doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com daughters first double - .410, i need advice

I found a used Uggie Gr I 20 that had been cut to a 12" LOP w/ pad, thus limiting its market appeal rather dramatically.
I believe wt is just over 5.5 #s.
With the Fiocchi trainer shells, recoil was fine for a 9 yr old; I only gave him 1 shell for quite a while, too.
Start her on dead straight away hand cocked clays, throw 'em exactly the same way every time, and let her break as many as she wants that 1st day...it's all downhill from there.
Have fun.

M ossberg makes a very servicable O/U with a .410/28ga. 2bbl. option and youth and full size sutt stocks. They are excellent to deal with for repair and replacement parts. These also have interchangeable choke tubes. As far as guage size goes, I prefer .410 for practice as it makes it slightly harder to break clays yet developes good shooting skills. The 28ga. for hunting limits the cripples and helps gain confidence in the field. Some fifty years after getting my first .22, a Marlin mod.100 bolt action single shot, my gut tells me to go old school, that when in the field for the first time, one shell and if a kill is made, then you get another otherwise tomorrow is another day. Thats what my Old Man did with me and to this day, I hunt with only single shot rifles and SxS shotguns. Leave those semis to the military for offense and defense. Never saw a grouse shoot back. If you cant make it with one or two shots, then DON'T SHOOT!!! Thanks to all. Jim D.

My $.02 is with the 20 ga. break open. In my opinion, she will stand a better chance of hitting something with the 20, price of shells is better, and the safety advantage. (I also agree with the one (1) shell to start.) Safety cannot be overemphasized. My dad's phrase was "there have been more people killed with empty guns than any other kind". "But I thought it was empty" has no place on the range or in the field.

Neither my son or daughter ever took much interest in shooting. I am waiting on two grandsons now. I think they will be a different story.

I had an Ithaca SKB XL-300 20 ga. that had an aluminum receiver and barrel. Don't know the weight, but it was very light. It had a selector under the forend that could be moved with a coin or screwdriver to L or H for low or high brass ammo. I agree with most here that .410 might actually discourage a beginner, but remember that a small 9 yr. old girl or boy might find even a light 20 ga. guns' recoil excessive. Scale their body weight and small muscles up to yours and you may find that the light 20 ga. to them is equivalent to you absorbing a 10 ga. guns' recoil. So do start with light handloads and consider one of the better recoil pads like the Limbsaver or Decelerator, especially if you plan to lighten an already light gun. Having said all that, a single shot break open gun is the best starting point from a safety standpoint. I still have my Stevens 220 20 ga. I bought with my paper route money.

Please keep in mind that if you go extrememly light, you'll get paid back in more recoil, even with a gas auto. Also be sure if you decide on an autoloader, that you get a gas operated gun. Long recoil guns like the Franchi or "inertia" driven(that's a BS term for recoil) guns like the Benelli do not break up the recoil as well as a gas gun. Lots of good input from all.

Jim, is right.IMHO That is why I choose the 1100 for my daughter. Another friend of mine thought he would start his young brother in-law,out with an H&R single shot in 20ga. It was cheap in price and plain to see if the action was open. The kid would complain about recoil and we all thought he was a wimp. Then we all took turns shooting it. That light gun would give you a real bruising, kick the snot out of you. It was not user friendly, even though the loads were light loads. The gun was too light in weight. JMHO

Just for information and it depends on the state I suppose. In Illinois that would be a Felony, wouldn't be worth losing your FFL over...

RDD,
I bought an AL-28, the 28 ga superlight auto for my young niece to shoot. It was a very sad deal as it kicks much harder than expected, and we sold it.

Hopefully she is shooting her new gun by now.

Guess I'd better not travel thru Illinois with my custom Sterlingworth. The engraver didn't save the Fox or Sterlingworth markings.