly curved, pistolgrip for clays, whether shooting from mounted or low gun position.

For my upland hunting, any of the more open, larger radius, pistol grips (including "Prince of Wales") and the straight grips are preferred.

To me, it's not what position the gun starts from that influences my preference for the grip shape. It's whether or not I have to carry it for long periods at the ready.

Somewhere I read that a very high gullet (upper tang line) of the stock will cause the shooter to rotate the wrist and somehow influence the swing adversely. I think it was in Michael Yardley's book where he quoted something from the maker Churchill who pioneered a lower gullet on straight stocks. The discussion stated that while the high, very straight stocks were asthetically pleasing, they had this adverse influence on the swing. Evidently, the competition shooters believe in the pistol grip being superior for gun control. I don't believe competition guns have pistolgrips out of chance.

I like them all. Straight, semi and even a full tight curl pistol grip. Not as flexible on the fore ends. Splinter or small beaver tail are fine but if you start turning the end down into a sharp peak I can not stand them. Fat beavers are to be left alone also. guess I am just too picky with the front hand.