First Youth Shotgun

[markdeerhunter]

Hi guys,My son,who will soon be 13 has expressed an interest in hunting waterfowl and shooting clay birds.Being an inexpreienced shotgunner myself I wanted to get some opinions on his first shotgun.I definetly want to get him a 20ga., but what action would be best?Semi auto or pump?Which companies make good youth shotguns?Thanks for the help,MDH

[Graybeard]

Pump or double. I personally do not think an autoloader is an appropriate first gun. Take a look at the Stoeger SXS 20. I have one and like it. Nice gun for a low price. Think I gave $320 for mine. About the same price as a pump really.

GB

[Daveinthebush]

I would go with a NEF single shot.  He can latter add a buck barrel or numerous centfire barrels.

With the exposed hammer you can tell quickly what he is doing. They are available in 20 or 12.

HR1871.com

[gilly]

I'm 14 and just recently got my first shotgun an 870 express. But it might depend on his height and weight. Pump works great, you cant accidentally shot two shots. You can just start him by giving him one shell then when he gets use to pumping the shell out give him a second until you fell ready to give him the full mag. get a gun no shorter than 26 in. you can get the recoil pad downsized to fit him perfectly.

[ga65]

Mark,
I teach Hunter safety and I'm an NRA Shotgun Instructor. I went through the the same thing with my daughter.  One thing that makes my skin crawl is watching adults making kids try to use a shotgun that does not fit, they can't easily operate or is so lite the recoil makes them gun shy. 20 ga is a good choice for starters, that is what I would recommend.

The approach I used with my girl cub was to determine her eye dominace (wether right or left hand action is required), then what type of action she was the most comfortable with, (we tried single, side by side, over under, semi and pump). She liked the over under so I bought an inexpensive O/U and cut the stock down to fit her, she is starting to break clays and has gotten a few rabbits and squirrels. And her confidence really took off.

Semi-auto helps take away the recoil, singleshots like the NEF youth (20 ga) rattles my teeth. Rumor is the portion of PA I live in is going slug so we are doing the same thing all over again but with slug guns and her preference this time is a pump.

All of the maunfacturers make youth models, find the one in your budget and is not intimidating to the new shooter, if they have the right tool, it's easier to get them hooked for life.  That is my opinion and I hope I did not muddy the waters more for you.

Ga65

God Bless the Troops and their Families.

[dakotashooter2]

I like Greybeards idea of the O/U. You can start them of one shell at a time. No screwing around with pumping the gun. Guns feel good in the hand and are pleasant to shoot. First time my son shot my O/U he shot it better than his pump. If you go with a pump the forend on the winchester youth gun is set back a little further than the remingtons and seems to be easier to balance and operate with short arms but the winchesters tend to be a little stiffer.

[tony212]

20 gauge is a good choice. The most important thing is to get him one that fits, either a youth model or have the stock cut on a full size one. The NEF is a really good gun very safe and excellent to learn safe gun handling on. The only bad thing about it is its light weight  increases felt recoil.  The 870 express youth is probably the best gun value out there.  It is realatively inexpensive, with extra chokes and barrels very versatle, and the extra weight cuts down on the recoil.  It is a great first gun.  The 1100 youth is also a great gun. Its a little heavy and can be tricky for a beginer, not pulling the trigger twice, but the recoil is almost nonexistant and like the 870 has tons of combinations of chokes and barrels. Both the 870 and the 1100 can be loaded with only one or two bullets until he gets used to it. No matter what you do the NEF will always be a single shot. Myself personally I have always been a big fan of the 1100.  I own several and my son's first gun was an 1100.  If it fits in your budget I would go all the way and get him an 1100. When he gets older you can get him a full size stock and he will use it the rest of his life.
Hope this helps;
Tony212

[savageT]

I just want to tell you that when my 13 year old grandson needed his first shotgun, I looked at a nice inexpensive Mossberg 500 Youth model (less than $300).  It not only has a field barrel with three chokes, but it has a drilled and tapped receiver for scope when he's ready for slug hunting with a shorter stock and forearm reach.  It also comes with a dowl rod that only allows single shells to be placed directly in the chamber....a nice safety thought!  I like the action, and find the safety placed on the receiver tang to be great for someone who is left-handed, like me.  Good Luck with your decision.

Jim

[Ramrod]

I started my kids on hand thrown clay birds and a .410 single shot with short buttstock for the little one, 10 at the time, and for the older boy, 12 then, my own first gun, a 20 gauge Savage (Stevens) 311 side by side. I restocked it and cut the barrels back to 18 inches a long time ago. I dug out the old buttstock, sawed about 3 inches off it, sanded the pad to fit and he was good to go. You can't beat a break action gun for safety, with the gun broke open there is NO doubt if it's loaded or not. Having a stock that fits the youngster is more important than anything else. They both have their own 12 gauge Mossberg and Maverick pumps now that they are bigger, 17 and 15.
Ramrod

[Grumpy]

The 20 ga. is a good idea. Fit is important as it gets. Too long and the shooter gets beat up from recoil, too short and the shooter gets his/her thumb pushed up their nose. My idea of a first shotgun is nothing to fancy.
The shooter is learning safe gun handling and a new shooter will scratch the finish along the way.  I am none too fond of youngsters with autos either. Things happen too fast with an auto.  I started my kids out with a single shot hammer gun. I could easily look over and see the gun was safe. They used pumps when they grew into them. My Browning Citori's were eventually used on the target range. The target range for the new shotgunner should be straight out targets that are relatively slow. The smokeing of these targets builds confidence and gives the new shooter a positive experience. Good shooting!!!

[RWH24]

My 12 yr old nephew received a H & R Topper Jr in a 20ga, Christmas 2003. It fits him very well and he has shot 2+ boxes; at a time; of the field/game loads w/o any problems. He said his cheek was a little tender, no shoulder soreness.

I have started researching youth 20ga's and most are just shortened butt stock full size guns. He is a small 12 yr old, small hands fingers and about 80-85lbs. In my research I found:

Mossberg 500 Bantam 20ga: Shorter LOP and the grip is supposed to be diff for the smaller hand/shorter fingers to allow proper finger/trigger placement.
If we had known he would P/U and Take Off shooting we may have bought him the Mossy in the beginning.

Safety wise: He is very watchful about "WHERE HIS FINGER IS"
but in a faster paced hunting or shooting flury he may forget and keep the finger on or very near the trigger and "TOUCH" one off with an autoloader. My opinion  He has probably advanced from a Single Shot and will probably get a pump for his B-Day in July. If he further progresses an autoloader could be somewhere down the road.

 Guys and Guns are like Gals and Purses or Shoes  

BTW: He does like my Beretta 391 12ga. He says the kick "AIN'T" to bad. He does not like the 870 12ga. "OooooooH MOMMA  "

I am starting the process of looking at the Beretta 3901 RL (reduced length) for my wife/me. It comes w/a 1" spacer to make it standard LOP.
Well enough of my early morning rambling and I only had 1 cent in my pocket.

Randy

[the rifleman]

Get him a 12GA. I started with one at that age, a Ithica M37 featherlite.

 I mean he's 13 now not 8.  He will have a better chance at wacking a duck or 3 with the 12GA. You wont have to buy him another gun in a few years either! :grin: Start him with lighter loads if your worried about kick.