What's the Deal with These Crazy Turkey Guns? Thumbholes? Pistol Grips?

[Guyon]

So I pop open the Bass Pro sale flyer to check out the sale shotguns for turkey season. Almost every single one had a thumbhole stock or a pistol grip.

Do these things really afford that much better control? I've killed turkeys with three different regular-stock 870s and never felt like the gun was mis-aimed or out of control. And as one fellow pointed out on another board, "one flaw in the Mossberg design is that when applying a thumbhole or pistol grip stock to a Mossberg, it significantly moves your hand away from the safety." He's spot on there.

I can perhaps see a little bit of benefit from the pistol grip if you're crouched down low against a tree. Bringing the gun up to aim might involve a little less wrist-cock on the trigger hand. Still, it's not that much of an advantage.

Best thing since sliced bread or just a gimmick? I vote gimmick.





Maybe if the Divisions of Wildlife and Natural Resources start arming turkeys with IEDs and small arms, then we'll need a Tactical Turkey Shotgun. Until then, my regular, old 870s seem to work just fine.

 

[charby]

Why? Because people will spend money on it and you need a tacticool turkey gun.

I'm in the same boat as you, I shoot my turkeys with the same shotguns that I go bird hunting with.

 

[kentucky_smith]

Your old 870 is camo and has a sling.

 

[TexAg]

Same with 3.5" Turkey loads, I just dont think you need that much power. Once they are in the kill zone they won't leave all that easy! I've used 2 3/4" loads in a 1915 vintage Winchester model 1912 with 100% success! The wood stock doesn't seem to alert them too much!

 

[Zundfolge]

I, for one, welcome the tacticalization of hunting weapons ... makes that whole "sporting purpose" bovine scat a little less enforceable.

I do find that recoil in a pistol gripped long gun seems more manageable than a standard stock (that assumes a butt stock too ... pistol grip only is less manageable).

 

[G17Steve]

Yeah Turkeys must be arming themselves thats why people need tacticool turkey guns. I personaly have never understood the pistol gripped shotgun for any purpose.

 

[41magsnub]

I, for one, welcome the tacticalization of hunting weapons ... makes that whole "sporting purpose" bovine scat a little less enforceable.

There's that I guess, but it doesn't make them look any less ridiculous. and I agree the thumbhole stock makes no sense whatsoever on a tang safety shotgun. Man that would be awkward.

 

[Guyon]

Your old 870 is camo and has a sling.

Well, they're not exactly newfangled anymore now, are they?

 

[Wineoceros]

Since I actually own a shotgun with a pistol grip (albeit an aftermarket one I installed myself) I feel qualified to weigh in here...

Granted, there may be some who are motivated by the aesthetic appearance of pistol grips and thumbholes, but I'm not one of them. I opted for one due to the superior (for me) ergonomics. It is far more comfortable to hold my wrist at the angle afforded by the PG than that required to grip a standard stock...especially, as you already noted, in a sitting position that is so common when hunting turkey. It also does provide some additional control. Personally, I don't see a compelling reason to NOT have such a grip on a long gun. In fact, I'm currently shopping for a thumbhole replacement stock for my Savage 111.

That my stock (a Knoxx SpecOps) is also adjustable and recoil-reducing are great added benefits as well.

If you like a regular stock, great. But that doesn't make a different style that results in very real (and beneficial to many) changes to the ergonomics a "gimmick".

Well, they're not exactly newfangled anymore now, are they?

Wasn't everything "newfangled" at one time?

 

[Gord]

This is what would happen if ExtremeShock ever branched out into the custom-shotgun market. "WITH FOUR-POSITION M4 BUTTSTOCK FOR EASIER SHOULDERING OVER REALTREE™ BALLISTIC KEVLAR VEST (see pg. 37)"

...

Man, I should have chosen Tactical Turkey as my username.

 

[Guyon]

If you like a regular stock, great. But that doesn't make a different style that results in very real (and beneficial to many) changes to the ergonomics a "gimmick".

Hey, I never said I was right.

Next time I'm in Academy or Bass Pro, I'm going to have a look at a PG 870 meant for turkey hunting. I'll even sit down in the floor and see how it would feel in a typical turkey hunting position. I'll report back on the ergos.

Just in terms of getting a grip on the gun in a hurry, the PG seems to be more advantageous. And the 870 safety certainly seems more ergonomic than the Mossberg versions in these designs.

 

[rcmodel]

"If you build it, they will come!"

I kill turkeys with my old A-5 Browning full-choke and #7 1/2 Trap Loads.

I guess I could probably kill them much deader then dead with a 3 1/2 mag, thumb-hole, Tackycool Turky shotgun and 2 oz mag loads then?

rcmodel

 

[highorder]

said it before, I'll say it again; most fishing lures are designed to carch fishermen.

 

[Guyon]

I guess I could probably kill them much deader then dead with a 3 1/2 mag, thumb-hole, Tackycool Turky shotgun and 2 oz mag loads then?

That is correct. They would be more deader.

 

[foghornl]

Those things look odd to me, but I have never tried a thumb-n-pistol-grip or thumbhole only stock.

Have tried a plain Pistol Grip Only...Not for me.

 

[Marshall]

I picked up and handled one for the first time at Bass Pro Shop this last weekend. I handed it back and said, no thanks.

 

[Wineoceros]

"If you build it, they will come!"

I kill turkeys with my old A-5 Browning full-choke and #7 1/2 Trap Loads.

I guess I could probably kill them much deader then dead with a 3 1/2 mag, thumb-hole, Tackycool Turky shotgun and 2 oz mag loads then?

Your forefathers killed many, many turkey (and countless other game animals) just as dead using flintlocks. So why do you feel the need to use that there newfangled "tacticool" pump-action repeating shotgun (or whatever non-flintlock gun you're using)?

These arguments based on nothing but dismissive snobbery are just plain ridiculous. Much like the "plastic gun" nonsense.

 

[kentucky_smith]

If my (recent) forefathers killed a turkey, it was one they'd been feeding in the barnyard with an ax. Wild turkeys are a pretty recent development around here. If you go back far enough, they'd have used a rifle.

 

[Wineoceros]

If my (recent) forefathers killed a turkey, it was one they'd been feeding in the barnyard with an ax. Wild turkeys are a pretty recent development around here. If you go back far enough, they'd have used a rifle.

Did you miss the point (which has nothing to do with the history of wild turkeys in N. America), or are you intentionally side-stepping it?

Oh, by the way...if you actually are in Kentucky, wild turkeys have been abundant in most of the state for a long time.

 

[Guyon]

My point had nothing to do with snobbery. I've seen that kind of thinking in the muzzleload crowd, and it always turned me off.

What surprised me is that, other than one Express model, Bass Pro didn't feature another single regular-stock in their sale flyer. The message there is that the old stocks are passé. While I'm not so naïve as to believe such, the ads do send a message: "Your current shotguns are out-of-date." That *is* a little gimmicky.

.

 

[Wineoceros]

What surprised me is that, other than one Express model, Bass Pro didn't feature another single regular-stock in their sale flyer. The message there is that the old stocks are passé. While I'm not so naïve as to believe such, the ads do send a message: "Your current shotguns are out-of-date." That *is* a little gimmicky.

I wouldn't argue with that. But then, that's a point about BP's marketing rather than the design feature itself.

 

[sm]

I am fine with a traditional shotgun myself. To me it is more versatile for all shotgun uses, then again I am older and was mentored in a earlier time.


Word is, old Tom "Bugger" Beard come up the thumb hole idea .
He had a problem keeping his head down on the stock.
Now he knew if he lifted his head, he would see a missed shot on a turkey.

He was diggin' another bugger out of his nose, contemplating all this shotgun, turkeys, and lifting his head stuff - when the idea hit 'em.

He drilled a hole in his stock big enough for his thumb, and with his thumb picking buggers, he did not lift his head.

The rest is history as they say...

*wink*

 

[Zundfolge]

What surprised me is that, other than one Express model, Bass Pro didn't feature another single regular-stock in their sale flyer. The message there is that the old stocks are passé.

No the message there is that regular-stocks sell well enough that they don't have to go out of their way to advertise them.

Keep in mind that if a store puts product X in their flyer, its because either they haven't sold as much of product X as they would like to have or product X is "New".

 

[greyeyezz]

It is far more comfortable to hold my wrist at the angle afforded by the PG than that required to grip a standard stock...especially, as you already noted, in a sitting position that is so common when hunting turkey. It also does provide some additional control.

Exactly. For hunting ground based game I wouldn't have it any other way. Absorbs recoil much better than a standard stock. My standard 870 stock has never been back on the gun since I went PG.

 

[Wineoceros]

No the message there is that regular-stocks sell well enough that they don't have to go out of their way to advertise them.

That's interesting, because I constantly see flyers and various ads from other stores (Academy, Dick's, Cabela's, et al) chock-full of "regular" stocked shotguns.

In this case it's likely more to the point that TH/PG stocks are becoming more popular for turkey hunting, and that's the market being targeted by this section of the flyer.