I would not start a 9 year old boy on a SxS. I started my (now 14 year old son) at 9 with a .410 Topper. This is fine for hand-thrown clays. A friend lent me a Remington 1100 youth model in 20 gauge. It has nearly zero recoil. He shot that for nearly a year before we returned it. At 12 he started shooting a Parker VH with 7/8 oz handloads and he never looked back. I would look seriously at a gas auto in 20 gauge and let him shoot that for a few years before graduating to the SxS. Good luck. It's fun having a shooting buddy.
