20 Gauge Skeet Gun for the Wife. Suggestions?

Fingersmuldoon

Fingersmuldoon

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Hey everyone.

I am looking to buy the wife a 20 gauge as she has expressed an interest in starting Skeet shooting. I wanted a 20 as the recoil may be a little less fierce on her delicate female frame than a 12. Also, I didn't want to invest a huge wad of dosh as she may turn around in a month or so and decide she doesn't like it. She has shouldered a couple of O/U's and SxS's and likes the feel, so I would prefer to stick with that style. I think a pump would be too much for her delicate female brain to deal with during a shoot, what with all the noise, movement and fast moving round things. (Man I am dead if she reads this).

I have been looking at a Stoeger Condor or Uplander, a Stevens 555, a Pointer O/U, a Pardus O/U and Khan Arms O/U.

Does anyone out there own any of these more bargain basement shottys? What are your experiences, pros & cons, recommendations.

Thanks.

Fingers.
 
My lovely bride is now as addicted to the clay sports as I am (and that's a lot!)....she shoots a beretta dt11 12 gauge, but we have a lot of experience with your question as she started out with a 20 gauge.

My and her advice is to skip the 20 and start right out of the gate with a 12. We wound up dubbing all four different 20 gauges she tried (rem870, winspx, benelli cordoba, beretta silver pigeon) were ultimately dubbed "the wife beaters" for poor fit and nasty recoil. The secret was winchesters low noise, low recoil AAs...she shot them very comfortably and grew to love the sport enough to invest a year later in her dt11. We've since moved up in the shell department as she was frustrated on longer shots at sporting clays, but for skeet the low recoil low noise shells are fine.

Cheers, and I hope your wife loves clay shooting as much as mine does!

Cheers,

Brobee
 
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Fingersmuldoon said:
Hey everyone.

I am looking to buy the wife a 20 gauge as she has expressed an interest in starting Skeet shooting. I wanted a 20 as the recoil may be a little less fierce on her delicate female frame than a 12. Also, I didn't want to invest a huge wad of dosh as she may turn around in a month or so and decide she doesn't like it. She has shouldered a couple of O/U's and SxS's and likes the feel, so I would prefer to stick with that style. I think a pump would be too much for her delicate female brain to deal with during a shoot, what with all the noise, movement and fast moving round things. (Man I am dead if she reads this).

I have been looking at a Stoeger Condor or Uplander, a Stevens 555, a Pointer O/U, a Pardus O/U and Khan Arms O/U.

Does anyone out there own any of these more bargain basement shottys? What are your experiences, pros & cons, recommendations.

Thanks.

Fingers.
Click to expand...

Fingers, I think if she's to shoot well and enjoy it, the gun fit is more important than any other factor. A less expensive gun that doesn't fit is not ever going to be good value. A suggestion that might seem counterintuitive is to look at a used Cynergy to see how that fits her. The LOP is adjustable by inserts so you hopefully won't have to modify the stock. All those others that you mention will likely need stock modification (i.e. cut) for her to shoot it properly and then any resale is out the window. The Cynergy is reported to cut felt recoil by an amazing amount. If the (skeet) passion goes away, well you then have an awesome shotgun that you can use in the field or for clays for yourself or flip it and get 100% back out of it.
Just a thought.
 
I just went down this same road a few years ago when my wife decided to get into bird hunting. You have left out the 2 best O/U shotguns for the money out there, that been the Yildiz and the CZ Redhead both available in 20 gauge. I bought my wife a Weatherby 20 gauge pump 1st as well, but even thou it was a great gun she just never really felt it. I then got her the CZ Redhead in 20 gauge and she took to it right away and really enjoyed it. I then got a deal on a Yildiz 20 gauge just after and she loves that gun even more even though it has extractors while the Redhead has ejectors. Both guns came with 28 in barrels and 5 chokes. The Yildiz weighs about 1 lb less (6lb) then the Redhead (7lb) and the wood to metal fit on both guns is excellent and the Yildiz has nice looking wood on it then my Beretta 686.
She loves the Yildiz just a tad more then the CZ but she won't let me sell the CZ Redhead either so that says something.
Both guns come with very good reviews from my research as opposed to some of the ones I read for the guns you had listed, but I am sure you can research that yourself and should...lol.

Good luck,
Jim
 
Fingersmuldoon said:
Hey everyone.

I am looking to buy the wife a 20 gauge as she has expressed an interest in starting Skeet shooting. I wanted a 20 as the recoil may be a little less fierce on her delicate female frame than a 12. Also, I didn't want to invest a huge wad of dosh as she may turn around in a month or so and decide she doesn't like it. She has shouldered a couple of O/U's and SxS's and likes the feel, so I would prefer to stick with that style. I think a pump would be too much for her delicate female brain to deal with during a shoot, what with all the noise, movement and fast moving round things. (Man I am dead if she reads this).

I have been looking at a Stoeger Condor or Uplander, a Stevens 555, a Pointer O/U, a Pardus O/U and Khan Arms O/U.

Does anyone out there own any of these more bargain basement shottys? What are your experiences, pros & cons, recommendations.

Thanks.

Fingers.
Click to expand...
I don't own any of the guns mentioned. I have shot them all but don't own them because to be honest they aren't very good guns. With o/u you can have a cheap gun or you can have a good one. You just can't have both in the same gun.

I understand the point about not wanting to spend a lot on a gun because she might lose interest (been there) but if that's a concern buy a good quality used gun in 20 gauge before buying a low-end gun. When my wife showed an interest I bought her a used and hard to find Winchester skeet gun. When she lost interest I sold the gun for what I had in it.

Has she handled a semi-automatic? If she just wants to shoot skeet instead of the other games I'd look around for a used 20 gauge Remington 1100. They should be available for the same price or less as the o/u you are considering and will be a much easier sell if she loses interest or wants to move to to a breaking gun if she gets the clay target addiction.
 
Fingersmuldoon said:
Hey everyone.

....

I have been looking at a Stoeger Condor or Uplander, a Stevens 555, a Pointer O/U, a Pardus O/U and Khan Arms O/U.

....

Fingers.
Click to expand...

Sorry pal, I wouldn't trade my shotgun for your wife. Too many complications, and awfully hard to explain to the kids.
 
My thoughts are the same as many of the others. First of all, I'd leave the 20 ga out of it altogether unless it's an auto loader. Most 20 ga doubles kick worse than a 12 with 7/8 oz loads, simply because they weigh less. If she finds a 12 ga O/U too heavy, look at semis.
Secondly, buy quality and you'll never regret it. Buy once, cry once.
Try to find a decent used gun, if she does bail on you, you won't lose as much selling it, and you'll be ABLE to sell it easily.
 
I concur completely with the above opinions about quality. If she loses interest, you will have a nice gun.
 
I would start her with an SX-3 if it fits. Light to swing, soft recoil, reasonably price, and easy to sell if she decides that she doesn't like the clays games.
 
For our hunter safety wind up we go out shooting clays. I bring out my A400 12 ga semi and the other instructors bring out various 20 gauge shotguns. all of our students find my 12 gauge to have the lowest recoil of all the guns. This is a Non Kickoff version shooting regular trap loads. If I were you I wold find a 12 ga semi and shoot light loads out of it. That's what I plan to do with my wife this summer.
 
Claybuster said:
I don't own any of the guns mentioned. I have shot them all but don't own them because to be honest they aren't very good guns. With o/u you can have a cheap gun or you can have a good one. You just can't have both in the same gun.

I understand the point about not wanting to spend a lot on a gun because she might lose interest (been there) but if that's a concern buy a good quality used gun in 20 gauge before buying a low-end gun. When my wife showed an interest I bought her a used and hard to find Winchester skeet gun. When she lost interest I sold the gun for what I had in it.

Has she handled a semi-automatic? If she just wants to shoot skeet instead of the other games I'd look around for a used 20 gauge Remington 1100. They should be available for the same price or less as the o/u you are considering and will be a much easier sell if she loses interest or wants to move to to a breaking gun if she gets the clay target addiction.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%
Cheers
 
Thanks for the input folks.
I managed to pick up a bargain at Bass Pro in Moncton earlier today. We went for a 12g. She really really liked the $3000 Browning (of course she did), but out of everything else she tried a Stevens 555 in 12 gauge was her favourite. It shouldered well, pointed well, and she liked the weight. Yes, I would have loved to get a used B-Gun at a reasonable price, but lets face it, how many times has your wife pushed you to actually buy a gun?
 
My daughter got a sa 20 and loves it .never had a second problem with it .great littel 20g semi with very little recoil ..D
 
I got my wife a Browning 325 in 20, She loves it so much as it's long, slim and lightweight but still it got some kick there.
Get her semi auto loader if you want to keep her long in sport. That 325 belong to me now.
 
Fingersmuldoon said:
Thanks for the input folks.
I managed to pick up a bargain at Bass Pro in Moncton earlier today. We went for a 12g. She really really liked the $3000 Browning (of course she did), but out of everything else she tried a Stevens 555 in 12 gauge was her favourite. It shouldered well, pointed well, and she liked the weight. Yes, I would have loved to get a used B-Gun at a reasonable price, but lets face it, how many times has your wife pushed you to actually buy a gun?
Click to expand...
Happy wife, happy life. If she gets the clay addiction she will probably need that Browning. In the meantime she should enjoy the Stevens with the full knowledge that clay shooters who are still campaigning their very first gun are damn few and far between. ;)
 
Chilly807 said:
My thoughts are the same as many of the others. First of all, I'd leave the 20 ga out of it altogether unless it's an auto loader. Most 20 ga doubles kick worse than a 12 with 7/8 oz loads, simply because they weigh less. If she finds a 12 ga O/U too heavy, look at semis.
Secondly, buy quality and you'll never regret it. Buy once, cry once.
Try to find a decent used gun, if she does bail on you, you won't lose as much selling it, and you'll be ABLE to sell it easily.
Click to expand...

This. F=ma. same amount of lead, same speed = same force. I would personally get a 12g cut down to fit properly. My wife shoots a Win M12 that has been cut to fit. I would use a pump, as you can shoot light loads that wont even cycle a semi.

C
 
Find an older Remington 1100 20 gauge skeet... very soft recoiling and not expensive ($400ish), so cutting the stock down is no big deal... I didn't his for my daughter for the once or twice a year she gets out... she comes close to out shooting me with that little gun... she is a natural.
 
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