Bought a Mossberg 20GA Bantam for my little boy for Christmas..need advice.

sheekster1977

sheekster1977

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Hi all,

I just posted this on another thread, but i think it needs it's own spot.

I bought a Mossberg 20ga Bantam (pump action)for my boy so he can bust clays with me, but as i was telling a few guys at my trap shoot today, two of the older gentlemen there advised me that it wasn't the way to go.

They said it will recoil too hard for my boy(who's 7), and i don't want his first experience with a shotgun to be a bad one..

I asked the counter guy specifically to outfit me with something with little recoil, and he suggested the Bantam. As i haven't fired the gun yet, i will call the retailer and ask if they'll exchange it for a semi-auto. It's just a risk i don't want to take. Hopefully the retailer will let me swap it out.

I did read on various forums today however, that because the LOP is so short on a youth gun, the recoil would be felt more on a grown adult as opposed to a person of a smaller stature.

Can anyone attest to this?
 
hey
Please take this with a grain of salt. seven years old may be a little young to begin shooting sports. My opinion is let him watch and shoot a pellet gun till at least 10 or 11 years. I do agree with the older gentlemen at your club, a pump is not the best choice. Get a gas gun for him when he is ready.
 
billboy said:
hey
Please take this with a grain of salt. seven years old may be a little young to begin shooting sports. My opinion is let him watch and shoot a pellet gun till at least 10 or 11 years. I do agree with the older gentlemen at your club, a pump is not the best choice. Get a gas gun for him when he is ready.
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He comes to the range with me every once in a while, so he's well versed in muzzle control etc..he will shoot .22's to an SKS..
It's not like he will shoot a round of 25 clays..I want to more or less just set up some clays along the ground, and him to shoot them.
 
The 20 bore Bantam is a great little gun. BUT the 20 has low recoil in a 7 pound full sized pump gun. In the super light bantam it generates considerable recoil for a new shooter. Every kid is different. Husky built kids accustomed to rough and tumble lifestyle ie: farm boys, hockey players etc may not have a problem. A slight built kid does not have the body mass and "padding" to absorb the recoil. My dad started me young with a 12 gauge Cooey single. Probably the worst choice of gun to make. It kicked me terribly and I had a flinch that took years to get over. A thoughtful neighbour loaned me a Stevens 16 ga double and what a joy that was to shoot. If possible borrow a 20 bantam or similar and see if he can manage it. Beware and watch closely, most kids will say it is OK to save face. As for the semi option don't do it yet. My daughter (slight built as possible but a hockey player at age 8) managed to double her gas semi 20 ga every time I loaded more than one shell in it. The recoil rocked her enough that while trying to recover she would tap the trigger again. That gun in her hands was unsafe. Moved her to a micro browning BPS and all was well after. Have fun and be safe. Thankyou for introducing another to our sport. Field loads with 7/8 oz of shot will help also.

regards, Darryl
 
I started out with a very light single shot 20ga with a hard plastic butt when i was around 8, so it's not necessarily going to be too much for him. My best advice would be to make sure it's got a nice recoil pad on it to tame the recoil a bit, and just make sure you pay attention that he's not developing any flinches or anything like that.
 
I don't wanna be a downer, but I think starting a young one out on moving clays will do more harm than good. I taught both mine from a young age, and started out with a toy gun, progressed to BB gun, .22 then finally a 20 ga.

I have found the best way to make kids hate shooting is to have them miss a clay over and over, and get beat by recoil at the same time. Same for fishing, my oldest had a hate for trout fishing for years, because I drug him down too many brooks getting eaten by bugs and falling in the brambles. while not catching fish. The girl on the other hand started at a fish farm, caught three fish, and went home happy after 15 minutes. It is all about success, and short periods.

If you can teach all the gun safety/firearm basics with a single projectile gun, they can have positive results on tin can, paper or clays. They progression to wing shooting will go easier.
 
ianthomson said:
I don't wanna be a downer, but I think starting a young one out on moving clays will do more harm than good. I taught both mine from a young age, and started out with a toy gun, progressed to BB gun, .22 then finally a 20 ga.

I have found the best way to make kids hate shooting is to have them miss a clay over and over, and get beat by recoil at the same time. Same for fishing, my oldest had a hate for trout fishing for years, because I drug him down too many brooks getting eaten by bugs and falling in the brambles. while not catching fish. The girl on the other hand started at a fish farm, caught three fish, and went home happy after 15 minutes. It is all about success, and short periods.

If you can teach all the gun safety/firearm basics with a single projectile gun, they can have positive results on tin can, paper or clays. They progression to wing shooting will go easier.
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The OP already said that his son already shoots 22's and up to an SKS, so he's already well on his way, but you might have a point, that shooting a shotgun with a bead is different from a sighted or scoped rifle, you may want to start him off on a pattern board and stationary clays first to show him how it shoots compared to the .22 before you move on to moving clays.
 
ianthomson said:
I don't wanna be a downer, but I think starting a young one out on moving clays will do more harm than good. I taught both mine from a young age, and started out with a toy gun, progressed to BB gun, .22 then finally a 20 ga.

I have found the best way to make kids hate shooting is to have them miss a clay over and over, and get beat by recoil at the same time. Same for fishing, my oldest had a hate for trout fishing for years, because I drug him down too many brooks getting eaten by bugs and falling in the brambles. while not catching fish. The girl on the other hand started at a fish farm, caught three fish, and went home happy after 15 minutes. It is all about success, and short periods.

If you can teach all the gun safety/firearm basics with a single projectile gun, they can have positive results on tin can, paper or clays. They progression to wing shooting will go easier.
Click to expand...

As i said before, i will start him out by shooting at stationary clays at about 20yds. I'm positive that if he can destroy the stationary clays, and watch them smash into pieces, that will generate the excitement in him to gain the interest. I just don't want it to kick too hard. Been doing some homework and found the Remington 11-87 20ga SA peeked my interest. Adjustable LOP etc..might be exactly what i'm looking for.
 
I will agree that a 20 ga. is going to have harsh recoil in a youth shotgun, especially for a 7-year old. It will fit him better, but 7 may be on the young side. Instead get an old single-shot .410. He'll only be firing maybe 5 shots each outing, so don't worry about the cost.
 
I bought a Mossberg 20 gauge Bantam for my stepson when he was 14. The adjustable length of pull was a good feature. I ordered a full size butt in black synthetic from Mossberg when he was 17 as the Bantam stock was too short. I think he started out with low brass 7/8 oz. loads and wasn't bothered by recoil though he was over 100 lbs. in bodyweight, a good deal bigger than a 7 year old. The gun is on the sharp side with high brass 20 gauge loads and unpleasant with 3 inch magnums. For a 7 year old I would lean towards a .410, even a single shot. In my opinion a semi is not the choice for a kid simply because when fired it is immediately ready to go again with no mechanical manipulation required on the kids part. Or perhaps a .410 Mossberg pump would work,if he outgrows it no trouble to sell it and buy a bigger gun.
 
Pretty exciting stuff setting up your kid. Would be nice to test run him on a few before buying one. See what he likes. 20's don't kick too bad but 410's are even less. Good luck.
 
Take this guys advise. 7 year old with a 20 gauge pump is a good way to turn the kid off from shooting. My grandson is 6 and wants in the worst way to shot my shotgun, and i won't consider it until he's at least 10 or 11, and then it will be a 410.

billboy said:
hey
Please take this with a grain of salt. seven years old may be a little young to begin shooting sports. My opinion is let him watch and shoot a pellet gun till at least 10 or 11 years. I do agree with the older gentlemen at your club, a pump is not the best choice. Get a gas gun for him when he is ready.
Click to expand...
 
Have agree with hogiron don't rush the kid . as the surest way to turn him off of shooting is to give him a gun that will hurt him . seen it happen with a friends 9 year old . he bought the boy a Remington youth 20 ga pump the boy fired 2 shells and wanted nothing more to do with shooting it .
 
sheekster1977 said:
As i said before, i will start him out by shooting at stationary clays at about 20yds. I'm positive that if he can destroy the stationary clays, and watch them smash into pieces, that will generate the excitement in him to gain the interest. I just don't want it to kick too hard. Been doing some homework and found the Remington 11-87 20ga SA peeked my interest. Adjustable LOP etc..might be exactly what i'm looking for.
Click to expand...

While I never tried the 1187 in 20 gauge, I do have an 1187 sportsman 12 gauge that I use for waterfowl. Even with 3" shells I find it to be quite a soft shooter. It is a heavy gun though . Don't know what the weight of the 20 gauge is.
 
As a help with new shooters, I've found a couple of things which work. As others have said, never ever overload a new shooter with recoil unless your intent is to make them hate guns. Ease them into it. That being said, number one is controlling noise. Loud noises are startling and amplify whatever recoil they do feel. Use good ear plugs and/or add ear muffs as well. Let them hear you shoot the gun first so they're used to the sound.

Two, new shooters are usually afraid of recoil, about how much it will be and how much it will hurt. Tell them to focus on your shoulder movement when you fire the gun - they'll see very little movement but can tell that there is some force there. As long as the gun is firmly in their shoulder and leaning slightly into it, they'll be fine. If they are especially fearful of what the recoil will be like, let them fire it from the hip once, with the buttstock firmly clenched between their body and their upper arm (almost under their armpit).

Be happy if they fire one or two shots on their first outing. Bring others along who you know will enjoy it, as that helps make the fun contagious.

And after all this advice, still consider if your 7-year old is too young for a 20 gauge. Nothing wrong with BB guns and pellet rifles until they're 10.
 
I agree that the less recoil the better for a 7 year old. Something that hasn't been mentioned is the overall length of the firearm. A pump action shotgun will be approx. 7 inches longer than a hinged action single shot. This will move the felt weight or centre of gravity of the firearm further out and will make it harder for a youngster to handle. There is nothing wrong with a little 410 single shot to start with. It can still be used as a grouse gun after the boy grows up. As for the price of shells the 410 will be a little more than some of the more popular gauges. If the price of a few boxes of shells is going to be a determining factor go with a 410 single shot and save your empties and buy a little Lee loader and roll your own 410 light loads.
 
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