My suggestion is to start new shooters with a semi auto that fits them in 12 gauge using 1 1/8 oz shot. When I first heard this I thought that it would be too much gun for youth. "Youth" in this instance would be Boy Scouts shooting the Shotgun Shooting Merit Badge. The requirement is that the youth hit 12 out of 25 targets thrown twice. I was able to get a very high percentage of youth to meet this requirement. The rational that I was told is that the semi auto reduces the recoil while 1 1/8 oz shot increases the likelihood of success.
At a coaches conference held at the Olympic Training Center I asked the shotgun coaches in attendance what they felt was the best gun/ammo combination for that purpose and they agreed that the 12 gauge semi auto was the way to go.
Accordingly I would suggest an old Browning A5 ( the Scouts all seemed to prefer that gun)
By the way, I feel that 1 oz shot out of a light 20 kicks more than 1 1/8 oz shot out of a 12
