Youth Gun Recommendation?

[mlgorecki]

My son is seven right now. For waterfowl should I start him on a Youth 20 gauge or a 12 guage with a shortened stock and lighter loads?

[Max4Gooser]

Depending on his size, I think I would go with the twenty, the 12's recoil or anticipation of it could cause some badshooting habbits, or cause him to lose interest in shooting. I am looking for a youth 20 myself for my 7 year old. Good luck, and let us know what you all decide on.

[migrator00]

My old man started me out on a wingmaster 3" 20 gauge when I was eleven years old. It was a brand new gun and ready to kill. I killed several ducks, deer, and turkey with this gun. I say wait until they're little older...!

[SMOKE]

i started on a 20 guage 870 when i was around 10. gun doesnt get used much today other than the occasional trap shoot and i used it this year to kill a deer but id still take it out on just about any hunt today.

[SGTSLTR]

I started with a Mossberg 500 12ga when I was 12. When my child is around that age, I'll prolly go with a 20ga for him/her.

[h20fowler]

I would go with a true 20 gauge youth gun. Finding a youth 12 gauge is hard to do. Then you also have to worry about cutting down the stock. One exception to that would be the new Tactical Mossberg 835 Turkey gun. It's butt slides. But that gun is heavy, and at 7 he is not going to want to carry it long, and swinging it may be an issue.

Here are some things to look over

Look at the youth pumps. ie mossberg 500 bantam and remington 800 express. If you study them closely you will see that the Remington length of slide pull is a little over an inch shorter than the mossberg. This helps those shorter arms keep a better point of leverage on the gun keeping the barrel up while working the action. Advantage Remington.

However, the mossberg has that top thumb safety so dad can very easily see if the gun is on safety by glancing over. Advantage Mossberg.

Now Remington also has that lovely J-Key feature on the safety so you can lock that safety when it is stored. Nothing a $7 trigger lock won't fix on the mossberg.

Also, I can't say that this will always be this way. But mossberg TYPICALLY has a $50 gift certificate from Mossberg in the box so that you can upgrade to a "normal length" stock. You will still have that short (21"???) barrel. BUT as he grows, you can change the stock to fit him. Advantage Mossberg. Not that Remington can't be swamped. They just don't give you a $50.00 gift certificate.

Now, if length of gun is not a problem, but weight is. Look at the Franchi 48? auto in a 20 gauge. Very light gun and not overly priced. You can still enforce the one shell in the action rule. Just depends what your hunting scenario is. Weight while sitting in a blind is not a problem, but chasing upland birds it may be a factor.

Also remember that an advantage with semi-autos is the action can substantially reduce "felt" recoil compared to a single-shot, double-barrel or pump action. This is particularly true for gas-operated semis like Remington 1100 or 11-87's, Browning Gold, Beretta 390 or 391 and others. The inertia-operated semis, like Benelli, Franchi and others, will not reduce as much recoil as the gas guns, but they will be better than the fixed action guns.

Lots of things to keep in mind other then caliber. Best of luck and let us know what you decide!