1st Shotgun for Youth

webguy

webguy

UPH Owner/Founder
Staff member
Gentlemen,

What shotgun would you buy for a youth around 12 years old?

Let's hear the input.
 
Pump or Semi-Auto?

This is actually for my nephew.

I realize there are pro's and con's but I'd love to hear more from you guys that have kids and have used stuff in the field.
 
Having been through this the hard way, I would avoid cheap single shot guns. Buy something with a future. Pumps and autos have the advantage of being able to be loaded one shot at a time, yet retain usefulness as the shooter matures, and can be had with youth stocks which are exchangeable with full size stocks later. If size is an issue bear in mind that Length of pull is relative, 14" in a double gun is much shorter than 14" in a pump or auto, and is easier to handle due to the shorter action length, distance to the fore end and overall shorter dimensions. Probably a 20 ga. unless a stout youth, but you can by low recoil 12 ga. loads to start with and practice on targets. Starting out with the nicer quality guns which your shooter can continue on with will be much more satisfying, and the better fit and finish, particularily the smoothness of the action, safety, and stock design will be worth it. I have shot some youth starter guns which have a comb like a razor blade, and made me dread the trigger pull in a twenty gauge! Imagine the effect on a beginner! Specifics which were excellent for us, Remington 870 pumps, 1187 autoloaders, in 20 ga. Ithaca doubles, in 20 ga. But I would think any of the light doubles or o/u's in a 20 would work. We have an assortment of those, none over 6#'s loaded. 12's will need to be heavier, or lightly loaded to avoid discouragement from recoil. Felt recoil is unpredictable. I have twin girls 14 within an inch and pound of each other, between 5'-5'1, 85#'s. Small to say the least, yet one is recoil sensitive, one will touch off shot after shot with 12 ga. golden pheasant 1 3/8ths high brass in a 6.25# doublegun and never blink.
 
webguy said:
Pump or Semi-Auto?

This is actually for my nephew.

I realize there are pro's and con's but I'd love to hear more from you guys that have kids and have used stuff in the field.
Click to expand...

Rem is a pump 870 Benelli is the auto, I like the Benelli for it's usefulness as time goes as O&N said.Deer barrel, duck hunting and so on. It can even be a nice gun for dad some.:D My nephew got the Benelli 20 and is still shooting it at 17.:thumbsup: Has a fully rifled barrel and it is great for deer hunting. Spendy but lasts.
 
Here is what I did with my step-son when he was about that age. And he wasn't a very big kid. I gave him my 12 ga. Rem 870 with a 26" barrel. I took the recoil pad off and had a gunsmith install a black plastic butt plate. That sortened the LOP by nearly an inch and made it just right for him. When he grew and could handle the standard LOP we re-installed the recoil pad. You can start him out with light game loads and work up to field loads. That results in one gun that he can hunt anything with. And that 12 ga. with lighter loads will kick less than some lightweight 20's with regular loads.
 
Get the Benelli Montefeltro 20 with the Youth/Ladies stock...as he grows, you can get a full size stock and you have a useful automatic that will last a lifetime.
 
Get him/her a really tight choked .410 hammer gun that's impossible to cock like my old man did! That way, they'll miss a ton of birds, get more aggressive and turn into fanatical pheasant hunters!!! :) j/k
I would probably opt for a nice 20 gauge in a youth pump. Teach them to work a pump gun before they slack off with an auto!
 
Fit

A youths shotgun stock should fit. Start them out right, cut the stock down and use a good recoil pad, less flinching and the right sight alignment. To long of stock well cause them to pull head off stock on a swinging shot , the same is true with adults. Autos kick less but some the stock can not be cut short enouf. The biggest mistake of all ages is to long a stock, fit it with your hunting cloths ON!
 
I would go with the pump in a 12 ga and use 1 oz loads. Thats what I started shooting when I was 12. I was also a large 12 year old, as I have been large my whole life. Never cut it down, but I never understood the fit of guns until needing to borrow one that felt way to short.
 
There has been alot of good suggestions posted. Is this kid going to stick with hunting????? Hard to say, I would start him/her on a 20 Ga. side by side, something on the cheap side, like a used gun. If after a couple of seasons the kid is still interested then, the up grade. The thing about starting them out is, it must be fun. If it is not game over, so if the 12 year old gets beat up shooting a 12 Ga It might not be much fun.

I started with a single shot 410 that Sucked / bent barrel, stevens. I pogressed to a Ted Williams 20 ga sxs. I miss that gun it killed me lots of birds. So webguy I guess you have to figure out the kid on your own. Best of luck, and let us know what you do.:)
 
The Mossberg youth 20 ga pump comes with an extra adult sized stock. Great for starting out, and can be lengthened in 5 minutes as he grows. The Mossberg is a decent pump gun.

The Rem 870 20 ga youth is probably a better quality gun, but costs a bit more, and doesn't include the extra stock, although they are readily available for $60 or so.

Recently discontinued, but readily available in good used condition are the 20 ga youth Rem 11-87 and Rem 1100 autos. Great guns which, taken care of, can last a lifetime, and longer stocks and barrels are readily available.

Academy Sports sells a 20 ga youth model Yildiz O/U, which is a decent gun, and a bargain @ $399 new.

20 ga is plenty of gun. Don't beat a kid up with an ill-fitting 12.
 
I bought my 11 year old a Stoger youth condor O/U 20 gauge last fall and he really likes it. I was concerned about having 2 shots available since he is still young but I though we could just load the lower chamber. As it turns out the safety kicks over to safe after you shoot so you have to physically work the safety for the second shot which I believe is a good safety feature for the young shooters. Picked it up at Dicks for about $350. The safety was very tight at first but I took the stock off, cleaned up and smoothed it out by working back and forth with some valve grinding paste. Then a touch of graphite with CLP and it is now sliding appropriatly but still has "normal" resistance that requires deliberate operation. I think the youth pumps are very appropriate as well, but am not fond of a semi that immediatly allows a second shot; kids can get pretty excited when a bird goes up and drops on the first shot. Personally I think the O/U or a SXS is nice since you have two chokes you can use.
There are my "2 bits"
 
What the heck is wrong with everyone. It has to be a single shot 20ga that is ergonomically horrible so it kicks more than a 12ga. It should be like mine that did not fire every time, more like 70/30. It is a right of passage that everyone should endure. Don't buy into this I want it better for my kids than I had it crap.
 
Nice post Moeller, Brings back a cold shiver, and memories of the 97 riot gun I learned on, and by the way I still have the scar on my thumb from the slide and hammer spur while shucking shells. It was that or an Iver Johnson single barrel with a full choke and 30" barrel, couldn't seem to hit quail with the Iver, sometimes with the Winchester they just disappeared! I need a drink now, to steady the nerves and quit the cold sweats, it's a wonder I hunt at all after that start. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, I guess we were tougher, I envy your hit and miss gun, there were times I wish mine hadn't fired. The shoulder only hurt for a couple a days, but the bruised cheek bone, that was a whole nother story.
 
I felt like real man when I got to shoot my grandpa's singleshot 12 with an IC choke. Man could I hit stuff with that. It always took a chunk of flesh out of thumb when the break open lever jammed into it.
 
My oldest grandson is 10 and has been following me in the fields and woods for a while. We tried a couple of guns over the last three years and settled on a Rem. 870 youth model 20ga. He does pretty well with it. This was a plantation hunt last Dec.
395432482.jpg

This was last Dec. also after he helped us get these gadwalls.
394547297.jpg

When he has outgrown the stock I'll just add a full size one and he still has a lightweight, quick handling little 20.

BobM
 
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