Just so nobody is misled, my challenge and antipathy is reserved for stockless shotguns equipped with only a PG and not for the M-16 style of shoulder stock. These I find less useful than a standard stock but usable.
Stockless shotguns have little use in the real world. They turn the most effective CQB tool in the world into an inaccurate, ungainly, hard to control handgun of great power but very limited utility.
If an enemy ever comes after me with a shotgun, I hope and pray his has no stock, only a PG.
As for better handling in tight places, until we get an extra hinge in our forearms, the lack of a stock really doesn't help.
A fighting shotgun with a short LOP stock and a short barrel up to 22" or so is quite manueverable in trained hands.
GlocksRfun, that's how one shoots a stockless shotgun. Holding one up to the shoulder will make either your Orthepedist or Dentist unhappy, though richer.
Miscusi, I've repeated that challenge for nigh onto 10 years. I tired of chest beating macho posers telling new shooters that PGs were what Manly Men use. In that 10 years, not one PG fan was taken up the gauntlet. You'll note that none are now.
I'll repeat that. NO PG only fans are taking up the challenge. Talk's cheap....
Shotguns equipped with just a PG have some limited use as breaching tools. One correspondent of great experience from Alaska uses one as bear medicine but practices lots and understands how to make it work under stress. I still fear for him if a bad tempered half ton of ursus takes umbrage, but he knows what the risks are.
As defensive tools PG only shotguns reek.
LSU12, tooth and nail will suffice sometimes. But using a PG only shotgun is a big step down from a standard shotgun. Do take a standard shotgun for a walk through your domicile(Unloaded of course) and see if and where the stock is a problem. My guess is it isn't.
As for the market for PGs, I know lots of folks who use guns as working tools. State Troopers, Feds of divers agencies, Baltimore narcs, etc. Most have personal shotguns, none have stockless ones. PGs are bought by newbies.
Also, LSU, a coach gun as the term is now used has a stock. The barrels are often short, sometimes the stock is also but it's there.
Most folks will do OK with a stock with a LOP of 12-14". The shorter end preferably. If used with body armor, definitely on the shorter end.