Starter trap gun for kid advice

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Looking for some help from the experts in here...... Again.....
My 11 year old came out to the range with me last weekend and decided he would like to shoot trap.
He's not the biggest kid around and there is no way my shotgun will fit him.
So..... To make it fun for him, do I start him off with a .20 gauge youth model or try a smaller .12 gauge.
Also... Pump? Single shot? Don't think a semi is in the budget :(
Oh ya, the b word (budget) is pretty important to ( he already got a pretty good small bore target rifle this year).
Any opinions or suggestions for gauge and model would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again.
 
How tall is your kid? If you can find a used 1100 20 gauge is unfortunately one of your best options.

A nice 28 gauge is maybe even better, but ammo and budget dont go together.
 
IMHO, your best option is a good used 1100 in 12 gauge. There are a ton of barrels and stocks available out there. Find an 1100 and then look for a shortened stock and a shorter barrel (if required). It is easier to buy or reload lighter 12 gauge loads than any others. Recoil is affected by gun fit, then the amount and velocity of lead out the end of the barrel.
 
Beretta687EELL said:
IMHO, your best option is a good used 1100 in 12 gauge. There are a ton of barrels and stocks available out there. Find an 1100 and then look for a shortened stock and a shorter barrel (if required). It is easier to buy or reload lighter 12 gauge loads than any others. Recoil is affected by gun fit, then the amount and velocity of lead out the end of the barrel.
Click to expand...

I would agree with this advice 100%.
 
A single shot, unless we are talking a Browning BT-99 or BT-100 Micro Midas, would be a bad idea. Most are too light and as a result, recoil terribly. 12ga 1 Oz loads, #8 @1145fps, through a semi that will cycle them would be you best choice, a used Remington 1100 with a fixed Full choke should fit your budget nicely. Next would be to look at a slide-action that is reasonably heavy, Browning BPS Micro Midas, Winchester SXP Compact, Remington 870 Youth and Mossberg 500 Bantam. 12ga is preferred over 20ga for trap, although my youngest member at the club holds his own on the squad just fine with a Mossberg 500 20ga. Fit is going to be your concern, followed by weight. If it doesn't fit him, he won't hit anything with it, if it's too heavy it hinder his ability to swing it, too light and the recoil will affect him. In other words, find the heaviest gun that fits him, that he can handle.
 
Thats the problem with a 12, even cut down, if its too heavy he will have to lean back to hold it up, if he has to lean back he wont absorb recoil properly.

Fyi you cant cut a 1100 much shorter then 12.5", which seems to fit a 5'2" person reasonably for length of pull.

You will probably have to raise the comb some too, kids have smaller heads so their cheek bones are closer to their eyes. Cardboard and electrical tape will solve that cheaply.
 
I too would recommend a semi auto for the simple fact that they don't recoil near as much as a pump or break action. I shot a Beretta A400 semi for a couple years in trap shooting. I tried a Browning XT O/U and even with a target 1-1/8 #8 shot target load, it almost knocked me over because I wasn't expecting any recoil. It took 1 or 2 shots to realize I had to expect a little more recoil and now I don't even notice it. If your son plans to shoot 1 or 2 boxes everytime he goes out shooting, I'd definitely recommend a semi auto
 
I'd check out the Corwin Arms website if you can't find a used semi.

Lots of guns there under 6.5 pounds. Lots of pumps there under $300 and semi's are under $700'ish.

Lots of people talk about Turkish reliability but mossberg and weatherby seem to like them.

Just a though.
 
Thanks for all the input....
Waiting for someone to show up with some thing for him to try out to see what he likes.
I'll let you know what we end up with.
 
One other gun you might consider is the Remington 870 Compact Junior 20 gauge. My daughter was 10 when I got one for her back in December. I added about 12oz of weight in the back of the stock, and she only shoots Winchester AA featherlite low recoil/low noise (7/8oz, 950fps) shells for now while recoil is an issue. Now at age 11, she's 70lbs soaking wet and stands a mighty 4 feet tall. Despite that, she handles her gun like a champ, and loves it enough that she bugs me to take her both to sporting competitions and bird hunting.

This past weekend I took her to our local club's member appreciation afternoon where they had a 5 stand 3 minute 25 bird fun-flurry set up. She drew quite the crowd as she "pumped that gun for all it's worth!" and broke 11 out of the 25 total clays thrown.

I have a 12 gauge gun for her that I've set up almost the same way, however it's youth stock is still a whole inch and a half longer than the stock that comes with the compact junior. Vis-a-vis fit, she's not quite big enough for the 12 gauge gun yet although next year I think she will be. If not, no worries as her compact junior has spacers that will allow me to gradually add length.

Here she is a couple of weeks ago putting together a new episode of her "hunting and cooking" show, and here's a video she made for her school's talent show back in the spring.



When I bought the compact junior, I bought two and set them up the same (both with identical 12 oz brass weights in the buttstock). My thinking was I'd have both my daughters on them at the same time, however it's turning out that the youngest just isn't big enough yet and by the time she is, her older sister will be into the 12. I'm going to sell the other gun (still brand new) shortly, let me know if you have any interest. I love the idea of another kid getting their start with it...:)

Cheers,

Brobee
 
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LeducAb said:
I'd check out the Corwin Arms website if you can't find a used semi.

Lots of guns there under 6.5 pounds. Lots of pumps there under $300 and semi's are under $700'ish.

Lots of people talk about Turkish reliability but mossberg and weatherby seem to like them.

Just a though.
Click to expand...

They both like the fact that the Turkish companies will built a shotgun at their price point.
 
The Turkish can build some good guns, Weatherby, Akkar, CZ are some examples of good ones, the Turkish Mossbergs/Khan are not in same catergory, they are built to a price point.
 
Wow..... Awesome.
Looks like she is really having a blast.
I can just imagine the poop storm if my kid brought a video with a gun in it to his school.
We keep our shooting activities on the down low.
I shared a pic of him shooting an AR15 at the club to some colleagues and got some raised eye brows.
870 compact, eh.....
 
Brobee said:
One other gun you might consider is the Remington 870 Compact Junior 20 gauge. My daughter was 10 when I got one for her back in December. I added about 12oz of weight in the back of the stock, and she only shoots Winchester AA featherlite low recoil/low noise (7/8oz, 950fps) shells for now while recoil is an issue. Now at age 12, she's 70lbs soaking wet and stands a mighty 4 feet tall. Despite that, she handles her gun like a champ, and loves it enough that she bugs me to take her both to sporting competitions and bird hunting.

This past weekend I took her to our local club's member appreciation afternoon where they had a 5 stand 3 minute 25 bird fun-flurry set up. She drew quite the crowd as she "pumped that gun for all it's worth!" and broke 11 out of the 25 total clays thrown.

I have a 12 gauge gun for her that I've set up almost the same way, however it's youth stock is still a whole inch and a half longer than the stock that comes with the compact junior. Vis-a-vis fit, she's not quite big enough for the 12 gauge gun yet although next year I think she will be. If not, no worries as her compact junior has spacers that will allow me to gradually add length.

Here she is a couple of weeks ago putting together a new episode of her "hunting and cooking" show, and here's a video she made for her school's talent show back in the spring.



When I bought the compact junior, I bought two and set them up the same (both with identical 12 oz brass weights in the buttstock). My thinking was I'd have both my daughters on them at the same time, however it's turning out that the youngest just isn't big enough yet and by the time she is, her older sister will be into the 12. I'm going to sell the other gun (still brand new) shortly, let me know if you have any interest. I love the idea of another kid getting their start with it...:)

Cheers,

Brobee
Click to expand...

Looks like she is really having a blast.
I can just imagine the poop storm if my kid brought a video with a gun in it to his school.
We keep our shooting activities on the down low.
I shared a pic of him shooting an AR15 at the club to some colleagues and got some raised eye brows.
870 compact, eh.....
 
I started my son on a 20gauge when he was 12. Full size though and it was too heavy for him at the time but he eventually got the hang of it and bagged a couple grouse his first time out (when he showed me how to hunt grouse, having learned from my ex's inlaws)


Shooting his first piece of bush garbage... Who the hell hauls giant piece of trash to the woods I'll never know. But yes we picked it all up.

 
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