Looking at buying one of the two. Need opinions. Have read a couple of bad reviews on tactical version due to stock not holding up and bad recoil bad. My main question is does a thumbhole stock offer the comfort of a pistol grip as far as holding. Thanks
I have both tactical and thumb hole style stock's. I have the 535 ats tactical and as far as carrying it, its light and easy. Its real nice to set up and hold with comfort while waiting on a shot. Recoil is a problem when bench shooting but when it comes time to shoot a bird, the recoil is never noticed.
The thumb hole stock is on another gun and seems to be heavier, it does help with recoil but just doesn't have that feel you get from a pistol grip style stock.
I think you'll enjoy the tactical stle stock alot more, it just seems to have a better shouldering feel.
Just my .02
I have an 835 with a 20" barrel and a thumb hole stock. I LOVE IT!!! I can maneuver it easily with one hand. I have never had a problem getting great patterns out of the short barrel either. You will not be disappointed with the thumb hole. It is a wood stock and will likely be a little heavier, but weight is not a problem for me. I use a Bear Tooth comb raising kit due to the height of the Mueller Quick Shot.
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I love my thumbhole 835! It has since had a cheek pad installed because it was a tiny bit low and when I was patterning some 3.5 mag blends last spring I chipped a tooth when I didn't have my cheek down tight to the stock. :TooFunny: Now she's super comfortable and the thumbhole really does reduce recoil by giving the gun a more inline design...comes more straight back than snappinng up at the shot.
I have an 835 with the 20" barrel. Originally, I had the thumbhole stock, but I replace it with a regular stock. The thumbhole stock is not ambidextrous and I had times when turkeys would come in from the opposite side than I was set up for and couldn't switch hands to shoot.