Shotgun and wife need advice

kharlingca

kharlingca

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Montreal Region, QC
Hey all,
I got my wife into shooting a couple of years back and she now has her PAL and RPAL. We have both been looking into shooting more skeet and trap. But 12ga is too much for her between kick and gun weight.

I have been looking into 20ga and semi auto for less recoil but I am not sure what gun to get.

So far I have checked the Winchester x3 seems light weight are there any other choices out there for 1000.00? or less if possible? they have to be light weight
 
My wife has a Remington 870 in 20ga that she uses for waterfowl hunting. She just picked up an over/under in 20 ga, a Savage Milano (Made by Rizzini in Italy) to use for upland. Dante's (in Montreal) has them on sale for $997, not a bad price IMHO.

Cheers
Jay
 
Although over your limit the Beretta 391 in 20 gauge is a very soft shooting and light gun. They also make a reduced length version for smaller statured shooters. Epps has a couple in stock as I recall.
 
I have this Ithaca/SKB XL900 20ga that my daughter shoots. It is very light and the recoil is very managable for her and she is only 5'3".

Consider it in you options as they can be had in the EE from time to time for under $500.00.

ithaca_20s.jpg
 
Something to consider if you are going to have a stock modified to fit your wife. Women are shaped differently than men in the chest area. Most gun manufacturers and most gun smiths do not recognize this self evident fact. Women can benefit from much more pitch - the angle that the muzzle is down from horizontal if the butt is placed on a vertical surface. I like 1-2" of pitch , most women could use 3-4". The reason so many women don't mount and hold a shotgun properly is because they don't have a gun that fits! The toe of the stock also needs to be "toed out" or at minimum the pad ground away on the inside to make room for most women's fuller chest area. Just a couple of suggestions that she might benefit from.
 
I'm in the same vote as my future wife finds a 12ga to heavy and to harsh on recoil. She's 34dd and so far can only handle a 410 as she stands so weird to shoulder the gun do to her chest. Any gun stock she uses will have to be reshaped. Also shorter barrels seem to help keep more if the weight in as less felt weight in the left hand holding it up
 
20 ga. fixed breach can still give a snappy recoil. You might consider a 28 ga. Good ballistics and minimum recoil, in both fixed and auto. My wife has a 28 ga. Rem. 1100, with short stock. Fits her like a glove.
 
I have the same thing going on here. My sweetie is 5'2" and guns such as 12g 870 or 12g Benelli Nova don't fit her. A 14 or 14 1/2 length of pull is simply too much. She needs 12-13..

The Remington 870 20g youth 21" barrel, Remington 11-87 20g youth and the Weatherby SA-08 20g youth with 24 inch barrel fit her perfectly and have a shorter LOP. So far I am leaning towards the semi auto Weatherby so she can have a bit more fun with trap shooting. It's only $479 and in my opinion is great value for the price.

http://www.weatherby.com/product/shotguns/sa_08/sa08_sytheticyouth

While the 870 works it's a pump and the 11-87 isn't reliable with light loads for trap shooting. The Weatherby allows you to change the piston for light or heavy loads and the price is right.
 
My wife had a Benelli 20ga Nova it was a P.O.S. it shot 1 1/2' low with everything we patterned it with. She now shoots an 12ga express. I agree with trying 7/8 oz 12 ga loads. A trip to the gunsmith can make any gun ito a youth gun by shortening the stock.
 
RedLab said:
A trip to the gunsmith can make any gun ito a youth gun by shortening the stock.
Click to expand...

Please note: A trip to the gunsmith will not accomplish what she needs if the gunsmith is going to simply turn a regular stock into a "youth" stock. Youth stocks do not fit women either! More pitch, and some toe out, are required to fit most women shooters.
 
I'll chime in on this and reinforce the idea of having a KNOWLEDGEABLE smith fit the stock to her, no matter what the gun.

Don't be afraid of weight in a target gun. It helps smooth out your swing and soaks up recoil. Your wife will build muscles to lift and swing the gun as she shoots more. My personal preference in your situation would be a 20 gauge 1100, but be prepared to clean it. One last thing. If you buy an autoloader and it seems whippy to her, you can buy weights that screw on in place of the forend cap.
 
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