410 or 20 guage for my daughter?

my daughter was 12 when she expressed an interest in coming to the trap range. She was about 85 lbs , on a 4', 9 " frame ; and I was very concerned about recoil. I shoot a 20 gauge Browning auto 5, and I thought the 20 gauge would be maximum; so before I let her trap shoot; I bought a 20 gauge Baikal; had the gunsmith shorten the stock considerably, and installed a Pachmayer decelerator pad. I made lighter loads for the 20; and the rest was history.....now she shoots regular 20 gauge and a Remington 1100 and sometimes outscores the old man.
whatever firearm you select for her, enjoy !
 
for hunting purposes, due to, in my opinion, the need for a clean kill, i would definatly go with a 20 in semi auto tho. reason being is that the gas operation of reloading another shell in to the chamber uses the same force that would otherwise be straight out recoil, thus reducing recoil substancially. have her shoot a box or so at some clay, or even an old plastic water bottle partially filled with sand,( you can throw a single bottle about 15 times before it will loose too much sand to be heavy enough to throw.) but make sure of a few things.... the firearm is not to heavy for her, so as not to slouch. she holds her body in the proper position (proper posture, stance,) and the 2 most important things of all, proper pocketing(butts stock in shoulder pocket) because if there is anu rubbing or if there is a gap, it will hurt. and earplugs some people flinch due to not only the anticipation of recoil, but aswell rom the anticipation of the noise. these are just a few things that will help her adapt to recoil.
the best advice i can give you having taught many to shoot heavy recoil before, is to never tell somone that recoil will hurt, because if you teach somone to shoot with the proper techs, they can fire heavy recoil all day and not be bothered.
 
I would let her shoot the 410 with 21/2" shells lots and make sure gun fits her cut stock if you have to so she is very comfortable shooting it. after or later for hunting use the 3" shells. I have a pump 3" and with 4 & 6 can shot partridge in the air just as far as I have ever shot them with a 12ga, and get lots with the brests not full of shot like a 12 or even a 20 does with 71/2 shot
good luck
 
Sometimes a little heavier gun helps with the recoil. I find my 870 recoils less than my brothers lighter mossberg 835. So maybe a little heavier 20 ga. would be good for her.
 
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