12 GA. Lowest Recoil - Commercially Available

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lmar

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I've got a young daughter who has expressed an interest in trying out my 12.5" D.A. Grizzly.

She's a waif of a thing but is pretty gung ho.
In addition to swapping out the fixed stock for a knoxx stock, so we can reduce the length of pull and allow her to properly shoulder the SG, I am looking for the lowest recoil load commercially available.

I suspect it might be a light trap load but I am a little rusty in this area.

Looking for Wal-mart or CDN Tire type loads as she just wants to try shooting at the range.

Note - I've tried .22 and air rifles/pistols and she is fine with them.

L
 
Winchester Universal loads are very light on the recoil. They are about 23$ per 100 rounds at Wal-Mart. They are basically light birdshot loads for clays.
 
Not all trap loads are created equal. If you're going to try it I'd suggest the following. Stick to trap loads but in no more than 2 3/4 dram equivalent and a 1 ounce shot load. The 3 dram and 1 1/8 oz will have more recoil. I'm sure your're all over this two but I found with my kids that noise was a big factor as well so I doubled up the hearing protection with plugs and muffs.

Cheers
 
Reload some light ones (if you have a friend that can do so) at 1/2 oz or grab a cheap .410 for her.

I was shooting skeet with a .410 shortie a buddy brought to the field last weekend and it was a lot of fun.

He got it used for $75 (single shot) from Accuracy Plus in peterborough
 
Perhaps a Past Recoil shield for her shoulder they just go on over the T-Shirt and can help considerably
A friend bought one for his son and it helped with his confidence
 
Imar
Winlite target loads, they are only 980fps they have no recoil and are about half as loud as a normal 3 dram load. I believe Federal makes a metro load which is the same speed both are girl safe and break targets really well.
Good luck
 
Frank McMurray said:
I'm sure your're all over this two but I found with my kids that noise was a big factor as well so I doubled up the hearing protection with plugs and muffs.

Cheers
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x 2

It's funny how that works, your ears hurt so your shoulder feels more pain. Besides it is a good thing to get the kids into the habit of wearing ear protection when they are shooting, even wear it while shooting 22 lr (every load sounds like a dud out of my 10/22).
 
get a set of little skeeter gauge reducer tubes (about $45 @ lebaron), then you can use 20 or 410 shells in you 12 ga- but only with a break open, unless you like stuggles
 
Imar,
You mentioned the word waif. For a young person's first try, I would not use any slugs or any buck no matter how they are described to reduce recoil. There are many light loads for first time target shooters. The easiest to find is AA reduced recoil and velocity loads. Way lighter than that universal stuff that can tire sells. As said, because of the short barrel, extra ear protection is a must. I would avoid the use of a knoxx type stock even though it is convenient to reduce l.o.p. I would look for a youth stock for an 870. Actually I would not encoruage your waif to try your gun til she is accustomed to a more recoil friendly 12 bore. Just like one shot too soon can make a puppy gun shy so it can happen just as quick with a child.
 
Covey Ridge said:
Imar,
You mentioned the word waif. For a young person's first try, I would not use any slugs or any buck no matter how they are described to reduce recoil. There are many light loads for first time target shooters. The easiest to find is AA reduced recoil and velocity loads. Way lighter than that universal stuff that can tire sells. As said, because of the short barrel, extra ear protection is a must. I would avoid the use of a knoxx type stock even though it is convenient to reduce l.o.p. I would look for a youth stock for an 870. Actually I would not encoruage your waif to try your gun til she is accustomed to a more recoil friendly 12 bore. Just like one shot too soon can make a puppy gun shy so it can happen just as quick with a child.
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I forgot to mention that she plays football and is used to taking out her brother who outweighs her by 50-60 lbs.

I shot a match this weekend and afterwards she asked me if I'd brought the shotgun. I told her yes. She then asked me if the shells I had were the ones that made the "big flames". I asked her why.

She then told me she had decided she wanted to try the shotgun. I suggested she might want to wait until I went shopping.

Well, she wasn't buying dad's stalling tactic so I proceeded to show her how to tuck the stock under her arm and push the forend forward.

After asking her for the last time if she was sure she wanted to do this I was told to show her how to load the shell.

First round almost knocked her off her feet (I had positoned myself behind her for this very reason). Her safety glasses end up under her nose.

After fixing the glasses her next instruction was to pass 3-4 shells so she could "load" them by herself. After a couple of questions I figured out she wanted to pump the shotgun.

She ended up loading 4 rounds with some help (spring tension gets a little high for her after a couple of rounds) and then proceeded to unload the shotgun at a pepper popper we left out for her to aim at.

4 round of #4 shot later she was grinning from ear to ear. Said shooting from the hip wasn't very accurate and that she wanted to know how to counter the "twisting" of the shotgun when she fired it.

Asked me if they made them shorter so she could hold it better and not be so heavy. Said the stock was kind of weird and asked if I could put the shorter grip thing on (pistol grip) that she saw in my workshop.

Guess I'm going to have to go find those lighter loads so we can practice her instinctive shooting technique.

Suggested a smaller gauge per the advice of others on this forum and she replied no - because it wouldn't be the same. I didn't ask.

L
 
man, sounds like you have your work cut out for you.

trap loads should be fine, as they've said stick to the 2 3/4" shells .. but by the sounds of it shes pretty game and the recoil isnt going to scare her off..

so best i can say is just kit the shotty out so it fits her better and keep those ears protected.

old or young, i think the biggest flinch factor for new shooters is the noise
 
Fenix.NZ said:
man, sounds like you have your work cut out for you.trap loads should be fine, as they've said stick to the 2 3/4" shells .. but by the sounds of it shes pretty game and the recoil isnt going to scare her off.. so best i can say is just kit the shotty out so it fits her better and keep those ears protected.old or young, i think the biggest flinch factor for new shooters is the noise
Click to expand...

I was just emailed this... turns out a couple of the club members thought it was pretty cool and needed a picture to prove it.....

006.jpg


The 4th and final round - rapid fire....
Note glasses.... I was too busy making sure she didn't end up on her butt to notice.....told her not to ever touch off a round without them on ....
Safety first!!!!

The front foot wasn't doing anything other than providing counter-balance. On the next string she figured out she needed to be leaning forward....

Trying to get the weight off of the front of the gun....
Wonder if a 8.5" with forend vertical grip would make her life easier.........
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm........Wonder if I can wrangle an 8.5" from Dlask or Canada Ammo for "testing" purposes.

Yep.I like the double ear protection idea. In addition, the muffs can keep enough tension on her safety glasses to prevent her from having them continously knocked off.
 
Just my not so humble opinion, but this seems like a recipe for developing a flinch. I think that it is great that your daughter is eager to shoot and seems to enjoy it. I still think it better to teach her to shoot well before having her deal with excessive recoil. There is much more to shooting well than being able to handle recoil. The photo does nothing to convince me otherwise.


"If sense is so common ..... why is it in such short supply?"
 
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thing is shes, only a little thing, she wants to fire 12g , and by the looks of it she can, and enjoys it. let her.. hell you gotta start somewhere.. and i know when i started out shooting when i was young , i sucked :) .. my technique was all up the S*** , but my old man just kept me going till i was competent enough just shooting safely before filling my head with all the do's and dont's of shooting technique ..
and as lmar said shes learning by herself - got the makings of a great shooter there. plus hes looking after her, making sure above all else that shes safe and doesn't get scarred off. and taking steps to get the shotgun to fit her better.

shooting should be fun, and shes having fun

rant complete
 
Covey Ridge said:
Just my not so humble opinion, but this seems like a recipe for developing a flinch. I think that it is great that your daughter is eager to shoot and seems to enjoy it. I still think it better to teach her to shoot well before having her deal with excessive recoil. There is much more to shooting well than being able to handle recoil. The photo does nothing to convince me otherwise.


"If sense is so common ..... why is it in such short supply?"
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I agree with what you are saying. She is too small for the gun so any technique will be incorrect for her at this time. I have a friend who voluntereed his .410 for "proper" shooting which I will ask her if she wants to try.

Up to now she has been hesitant to try any of the firearms when we go out to the range (this includes the .22) - even though she takes instruction fine and shoots pretty good.

The fact she wanted to try out the shotgun and insisted on using the loads her brother was shooting suggests a little sibling competition is going on. Not going to pretend to know what is going on in her head other than she wants to and is having fun doing it.

Isn't that the way we all started?

Cheers,

L
 
Imar,
Well I am glad that she is having fun, but I do not believe in baptism by fire or sink or swim, or once around the parking lot and then out on the freeway, for the first time behind the wheel. I think one must walk before you run. Enough of what I think or believe! I know that a flinch is easier to prevent than to cure. I know of many x shooters, especially ladies and young people who not want to be involved because they were allowed to go too far on their first shooting date. I envy you that your daughter wants to tackle the big gun. You have a diamond in the rough that needs to be polished instead of crushed. I do not buy for a second any of that macho #### comments that they became good shooters because daddy let them suck up a bunch of recoil and they did not cry. I know of far too many men who would be superior shots, but are unable to control a simple flinch that could have been avoided. No matter how you proceed, I hope your daughter stays in the sport. Keep us updated.
 
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