Pistol grip stock timeline

[Tatume]

About when did the pistol grip stock configuration first appear in English sporting rifles?

[pietro]

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IIRC, the British have long made single & double barrel caplock sporting rifles with pistol grip stocks - for around 150 years or so (the 1860's).


This is a Purdy


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hJ66ongUovM/UfbTafBPpFI/AAAAAAAAAKc/DnJ7sAheQSA/s1600/1-IMG_0057.JPG

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[Omnivore]

We'd first need to define the angle (and/or shape) of the stock's wrist that qualifies as a "pistol grip". I doubt the question is answerable otherwise, being that you'll find a wide variety of wrist designs, and whole spectra in between, within a given period. Now take a relatively straight wrist and add a grip rail type trigger guard. Is that a "pistol grip" or does the top of the wrist have to drop down to match the grip rail? How closely must they match? What must be the angle of the shooter's hand, or is it the shooter's own wrist angle that we're going to look at as the determining factor? It's a matter of opinion I think.