I have never been able to grip a gun too tightly and shoot it well. I just seem to loose the ability to swing it smoothly. And don't get me going on flinching. Tight grip leads me to flinching. Found that out shooting too much .375 and .458 on year.
When I shoot a straight grip gun, the shape grip and fore end are important to me, more than LOP or drop. I shoot a larger beaver tail fore end better than a very skinny splinter. Big hands like big grips. But a big fat beaver tail fore end looks like crap on a gun to me so tend to not own them. If the butt has a grip that is shaped like a diamond or fat oval I can shoot it well, even with a fairly small splinter. If it is flat straight grip or a very small straight grip I just can not adjust well enough to shoot it consistently. And shooting consistently is what it is all about.
Using a pattern plate can give you a lot of information but you are shooting directly at the plate, not swinging or being active. So I'd take the results with a small grain of salt. I pay a lot of attention to how clay targets or live birds react when they are shot. All information helps. And whatever makes you a better shot is fine with me.
