Follow along as we recall turkey hunts, distant past springs and the progression of turkey gun technology. Benelli was the first with a production pistol-grip turkey gun.
The morning’s hunt had turned out better than expected. Noted writer and photographer Ron Spomer and I had set up against a barbed-wire fence next to a creek to listen to a couple of Rio Grande gobblers ring in a new day. At first, we thought the birds were too distant to come to our calls.
When the gobblers flew down I began to cutt loudly on a mouth call while wearing a groove in a M.A.D. Super Aluminator. I worked loud friction call alternately purring aggressively and throwing in a few staccato cutts. Fifteen minutes later the handsome gobbler was spinning in full strut 15 yards from Spomer’s muzzle. After finishing the successful hunt we shot several photos and met the rest of our crew back at camp.
Spomer’s gobbler was the fourth tom I had called in two days that filled someone’s tag. Alternate grip styles had intrigued me for quite some time, because sitting locked in position waiting for a gobbler to walk into gun range can be a real endurance test.
A Better Alternative
To keep comfortable control of the gun, I considered the option of a thumbhole or a pistol-grip stock a welcome feature. Throughout the hunt I carried a prototype turkey gun fitted with a Speed Feed pistol grip stock. Mossberg had altered a now-discontinued Model 9200 semi-auto and had it camouflaged in matching Mossy Oak camo.
A Secret Mossberg Launched A New Concept
I still had a hankering to kill a gobbler after calling Spomer’s gobbler, so I told outfitter Steve Packer that I wanted to walk from camp to try and locate a gobbler. Grabbing my prototype Mossberg 9200 12 gauge fitted with a pistol grip stock, I trudged down a dusty ranch road behind the camp.
Finding THE spot
Picking a likely mesquite, I set up to call. A distant tom answered and I kept calling. I moved in on the gobbler and set up about 100 yards away. Peering through a pair of compact binoculars I spied one strutter, several jakes and a couple of hens.
The tom kept answering, but finally went silent. I crawled up and the birds were gone. Surveying the area where the tom had been strutting I followed top bank of a brush-choked ravine. Out of frustration I cutt loudly and the bird answered from the other side of the gulley. I hunkered down and counted six jakes, a hen and a longbeard through the underbrush. I put the Simmons red dot on the longbeard, but he was hidden by a screen of limbs. A jake saw me and trotted away.
Now or Never
The longbeard stood frozen for at least a minute before finally stepping out. I lit the fire behind the Federal hi-velocity No. 5s and the bird went into a pile. I came back an hour later with my laser range finder and it read 54 yards to where the gobbler had stood. The bird had a good 10 1/16-inch beard and 1 2/8-inch spurs.
Regrettably, Mossberg never introduced their version of a pistol-grip turkey gun. At the time, Matt Wettish ran Mossberg’s P.R. department and he was a hard-core turkey hunter, too. He built a prototype Model 835 with a pistol-grip stock, and shortly thereafter had a pistol-grip camo stock for their 9200 heading in my direction.
Matt and I hunted together in Vermont and New York a couple of months later, along with Mark Drury, and carried these two special Mossberg turkey guns on several setups. Wettish lobbied Mossberg brass to take the plunge, but they got some bad advice and opted to not be the first to market with a pistol-grip turkey gun.
Benelli takes a chance with First Pistol-Grip Turkey Gun
During the spring of 2001 I was invited to visit BenelliUSA headquarters in Accokeek, Maryland. While there, among other things, I was quizzed about the usefulness to turkey hunters of mating a pistol-grip stock to either their M-1 Field or Super Black Eagle 12 gauge. Pleased with my previous experience with pistol-grip turkey guns, I welcomed the idea to field test such a turkey gun.
Over the next few months, I had several opportunities to test prototype Super Black Eagle and M-1 Field 12 gauge pistol-grip turkey guns. I tested six different guns shooting various Winchester, Federal and Remington turkey loads. Coming as no surprise, these six guns performed at various levels with different loads. Firing at NWTF Still-Target competition targets, five of the six guns put about 100 pellets into the 10-inch patterning circle. Two of the guns also patterned nearly as well with Federal 1 ¾-ounce high velocity loads, while three preferred Winchester’s high velocity loads.
More Testing Afield
The following April, various gun writers gathered for a Kentucky turkey hunt to gather field experience with these guns. All involved were pleased with the guns’ handling capabilities in the field. Focusing on the stock’s design and its intended use, the Benelli pistol-grip Super Black Eagle 3 ½-inch 12 gauge and the M-1 Field 12 gauge turkey guns were named the “Steady Grip” models.
The technology behind the application of the new stock design for turkey guns leans heavily on the guns’ intended use in the field. For example, most turkey hunters set up against a tree facing the expected direction from which a gobbler will approach. During a gobbler’s sometimes-slow advance toward a hunter’s setup, long periods of time can be spent in the ready position.
A Pain in the Wrist
Grasping the stock with the trigger finger on the trigger and waiting several minutes for a gobbler to step into position for a shot puts a strain on the shooter’s wrist and hand. My right hand has gone numb after several tense minutes of waiting to pull the trigger. A pistol grip or thumbhole stock lowers the angle of the wrist and reduces the strain and tension you will feel in your trigger hand.
Another benefit of a pistol-grip stock comes when shooting heavy loads. Benelli’s Steady Grip puts the pistol grip in a vertical plane, which allows you to grasp the gun more firmly. What you gain is a slight reduction in felt recoil.
The most significant feature of the Steady Grip is greater one-handed control of the gun. Well-known gun writer Layne Simpson put this feature to good use during the Kentucky hunt.
Layne had a gobbler go silent, circle his setup and approach from his right rear. Any experienced turkey hunter knows the frustration of having a gobbler pull this trick. If you don’t have enough cover to turn around, or can shoot from the left shoulder as well as the right, you’re in a helpless position. Layne was able to swing the gun slowly 90 degrees to the right when the gobbler went behind an obstacle. He rolled onto his right side and centered the gun’s red dot scope on the gobbler’s head while holding the gun steady with only his right arm. Layne tagged that longbeard and another on the hunt with the Steady Grip turkey gun.
Turkey hunters have witnessed dramatic changes in guns, loads and equipment over the last two decades. Benelli’s Steady Grip stock was a dramatic leap in turkey gun evolution.
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