Inexpensive shotgun for my wife?

rdelliott

rdelliott

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Hiding in Honduras. I'm a desperate man.
My wife has expressed an interest in coming out and shooting clays with me. But her previous experience with 12-gauges has not been good; she finds the recoil a little excessive, and so I'm looking for something inexpensive in 28 gauge or .410 for her (the fact that it could do double duty as a bunny gun is a bonus).

I don't shoot formal skeet or trap; I've got a cheapassed launcher and simply enjoy blasting the odd clay from time to time with friends and family; the object is not competition but skill-building. So I'm not looking for a fancy skeet gun. I'm thinking double or pump, 28 or .410, $500 or less, ideally $400 or less.

Does anybody have any experience with the Norinco coach guns? Any other suggestions?
 
Baikal makes a sxs 28 for aroud $600 in the 28 and 410. I bought the 410 for my wife and she loves it. I later bought her an inexpensive 28 o/u. If you hunt around they are available, a bit more than double what you are looking to spend though. We first tried a BPS but her arms were to short to shoot it properly. If you can't find anything decent PM me, I have a youth model h&r 28 ga I would be willing to let go if it got a new shooter into the sport. Good luck
 
If you reload . Load up some 7/8 ounce lead loads, which is about what you would fire in a 20 gauge. They are very light to shoot , same velocity, low pressures and the weight of the 12 gauge sucks up a lot of the recoil. If you go to smaller gauges you sometimes have a much lighter gun , shooting less lead but faster, and you get some recoil again. But there some very nice 28 guage doubles out there, pretty and pretty expensive.
 
Has she shot a gas operated semi auto like a Remington 1100? We have some excellent lady shooters at the trap range that shoot these and appreciate the softened recoil. Hardly anyone shoots less than 12ga in trap.

Any pump/double light field gun in 12 ga is going to kick like the dickens.

A quality recoil pad can help a lot too.
 
I'd look for a used 1100 in 20 ga. Recoil is non existant, the gun and shells are cheap, and it packs enough punch for ducks/pheasant/grouse easily.
 
I shoot a remington 1100 in 12 gauge and love the gun. I have had kids, and women shoot it without any complaints of the recoil. I can shoot that gun all day long at ducks, clays, pheasants, or partridge and not have a soar shoulder the next day.
 
Shooters Choice has a used Rem 1100 Tournament in 20ga VG asking $750, and you can dicker with these guys. I imagine you could probably get it for $600 or there abouts, and would be a fine choice for your wife.
 
Mossberg model 500 (pump) in 20ga or .410 goes for under $300 new. The 20ga version has a ported barrel and interchangeable choke tubes. The factory recoil pad on these is pretty good as well. It's also easier to find inexpensive target loads for the 20 than for the 28.
 
The Mossberg 500 in 20ga should be good. It weighs around 7 pounds so recoil should be light. It's only about $300 after tax.

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I'd second the 20ga Mossberg as well if you want to purchase a new gun. A used 20ga SxS, Savage 24 (20ga with .22 or .22mag barrels) or any other used 20ga pump options should also do you fine. The choke tubes on the Mossberg makes it hard to beat when it comes to versatility.

My suspicions are that if you buy the .20ga Mossy, that you'll be using it as your go-to grouse gun whenever the wife isn't around. With the right loads, she could even use it for waterfowl.

Regards,

Frank
 
I support the Rem 1100 12gauge theory. Put a real nice Pachmayr recoil pad on it ($25). My kids shot mine as early as 10 yrs old. 75 shells in a day each with regular 1 1/8 loads and nary a sore nor a reddened shoulder between them.
 
i bought mommabear a 870 wingmaster in a 16 gauge. i was worried that the 12 would be too much recoil on her. she loves shooting the 16.
 
A used 1100 with 1 oz. or even 7/8 oz. loads is very pleasant for the ladies to shoot IF the overall gun weight is not an issue in itself. If so, the 1100 in 20 gauge is a fair bit lighter, and still generates little recoil.

A 28 ga 1100 is extremely pleasant to shoot, however, ammunition can be a little tough to find and is always priced, comparable load to load, more than 12 or 20's. Still lots of places to buy 12 or 20 target loads at around $ 5 a box, where 28's and .410's are more like $ 8 or $ 9 a box. Starting someone out on a .410 generally leads to more frustration at not being able to hit targets than anything else. Let a novice start breaking targets right off the bat with good coaching as to fit and gun mounting technique ... well, recoil won't likely even enter into it ! A too-long, too-heavy gun with snappy loads will do more to turn her off than anything !
 
mossberg makes a cheap 28 ga. o/u

I was looking at a new Mossberg 28 gauge o/u that weighed in at a little over 7 pounds and $650.
I expect that the recoil would be fairly innoculious plus no issues with being a left or right side shooter.
 
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