Magpul or Hogue

[frankhenrylee]

After putting it all back together and handling it again I still prefer the Hogue. The difference in length of reach to the forend is just too much for me since I'm a part midget and I also want my son to be able to use it. I have to say it looks cool as hell, so I'm contemplating some sort of modification to the forend to make it slide down further onto the forend assembly or maybe just using a different forend. I'll let ya'll know if I try to do that.

[frankhenrylee]

Message to Magpul:
You almost got it perfect, here's what I would change:
1) Shape of the grip. The angle's right, but the slight palm swells are misplaced and the flat front of the grip just doesn't feel right and it needs the texture all the way around, or better yet cover it in rubber.
2) Get rid of those ugly casting marks.
3) Bring that forend back towards the receiver a bit more and reduce the size of the lips on each end of the forend.
4) I'd like to see another 1/2" taken off of the LOP.
5) Of course we need optional Magpul shell holders that can attach to the forend and stock and maybe a special flashlight holder for the forend so we can mount a light similar to how the Surefire forends are made.

[Vitaly]

Message to Magpul:
You almost got it perfect, here's what I would change:
1) Shape of the grip. The angle's right, but the slight palm swells are misplaced and the flat front of the grip just doesn't feel right and it needs the texture all the way around, or better yet cover it in rubber.
2) Get rid of those ugly casting marks.
3) Bring that forend back towards the receiver a bit more and reduce the size of the lips on each end of the forend.
4) I'd like to see another 1/2" taken off of the LOP.
5) Of course we need optional Magpul shell holders that can attach to the forend and stock and maybe a special flashlight holder for the forend so we can mount a light similar to how the Surefire forends are made.

Thanks for sharing your experience about Magpul stock and forend. Those upgrades are new and this information will be useful for many readers.

[mcron]

One question though. From the pictures, it would appear that the comb of the stock is pretty low on the MagPul. Is that the case? I have a real problem with the comb on the standard 870 stock being too high, and I cannot get my cheek down low enough to use the sights correctly. I am thinking I need to lower the comb on a standard stock, or go to ghost ring or higher sights. I just can't get the shotgun to snap in low enough, and it is causing me to miss a lot of targets.

Thanks.

-Mark

[frankhenrylee]

Hey fella's! I've had the Hogue and Magpul stocks on now for awhile and have been going back and forth, shouldering one and then shouldering the other, just trying to get a feel for each one's strengths and weaknesses. I have to say that I have changed my mind about the SGA. Even though I love the rubberized Hogue grip, the grip angle on the SGA just seems to be better. The design of the SGA seems to really help me line up the sights more naturally. With the Hogue and factory stocks I felt like I had to lean my head down a little more to line my eyes up with the rib and bead. It also felt slightly more comfortable and like I had more control. Now, I'm not talking about a huge advantage here, just slightly better overall and some people may not even notice the difference. It was enough for me to install the Magpul stuff onto my main shotgun.

Mark, as far as the comb goes, I held my factory stock against the SGA and it seemed to be about the same, but I think that it definitely feels like it has a lower comb because it does help to line the sights up better for me.

I also have an idea about getting that sweet rubber grip onto the Magpul stuff. A company called Performix has a product called Plastidip. I'm going to be experimenting with some old stocks to see if this stuff will do the trick. There's lots of Youtube video's where people are using this for all sorts of stuff. I'm gonna sandblast first and then have at it. If it turns out worth a dang I'll post some pics of the finished product.

[Vitaly]

frankhenrylee, thanks for photos and info!

By the way, really like the color of your shotgun, is it Duracoat?

[frankhenrylee]

Hey Vitaly, thanks for the compliment. The coating is John Norrel's Moly Resin Foliage Green. It's pretty good stuff, easy to work with, decent durability and cheap enough. It's the prep work that will wear you out. You bake it at 325 for 1.5 hours and it's good to go. For what a shotgun gets put through I think I'll try Cerakote when I run out of this stuff.

BTW, very sorry to hear about your dad. Keep your head up.

[Vitaly]

Hey Vitaly, thanks for the compliment. The coating is John Norrel's Moly Resin Foliage Green. It's pretty good stuff, easy to work with, decent durability and cheap enough. It's the prep work that will wear you out. You bake it at 325 for 1.5 hours and it's good to go. For what a shotgun gets put through I think I'll try Cerakote when I run out of this stuff.

Very interesting, I plan to have the same color for my Remington 870.

BTW, very sorry to hear about your dad. Keep your head up.

Thanks for your support.