Reliable First Shotgun

[DeadShot519]

20 gauge Maverick 88. The cheapest, and very reliable. And then if she wants something else after some time owning the Maverick she will know what she likes and doesn’t like and can upgrade according to what she wants and her hunting style.

IMO a shotgun (even a 410) is the wrong gun for grouse. There isn’t much meat on them birds and at close range it’s easy to grind them with a shotgun. Not to mention life is too short to be picking shot out of your meal when you don’t have to. I’ve shot and eaten more grouse than you can shake a stick out and my preferred method is 22LR headshots

 

[0faustus0]

The current new production 870 Wingmasters are nice guns.

And the 870 design is a reliable and proven design .... It was quality control that went downhill at one point and under the Freedom Group ownership.
But I haven't heard of any issues really with current production Wingmasters ....

 

[iron cat]

20 gauge Maverick 88. The cheapest, and very reliable. And then if she wants something else after some time owning the Maverick she will know what she likes and doesn’t like and can upgrade according to what she wants and her hunting style.

IMO a shotgun (even a 410) is the wrong gun for grouse. There isn’t much meat on them birds and at close range it’s easy to grind them with a shotgun. Not to mention life is too short to be picking shot out of your meal when you don’t have to. I’ve shot and eaten more grouse than you can shake a stick out and my preferred method is 22LR headshots

I have never had an issue shooting partridge with a shotgun, all one has to do is know how to shoot!
Cat

 

[Suther]

20 gauge Maverick 88. The cheapest, and very reliable. And then if she wants something else after some time owning the Maverick she will know what she likes and doesn’t like and can upgrade according to what she wants and her hunting style.

IMO a shotgun (even a 410) is the wrong gun for grouse. There isn’t much meat on them birds and at close range it’s easy to grind them with a shotgun. Not to mention life is too short to be picking shot out of your meal when you don’t have to. I’ve shot and eaten more grouse than you can shake a stick out and my preferred method is 22LR headshots

22lr is fun and all, probably my favorite way to bag em too. But if I ONLY used a 22lr I would be missing so many chances on birds that either flush too soon, or are part of a group. If the option is picking shot or not bagging the grouse, I'll pick shot every time.

 

[rubberdonuts]

870 +1
My nephew was given a maverick 88 20ga for his bday one year and it sits in the safe because it won’t eject shells at times. He’s since switched to his dad’s 12ga semi.

 

[Falconflyer]

There has to be a reason why Remington made 11,000,000,000 870's...
And being of poor design is not even in the vocabulary. (*pre-Marlin take over of course*).
A school mate went from a 410 to a 12 gauge in like grade 4 back in the day.
So a 20 LW Wingmaster would be my choice if I where to foprce the choice upon my child.
Let her decide what gun fits her best and in ease of carry for a few hours afeild.
Rob

I think you have a few "extra" 0's in that production number.

A quick google search indicates 11 million, not billion.

 

[K.s.47]

Thanks for all the replies. She went with decent deal we found on a near new mossberg 500 20g. She was pretty firm on the 20 gauge. Looked for old wingermasters but she was on a fast timeline before she drove back to her remote town and options around here were non-existant. After learning more about mossberg seems like the best gun for the price. Actually my BPS sold and while browsing with her couldn't resist a new $360 camo 12g maverick 88 as a loner/backup for next bird season. We'll see how they turn out but actually feel pretty good with the choice. Thanks again for all the knowledge/help.

 

[Clay Huntin' Canuck]

Hope it works out well for her, I own several Mossberg 500 great guns and Maverick 88 hell of a good gun for the $$$.00

 

[SuperCub]

BPS are very nice but also very heavy.

How heavy are they next to a comparable 870?

 

[Smis Five Creedmoor]

Benelli Nova

 

[K.s.47]

How heavy are they next to a comparable 870?

I believe its like a half pound more.

Just googled it. For 12 gauge 28" wood stock:
BPS(field)=7.7lbs, 870(fieldmaster)=7.5lbs.

Weird. Maybe because a lot of the 870's I've held have had short barrels and/or plastic stocks. That being said the remington website lists the plastic stock model as 7.5lbs as well. A unicorn plastic BPS is put as 1oz heavier on the browning website