tracker Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 We have been looking at shotguns for my wife. Skeet and maybe sporting clays would be her thing. She would prefer an autoloader and most likely stay with 20 ga. Any suggestions? We are considering buying used and have looked at rems 1100 and some used win 1400's. The 1400's were good prices and she is not interested in fancy wood etc. just a good shooter! I will most likely have to shorten the stock for here and install a good pad? Any suggestions on pads? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapribek Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I would highly recommend a Browning Gold Hunter in 20 gauge. My 12 gauge is a soft shooter and runs well 100% of the time. I've seen used ones on Gunbroker.com for $500-$600. I would also recommend a Pachmayr SC100 Decelerator Sporting Clays Pad. I have them on 2 of my shotguns and am really pleased with them. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Stick with a 12 ga. Easier to find used. Shooting a 2 3/4dram 1 oz load in an auto is as soft as you will ever find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 (edited) Just going by the thread title I say......Good Trade! Edited March 13, 2011 by smokshwn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Freeman Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I got my wife a Citori 28. Nice little gun. If you can over the sticker shock of 28 gauge ammo and start reloading, 28s and 410s are not expensive at all to feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishlad Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I'd lean towards the 1100 and a 'Kick-eez' pad myself. But, there are other good pads...some are too hard, some too soft..."3 beers story". When they shorten the stock, have them adjust the pitch at the same time, so it fits with full pad contact in the shoulder pocket. IMO, that makes as much difference as a good recoil pad. Meaning, the recoil is not being generated on 1/2 of the surface area of the recoil pad, or the toe is digging into the body, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 (edited) A 12 ga with light 1oz or even 7/8 loads will kick less than a 20 ga. How tall is wife etc as the stock can easily be cut way too short. Short alone probibally wont be the best fit. How are your wood skills? Wenig makes a ladies stock you can get that is machine inlet for a very reasonable price. The stock on a remington is very easy to fit to the gun with even decent skills. http://www.wenig.com/ladies.html Edited March 15, 2011 by EkuJustice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 + 1 for Kick Ezz I have installed several and no one ever was disappointed. Also +1 for a good 12 gage and feather light loads = it will pattern better than a 20 ga every time and give her a better chance at breaking the clay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Also +1 for a good 12 gage and feather light loads = it will pattern better than a 20 ga every time and give her a better chance at breaking the clay. Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastorjohnd Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Also +1 for a good 12 gage and feather light loads = it will pattern better than a 20 ga every time and give her a better chance at breaking the clay. Yes. They will give a better pattern, but a lot of gas guns won't cycle feather light loads - my autos absolutely hate them. +1 on a cut down 20 ga Gold or 20/28 ga Citori. My wife shot a 20ga citori cut down for a lady 8 years ago & still talks about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Will disagree on the featherlights. Never seen good results out of them from those who have used them. Gave them a whirl to see what the deal was and the breaks were not that good at all and they are just ungodly slow. The Light 1oz loads at 1180 seem to pattern very well as will a 12 ga 7/8 loaded to around the 1200 fps range. The 20ga will pattern well also but out of a dedicated 20ga gun will have higher felt recoil than a 12ga due to the lighter weight of the 20ga gun. Kickeez is a good middle of the road pad. I always liked the trapdude pads but they are very soft and more difficult to install than a kickeez. On the trapdude, the mount is important. It must be a straight out, straight in back into the sholder. If its off you have to remove from sholder and repeat. If you shift it around on the shoulder or rub it into place on the sholder it falls apart pretty quickly. When I shot them I used an adj butt pad that was twisted and had the back plate ground to an unground trapdude pad. To swap pads required no fitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carter Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I would also stick with 12 gauge and the 1100 provided it's not to heavy for her. Beretta's are lighter with the aluminum receiver but will cost more, if you can find a good deal on a used 303 they are excellent. Estate Super Sport Target SS12L1 1 oz at 1180 have light recoil, will break any bird out there and they are fairly cheap. Gooey pads by Trap Dude are the absolute softest of any pad out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Well there is the super gooey pad which is even softer. On those pads the mount is a one shot deal so no moving it around on the sholder. Shout with a guy who did that alot and he was wearing pads out VERY often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GISMap Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I agree, a 12 gauge is the way to go. I load 1oz at 1200 FPS for Trap and I can shoot at least 10 rounds before the recoil wears me out. Whatever autoloader you get, don't get a kinetic gun, they have more recoil than a gas operated gun. I've shot both and its easy to tell the difference. My trap league is about 150 strong, and at least 30 are women, with another 30 juniors, so we've got plenty of recoil sensitive folks and only the youngest shoot 20 gauge. I believe the 20 kicks worse, because the guns are so much lighter. The 28 gauge is the way to go for the recoil shy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinholt Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I have to concur with the 12 gauge. I just went through this with my sister last year. She had been shooting an older SKB 20 gauge 26" Sk/Sk. Needing to improve her scores she thought about a newer 20 Gauge but I had her shoot my Beretta 682 with 7/8 and 1 oz loads. Too heavy a gun. Then had her go to the Rem 1100, 1187, Beretta autos and nothing worked well enough for her. We then went back to the 12 Gauge O/U. My dad still had some Churchill sporting O/U on the shelf at his shop and it was the best solution for her. It was 28", ported but with a light density wood. The gun would swing well for her size (5'6"/ 125 lbs) even though it appeared to be larger for her. 7/8's and 1 oz light loads and she jumped 5-6 birds over night. The nice thing is her husband can use it. The gun does not work for me but a smaller frame person might like the full size gun without the taxing weight issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Rusert Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Just going by the thread title I say......Good Trade! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangram Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 http://www.berettausa.com/products/3901-target-rl-12/26/ In 12 gauge if the standard size 391 is a bad fit. The Beretta supplied shims for both models will help with fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glockamole Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 My wife is shooting a Remington 1100 sporting in 28 gauge. Cut down a little and fitted with a kick-eez pad. Small frame handles like a dream and shoots very soft. Good for skeet and soft sporting targets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Small size doesnt always mean a super light gun is needed. When I shot Skeet VERY heavy, I shot with some extremely good female shooters who were not big at all. They were not shooting light guns at all. One in paticular was about 5'7 and maby 125 and was swinging a 10+ pound tubed O/U no problem. The balance can make a big difference. Super light stock makes the barrels feel that much heavier. Heavier stock, with it balancing at the receiver or a little nose heavy and the weight is much less of an issue. Even with a heavy gun, swinging the gun is not an issue. Your arms are not what swings the shotgun. Your arms just support the gun. A aggressive stance, locking the arms and swinging the gun at the waist will yield much better results than trying to manhandle the gun. For a very good example of this watch the clips of todd bender shooting as that is a perfect example of a lower body shooter. By shooting lower body, the weight of the gun is not noticed and the swing is much smoother since your not jerking it with the arms. 9-10 pound guns are not uncommon for females at all and alot of the guys are running in the 11-12 pound + range Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfwobbly Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Another great thing about the 1100 is the number of barrels out there for sale. You can afford to get the gun and 3 different length barrels to let her try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefcs5 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 my wife is shooting a CZ420 20 ga auto she also has a beretta 526(?) I think. she loves her cz and does very well with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2alpha Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I've noticed that women and younger smaller people besides needing a shorter LOP also need a shorter barrel. Many of them get the stock shortened but then struggle to swing and hold up the barrel afterwards because of the change in balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 My wife is shooting a Remington 1100 sporting in 28 gauge. Cut down a little and fitted with a kick-eez pad. Small frame handles like a dream and shoots very soft. Good for skeet and soft sporting targets. This is my answer. I purchased a used Remington 1100 Sporting in 28 gauge and had the stock modified to fit my wife. It is an awesome clays shotgun and would be death on quail too! I put a longer recoil pad spacer on it and I use it for sub gauge events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangram Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Small size doesnt always mean a super light gun is needed. When I shot Skeet VERY heavy, I shot with some extremely good female shooters who were not big at all. They were not shooting light guns at all. One in paticular was about 5'7 and maby 125 and was swinging a 10+ pound tubed O/U no problem. The balance can make a big difference. <snip> In addition -- Often we hand a gun to a person, observe and decide it is too heavy or .... However, if a person is serious they can quickly, in a month or two, build the strength needed. Obviously strength is not fixed. My month or two estimate may vary with the individual Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveyacht Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 First, when purcchasing a shotgun for Skeet, trap, sporting clays it is all about fit. When trying to fit a woman, they typically have narrower shoulders as well as a smaller shoulder "pocket' where the gun is mounted. Also a woman's neck tends to be longer than a man's. This will necessitate an adjustable comb or a stock with a higher comb. As has already been mentioned, Wenig's makes replacement stocks for women that can be bolted directly on many different guns. My friend, who is 5'4" and around 115 has tried Benelli, Kaymen, Browning Citoris, Beretta O/U's, Beretta 391's etc and has settled on a Remington Model 11-87 that will have a modified Wenig's stock that will be made for her. We will also use a mercury recoil reducer put in the stock. This coupled with 1 oz loads in the 1180 to 1200 fps range makes for one sweet, light recoil, reliable shotgun that isn't too heavy for her to shoot all day. Why Remington? Easy to get parts for, simple operating mechanism, easy to maintain, Choke selection simple, barrels easy to come by, and so forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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