Pistol grip shapes

[Dread Pirate 257 Roberts]

Someone help me understand the shape of rifle pistol grips. (I don't mean the AR-type pistol grip, but the pistol grip from wood stocks, as opposed to a straight stock.)

Now, Savage has their model 12's in a laminate stock with a a very vertical pistol grip that they describe as a "Wundhammer." I hear it described as a appropriate for bench and prone shooting. Presumably, the new "low profile" stock, with a less-vertical pistol grip, is for off-hand shooting.

But the last few days I've been surfing the web reading about silhouette shooting, which I understand is exclusively off-handed shooting with no slings or supports of any kind. And I see that a rifle built specifically for silhouette has the very vertical pistol group like Savage's prone/bench stock!

Off-hand, prone, bench. Seems like it's all covered with the vertical grip. Doesn't leave much for the slanted grip to be the ideal choice for.

Help me understand here.

 

[Mike Hull]

The swell you refer to is exactly what is says, a palm swell worked into the grip portion of the stock.
It's raised out further than the rear portion of the stock, and seen in cross section would somewhat resemble a coke bottle shape.
The swell fits in the cupped part of the palm, to the heel of the hand, and your thumb rests along the top in more of a straight line, than wrapped around the grip in conventional fashion.

Some find it quite comfortable, and it works well in precision type shooting.

Look at the 10LE series of Savage rifles, one of them features a McMillan A3 stock. That has a similar grip style, with the exception it is even more comfortable.

I prefer a more vertical grip than the cane style, curved conventional pistol grip.

 

[MacPelto]

Understand that "offhand" and "standing" are very different shooting positions, and that in the field, you will typically be shooting "offhand" - which has hosts of field expedient variations, and that rifles for this typically use a more flexible/neutral grip angle.
The "standing" position used in 3-position, silhouette, etc is not something often used in the field, and a dedicated games rifle will have a grip angle set up to be reproduced exactly, repeatably on level ground.

hope this helps...

Mac

 

[Sunray]

"...very vertical pistol grip..." Ergonomics. It's more comfortable to shoot all day with a grip that doesn't force your wrist into an unnatural position. Especially if the silhouette rifle being is used on a full silhouette course. Rams at 500 meters and such.
"Classic" rifle stocks are made the way they are because that's the way they've always been made. Most shooters will pay for a "classic" stock, but not for a more vertical grip. It comes down to, "That's the stock my daddy used and if it was good enough for him, it's good enough for me."
Give me a vertical grip any day. Well, except for on my Garand or Carbine or Lee-Enfields or....well, you get the idea.

 

[Coronach]

I dunno about grip angles, but that has to be one of the funniest screen names I've ever seen.

Mike