doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Why do most prefer a straight stock?

So I have accepted that I am the last person on earth who still prefers a SxS gun to be set up the way most of the American made guns were over 100 years ago - DT and a pistol grip. Now those 2 features almost never go together; the few that are available with DT will always have a straight stock. Some have told me that it's easier to move from one trigger to the other with a straight stock, but I have not found that to be true for me. Maybe it's because I have long, skinny fingers, but it's no issue at all for me to shoot a DT gun with a pistol grip stock, and a pistol grip fits my hand much better and allows me far better control of the gun.

I would like to hear everyone's reasoning for why the straight stock is your preference. It seems that some even want a straight stock on a ST gun, so there must be more to it than it supposedly being easier for switching triggers than a DT gun.

Why do you prefer a SxS gun with a straight stock? Is there really any advantage to it, or is it just looks/ tradition/ peer pressure/ whatever? I would just like to understand why I am completely out of the mainstream on this. Thanks for any replies

You are very far from the last person to prefer pistol, grips and double triggers. Most of my guns are that way. Although I like straight grips, just fine.I find no difference between them in getting to the back trigger. Frankly, I don't really care is straight or a pistol of some sort. But there better be double triggers or i'm leaving it on the rack.

I like straight grip and particularly like Prince of Wales grip. I'm one of those that feel the freedom of movement allowed by these stocks compared with stand-up full pistol grips. Also, a straight grip stock seems to allow me to use guns with longer length of pull. I don't prefer to elongate my LOP, but a lot of guns are "bigger that me".

I have had several LC's with pistol grip and dbl triggers and liked them just fine. I suspect I succumbed to gun lust and fell in love with the pictures of Brit guns in magazines. For many years I only had straight stock dbl triggers and then tried a friends sxs with a relaxed prince of wales and thought wow, I could shoot that. I will say walking through grouse woods where you have to carry the gun with barrels pointing straight up the straight stock is a little easier. After years I finally found a W 21 20 ga with good stock dimensions and it is pistol grip, single trigger and many times I wish it was dbl triggers. The gun I shoot most is a Rizzini BR 550 in 20 ga with pistol grip single trigger and that it the thing I would change. I could order the kit and switch it but have actually been thinking of trading it to get a straight stock dbl trigger model.

I personally find no functional difference in the grip, but I strongly prefer the look and grace of the straight grip English style stock. I just think it makes a more elegant gun. I particularly dislike the inbetween of the POW grip- with the one exception I have owned. It was a Monogram L.C. Smith and the fully checkered knob, with narrow and shapely ribbons was pure class I have not seen on other examples.

I've evolved to like them both.

For light, upland bird guns (when speed of response is everything) they are clearly superior. It they fit you well then...the pattern goes where you look. Even the shallow POW grip works well here as it doesn't impede the flexibility of your gun mount. In bigger, heavier guns, where recoil is more of a consideration, the pistol grips have their place as well. The pistol grip gives you more control over the gun and better recoil absorption through your gripping hand. On waterfowl (or target guns), where you're shooting a lot of heavier loads, this really helps with sustained comfort in steady use.

I had a straight-gripped 10-gauge for a while that I used on waterfowl and it would 'of beaten me almost senseless if I hadn't taken precautions to cushion things. A few years of that and I found another option (a long story that doesn't fit here).

Straight grips just look cool, most of my guns have them.

But the relaxed POW comment is my favorite. the one I've had restocked has POW, and a few German guns. That tells you something...

Lloyd, how are they ''clearly superior''? I do not see one iota of difference and I regularly switch between the two types, often in a single day whether hunting grouse or roosters. I used to own a straight grip 10, and its recoil was no better or worse for the grip.

If a gun fits, it fits when you cheek it. It is faster if it is shorter or lighter, but the grip is irrelevant to any of tha except a very small amount of weight.

Well....lighter, & quicker to mount and more flexible on awkward mounts when youre out of position during a flush. You either understand this or you don't, I guess.

Or you know how to shoulder a gun or you don't. I probably take far more out of position shots than most people, and I don't have a problem. I do shoot clays from low gun, so perhaps practice matters, but as far as I am concerned, it is just a psychological thing.