youth clays

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popcanhunter

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my daughter (just turned 9) wants to get into shooting clays this summer

currently i have a 410 single, thats in need of repair (foregrip fell apart).

ive been told to get her away from the 410, because it will make shooting clays prohibitively difficult for a noob.

ive been told to give her a 12.
ive been told 20 kicks MORE than 12.
ive been told 12 kicks MORE than 20.
obviously not everything ive been told can be true.

im looking at a maverick 88 youth 20ga.

but i also see bantam, mini, super mini bantam, and all other words for youth sized guns.

whats the diff?

what should i do?

(the mav88 youth is like $150 less than anything else. i have a mossy 500, and a mav88 myself [both in 12], so im aware of the quality difference, and dont mind it for this purchase)
 
Recoil is based on how heavy the gun is, how heavy the shot load is and how fast the shot is. The fit of the gun will affect how the shooter feels the recoil. Gauge is nota factor, other than 12ga usually has a heavier load and is a heavier gun. If you load your own, a 3/4 oz 12g load in a heavier gun is very soft. Youth guns tend to be light and therefore kick more. Add weight in the stock to help, but try to keep the gun with a good balance. Keep it fun and concentrate less on how many she misses, but instead on the ones she smashes. The names of the guns are in reference to the sizes.. Try to find something that fits her well, this will be most important to deal with recoil. Good luck!
 
i dont load my own, and not sure i will start. (can i save money doing so? relative to buying 250rd for $70?)

tough to know what fits her well, when theres nowhere to go to try them.

i know weight is anti-recoil, but unfortunately weight seems to be the prohibitive factor when it comes to her shouldering a weapon. perhaps i should have her "train" shouldering empty weapons at home, to get her muscles built up.

given that she can shoulder X lbs, a 20ga would kick less than 12, given two guns both weighing X. im really leaning towards that mav88 youth 20
 
personally everything else equal I'd say go with the 20. I've shot clays with a. 410 and it literally put bb sized holes in them and they stayed intact spare a few cracks. no satisfaction unless you dust em in my opinion. plus like mentioned before she may like it more if she can tell she's hitting stuff.
 
If 2 guns weigh the same and both shoot the same load, they will have the same recoil even if one is a 12 and the other a 20. I think a 20 would be fine for her. A 20 with 7/8 loads won't be too bad. You don't save much loading 12g, but other gauges can be expensive, especially if you stick with a .410.

If you did load your own you can easily make up a slow 12g 3/4 oz load that would be super soft, but thats not in the cards so a 20 with 7/8 is a better bet and 20ga with 3/4 would be even better but this isnt a normal commercial load.
 
a 20 g pump will hurt a small girl I learned that the hard way .I ended up getting my girls a rem 11 87 20g youth model .thy could shot it with out hurting ,Dutch
 
You will probably find a good used semi (1100, 1187, Super X-1) at a fairly reasonable price. IMHO, 12 gauge has a number of advantages over the sub-gauges. Low recoil loads are more readily available. Parts and accessories are more plentiful. Cut down and adjustable guns are also plentiful in 12 gauge. A used 12 gauge in good repair tends to hold the value and are easy to sell or make into a big person's gun by replacing the stock.

Gun fit is the key way to minimize recoil. Recoil is mainly affected by the amount of lead and the velocity that it accelerates to. 1 oz. of lead traveling at 1145 fps has the same or more recoil coming out of a smaller tube than a larger tube.
 
I've shot the Mossberg version of that Maverick you're looking at and trust me it will pound the snot out of your daughter! I recommend you find her a 20ga semiauto and try stick to a low velocity 7/8oz load. A 20ga semi is a gun she can use for many years...forever actually. I'd cut down the stock and get an adjustable cheek piece installed too so you can make the gun continuously fit her as she grows.
 
There is a girl about the same age at our club that shoots a 26" barreled 12 ga Remington 1100 and 7/8 loads. Though not really a small or light gun, it's pretty light recoiling and she seems to do well with it. Would probably agree with others about getting a 20 ga though -- it's a nice compromise as I've seen too many youth shooters start with .410's and get frustrated when they can't break more than 5-6 birds per round.
 
There's actually a pretty good 12ga deal on the EE right now that would suit her well I think. Its a Breda Altair, 2 3/4" chamber, 24" vent rib barrel with external chokes. This gun is pretty much identical to the Beretta AL, A301 series and the Browning B80 shotguns...the barrels are actually interchangeable. They are very reliable and not too heavy too.
 
I took her to a store to shoulder different sizes. Bantam, super bantam, youth, all too big. Mini is the size that fits her.

Also, she doesn't want to step up to 20ga until she's more comfy with 410. I took the skill saw to the 410 stock last night. Hopefully it's more comfy for her now.
 
popcanhunter said:
I took her to a store to shoulder different sizes. Bantam, super bantam, youth, all too big. Mini is the size that fits her.

Also, she doesn't want to step up to 20ga until she's more comfy with 410. I took the skill saw to the 410 stock last night. Hopefully it's more comfy for her now.
Click to expand...

I guess we all look at things from our own perspective and experience ... good for you, you listened to the person that is most important.
 
My daughter is older than yours but VERY small for her age and I mean very !!!! I will share this with you; she loves to shoot but never tried skeet before and asked me to take her and show her this past fall. Of course I said yes (big Smile) grabbed my 12g semi, 20 g single and 20 g pump from the safe and away we went. I started her off with the 20g single because its the smallest and lightest, NOPE kicks to much dad I don't like it so Ok try the 20 g pump its bigger and heavier maybe that will reduce the felt recoil NOPE still kicks to much dad, so I say grab my 12 semi bang bang nailed her first set of doubles ever ! she will not even look at the 20 g's now only my semi loves it and wants her own. If I could I would get her a 20 g semi, they use up some gases that cause the felt recoil there for reducing felt recoil, if it was just a little to much for her I would get the barrel ported and she would be off to the races with it and costing me a fortune in ammo LOL . Hope this helps.
 
update;

had the 410 out yesterday (in knee deep snow for me, waist deep for her). with the shoulder stock cut down, and a recoil pad taped on it, it fit great, was fun to shoot, and was all around awesome. historically, it had been one shot and "im done", but yesterday for the first time it was shot after shot after shot, until she was too cold (otherwise would have used up the box).
 
A-5's come around somewhat cheap every once in a while off the EE.
Then one could chop the rear stock to fit the young gal.
The Ithaca in the EE right now looks a tad long, but hmm hm hmm hm hmmmmm.
 
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