What is purpose of pistol grip?

They're more comfortable and IMHO provide more stability for semi automatic firing.

Go to your local gun shop and pick one and try it for yourself. I put them on every firearm I can.

Most of the stuff they want to ban (especially after removing "flash hider") are ergonomic features. Barrel shrouds are simply what we would call handguards, which protect our hands from the hot barrel. Adjustable stocks just mean multiple people can use the same weapon without fitting (i.e. your wife can use it when you're on vacation and someone breaks in). Pistol grip is just another ergonomic feature. I like it because it makes it easier to manipulate the weapon one-handed (i.e. if you need to go through a door). I believe this is why military and LEO use pistol grips.

What I've found from asking the question on THR is that pistol grip vs. straight stock is a controversial enough issue that there isn't a clear answer which is "better". I even prefer straight stocks on shotguns.

Feinstein is a moron. I know that's not a THR comment, but I'm pretty sure most everyone here would agree with me.

Where else are you going to hold it? When the stock is in line with the barrel, a traditional stock grip won't let you reach the trigger.

Shooting from the hip works great...in the movies!

I can take or leave, pistol grips.
Long guns have stocks for a reason, it allows them to be used with greater accuracy.
If a person likes the pistol grip "flavor?" So what!
It doesn't make for any greater lethality.

I do love adjustable stocks. I'm 6'-2", my wife is 4'-11". Kids keep growing, who knows where they'll stop?

If banning superficial cosmetic features makes sense?
We should ban racing stripes on cars!
After all, speed plays a factor in some auto accidents...
and racing stripes do make a car LOOK faster.

It is also a disability issue. If you have limited movement and grip strength it can be a lot easier to hold a pistol grip than a traditional stock.

I wonder if you could go after a grip ban using the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm#anchor62335

Jim

I wonder if you could go after a grip ban using the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

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Actually, that is a FANTASTIC idea.

The logic is precisely BACKWARDS.

Grip a traditionally stocked rifle. Drop it down to waist height. Your wrist can remain at a fairly comfortable angle and still keep a firm grip on the wrist of the stock because it is close to horizontal, the way your hand naturally wants to hang by your side.

Now, do the same thing with an AR-15. That vertical grip is now quite uncomfortable to hang onto because you have to twist your firing hand so severely forward to keep a grip on the weapon.

Now, logic like this is utterly lost on gun ban folks who usually don't know or care to know anything whatsoever about firearms.

WHY human-firearms ergonomic development has favored pistol-gripped weapons is pretty simple.

Face a target with nothing in your hands. "Put up your dukes" like you're going to punch the target. Hands are now up at chest or shoulder height and they will be roughly in the perfect orientation to grip an approximately vertical grip.

While many of us grew up with more traditionally stocked rifles and shotguns and are more comfortable with them at this point, that is a learned thing, not a natural thing. The way you must roll your wrist forward and down to grip a conventional stock's wrist is a lot less intuitive and natural than a more vertical "pistol" type grip.

That's why so many modern weapons -- especially precision rifles and also fast-action military style rifles, and heck, my kids' Savage Cub .22! -- come with a more-or-less vertically oriented grip. It is, from a human body/ergonomic perspective, just BETTER.

Sam, I think "hipfire" doesn't specifically mean at your hip, at least in general use. To me, it's always meant firing a long gun without it shouldered. In most movies, rifles are fired by tucking the stock under the arm and holding the weapon about mid-rib. I think this would be more effective than a straight stock at the wrist. But that's like saying it will fly better than a bus.

I find both straight stock and pistol grip intuitive. If I'm using a box magazine I'd rather have a grip, if I'm using a tube magazine (or a small box magazine) I'd rather have a straight stock. Part of that might be related to OCD and not quite so much ergonomics.

There is a good reason for a pistol grip on an M16.

If you're firing in full auto mode, it makes it more convenient to tuck the rifle under your right elbow and place your left hand on the top of the barrel shroud, to keep the muzzle from climbing.

There is no corresponding advantage in the AR15, so far as I know.

Denton, what practical application would that serve?

Outside of Hollywood.

At today's hearings on gun control Chief Johnson of Baltimore Co., MD head of several groups said the only purpose was to "sweep from the hip" along with background checks for ammo, no internet sales of firearms or ammo and a magazine capacity limit of ten. Here I've been using mine for better control and not burn my fingers, haven't perfected the "sweep from the hip" move yet.

Feinstein says it's for firing from the hip. Apparently I'm doing it wrong.

EDIT: I think this guy may be doing it right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfDjvhsdQoo

I like the argument most people make about how if the purpose is to sweep from the hip and kill as many people as possible, then why is the AR-15 the most popular long gun amongst cops and why is the AR-15 (and select-fire versions) and the MP5 the two most popular long guns for SWAT?

I find a pistol grip to be more comfortable in not just the 'tactical' style, but also shooting mroe traditional longarms. I still have rifles/shotguns in both styles, but the pistol grip serves me well.

this stuff is so ridiculous.

Americans with Disabilities Act

rdhood said:

Actually, that is a FANTASTIC idea.

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"Title II covers all activities of State and local governments regardless of the government entity's size or receipt of Federal funding. Title II requires that State and local governments give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services, and activities (e.g. public education, employment, transportation, recreation, health care, social services, courts, voting, and town meetings)."

This is the closest that I could find that MIGHT apply, but it is really aimed at facilities, not at rules governing personally owned equipment.

Jim

Shooting from the hip?!? LOL, that stupid woman has been playing too much call of duty

But, but, but.....Rambo shot from the hip, so it's gotta be deadly! And highly accurate!

Common people... the AR style rifle must have a pistol grip. You cannot hold it by the stock and fire the gun. The trigger is at the bottom of the lower receiver way down below. More to the point... what the heck difference does a pistol grip make? The Progressives are morons without a clue... or more likely they know all this full well and are just lying through their teeth.

The stupid thing about a barrel shroud, or hand guard, is that old rifles weren't much different. Traditional rifles have a stock that extends under that barrel (some over as well) and keeps your hand from being burned. How the heck are you supposed to hold a rifle, if there isn't a safe place to put your support hand? I never shoot rifles with my support hand on the receiver, and I doubt many other people do.

I think it is time for the "common sense" gun law supporters to learn some common sense.

I like them mainly because the anti's don't!

Denton, what practical application would that serve?

Outside of Hollywood.

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F Lee Ermey did a bit on the subject on one of his shows. His claim was that with the stock tucked under your right arm and your left hand on top of the shroud, you can do a better job of keeping your shots on target while in full auto than you can shooting from the shoulder. It seems that a pistol grip is marginally better for that.

But I think it is glaringly obvious that many of our legislators learned all they know about guns by watching TV and going to the movies.

The logic is precisely BACKWARDS.

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As is every gun control measure the antis try. It is part of the reason why I laugh when I read new bills. First time I read "7 round clips" for NY my first thought is "Wow they are really hating on those poor Garand owners."

I love pistol grips. They help tame recoil when shooting from any position when accuracy is more important than "cool factor." Because that is all shooting from the hip is, "cool" from movies.