Pistol-grip (stockless) shotguns are ubiquitous in America, but frankly their image in pop culture—largely derived from Hollywood—probably isn’t as bad as their practicality in actual use. Oh boy, this one’s going to take some explaining.
First, I’m a fan of all guns, and I believe all of them have a use, no matter how niche. So, this column is not to disparage pistol-gripped shotguns, but rather to discuss them. The fact is, pistol-gripped shotguns are easier to store in tight places and easier to carry—and so they have their place—but they are undeniably much tougher to shoot well. Why?
The answer is two-fold: First, firearms lacking a buttock do not offer the third and fourth points of contact—the shoulder and cheek—that provide critical anchor points needed for steadying the gun’s sights on target and for receiving recoil in a manageable fashion. Sure, with practice people can accurately shoot handguns, but the average pistol-gripped shotgun weighs more than 6 pounds and is 28 inches long—too heavy for nearly anyone to hold steady for any length of time.
Secondly, the average 12-gauge produces roughly 30-ft.-lbs. of free-recoil energy. While “perceived” recoil is impossible to quantify, anyone who has ever fired a pistol-gripped shotgun will tell you that is not much fun to shoot (while wincing through their teeth).
But, guns don’t have to be fun if they serve a purpose, and a pistol grip’s purpose is to gain the power, pattern spread and versatility inherent in a shotgun, while also allowing it to be stored in such places as a boat hold, a motorcycle’s saddlebag or anywhere a fully stocked shotgun wouldn’t fit. As long as the shooter realizes the gun’s challenges when in actual use, this column has done its job.
Concerning techniques for shooting a pistol-gripped shotgun, there are two main schools. The first is to anchor the pistol grip on the trigger- hand hip, so the gun can be steadied and held at the ready for longer periods of time than held at arms’ length. This technique allows the gun’s recoil to be received and (somewhat) controlled by the hip so that the gun can be more efficiently readied and pointed for another shot.
Notice I said “pointed” and not “aimed.” When fired from the hip, the large distance between the eye and the hip dictates that the gun cannot be well aimed, hence the phrase “shoot from the hip.” However, this technique requires a lot of practice—and a lot of ammo—to gain even a small amount of proficiency, which is needed to avoid missing the target, even with only a pellet or two (as we are responsible for every pellet fired). Sure, a shotgun’s spread of pellets mitigates errors in aiming somewhat, but for anyone who hasn’t tried it, it’s much easier to miss the entire target, not just a bullseye, than you might think. I’ve seen some pistol-gripped guns equipped with a laser or flashlight to aid in aiming, and there’s some merit there. The second technique that I’ve seen—but one that I do not recommend—is to bend the arms so the gun can be held up to the shooter’s line of sight. As I previously stated, it cannot be easily held at arm’s length due to the gun’s weight, so this method provides a way to actually aim the gun while keeping the strong hand on the grip/trigger and the weak hand on the fore-end. But, the problems with it are seismic.
First, recoil is so fierce that the technique can easily result in the shooter receiving a whack in the nose from the rear of the receiver (or their own hand). That’s because when the arms are bent in such a way that is needed to hold the gun close to the face, they have very little muscle force to work against recoil. While I’ve seen the technique executed on shooting ranges without injury, I believe it could easily go sideways while under the fluid conditions of an actual self-defense use.
My opinion of pistol grips can be boiled down to this: Unless the situation dictates compactness (by law pistol-gripped shotguns guns must be more than 26 inches in overall length, else they become regulated by the NFA and require jumping through some hoops to own), most defenders would be better off with a traditionally stocked shotgun. However, there are options that can give the defender the best of both worlds; compactness and shootability. Enter the folding stock.
While the laws on modifying “firearms” such as Mossberg’s Shockwave and Remington’s Tac-13 are gray due to these guns’ barrels that measure shorter than 18 inches, most shotguns that come from that factory with pistol-grip stocks have barrels longer than 18 inches. Provided the barrel is more than 18 inches, a shooter can install an aftermarket folding stock—provided the shotgun measures longer than 26 inches in overall length with the stock in the folded position.
For years companies such as Remington and Mossberg have offered pistol-gripped guns with folding stocks, but historically most of these stocks were metal, didn’t fit well and hurt like hell. But, there are better options now from companies like Choate and others. Mesa Tactical offers a pistol grip adaptor unit that allows the addition of a side-folding stock. It won’t be quite as compact width-wise, but it will be short yet also capable. This is my recommendation for a compact shotgun that you can actually shoot.
