Benelli chipping away at the 'sporting purposes' clause?

[Diggler]

Check out Benelli's 'SteadyGrip' turkey guns...

The turkey is the only game bird generally fired on from a static sitting position. To get the rifle-like precision needed, choose the M1 Field or the Super Black Eagle with the SteadyGripâ„¢ pistol grip that allows a comfortable, rock-solid grip. A comfortable sitting position makes it easier to wait patiently for that savvy old tom.

It seems to me that if Remingon, Winchester, and Mossberg would start putting out pistol-gripped shotguns marketed for hunting, there would be good cause to get rid of the 'pistol grip' as one of the designated non-sporting evil features. That would make the 'assault weapon' definition even harder to nail down.

Thoughts?

 

[Kharn]

Kharn

 

[armoredman]

Gimme that M1 Field with an extended mag in the same camo, and you have a very good "all purpose" shotgun! Wonder if that's an option......

 

[Third_Rail]

I thought just about the same thing when I first saw that advertised..... but I didn't think to post anything about it.

You may very well be correct though.


What if, in a year or two, manufacturers started marketing semi-auto hunting rifles like the BAR with larger mags for less loading time at the range, etc.?

 

[Bridger]

I thought just about the same thing when I first saw that advertised..... but I didn't think to post anything about it.

Same here. I got to handle some set up like that in the gun shop too and it was really comfortable, just felt right.

 

[River Wraith]

Nice. Let's hope they do just that.

 

[io333]

Ugly!!!!

 

[Dave R]

I heard somewhere that pistol-gripped stocks absorb recoil a little better than standard stocks. Your palm and strong side forearm become part of the recoil-absorbing system, relieving your shoulder of some of the burden.

Makes sense to me, but can anyone verify?

 

[Lone_Gunman]

The turkey is the only game bird generally fired on from a static sitting position

I am not the world's biggest bird hunter, but how does Benelli think dove and duck are hunted?

 

[bytor94]

I think I may have to just support them a little, that M1 does look nice...hmmm.

 

[45R]

I just paid my Benelli fund M1 on the way

 

[yorec]

I am not the world's biggest bird hunter, but how does Benelli think dove and duck are hunted?

Usually from a standing position and swinging the gun to follow a flight path - these birds aren't taken sitting on the water/ground. Turkeys are, thier large bodies demand the accuracy of a head shot for a clean kill. Ya can't do do anything silly like standing up to shoot, the turkey'll fly before you can get to your feet and your stuck with a in-flight body shot and a wounded bird. Seems Benelli understands this and is playing to it...

Love them pistol gripped scatterguns!

 

[George S.]

It seems to me that if Remingon, Winchester, and Mossberg would start putting out pistol-gripped shotguns marketed for hunting, there would be good cause to get rid of the 'pistol grip' as one of the designated non-sporting evil features. That would make the 'assault weapon' definition even harder to nail down.

What if the BATF (or CA, or any other state) decides that those shotguns with certain items fall under the definition of "evil features", could they not simply say that they cannot be sold or that the grip is "Evil"??

Given the laws, and the fact that Feintwit and her ilk will not be going away anytime soon, the manufacturers would be caught in a difficult position. Even if they flood the market with guns with evil features, the law will still prevail until it gets changed. CA is a good example of this. Stupid "drop tests" keep certain pistol models off gunstore shelves simply because it didn't pass the CA test. Nothing at all wrong with the gun, as it's sold in the other 49 states.

The gun makers need to work with organizations to changes the laws. Then it will be easy to make improvements like these and sell them everywhere.

 

[Diggler]

You're looking at it backwards.

My point is that if this takes off like most fads do, and all of the famous turkey hunters/callers start using this, then a LOT of the everyday hunters do, and it becomes a staple in the turkey woods, then the 'non-sporting' aspect of pistol grips becomes null and void. Then it will be easily said, "What do you mean a pistol grip doesn't have a sporting purpose? There are scores of specialized turkey guns in the woods right now that have a pistol grip!"

Then what do they have? They could no longer use a pistol grip as an 'evil feature.' This would make a run-of-the-mill AK every bit as sporting as a Saiga, or even a semi-auto Browning.

I think that the pistol grip scrutiny is a big part of the problem. Take that away and it becomes MUCH harder to nail down a definition with anything other than "Well, it just LOOKS bad!"

For what it's worth, I thought about putting a pistol gripped stock on my turkey gun years ago but thought I'd be looked at as a nut for doing so. Should'a been a trendsetter, I guess!

 

[brian roberts]

pistol gripped shotguns....

yeah, hell, when i want enough turkey for the whole year, i jus' get the ol' AK out'n settle down to a nice tree. shucks, a nice comfer'bul AK'll take keer'a a 'hole herda turkeys. i want one of those, too!!!! but since i want a full-length magazine for in the house, i want MY camo pattern to look like a set of curtains, en'a lamp!!! the boogyman'll NEVER see me!!!

 

[homeka45]

Nice move Benelli, interesting interpretation Diggler.

 

[cracked butt]

I like the Benelli design. I just can't see dropping that kind of money on a gun I'll use for 5 days a year for turkeys.

Some of the turkey rigs out there would have you tactical types drooling-teflon camoflage coatings, hightech halo or hiviz ghost ring sights, ultra tight ported recoil reducing chokes, etc.

I am not the world's biggest bird hunter, but how does Benelli think dove and duck are hunted?

A shotgun recoils a whole lot more when you are sitting on the ground with your back against a big oak tree, than if your body is in a more dynamic state shooting upwards where the recoil can be absorbed by your entire body and legs.

Try this sometime- Sit on the ground and shoot a shotgun at a level or slightly downward target, then shoot the same load at an upwards angle from a standing position. Being able to take up the recoil with your hand/arm through a pistol grip is a huge improvement.

 

[Diggler]

I like the Benelli design. I just can't see dropping that kind of money on a gun I'll use for 5 days a year for turkeys.

Of course, you don't need to! Benelli is doing the favor of 'normalizing' pistol grips for turkey hunting, now run out and get an aftermarket stock for your Mossberg or 870!

Now, if we can just get Winchester to add flash hiders and bayo lugs on their Model 70, we'd be in business!!

 

[mr hanky]

I definitely agree with a bayonet on the scatter gun, what better way to pick up your fowl after slaying it than to stab it!

 

[Diggler]

You know, anyone who thinks that a bayonet on a long arm isn't sporting, has never hunted hogs up close!! If you want to be even MORE sporting, detach it from the gun before you go in.

 

[cracked butt]

That's what bayonets were originally designed for- hunting hogs in France when they only had one shot to use in a muzzleloader.

Bayonets can have all kinds of other sporting uses also from being a toilet paper holder to allowing a rifle to be stuck in the ground when there isn't anything else to lean it against.

 

[Gunsnrovers]

Kinda looks like Ithaca's Turkey Slayer...

 

[txgho1911]

Mashette will work to if your using a single break open.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I like this approach, even though I doubt Benelli had this in mind.

Think about it. Pistol grips were demonized because they appeared on the US market affixed to evil looking rifles and shotguns that did not look like traditional sporting arms. This led to the AWB, which after all, was based on vague, cooked-up definitions of what an assault weapon was.

By putting a pistol grip on a gun obviously meant as a sporting arm Benelli is helping to redfine them as sporting. By doing so the difference between evil looking longarms and sporting arms is reduced. This may help us eventually dispose of the sporting purposes clause.

 

[halvey]

It seems to me that if Remingon, Winchester, and Mossberg would start putting out pistol-gripped shotguns marketed for hunting, there would be good cause to get rid of the 'pistol grip' as one of the designated non-sporting evil features. That would make the 'assault weapon' definition even harder to nail down.

I'd love to see that. Since none of them sell those evil black scary looking guns, I doubt they'll get too heavily involved in the debate.