I believe grain flow of the wood and the type of wood has more to do with whether they can be bent or not then whether they pistol or straightgrip. Believe that true quartersawn wood is easier to bend up or down as compared to slab sawn wood. I've heard English bends much easier then American Black walnut. I think a guy who bends a bunch can tell you pretty quick. FWIW, I had a Fox restocked in English that I had bent for both cast and for drop. The stockmaker said it was easy as hell to bend.

foxes rule