Starter trap gun for kid advice

Biggest thing is the ammo. The featherlite ammo is super soft shooting. I load my own and with wee shooters they get the 3/4 or 7/8 oz loads. Little people need little and light guns so normal target loads kick very hard. Cheers and good luck!
 
A H&R single-shot in 20ga has potential to kick like a mule, just be aware. They only weigh about 6lbs and target shooting with one could be a painful experience. As Cartwheel said, find featherlight loads or he'll likely never want go to the range again.
 
Maritime Storm said:
A H&R single-shot in 20ga has potential to kick like a mule, just be aware. They only weigh about 6lbs and target shooting with one could be a painful experience. As Cartwheel said, find featherlight loads or he'll likely never want go to the range again.
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Just picked up the gun yesterday...
Wow, you are right light as a feather and no recoil pad.
I'll have to give it a try first as my kid is a little scrawny.
Updates to follow.
 
Tikkachu said:
I'm 6' 1", 250 pounds and even I don't enjoy shooting my friends H&R 20. I found it to be a real face slapper the times I've shot it.
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Ouch.......
Just shot the .20.......
No way my kid d can shoot it and enjoy himself.
I wouldn't be able to shoot it for a couple rounds.
Back to the drawing board.
 
I think there's a citori .410 on the EE, at least there was.

Went through this with my little wife.....20g kids citori is the right weight for her to handle and swing, but at 6.5ish pounds it kicks as hard as my 8lb 12g.

A semi is worth a try, maybe even with a Mercury recoil tube.

28g is worth considering, but unless you're a reloader its gonna cost youZ. .410 is the same.

GGG
 
My stepson (ex gf's boy) was out for a visit last week from Ontario. He will be 15 next month and is not a small kid at 6'2" and 250lbs. He was after me to shoot one of my shotguns. From the time he was little I had him on a 22 up to as big as a 22-250 later on but never the shotgun. I have a half dozen or so shotguns to choose from but all are break action with the exception of my Model 12 Trap. I chose the model 12 as I personally find due to the weight and not so high standard comb its fairly soft to shoot. I gave him a few minutes of operational lessons and how to stand, mount and hold the gun then gave him 3 Kent 1 oz 1200 fps loads (very soft) to shoot a stationary target in the yard with. He hammered out the 3 rounds and turned around with a big "I did it proud" grin and the first words he muttered after that was so cool were "I felt that, it has more kick than the ranch rifle".
 
Progress update.........
So.......
I picked up a Cooey .20 gauge from a fantastic CGN member slipped on a recoil pad and took my kid to the range.
A couple regulars from the club set him up correctly and got some lower recoil loads ready.
One shot and he was done :( ....... Said he didn't want to shoot shotgun again :(
Then..... His brother who shows no interest in anything other than an SKS said he wanted to try it.....
He loved it and tried to shot a few birds.... Got close but no cigar..... But still had fun.
So my slightly littler one hates recoil....
My hunt is now on for a Remington 1100.
So here's the next questions.....
What is the shortest barrel that would be acceptable to shoot trap for the kid?
Will he need a vent ribbed barrel or would a plain do to start?
Thanks again.
 
I hate to say we told you so but the best advice handed out here was stay away from a lightweight single!! They hurt and that is no way to start a kid off. He'll probably be scared to pull the trigger on the next shotgun and pull his head away from the stock and close his eyes no matter how soft a gun you get him. I shot a 16 ga SxS one time as an adult that was so brutal in recoil it was insane and I can handle recoil but much prefer not to. As to your question a plain barrel will work fine but you seem to be wanting to go down the road of something not really designed for the task?
 
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the spank said:
I hate to say we told you so but the best advice handed out here was stay away from a lightweight single!! They hurt and that is no way to start a kid off. He'll probably be scared to pull the trigger on the next shotgun and pull his head away from the stock and close his eyes no matter how soft a gun you get him. I shot a 16 ga SxS one time as an adult that was so brutal in recoil it was insane and I can handle recoil but much prefer not to. As to your question a plain barrel will work fine but you seem to be wanting to go down the road of something not really designed for the task?
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great advice, totally agree.
 
I'm going to second what Spank has already said, you will have an downright miserable time to get this kid to try in again. The old expression "You never get a Second Chance to make a First Impression" holds true here, you've psychologically taught him shotgunning hurts, the next gun in his hands will need to recoil less than a .410 and have to smoke every target to get him back now.
 
Barrel length depends on what the kid can physically hold. Putting on a recoil pad probably accentuated the recoil for a small kid. A gun that was probably already too long, made longer will have the kid leaning back to hold it up, which increases felt recoil.

Thats why i asked how tall the kid is, my experience is someone around 5' 2" needs approx. a 12.5" length of pull.

A gun has to fit in order to make recoil manageable, i see it all the time where people try to manage it with a slip on pad that only makes it worse, and harder to hit with too.
 
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