Good morning,

In the next couple of months, I'm going to be scraping money together to get my son a 'Youth-size' shotgun.
Normally, we go to the gun range and shoot the .22LR to enjoy the day.
However, I've been thinking of getting him a shotgun.

He's 11 now, about 4 feet tall.

All I have is Stoeger P350 (28" Barrel) and Maverick88 (20" Barrel).
But both are 12 Gauge, and I feel that'll give him a sore shoulder and discourage him.


It will be used for clay shooting, along with rabbit & bird hunting in the fall.
Pump-action, Over/Under, or Side/Side, we're not sure.


Was wondering if anyone here can suggest something?

Got my wife/kids a Weatherby SA-08 autoloader youth.

Bout $450. Great gun hardly any recoil.

Youth pump shotguns can be a bit snappy

Very true about the snappy pump. My daughter shoots a Remington 870 youth, its a great starter shotgun for the $$. Start with the lightest loads you can find, I know there are several low recoil 12 gauge rounds available, not sure about 20ga. probably just a normal 7/8oz field load, skip the 1oz heavier loads for now.

if you can swing the $$ look at a good semi-auto like Trophy's Weatherby

I also put one of those "Grizzly" neoprene, slip-on recoil pads with the insertable foam spacers. Works really well with recoil.

Hard to beat a Mossberg youth 500, my opinion anyway. You may have trouble finding a youth model but pawn shops are full of used shotguns but let them screw you the price, they will most definitely try to.

You might look at Yildiz 20ga OU or SS but you'd definitely want to put the limbsaver on the gun.

I think an 870 Youth 20 gauge would be the ticket.

I had a 870 youth model growing up, and man, talk about recoil. The youth mossbergs I've shot haven't been nearly as bad. I'd be trying to find a gas operated semi auto if I was you.

That Escort isn't a bad little semi auto. think Academy sells them

I second this. Bought one for my son. Solid little gun, soft recoil, and the price is right for something he'll soon outgrow.

H&R 20ga. Cheap gun, plus a single shot saves $ on shells and is safer.

Started my son with a Mossberg 500 Bantam Youth 20 Gauge. Had to change out the recoil pad for him because the Mossberg factory one was hard. He shot a limit with it his first time out dove hunting.

Weatherby has a very affordable youth model in a pump and in a semi auto.
20 ga.

I bought my oldest daughter a Remington 1100 youth model automatic. Solid little 20 gauge that fits her perfectly.

This, started first child on a Bantam and second on the Weatherby. I regret not starting child #1 on the Weatherby.

A $450.00 semi is a much better gun than a $450.00 O/U or SxS.

I would get either a good quality youth pump or semi auto. I would stay away from single shots, specially the ones that have exposed hammers. Most kids don't have the hand strength or size to [censored] the gun easily. Once it's cocked they have a bigger problem trying to make it safe if it's not fired.
A pump or semi can grow with the young hunter. Remington and Mossberg offer very reasonable deals on Full size stocks to customers who buy their youth model guns.
The felt recoil on a semi would be less than a pump and a pump would be less than a single shot.
For a pump, you can't go wrong with the Remington 870 youth. It under $300 at most dealers.
If you can spend closer to $500 the Remington 11-87 youth would be my choice.

Okay, thank yall for help.

My first two shotguns were single shot guns w/exposed hammers.

Not a good choice for a beginner and def. not the safest choice. We have two youth pumps at the ranch one a mossberg bantam and another the 870. Both are not good choices either imo.

Go auto loader.


Imo, and this is from being a avid wingshooter my whole life, there is little need for anyone to shoot a pump anymore. Auto or O/U or SXS is the way to go

Before anyone jumps on me.....I still own a pump and shot one regularly (870 wing master) until I was in my mid 20's. Shot it very well but today's autoloaders perform better in many aspects.

What's not safe about a shotgun with a hammer?

Shotguns with a hammer often have a strong spring, young hands may not be able to uncock it safely.
P_102

You might add that many single shots are uncocked by squeezing the trigger and letting the hammer down gently which is often a hard task for a youngster.

You might also add that a 20 ga. Single shot kicks the snot out of a kid.
They are very lightweight and the shooter absorbs most of the recoil.
A .410 doesn't kick much but is the worst gauge to start a kid on. 410 is an experts gun.

I bought my son a 20 gauge Mossberg pump that allowed the gun to grow with the kid, but he started complaining about the kick before he used one box of shells! I sold the Mossberg and got an Escort and it worked really well. However, when we went hunting with the brand new escort the stock bolt came loose and the stock started twisting. blame me not the Escort for not having the long enough rachet in the truck to tighten the stock down. So it came down to "son, if you want to hunt you have to use Grandad's 12 gauge Beretta 302, and he started knocking birds down right and left and never looked back! He shoots competitive sporting clays and skeet and whatever. I had to get a longer stock but no problem there. (my dad his granddad was 5'10", he and I are 6'2")!

Anyway my point is go with a gas autoloader and get one that fits and the kids will acclimate to shooting shotguns more quickly and be more accurate. No matter the brand I'm sure. But of course I'm partial to the Beretta AL2, 302, 303 series, I have all three and they have never let me down!

And for those that want to use a single shot to start the kid off you can just hand the kids one shell at a time because you should be right next to the kid anyway and can hand them just one shell at a time.

Yep, that is the reason I had to change out the recoil pad.

A pump shotgun like the youth 870 is the worst thing you can inflict on a young person, particularly a young girl.

Get a gas gun. Make sure it's fitted. No need to get the stock custom fitted but set it up so they can build good skills.