Kids shotgun question.

[AZHUNTER05]

At what age was your kid physically able to shoot/handle a shotgun? Im not asking about maturity, just physically able to shoot the gun. My son is 5 1/2 right now and shoots his B.B. gun and .22 fairly well. Im considering buying him a single shot .410 or .20 gauge shotgun for squirrel season this year. I plan on having him shoot from a rest, so Im not concerned about the weight. My main concern is the recoil of the gun itself. I dont want to scare him from shooting by introducing too much gun at a young age.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Goldfinger78]

My son started shooting a 20 gauge from a rest when he was 7. I think every kid will react different. I would suggest a semi auto and only load one round at time. The semi auto action would help with the recoil.

[Big Browns]

Honestly, the single shot guns kick worse than a pump or semi-auto. I had my son shooting a semi-auto 20 gauge at 5 years old. I recommend a semi auto or O/U instead of a single gauge. I have a bunch of shotguns that will probably fit him if you want to let him try some.

[IA Born]

Yep, every kid is different. I got my daughter her 20 gauge when she was 9 and she wasn't strong enough to hold a Remington 870 or 1100 youth/compact. The best thing for her at 9 was a Mossberg 500 youth. It certainly rocked her back every time she shot it, but now she loves it and, at almost 14, can almost fit into a full size 1100 that I started with.

 

I had my son shoot that 20 gauge when he was 7. He did it, but didn't like it much. I've never known the recoil to be different between a single-shot or a pump since there is no gas operation to absorb the recoil. I had him shoot my single shot .410 (first gun I ever hunted with) that same day and he was crazy in love with shooting that thing. He has his own Weatherby semiauto youth 20 now and loves it, but still loves to shoot the .410.

 

Both of my kids learned quickly that shooting for practice and shooting at game are totally different when it comes to recoil. That will also make a difference in your son's reaction. Practice with the lightest loads you can get and then slip the good hunting loads in when its go-time. He'll never know the difference.

[jim]

Get one of the limb saver butt pads. It makes a world of difference in the felt recoil.

[dse]

I would get him on a 22-250 or something like that something that has a little recoil and muzzle blast then a 243 or 410. The jump from a 22 to a 20 ga is huge if you move up gradually it won't be such a surprise to find out about recoil.

[Tropicalmulch]

I got a youth single shot 20 ga for my stepson when he was 11 and with 7.5 shot bird loads that thing kicked harder then any of my 12 ga pumps. The 8 shot was surprisingly tamer. That being said the better the gun fits the shooter the less recoil they will feel. There's a difference between felt recoil and actual recoil. + 1 on the limbsaver recoil pads

[Sparkitoff]

My two boys started at 5 years old with a 410 single shot. First, I cut and modified the stock to fit them. It was somewhat heavy, and they started shooting stationary targets and rabbits and squirres. At 8 years old I opened the choke for a better pattern than the factory full was throwing. The patterns became even and full out to 20 yards and were still good enough for smaller birds at 25 yards. I did not pattern past that. The boys broke a lot of clay targets from a manual machine and many trap targets at the range by standing on the house itself (with permission of the range officer and nobody else on that range). Many doves, quail and pheasant fell to that little gun with the boys behind it. I will add that neither son could cock the hammer by himself and I liked it that way. If a bird was coming into range I would cock it for them and monitor the situation carefully. If the dog pointed, I would cock the hammer and walk right behind them overseeing everything. I think you need to get the gun to fit your child first and then consider tinkering with the gun, ammo and set-up to provide a safe, fun and productive shoot.

[rcdinaz]

Youth guns are very light, single shots even more and they kick like a mule. I don't even like to shoot the little single shot 20 we have. .410 may be a lot better but I have never owned one.

 

Like everyone said all kids are different I have daughters and one of them is not bothered by any amount of recoil so far 300 RUM 357 pistol etc. She asked why I don't I have a 50 cal. a few years back. The other seems to feel everything and is very sensitive to noise as well.

 

See if you can borrow one if you can so you can do a test run.

[AZHUNTER05]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

[hoghntr]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

I think pretty much everybody starts with a single shot 410 and moves up to a 20 gauge pump when 410 quits bruising them and then into a 12. I think it should go single shot 20 maybe 20 gauge pump and then into semi-auto 20 gauge. The gas operation on a 20 gauge like a Remington LT 20 or lw or even the regular Remington 1100 20 gauge absorb so much recoil. The gun is heavier but definitely reduces felt recoil. I wish I had never gone all those years of shooting 12 gauge wish I would have just stuck the 20 in my whole life in semi-autos and now over and unders but obviously I'm built a little different now then I was when I was 7 LOL. They have some pretty good budget semi-autos out there now for kids and if you're going to be doing like a 20 inch barrel it just really helps to have someone Auto to reduce the recoil. Good luck most of all just make sure whatever it is it's safe and fun for kids.

 

By the way I can't totally pick on lightweight guns no the one I'm about to mention is regular length of pull adult size gun 26 or 28 inch barrel but I have a franchi semi-auto 20 gauge is probably the lightest recoiling gun that I've ever shot in my life and the gun is a featherweight it's beautiful. And that's an inertia gun and I found that the 12 gauge inertia benelli's thump you quite a bit more than a gas-operated like Remington 1100 but the inertia 20 is out of this world awesome at least in this model I believe it's a 620 it's not a very fancy gun a dang she

shoots :-)

[ThomC]

You cant beat a 1100 20ga. Cut to fit and open the choke.

[hoghntr]

You cant beat a 1100 20ga. Cut to fit and open the choke.

Love the 1100's got lt-20's for family and remchoke barrels for each in proper length. Heck i went out last year 1 arming in from a surgery and slung sons 20" aeound with mod choke and slayed the dove. i think its still his. L.O.L.