All,
I am in the market for a good youth shotgun. The young man will be learning with it but I was hoping for it to be versatile so that he would be good with it till he was of average male size. Right now my 20 gauge Beretta is a bit long. What would ya'll's choices and why? He is 13 and pretty hardy. I am trying to do the boy right and make it enjoyable so he sticks with it. Thanks, Jason

I have been looking for a youth model shotgun for my daughter (she's 2 months old). I'm just too excited to wait. Anyway I like the remington 1100 synthetic in 20ga. youth and for this year only remington came out with a 20ga. youth 870 wingmaster with great wood, deep blueing and a nice gloss wood finish. I am leaning toward this one because I would hate to see my little girl shoot an ugly gun. Or on second thought I might by both, the synthetic for the duck blind and the fancy one for the clay games.

I asked this same question a few months back thinking about one for a grandaughter and a nephew. I learned that you can buy a standard 870 in 28 guage and then buy youth wood from Remington. That way you have the original wood to put back when the grow up.

While I think there is some value in teaching a youngster to shoot a pumpgun before they move to an automatic, just like teaching someone to drive a manual transmission before an auto, I would definitely lean towards an automatic shotgun. Especially so for a young lady. Most of the new gas operated auto's have minimal recoil because of the gas system whereas with a pump, you get the full brunt of it. Even with a 20 gauge this could potentially turn-off a new young shooter, male or female alike.



Just my $.02



Regards,

Tom

Beretta does offer a shorter stocked version- as a youth/ladies model or buy another butt stock have it shortened to fit.


www.duanesguns.com

the berretta will do fine.. i shoot skeet with a 42 inch barreled longstock flintlock and dont have any problems.. too long is in the mind.. to be quicker with a shotgun has nothing to do with barrel lenght.. picture an ice skater, they draw thier limbs in and spin faster.. to do this with a shot gun hold gun under the arm as in the starting position of the skeet shot until you get ahead of the bird and put the stockup to the shoulder. sounds difficult but it is acutally the fastest way to get on a moving object.. take him skeet shooting to learn how to shoot beginning shotgun anyway.. start with a thrower out in a field or at the club to get him going so he gets a few.. the learning curve for skeet is steep if you go once a week, and hell get the hang of it pretty quick.. good luck dave..

if your saying the pull is too long, get a cheap buttstock from an order house and chop it off to the right lenth.. it will be a whole lot cheaper than another gun. dave.

If you want minimum recoil, go with a semi-auto, and stay with 20-gauge for verstility and cost of shooting. Remember, the kid will eventually be a teenager/young adult who has to buy their own ammo.

If you are willing to spend the $$$$, go with the Beretta A391 Youth. The stock is adjustable for drop and cast, and it comes with spacers so that you can adjust the length of pull. That way, you can fit the gun to the shooter. Latter on, they can get an adult size stock, and have a great little upland gun. Also, in my opinion, the Beretta seems to shoot a little softer than the Remington 1100.