First shotgun for boy

P

Prairie Hunter

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Saskatoon, SK
My boy is going to turn 12 years old pretty soon. He loves going hunting with me. He always tag along for all the geese, duck hunt and deer hunt. I want to buy a shotgun for him for this year's waterfowl hunt. What do you recommend a shotgun that's light enough for him to carry and with moderate recoil not going to scare him for using? Mainly going to use for duck and geese hunt.
 
Much as I prefer a 12 gauge for goose hunting I think a 20 gauge semi auto using premium shells is the way to go with a younger shooter. I wouldn't get a really light gun as this would magnify recoil and a gun's weight in a blind is not as important as its recoil. There are many good guns out there and the main criteria for me would be a good fit which could require shortening the stock depending on the boy's size. Good luck and enjoy your outdoor times with your son.
 
I remember my first shotgun. It was an IGA backpacker in .410. I was about 7, I think, but by the time I was 12, I was using a 12 with no problems. Give the kid more credit :) He's tougher than you think.

When the birds are coming in, he's not going to notice the sound and recoil. And there's not much that will turn him off of hunting like never hitting anything. Not saying that he won't ever hit anything with a 20, but shooting birds is hard enough that a new hunter doesn't need the handicap of a smaller payload, and less speed/range. A few bruises on his shoulder will go unnoticed, or if they are noticed, will be badges of pride when tellign and retellign his story of hunting for the first time and smoking a couple goose :)

Something like a Maverick 88 combo is pretty cheap, and will cover waterfowl, upland, even deer/moose hunting if needed. If it's too long, you could find a youth sized butt for fairly cheap, i would imagine, or even get an adjustable "tactical" style stock will get the fir right. Take him out to the skeet range for lots of practice.
 
IMO for waterfowl with a slight framed person, 20 ga is ideal. Of the gauges i would see the popularity as being 12, 20, 410, 28, and 16. The 16 is definitely least popular, with the recent resurgence of the 28 perhaps the 16 can also re appear. I know getting ammo for 20 is much easier and less expensive than either 28 or 16. Most ammo in those two will also be for upland and not steel.

Did not see a budget figure. So say someone picked up a 20 in a gun with adjustable spacers for LOP. Then what action. In new a simple 20 pump or SXS could be had for about $600, whereas, a high end semi would be $2000+. All of this is budget related, and depends on if this is a gun for 5 years or until he is old enough to get a lifetime full sized waterfowl gun.

My vote would go for something like a Weatherby automatic, Franchi affinity, Stoeger. In say a pump, see what is available in a Rem 870 compact.

My 2cents...round it up to 5 since the penny.
 
nowarningshot said:
IMO for waterfowl with a slight framed person, 20 ga is ideal. Of the gauges i would see the popularity as being 12, 20, 410, 28, and 16. The 16 is definitely least popular, with the recent resurgence of the 28 perhaps the 16 can also re appear. I know getting ammo for 20 is much easier and less expensive than either 28 or 16. Most ammo in those two will also be for upland and not steel.

Did not see a budget figure. So say someone picked up a 20 in a gun with adjustable spacers for LOP. Then what action. In new a simple 20 pump or SXS could be had for about $600, whereas, a high end semi would be $2000+. All of this is budget related, and depends on if this is a gun for 5 years or until he is old enough to get a lifetime full sized waterfowl gun.

My vote would go for something like a Weatherby automatic, Franchi affinity, Stoeger. In say a pump, see what is available in a Rem 870 compact.

My 2cents...round it up to 5 since the penny.
Click to expand...

Lol..... 2 cents rounds down to zero now..... :)

That being said, I will throw in my two cents for the compact 870 as well..... lots of barrel availabilities so he can do anything from ducks to deer..... there..... now we have 4 cents which rounds up to 5..... ;)
 
We are staying at Edmonton for couple of days now. Planning to take my boy to few local gun stores to check out few option and let him have a feel of different shoguns too. Thanks for all the suggestions. If you know any good store that we should visit, let me know.
 
X2 on P and D. I would personally go with an 870 due to all of the options as well. 12 Guage over a 20. I bought my daughter a mossburg pump and I wouldn't buy another one.
 
i bought my kid a rem compact 870 in 20ga when they was 9, great light loads for grouse too, now he is grown up, we put in all the spacers and i even use it for birds on occasion, small, light, carry with ease..
 
What's his shooting experience? And his approximate size. Although his size hasn't much to do with it.
Think 20 or 12 gauge semi-auto Youth model with a recoil pad, if he's recoil sensitive. Any brand will do.
 
How big is the boy? You might find a 16ga pump somewhere but more likely a 20 will be in the offing. You could also look for a used Model 12 in 16 and you could set him up with that. Another good choice would be a decent used O/U in 20 with interchangeable chokes.

When I was 10 my dad gave me an 870 Youth in 20. The nice thing about that is I can (and have) swapped the short stock for an adult stock and could also change out the barrel too. I've started a couple of new shooters on that gun and even 26 years later it's still running strong and like new.
 
I recall a class mate who got his second shotgun when he was 13 years old.
He had been hunting with his dad and grandpa for years before with a single shot 410.
The gun he received for his 13th birthday was an 870 Wingmaster 2-3/3'' .
He showed off the black and blue and yellow and red bruised shoulder the next day in class.
Start him out with a soft shooting autoloader he can handle and report back after his first hunting trip
with smiles and stories of shots being made and the fun had in the blind.
Rob
 
I was shooting my dad's 12 ga ithaca semi by the the time I time I was 12 with no problems. I personally would either go with a semi auto if you're planning on 12 ga or go with a 20 ga.There's nothing worse than starting a young shooter out with something that has to much recoil, it scares them and they either want to quit (which I have seen before) or develop a bad flinch which is very hard to break.
 
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