cutting a 870 stock for a junior

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jojoe

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I am new to guns. I have just purchased a 870 Wingmaster (12g) for hunting ducks and geese and for trap. My 12yo daughter has passed her CFSC and would like to try trap shooting. She is also hunt training our Labrador Retriever, and to handle him in HRC hunt tests she needs to be able to operate a pump shotgun. - more as a prop simulating a hunting situation with poppers only.

Question: can I customize the 870 for her to use? I have two stocks - one wood one synthetic. Can I cut down the synthetic? Will that be sufficient for her to use the gun or do I need to adjust the barrel length? Am I advised to put a pad on the butt? Should I even go this direction?

If she enjoys shooting, I will invest in a "junior model". But I don't want to spend $ where I don't have to.
 
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jojoe said:
Question: can I customize the 870 for her to use? I have two stocks - one wood one synthetic. Can I cut down the synthetic? Will that be sufficient for her to use the gun or do I need to adjust the barrel length? Am I advised to put a pad on the butt? Should I even go this direction?

If she enjoys shooting, I will invest in a "junior model". But I don't want to spend $ where I don't have to.
Click to expand...

I'll bet $20 if you cut the stock and don't put a pad on it she'll never go shooting again after she gashes her arm open after the first shot.

Seriously. If your 12yo can even lift the shotgun I'd be impressed... I just went out with a 27yo woman yesterday (111lbs) and she had a very hard time with the shotgun.

You might want to start her out with a .22lr then move on to some kind of small shotgun - .410?

Either way, let us know what happens. But for sure, buy a shorter "new" stock (i.e. Hogue 12" LOP stock) Do No let your daughter shoot a 12-Gauge using a jagged stock with no pad on the butt (Guaranteed way to make her afraid of guns forever).
 
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if she just shoots popper loads in trials , there's really no recoil at all,but i agree with G37, if she tries shooting a 12 ga. whether it has the stock cut back or not,she's just as apt to walk away from shooting.if you can find a .410 ga. or a 28 ga. preferably in single shot she can work into it as she grows but as G37 says, a 27 yr.old 111 lb. woman can find it hard to handle. my wife is a very good at trap,and hunting, but only interested in 20 ga. and she's 5'7" 135 lbs.for some reason i've found very few women like a 12ga. but i'm very sure there's lots of exceptions.
 
"...Can I cut down the synthetic?..." Depends on which one you have. Not all of 'em are solid enough.
There are 12 ga blanks available that won't need anything done to the shotgun for her to fire them. No recoil at all.
 
It would be a simpler task to cut down the wood stock rather than the synthetic. Synthetic stocks are hollow and you may find that after you cut it there is nothing left to attach a recoil pad to. You can probably find a cheap wood one on the EE if you don't want to chop the one you have.
 
it is easier to cut a wooden butt stock and then after sizing, reattach the butt plate or recoil pad. the synthetics, at least most that i've seen, have synthetic pieces in side the stock that are threaded for the pad or plate screws. they go in about 1 ". to cut off any more, something else has to be put in place to reattach the plate or pad.
 
Can't she just get away with tucking the stock under her armpit and shooting in the air? She's not trying to hit anything here; she's just firing the gun to make noise.
 
Mossberg makes a shotty that has an add on stock. Add the sections as the young shooter grows.
Then there is the Knox stocks which are also LOP adjustable.
However a 12ga for an 11 year old is asking a lot.
 
+1 for the wood. You should be able to get a cheap wood one for $20 at a gun show and shorten it and regrind the pad to fit. The syntetic ones are hollow with a solid shaft down the centre for the bolt. There would be no place to attached the pad once it's cut. Frankly, I'd start her with a 20ga, or even lighter.
 
cut down the wood one. However before you do, drill 2 1/4 inch holes perpendicular to the cut line, then save the offcut.Add a as thick a recoil pad a s you can. Then later when she gets bigger, use 2 dowels thru the previously drilled holes for alignment, reattach the offcut, not the prettiest, but workable.
 
teenalake's suggestion is a good one.
If you want to shorten a synthetic, it is easy enough to bond a fitted wooden block into the cut off base of the stock, and have a place to mount a pad.
I would be inclined to get a wooden gunshow takeoff, and alter it. install a quality pad, and stay with light loads.
 
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