My wife would like her own shotgun. She would prefer a 20 gauge that is not too heavy to carry in the field. We will mostly use it for hunting pheasant, chuckar, quail and ducks over decoys with some sporting clays for fun. A good looking gun with nice wood and some engarving or gold inlays would be nice, but not a necessity. She likes the looks of an over/under, but really has no preference. Budget would be under $2,000.

A good used Browning ought to do. Changable choke tubes sound like a must w/the variety of things to shoot at listed.

If she likes doubles the Ruger Red label has a shorter stock and stature and runs about 2000ish with nice wood, gold inlays and engraving. I'm not sure what you want to spend but a used one can be had for a descent price. If an autoloader is called for a Benelli Montefeltro is a beautiful gun with silver reciever with gold inlays and engraving and nice wood for about 1500, and said to be one the finest shooting autoloaders ever made . rem 1100 can be had for around 1000.

thanks you guys. We'll definetly check out the Red Label and the Montefeltro.

I love my Browning Gold 12 ga. It doesn't have the gold inlays but it is a great gun with no recoil. I can't imagine what a 20 ga. recoil would be like. Probably non-existant.

There are youth and women's sizes available.

Axel, I'll check them out.

Look at the Beretta A400....70% recoil reduction and it'll shoot any load. Can't say I've shot one, but it's getting good reviews......and the low recoil might be nice for the fairer sex.

Beretta Urika. for my money, the best value for an autoloading shotgun, period.

I love Ruger guns, but their Red Label is heavy. My wife has a Browning Superlight feather 20 with the alloy frame and steel inserts in the breech face. It weighs 5lb, 11 oz. The Montefeltro 20 is also a good choice in an autoloader. Ours weighs 6 lb, 4 oz.

Frankly you haven't supplied enough information. How much has she shot? A little, a lot, expert? What? How high a percentage of her shooting will be target shooting? It is certainly easy to get a gun that will do double duty as target and hunting BUT if she is going to be concentrating on clays, then the choices should be weighted in that direction which means somewhat longer barrels and more weight. Upper body strength? Recoil sensitivity? I could go on, but you get the picture.

I concur with Gatogordo. More info is needed. If she is recoil sensitive and you want one already cut down for someone not very tall, the "easy" solution is a youth model 20 ga. Remington 1100.

For something "fancier" take a look at the several different models shown here - http://rizziniusa.com/shotguns.htm

They make a 28 ga. which I've personally seen at a local shop that sells new high grade S/S and O/U guns. Most are Italian imports, but they also have the reproduction Parker. And they have a nice selection of Berettas, which provide an excellent line up too of potential choices. Older Belgium Brownings or SKB Ithacas are other good options. Any of these you may find of interest.

The 28 ga. as you know is virtually zero recoil and nice ones are available in O/U. If I was buying a shotgun for my wife, I'd seriously consider that gauge.

I hope this helps.

I would get her a 20ga SXS or O/U. 3" chambers, 26" barrels, with the stock cut to fit her with a good recoil pad of course.

She can operate that shotgun without breaking a nail.

I think a 28 gauge for a beginner, or relative beginner, would be counterproductive. If you're going to shoot clays or trap or skeet, the more shot in the load the better your percentages. Starting off with the gun of a pro is not necessarily conducive to building confidence. Almost anyone can get used to 12 gauge light loads and the effort (and money) should be put into fitting the rifle to the shooter. I vote for a well-fitted over and under in 12 gauge.

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:
I think a 28 gauge for a beginner, or relative beginner, would be counterproductive. If you're going to shoot clays or trap or skeet, the more shot in the load the better your percentages. Starting off with the gun of a pro is not necessarily conducive to building confidence. Almost anyone can get used to 12 gauge light loads and the effort (and money) should be put into fitting the rifle to the shooter. I vote for a well-fitted over and under in 12 gauge.

I agree 100%......as I mentioned above, there are new(and old)semis that with the proper load will have almost zero felt recoil.

I got mywife a Beneli 20ga. youth model auto. It is 5.5lbs and she loves it. If you really want a O/U I would say a Beretta or a B. Rizzini 20ga. would be the best. It will be a little more than your budget with gold but I am sure you love your wife!

Certainly I concur with the accuracy of Gatogordo's questions. There's simply not enough information to make intelligent recommendations. I also really cheer Wink's idea that a 12 can be handled by women-however small. In my youth I,even then, noticed how some kind of "propaganda" (maybe from movies or popular legend)said that the 12 ga. had a terrible recoil.(It was the same as the belief that the 45 was some kind of hand cannon and almost impossible to manage its recoil. Shooters of the 1911A1,45 ACP know better) The 12 throws out more of those little pellets over a wider area and kills at longer ranges (to get down to basics). Sorry, 28 ga. shooters - much as I admire your shooting - the 12, when all is said and done is best. I will now retire to my shelter to await incoming!

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
I would get her a 20ga SXS or O/U. 3" chambers, 26" barrels, with the stock cut to fit her with a good recoil pad of course.

She can operate that shotgun without breaking a nail.

Great advice and if she's recoil sensitive you could always have a mercury tube or tungsten bead recoil arrestor fitted.... I wouldn't have thought it necessary though.

Someone mentioned Rizzini shotguns. FWIW, I reckon they're one of the most reliable of the cheapies on the market.

I bought one of these guns more than 25 years ago from my local clay shooting club who had given it no end of use and I'd have guesstimated it must have has several hundred thousand rounds through it when I bought it. I used it (A LOT!) for about 15 years and then gave it to my nephew about 10 years ago and he's used (A LOT!)ever since...... and in all that time and use, it's never gone wrong once.

They're not particularly elegant and the close like a garden gate but they are extremely reliable!

Look at the Beretta Explorer, the 12 ga gun weighs in at 6.6 lbs and has the lowest recoil(KO option) quickest recycling system on a SG in its class. Additionally, most 20 ga sg's are up to 2 lbs lighter than than a 12 ga.In my opinion the 12 ga will have similar recoil due to the weight difference and the added kick-off option.

Beretta Urika youth.

Thanks for all the advise. We settled on a J.P. Sauer Select (Ceasear Guillini) 28" 12 GA O/U. She has been fitted by Mike Lupold of S&S Plus Stocks in Polson, MT. We are anxiously looking forward to receiving this new gun.

What shotgun for your wife? How mad did she make you? Oh you want to buy her a shotgun--Win model 12 hard to beat.

SBT

I do take pride that your lady picked a 12 (and hope that my arguments for the 12 played a part ) Obviously, the lady means to use "enough gun". Sounds like you have a real bird hunting partner!

Hands Down: BERETTA, any of the autoloaders will do, but do offer specialty models w/ a higher price tag. IMO, they are the softest shooting gas gun & many chicks have beat me w/ that gun on sporting clays.

Close 2nd choice: Benelli Ultralight, kicks a bit more as an inertia gun and lighter than a feather, so it seems.