First shotgun for my daughter?

44 degrees here in St Paul.

51 here right now, pretty nice except it makes you want warm weather more but its nice to have it.

37 here at the moment forcast of -15 Tuesday night

Just issued for NW Iowa a Winter Weater Advisory 6 am Tues till 12pm tuesday.

warmed up to about 42 here and supposed to be 60 degress colder by tues. morn.

We had 63 here in SE Nebraska today. There sure was a lot of water on top of the ice I drove by today. 30 hours from now it could be close to 0.

It was 36 when I came off the lake tonight. Lots of water on the lake. Pretty freaky seeing it splash off the truck when you are on 22 inches of ice.

makes me think ever so carefully about armistace day back in the 1940’s…..many good people became victims of the weather and we should all learn not to take it lightly.

As long as the water stays on top of the ice, so will you.

I’m looking into buying my 10 year old daughter her first shotgun. I’m thinking a 410 for her first, the ones I’ve been looking at are the mossberg 505 or a rossi single shot. Has anyone else went through this before & what did you like?

it depends on what it will be used for.
one thing to make sure you do is take her with when looking at guns. even though it may be a .410 it can still be to long for a kid. i ran in to this when my son was small.(i had a .410 but it didn’t fit him well) he could shoot it but not very comfotably. you might want to see if they make a youth model.

My vote goes for youth 20 ga. Shouldn’t kick too bad and she can use it for years to come Congrats… fun times ahead

big G, I thought about that but I’m worried about the kick. I don’t want to scare her & then she’ll never want to go again.

Mark, not sure on the budget, but this CZ in 28ga. would be a gun, she can use and enjoy for life. CZ has alot of nice guns, check it out

CZ 28ga

I would also vote 20 gauge… So many applications for that years down the road, where a .410 limits you right from the start. But if you really don’t want that, try a 28 gauge Remington 870 pump, with a short stock or some sort of youth model. Better yet, borrow a 20 gauge and have her shoot it once or twice?? Try some softer dove loads or something. Or how about a .22 to get started? near zero recoil, inexpensive, and fun to shoot as long as you have a range or a place to shoot.

What will this gun be used for over the next 2-3 years? Next 5-8 years? Next 10-20 years?

Mike

I think a 410 would be a good starting point for a little girl. It is the smallest and kicks the least. Hopefully she has shot other guns like pellet and .22’s? If she likes shooting/hunting you can upgrade in the future.

Personally I think a single shot is the way to start a kid.They learn all about shooting and how to make the shot count. And without follow up shots are of the safest.

Pumps can be too heavy and auto’s, while easier on recoil, are too complicated and dangerous for a beginner.

I once saw a very young kid at the trap range with his dad and his first “pump”. He had a major problem just holding the gun up. Especially after a few rounds.

I would highly recommend a youth model 20 gauge. My family has a youth model Remington 870 that my younger brother first used 15 years ago. This gun has been passed around and used by relatives to introduce young shooters to a shotgun. The smaller stock is a better fit for kids to shoot and is well worth the investment.

The more I talk to people about they keep saying the same about the youth rem 870 20 gauge. Now I need to go look at the 870. Keep the idea’s coming thanks

My first gun was a single shot 20 gauge when i was like 7 years old but the next year my dad got me a 20 gauge remington 870 that was a youth. Thats what I would get her. I used that until i was able to shoot a 12 gauge.

We picked up a youth 20 for our son a while back. We looked quite a bit at the 870 Express Jr. It is 1″ shorter than the youth but a regular youth stock can be modified almost 1.5″ with some very simple tools, so that is the route we went. After a trying it out at regular length I did modify it by about an inch. The good thing is the 870 youth stocks are avaliable on Ebay for around $15 and the full length stocks also fit the receiver. Connor just turned six and can handle the 870 just fine with an empty tube.

Prety sweet little gun, with the extra full choke, and Federal HW with the flight control wads in #6 shot, its putting well over 100 hits in a 10″ circle @ 40 yrds. Hope someday he gives this gun back so his dad can use it in the turkey woods.

CW

Went through it myself and I’ll share my first hand experience. When my son wanted a shotgun, even before he knew he did, I found myself staring at a very cool H&R Versa Pak .22/410 combo for $175 brand new. Can’t go wrong right? Well correct for the most part. Awesome and accurate rifle for sure. Only complaint is it needs a good dose of oil on the receiver to keep the brown spots off it. No big deal really. But if I had it to do over again would I do the same? Maybe. And in fact I have it to do over again in November when my little girls birthday is. She is tiny and will not get a 20 gauge. My son isn’t so tiny and I’d rather have gotten him a 20 because he shoots a lot and ammo is cheap for that where 410 isn’t. Wally Mart has the cheapest you’ll find FYI.

My advice? If she is smaller sized and a little timid get yourself a Versa Pak. Let her shoot the .22 awhile to get used to the noise (Good ear protection is key. If the report is loud she will get jumpy. If not, she’s golden!) and weight of the gun. Then switch barrels and let her shoot some light loads. The report is a little louder and a bit more recoil but not terribly so.

If you can find a 20 gauge with a short length of pull (LOP) she may like it. But good luck there even on youth models. Most are over 13″ IIRC. I didn’t look to see where you are from but if you are relatively close I’d be happy to let you test both the Versa Pak and a Mossberg 500 Youth 20 gauge.

20ga 870/BPS

if you are worried about recoil, get an auto. the inertia systems have little to no recoil, especially with such light loads.. my aunt’s first shotgun (bought last year) is a 20ga Benelli M2 youth.

gander had some good deals on shotguns. they are really trying to push those used guns out right now too. you might find a diamond in the rough over there.

Mark:

The recoil on that youth 20 gauge in an 870 is more substantial than you’d think. I had a buddy that shot that gun into his 20’s, and having the opportunity to shoot it several times with pheasant, grouse, trap, and even slugs, the thing has more felt recoil than many of my 12 gauges. Even with trap load, that thing has pop.

Pros are that ammo is relatively cheap, readily available, and it’s a very maneuverable shotgun for a smaller person. Many of the 870’s have extra stock options to use as the child grows. I think it’s probably by far the most popular youth model shotgun, but if recoil is concerning to you or your daughter, it might not be the best option.

NEF makes some great break action guns that are very reasonably priced, are easy to operate, are still maneuverable, yet don’t seem to kick as bad. Might be a good option to look into? I know alot of firearms safety instructors however that despise the hammer/break action guns for youth due to safety reasons. Why, I’m not sure.

Joel

Mark,

I don’t have the youth 870 20 ga, but if you would like her to try out the 870 20 just shoot me a pm on the fishing side.

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I know alot of firearms safety instructors however that despise the hammer/break action guns for youth due to safety reasons. Why, I’m not sure.

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The reason, I believe, is that on older hammer style guns there is a substantial chance that a dropped hammer (de-cocking) will cause an unintentional discharge. Since the advent of the transfer bar that chance is as close to zero as it is on any other gun. You’d have to have it demonstrated to fully understand but it works flawlessly on both my Taurus Judge and the aforementioned H&R Versa Pak.

A common misconception is that a youth gun will transfer less recoil when, in fact, the exact opposite is normally true. The only difference in a youth gun is they are normally going to be sporting a shorter barrel and stock. Everything else is the same. The reason you may actually have more recoil is the gun itself has less weight to absorb the recoil. The new slip on recoil pads are tremendously effective but are often counterproductive in terms of having a short enough LOP for shorter arms. The weight of some of the small shotguns I’ve seen at gander is too light IMO for a small or nervous person. What those real light, single shot, shottys do it feel good and manageable to a kid while “shouldering” the gun in the store. Junior or Little Missy can hold the gun up and feels good so home it goes. But they may have as much as a pound of missing weight and that WILL transfer more recoil into their shoulders. Food for thought!

I just found out yesterday that my daughter can shoot a deer this year & she doesn’t need a hunters safety course. Which she will take when she turns 12. But the state of Minnesota will give any 10 or 11 year old, a free deer license, but she has to be with me all of the time. If they don’t do you know of any other ranges that would let her. Now my timetable for picking up my daughters first gun has changed. Does anyone know of any south metro gun ranges that allow public shooting?

Sounds like Minnesota adopted a similar program as Wisconsin. This will be the first year hunters at least 10 years old can hunt thanks to the Mentored Hunter program. The guidelines require there to be one gun and the hunter must be within arms reach at all times. An awesome program if you ask me!

Sorry I’m no help knowing where a range is for you though.

Well guy’s we went with a Mossberg 500 youth that came with a slug barrel & a ribbed barrel. That one fit her the best. She get’s to shoot it for time on Monday.

Awesome, that is a gun she can own for a lifetime. If my memory is true the youth model Mossy has the shortest length of pull of any run of the mil gun going. She’ll be happy. Just remember she should have some good QUIET ear muffs so the “bang” doesn’t spook her.

Thanks, Riveratt