There's clearly a tendency to put more pressure on the lug when you're shooting a gun with a beavertail than with a splinter--where you're scarcely gripping the forend. Miller's explanation seems to make sense . . . but maybe there's an advantage to a splinter that doesn't often get advertised.
This is all very interesting to me. I cannot imagine gripping a forend of any profile so tightly that you risk recoil pulling the lug loose. The purpose of a beavertail profile is not to help tame recoil, it is to keep your fingers off of hot barrels, IMO. I do not hold my shotguns that tightly at the forend, but espouse to the old .38 Special rock song ............. "Hold On Loosely". The only job my forehand has is to move the muzzles to wherever I want them, not to help attenuate recoil. I use the rear hand a little more for that, holding the gun's grip just tightly enough to control it in recoil. But, I tend to let the gun recoil freely, not attempting to manhandle it. One sensation I notice often, when shooting pairs, is that of the gun recoiling after the first shot and having to be brought back into control before the second shot. It's not nearly as severe as it might sound, but I do notice the gun "moving around" in my hands under recoil.
SRH
