field shotgun for daughter

[Alberta Separatist 11]

my daughter has short arms, but manages to handle an unaltered Remington 1100 wt - 20 gauge reasonably well, hunting the various varieties of grouse in the foothills.

she has expressed interest in hunting pheasant, sharptail and ducks, of which she has not hunted out on the prairies; and she thinks she needs a 12 gauge shotgun.
the Remington 1100 12 gauges do not have the light weight features of the 20 gauge and all the models we looked at would appear to need buttstock shortening ; possibly barrel too.

could anyone recommend something that could possibly fit her, without breaking the bank?

I know she does not really like the compact pump guns.

 

[FLHTCUI]

Browning makes a youth stock for children and offered up an adult stock for when the child grows into the gun.
Sounds like you need a new but-stock for when she is older and grown out of the altered stock.
Rob

 

[dutchhunter]

I got my daughter a sa20. Looked at a Browning micro silver hunter another great option

 

[brybenn]

Maybe a double gun would work as theyre shorter overall and balance better
Wby sa 20 comes in a youth as does a used beretta 391 youth

 

[Grouse Man]

Actually, she doesn’t need a 12 gauge. The 20 will do fine as long as she does her part.

 

[3macs1]

Actually, she doesn’t need a 12 gauge. The 20 will do fine as long as she does her part.

Agree 100%. Pattern it and hope it has choke tubes
Cheers

 

[BigUglyMan]

Actually, she doesn’t need a 12 gauge. The 20 will do fine as long as she does her part.

I was thinking the same thing. So long as pass-shooting geese isn't on the dance card the 20 is just fine.

 

[Falconflyer]

20 gauges don't always kick less than 12 gauges do, it depends on the weight of the gun, whether it fits her or not and the ammo used.
I owned a 20 gauge once that I couldn't finish a round of skeet with because it was beating me up so bad. And I was putting tens of thousands of rounds per year through 12 gauges at the time shooting sporting clay's and trap and I wasn't particularly recoil sensitive!
Winchester makes 12 gauge reduced recoil AA target loads, they are really soft to shoot and are a good way to introduce a new shooter to the sport.

 

[leveractionjunkie]

If my daughter were already shooting an 1100 in 20ga well then I would just keep on trucking with that. If her gun is fixed choke and it’s of full constriction then maybe pick up a new barrel with rem chokes.

Otherwise I personally would just use the 20ga. Depending on her ability/eagerness to pull the trigger maybe a couple boxes of premium shotshells. If you’re gonna be adding one or two pheasant and sharptail hunts I certainly wouldn’t abandon the 20ga. And if you might get in a couple to a handful of duck hunts, just buy her a couple boxes of Hevi shot and she will never worry about a 12ga again.

One sure way for new shooters to lose interest is excessive felt or perceived recoil.

 

[Suther]

Sounds like you need to buy a new stock for the 1100 and shorten it. Buy a new barrel too if you don't have removable chokes and you're rocking.

 

[Grouse Man]

My load for sharptails is 20 gauge, 7/8 oz of #6. Nothing special. I'll sometimes use a 1 oz load, but more often I'll just use the MOD choke if they are flushing further out.