I have a nephew who just turned 13 that I will taking hunting for the first time this year. I don't have a son, so this is the first time I've trained a youngster in gun handling. He has been shooting rifles with others and loves it, but is new to shotguns. He's a stout young man, and I have a 6.5lb 29" Husky mod. 51 16ga hammer gun in knockabout condition that would be perfect for him to learn bird shooting with (perhaps with the stock cut down). I could of course get a pump or single shot for him, but I already have this 51...

With regards to safety, I'm thinking the discipline required of a hammer gun might be useful for a young person to learn from, since I would require him to carry the gun closed with hammers down and cock on the flush. This would, in my way of thinking, force him to concentrate, teach him respect for the weapon and the game, and also expose him to the allure of sxs's at the same time. However, I don't want to make his first experiences hunting too difficult for him either. Thoughts??

Mark, this is just my personal opinion, but I'd never start a kid on game. A long time on targets to develop familiarity with the gun, confidence that he can hit something, and iron clad safety rules. Then the excitement of game...Geo

type gun is of lesser consequence.

Thanks George, I agree. I had planned on quite a few trips to the range with him this summer before the season starts, and having him tag along with me during dog club field trials.

Mark I have been down this road five times. My final system is to use a Remington 1100 12 or 20 ga.. I have a standard weight 20 Skeet gun with a cut down stock. Load with 3/4 ounce reloads. Load only one shell and safety is always first from the beginning. It becomes second nature.

I always try to get new shooter into hitting birds early.
Take him to the skeet field and take him to station seven. Start with going away targets. After he hits several of them have him take an incomer. From there I go back to station one. Start with the incomer and then the out going bird. Keep it short and simple. After he is comfortable with 1 and 7 I add 2 and 6. Easier to add 6 by shooting a few at 6 1/2. 3,4,5 are added the next time. I save 8 until last. It is the easiest/hardest shot for a new shooter.

Fantastic advice. Thanks!

Mark, I was started on a hammer single shot, a Winchester 37, and I like hammer guns because they are either safe or not. It is almost impossible to accidentally cock a hammer gun. That said, a double is more complex. The new shooter should practice cocking his gun on the mount, for that is how he should use it it in the field. A double is more complex because it has 2 hammers and any red blooded boy is going to try cocking both hammers on the mount. That can be a difficult trick, depending on the gun and one's hand size/strength. I have accidentally fired a shot trying to cock both hammers on the mount while skeet shooting. Better to let him usr the gun as a single, with only 1 cartridge loaded until he has mastered that skill, then move on to loading both barrels and 2 separate cocking motions.

I think Ky Jon is right. An 1100 is perfect for a kid. Too many things to do right with a hammer gun. It is easier to control his consciousness of safety if things are simple. Recoil is not something to ignore either.

I have also been teaching my 13 year old grandson. He also was a rifle shooter and that was a lot to overcome. Keeping the gun moving is not natural to a rifle shooter. We started him earlier with squirrel hunting with a Charles Daly (probably Turkish) youth semiauto that weighed 5 1/4 lbs and that is a lot like rifle shooting. He was a real little guy but has hit his first real growth spurt. He is around 5-3 and slim but athletic so the standard 20g. 1100 was the next step. He has learned a lot on the skeet field.

Lots of luck Mark and enjoy this new experience. Your nephew will never forget it.

Everything Danross70 said. My intro to shotguns as a kid was a 16 gauge Remington hammerless double, but lots of my friends began with break-action singles with manually cocked hammers. In our neck of the woods H&R 410s were common. Using the Husky hammergun as a single seems about as safe as you can get until he is thoroughly comfortable. If he's had rifle instruction he should have a grounding in muzzle awareness, and firearms etiquette, but flying birds, running dogs, and shooting companions moving across uneven terrain and varying cover all provide a level external stimuli and potential risks that are very different from a well run rifle range. Sounds like you have a great season lined up next fall!

BW

Yep
Started mine on a Rem 1100 Standard 20 with skeet barrel.
Stock was cut just behind the nut to attach the stock to the
receiver. As they got bigger, more and more thick pads were
attached.
1st season, one in the gun, lots in the pockets
2nd season, two in the gun, lots in the pockets
2rd season, three in the gun, lots in the pockets

Mike

I started a 12 year-old on a cut stock Beretta gas auto and 12 gauge reloads of 3/4 oz. To show him he wasn't being handicapped on a dove field, I shot the same load effectively on dove hunts with him. The hand-eye coordination of most youngsters is incredible to watch as they catch on fast. Gil

Starting a young 13 year old with an exposed hammer gun is a bad idea, Mark. It's asking him to do too much when the shot comes. Choose something with a safety. I don't even trust myself with a hammer gun for field use.
JR

I agree with John Roberts. A child's hands, even a 13 year old, cannot handle the exposed hammer like an adult's. Dangerous to me.

I started with a bolt action 410, which has a safety and seems safer. It was clip fed and worked most of the time while putting a new shell into the chamber.

Don't sell kids short. Kids can work computers way better than most of us. I began shooting with a hammer single and had no trouble...Geo

George, computers and guns are quite different. Many hammer guns require a certain hand size, and some hand strength.

I grew up on a small rural farm in the hills of Southern TN. I din't know what a "Skeet" was until my late teens. The first shotgun I ever shot was an H&R small frame single shot 28 gauge hammer single which belonged to an uncle by marriage, weighed 4 lb 2 oz. Next was a 16 gauge H&A hammer single of my Dad's, followed by a borrowed, from a neighbor, 20 gauge Stevens model 24 hammer single. The first shotgun I actually owned was a J Stevens Arms & Tool Co 12 gauge hammer-less double. I have never felt handicapped in any way by these early guns I shot. To this day I would much prefer to cock a hammer than use one of those "Stupid" cross trigger guard safeties. Control of the shot belongs to the thumb in my "Not Too Humble" opinion. Might as well learn right to begin with.

me too and still have mine

I can’t use a hammer double and I’ve been hunting for 60 years. It might as well be a single shot. Start a youngster with a hanmerless double with auto safety and allow him to hunt with one round only.

The problem starts when a kid has to let down the hammer on a loaded round ?

I don't know about all hammerguns, but usually dropping the hammer will not fire the gun unless the finger is still on the trigger...Geo

So, when dropping the hammer behind an unfired shell, when does the youngster take his finger off of the trigger ? Somewhere between releasing the hammer catch, but before the hammer is lowered ? Scary thought. I'll bet, too, the youngster is paying more attention to looking at the hammer during this process than where the barrel points.

My first shotgun (around 11 years old) that was "mine" was a break open, single shot, Stevens 20 gauge. Side lever opening with a hammer that needed to be cocked. Still have it. Shot everything from doves, squirrel, groundhogs and a lot in-between.

You gotta teach'em about how to un-cock a hammer. They'll learn that quicker than your grandkid can teach you how to photoshop a picture...Geo

Seems to me that what we're discussing here is the safety of a hammer gun (whether a single shot or a sxs) relative to the safety of a hammerless. Funny thing is that when hammerless guns came into being, the resistance to them was on the safety issue...Geo

You guys have got me thinking about how hammer-guns work and how we learn to handle them safely. Now that I've thought about it I can remember what my Dad said when my question was: "How do I un-cock this thing?"

The gun in question was a single shot .410 with a hammer. Dad said to push over the lever and unload the gun; then just pull the trigger. It didn't take me long to figure out that I could un-cock the gun by releasing the trigger and lowering the hammer with my thumb. I don't think I knew until I grew up that as long and I'd released the trigger the gun couldn't shoot.

Doubles work the same way, except that on some of them the hammers block the top lever when cocked. Still though, when the trigger is released the half cock detent (on a non-rebounder) will prevent firing. Same thing on a rebounding hammer except there's no half cock position...Geo

pull one out of your safe and try it.