Well, my son turned 13 yesterday.
This past Friday, we went to look at scopes for his Marlin 60. But then the "new gun bug" bit us when we saw this youth-size Maverick88 20 gauge.
No gun dealer around had one in stock and I did tell him I'll get him his own shotgun one day.

I bought it for his birthday gift instead of a scope.

We went to the clay shooting range for a father/son shootout.
Out of 50 clays, I hit 35.

My son however only hit 3. He was a pretty dissapointed, however I did specify to him to expect to miss alot.
I even pointed out that the much older kids and adults often miss alot (and yes, we saw lots of folks missing lots of clays).

I pulled out the choke on his 88 and it was a Modified choke.

My Stoeger P350 has a modified also, but I'm pretty confident with it.

Maybe my son needs a Cylinder or Improved Cylinder?
What do yall think?


I want him to build confidence in himself.

The "fit" of the shotgun has a lot to do with how many targets a shooter breaks. If the gun does not fit the shooter it is difficult to learn how to hit flying targets.

The choke selected varies by the distance that the shooter is attempting to break the targets. Skeet shooters often use a choke labeled as skeet or improved cylinder.

Someone shooting trap often selects a full choke because the targets are typically further away than a skeet target.

Some people are recoil sensitive. I suggest purchasing a lighter amount of shot at slower velocities to help a youngster not develop a flinch. Also limit the number of shells fired at any one session. If your son is flinching immediately stop the shooting session. Come back another day. Let the shoulder rest. It only takes one bad gun mount to get the child kicked hard on a sensitive spot.

There is a lot of value in practicing at home on mounting an UNLOADED shotgun to the shoulder. This is free practice and it has the benefit of making the child more comfortable with the firearm.

There is a book called "SHOOT WHERE YOU LOOK" that provides some useful information on shotgun shooting.

Have fun with your son. Kids grow up fast.

Cylinder and larger tubes will teach him his lead but it is a craft. I learned on a modified but everyone is different. I wish you luck and thank you for getting a kid behind a gun Sir

Thanks.
I forgot to mention that his Maverick was a perfect size for him since it was a youth-size.
We tried unloaded practicing on my Stoeger in the past, but he had a hard time swinging in a controlled manner.

He's about 4' 6". We did practice a bit of dry firing and swinging prior to the range. I also placed a recoil pad from my 30-06 onto his Maverick.

Despite this, he got a bit of sore shoulder at the end of the day. Which was gone a few hours later.
He still enjoyed the whole session.


What shot size shell & velocity do yall recommend for him?
I saw these that have 35% less recoil:
https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/pro...om=fn&ecList=7&ecCategory=117528


I'll be getting him a padded vest too.

The Winchester shells you posted would be a great beginner load. A lot of clay targets are broken with 8's and 7.5 size shot. Winchester AA shells are some of the best target shells you can purchase. I think if you shop around a bit that you can find a better price than what was on your link. Also beginning May 7, 2019 and ending September 1, 2019 Winchester has a $2.00 a box. Google Winchester AA rebate for more information.

Be careful adding recoil pads and padded vests. These items add additional length to the stock effecting the fit issue.

Cheaper than dirt should be renamed higher than a cats azz

See if you have a 4H club around you. That's where I took my boy to learn to shoot. Had a real patient instructor with a lot of experience, and it is really really cheap to shoot a round so he can get a lot of practice.

Also, if recoil is an issue, look at the low recoil loads. They make a big difference. My son started when he was around 9 and we started with those in a 20GA. They won't cycle in a semi-auto, but are great in a pump or single shot.

Yeah, I compared the cost to Academy's and Academy's is much cheaper.

There's a 4H close to me, but doesn't look like they have anyone to coach shooting sports.
Then again, I've never been in a 4H club either.

For practice and building confidence I would suggest switching to Skeet as it is the easiest of the clay sports.
Once a person learns the various leads (not hard to do and don�t change from one course to another), then it is all in how one applies basic gun handling.

As for choke, I�ve rarely been to a SC range where more than improved cylinder was needed....even then, there�s a good chance that hitting more �closer� targets with the open choke will out weigh having enough choke to hit a couple �longer� targets

I would suggest putting in a IC choke and calling it good. Start him off at a range that has some hand load throwers where you are pulling the birds for him. start him off with a straight away target and let him build his confidence getting his eyes and gun on the bird and breaking it. Then move to more gradual angles (up and side to side) to build his perception of "lead". as others have said, at this stage, less is more and focus on good quality form and shots during practice, not volume until he builds up his arm and shoulder muscles where he's not getting sore. You can find some 7/8 oz loads at Academy that are 1100 or 1150 ft/sec that won't have much recoil and are only going to run around $5 box.

Work on his stance so he has good weight distribution (60+%) on the front side... this will help his balance and help him deal with the recoil and pump the gun for follow shots. There are loads of videos on youtube about basic shotgun stances and gun mount, etc.

Take it slow and let him have fun with it. once he starts breaking them, he'll be hooked.

Okay, thanks yall.
I'll be ordering an IC.

There used to be a drill. You got a Red Ryder BB gun and removed the sights. The barrel is about the same as a shotgun. You start off tossing a large ball- basket, etc. and have the shooter just concentrate on the ball. When he is hitting that pretty good you downsize to a soft ball. After that you ought to have a good enough idea to hit more clays.

A hit to shot ratio that low is from gun-fit and technique, not choke. I'm and English trained gunmaker (Ret.) and master gun-fitter as well as a NSCA instructor. When we had someone that was switching chokes constantly I would have them shoot at a incomer that peaked at 47-yards above and in front of the station. We would have the shooter put in Cylinder or Skeet or IC (whatever the most open choke they had was) for this. After instruction they could repeatedly break the target with the open choke. Don't get me wrong, chokes do their job. The fit of the shotgun and the quality of the shotshell are a bigger contributor to repetitive hits than the choke within typical 16-yard trap or multi-station sporting clays shooting. The Maverick shotgun is fairly easy to adjust on your own with a shim between the grip and frame. First, figure out cast (on or off) and then figure out drop. Here's how to think about cast. If you take a straight 2X4, put it to your shoulder and put your cheek on it, it is nearly impossible to get it lined up under your eye. The straight board cant go from shoulder to cheek to eye to target because it is �.well... straight. It need to go from shoulder to eye and then bend toward the target. Put a big piece of cardboard with a spot on it at 16-yards. Start at low gun and focus on the spot on your target. Raise and shoot in one fluid movement. Figure out the center of the pattern. For every 1-inch you need to move the pattern to center it the gunstock must move 1/16". So if you are moving the pattern 4-inches you need 1/4" cast (on or off depending on direction). Same goes for drop. If the pattern is high or low you need to move the stock in the same proportion. Some people like a 60/40 pattern or 70/30 pattern (slightly higher than centered) so you have to determine what you want. If you take the stock off you can put a piece of plastic, lead, half-washer or just about anything to make a shim. For cast you are adding it to one side from 12-6 O'clock. For drop you are adding it to either the top or bottom from 9-3 O'clock. Most shotguns are set up with drop and cast (if any) for a shooter that is a male, 5'10" and 180 pounds. When a stock is "youth" it is shorter without any adjustment in drop or cast. The further you are from the 5'10" 180-pounds the more dramatic the effect of cast and drop and the more you need to address this. Good Luck! If you want a book with some instructions I have a couple of extra good ones, PM me and I'll send you one complimentary.

Stock fit is mandatory. Finding his dominant eye is mandatory as shotgun is a two eye open sport. If his left eye is dominant, he needs to shoot left handed

When closes his eyes, mounts (unloaded) by bringing the shotgun UP to his face/cheekbone - his hand/back of thumb should be perhaps 2 inches in front of his eye. The shotgun should be about 45 degree angle from his chest. Don't let him [censored] his head to get his dominant eye in line with the barrel. Sometimes it is helpful to raise elbow and shoulder to bring the stock to his face.

Make sure his face and eyes are level when he brings the shotgun to his face.

If his face/cheek is way down the stock from his grip - pause. See if he can move his face closer to his thumb. If necessary, cut the stock to fit. Keep the part you cut off so that you can re-attach as he grows. Don't keep 'teaching with a 'too long' stock.

When the gun is in his shoulder pocket, stock in place with level eyes/head, he can open his eyes to see if he is looking straight down the barrel. If he is right handed and his eye is not centered, but looking down left center - the stock needs adjustment.

As to choke? IC will break most clay targets including 16 yard trap (for fast shooter) but initial training IMO is a skeet field. I teach at Station 1&2 and 5&6 with incoming birds to get a sense of lead and swinging the gun with and through the target.

When the incomers are mastered, then the outgoing/crossing targets are next. I don't like teaching High 1 or Low 7 because students start to 'aim' at a straight away target.

Learning to mount (empty) and swing along ceiling line helps learn/control swinging with odd angles.

When prepping for field experience I start my students learning to mount off shoulder, with butt dropped to upper chest area and barrel muzzle about where he expects to see the bird and bird path. See the bird with eyes, swivel head with track of bird and bring the gun to cheek as he swings through and in front of bird, keeping head in stock after shot.


There are many ways to work through 'teaching' but the most important are - Find Dominant eye and achieve STOCK FIT.

As others have stated, the shotgun needs to fit him. I can't stress that enough. Best choke to start with would be IC.
I had my kid shoot 20-30 different shotguns to see what he shot best. He shot everything from browning citori, parkers, LC Smiths, winchester 101, beretta 391, benelli m2 and other auto's.... he shot best with browning citori with 26" barrels. He does well with the beretta al391 but he's best with the citori.
I never thought that fit was as important as it is but it makes a huge difference! I'm lucky that I have a friend with many many shotguns.
I shoot the browning cynergy and parker sxs better than most shotguns..
Bill is 100% correct about swinging too,[censored], his whole response is right on.. it's a fun sport once you get it all worked out.

Spending a few hundred or more on gun fit for a 13 year old that is growing like a weed is just silly…..either a jr. model or standard model will fit well enough for him to learn as well as decide how serious he wants to be about shotgunning. Beyond that, like said above, throw an improved cylinder choke in forget about it.

^ - op was 3 years ago - kid surely outgrew that by now...

Good point ‘ oak’. Trying to get the point across that a custom fit is completely un-necessary for youth or any average shotgunner. People hear or read online something about fit and next thing you know it’s “proper fit or never hit anything”… total bull crap. Shotguns are built for the average sized person..whether a person is 5’7” or 6’3”, the length of pull, drop at comb, etc. is minuscule when it comes to hitting the target due to the shot pattern.

……and most can fit themselves to the gun well enough to shoot game or targets successfully.