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Shotgun for wife


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Remington 1100 / 1187 for the budget, my 3 kids all wound up with Citori's shooting in the local 4H club skeet & trap.

Sammy is almost 5ft & about 100lbs she beats most of the boys in trap with a stock citori 12ga 28in inv+ mod/mod avg 20+ birds out of 25 everytime.

had to post a picture, dad sure is proud of her, she is such a firecracker :P

sam8109800.jpg

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I would recommend a Baretta 391 in 12 g. I am a gal and I have one and it is soft shooting. The most important thing to do with any shotgun you get for her is to have it fit to her. The proper fit will greatly help with the recoil.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Here is my 2¢. I've been a certified instructor for 15+ years, and have worked with a lot of women shooters, and I think the following info is generally going to be valid.

Any adult female can manage a 12 ga. with light 1 oz or 7/8 oz loads. Regarding felt recoil and recoil sensitivity - Anybody having not shot before or not having shot for 6 months or more will have a little higher recoil sensitivity and be prone to some shoulder bruising - even with a "soft" recoil pad. I personally use and recommend Kick-Eez pads. Start of slow on the shooting - 25 shells at 1st outing, wait a few days, another 25. Next few outings shoot 50, etc. Within a few weeks, shooting 200 in a day will be a "no, never mind." Your physical system has to adapt and get used to the recoil impulse.

Poor stock fit can cause her to get thumped in the cheek pretty good, as well as shooting with her head slightly lifted from the comb. To much cheek pressure can be equally bad. Especially if here face is thin, she may get some light bruising under her cheek bone the first few times out, and this can happen even shooting a 28 ga. (Re: 28 & .410 - .410 is an experts gun for clay target shooting - don't put a .410 in a beginners hands. 28 ga. - 28 shells are expensive new - and last nowhere near as long for reloading. You may get 4 reloads from a 28 ga hull - you'll get 10+ from 12s using light, lower pressure loads. 12s are more reloadable of all the other gauges. Stick to 12 ga (20 is OK, but you'll be better off with a 12).

For maybe 80% of females, a factory "standard" stock is not going to fit too well. Because of generally longer neck and narrower checks, a factory stock will tend to cause the head to be dropped down and over to the stock (rather than stock brought up to cheek with head held somewhat upright and still during mount). The Wenig Lady model stock is a good choice as a starting point for many women. Get one 95% finished, and be prepared to file/carve/sand to get the comb height, cast, and offset correct. If you go too far, just use auto body filler (Bondo) to build it back up and re-work it again. Won't look nice raw, but the fit can be made right. Painted stocks are popular these days - lots of gun stock artists out there. We have a couple really good ones in eastern Idaho. Once painted, what's underneath doesn't matter. Note - Bondo is denser than wood. If you add a lot, the balance of the gun will move to the rear, and that may not be desirable.

If your wife is on the weaker side, she will have trouble regardless of gun size and/orbweight, until she builds some shoulder, arm, and core strength. Doing practice gun mounts, then hold the mount for about 4 sec, repeat,... start with 20 reps.day and work up to 5 sets of 20, will quickly fix the issue. Regular exercise & strength training is also a good addition, if there is time in the schedule.

On gun weight and barrel length - some heavier is always better for target shooting, given the number of rounds shot in a short period of time. Barrel length is only an issue for the balance and handling of the gun - no relevance for patterning performance. Generally, a little longer is better, given the balance point doesn't get to far out toward the front hand. Rule of thumb - front hand should have a little more felt weight than rear.

If she is going to shoot maybe a couple flats (500) of ammo per year, most any gun that fits decent will probably be OK. Lesser expensive models generally feel clunkier in the hands and may be more prone to reliability issues. Depending on budget, I'd be inclined to look at Beretta or Benelli or Remington first. Browning (a while back) was having function reliability issues with their Gold auto models, but maybe that's fixed now. When you get into auto guns that have a new price of less than about $900 or so, use caution in choosing is the best advice I can suggest. I had a Win 1400 as a loaner gun some years ago. I didn't like it, most that shot it didn't care for it, so I sold it. No longer made, but if you can find an original Rem 11-87 Sporting Clays model (only made about three years in early 1990s), that is a nearly ideal all around gun in my opinion. That is my current loaner/spare, and almost anyone can shoot it well. Wenig makes a lady model stock for it (might be same as 1100 stock?). A used Benelli SuperSport or Berreta Teknys-type model may be out of your budget, but if you can find the extra bucks to get one, it will probably be more satisfactory, and will be a lot easier to sell if she doesn't pursue shooting, or wants to trade up to something different down the road.

Women have a higher tendency of being cross-dominant - right-handed, left eye dominant, or vice versa. This needs to be assessed (properly) and get her started shooting from the correct shoulder putting barrel under dominant eye. Dominance is a dynamic visual function. Any "static" "test" has a potential to yield incorrect results. Send me a private e-mail and I can explain a simple, quite reliable test that takes just a minute to perform.

I would further recommend finding a competent instructor to help her get started. Once a satisfactory gun mount is developed, the initial emphasis needs to be about 90% on maintaining focus on a small part of the leading edge of every target. Poor target focus (too much attention to the gun barrel, or "lead") is the principal cause of missing targets once the fundamental gun handling mechanical skills are developed (and those don't take much time to develop with regular practice). Query potential instructors - If the instructor does not mention the importance of target focus as one of the top 2 or 3 things needed for successful shotgunning, keep looking until you find one that does.

Hope this is useful,

Regards,

Randy

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  • 2 weeks later...

Congratulations, you’re on exactly the right track when leaning toward a 20ga Remington 1100. It’s a soft-shooting smaller frame that women can handle more easily than any 12ga. You can find a good one for not a lot of money and, speaking from a lifetime of competition experience (mostly Skeet, but quite a bit of Sporting also), they will shoot all day, every day, with very little maintenance. Take care of the gun and if-and-when your student wants something else, you can always get your money back out of it. I personally shoot mostly over/unders but have lots of friends/family/acquaintances who shoot 1100's and 11-87's. I am presently coaching an adult woman, about 5' 2" and barely 100lbs, who had no prior experience and who is doing extremely well at Sporting with a 20ga 1100. The Winchester 1400, by the way, would be a very poor choice.

You’re getting a lot of advice, some good, and some wrong-headed & misguided. If I may elaborate;

1) Browning Gold’s are known widely among heavy competition shooters as jam-o-matics. Browning shooters are loyal (I personally carry only vintage Browning A-5's and Superposed’s when hunting) and will argue, but facts are facts.

2) A 12ga is a poor choice for a woman beginner. Within competition circles, large grown men shoot guns in the 9lb to 10lb range (some even heavier) to reduce felt recoil. In Skeet over the past decades many champions in the 12ga event were shooting 20ga guns/tubes. I personally have won major 12ga events shooting 20ga tubes. If you want your student to enjoy and continue the game, protect her from recoil as much as possible.

3) I love over-unders, but recoil is greater than with a gas operated semi-auto. See point 2) above.

4) Remington makes good youth/women’s stocks, and any name-brand recoil pad would be about as good as any other. A too-soft pad will wear out too quickly.

5) The only reason a 12ga pattern is ‘better’ than a 20ga pattern is that there is more shot in it. See point 2) about Skeet World Champions who shoot the 20ga in 12ga events. In Sporting circles most men shoot 12's because target distances are longer.

6) Trap shooting and trap shooters have almost nothing in common with your situation. They all shoot 12 ga guns with lengthy barrels, tight chokes, and stocks & ribs that are useless in any other shooting discipline.

7) From personal experience with four guns among friends and acquaintances, any Stoeger would be a terrible choice for reasons too numerous to list here.

8) Your wife, a beginner you would presumably like to see remain enthused and eager about shooting, would at this point NOT be better off with any 12ga, any over/under, or any pump.

Good luck, and good shooting :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Congratulations, you’re on exactly the right track when leaning toward a 20ga Remington 1100. It’s a soft-shooting smaller frame that women can handle more easily than any 12ga. ...(SNIP)

2) A 12ga is a poor choice for a woman beginner. Within competition circles, large grown men shoot guns in the 9lb to 10lb range (some even heavier) to reduce felt recoil. In Skeet over the past decades many champions in the 12ga event were shooting 20ga guns/tubes. I personally have won major 12ga events shooting 20ga tubes. If you want your student to enjoy and continue the game, protect her from recoil as much as possible.

...(SNIP)

8) Your wife, a beginner you would presumably like to see remain enthused and eager about shooting, would at this point NOT be better off with any 12ga, any over/under, or any pump.

Good luck, and good shooting :)

While I am not a certified instructor, over the years I have worked with a couple of dozen new lady shooters at various events as a coach and instructor. I have to say I strongly disagree with the above. I've yet to encounter a female shooter who cannot handle a 12 gauge with light loads. With proper ammunition selection and coaching (NO ONE should teach their own wife to shoot, invest in a true instructor), adult females should not have any issue starting with, sticking with, and quickly being competitive with a 12 gauge semi-auto.

While in skeet a 20 gauge is competitive, in Sporting Clays, a 20 gauge is a handicap. Thousands of female competitors in Sporting every year compete with (appropriately sized) 12 gauges. My opinion, find her a Beretta 391 with a 28" or 30" barrel, have the gun fitted, have an instructor get her started on the right foot. (Actually left foot if she's a right handed shooter). Then hold on. Few things are as wonderful as having your spouse shooting with you. My wife and I had about 10 years as high-volume sporting clays shooters, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. For what it's worth, I started her on a 12 gauge Citori with Winchester Featherlights. She's reading this over my shoulder, and keeps saying "Women can shoot 12 gauge shotguns with no problem."

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  • 1 month later...

First thing first. Guns like shoes must be fitted to the one firing it to be effective. So guys please take the wife,SO,sister,mom,girlfriend or other female in your life interested in the shooting sports to the gun shop where they can try out the gun to see if it fits them. Proper fit will raise the possibility that you will have another shooting buddy to go to the range with.

This 60 year old grandmother of 4 who is a mobility impaired woman can be found on the range shooting everything from a Browning 22 to the Colt Anaconda with a 4 inch barrel in 44 mag to a Kimber 8400 Classic in 300 win mag. I also have taken up Trap, Skeet and 5 stand and use the Remington 1100 and shotshells listed as 3 1/4 dram eq. 1 1/8 #8 shot. I shot 5 rounds yesterday and my shoulder feels just fine this morning. Granted the first time I shot trap my shoulder was sore the next day but I'm now up to 5 rounds without any stiffness or soreness the next day. My scores yesterday were 15,18,19,21 and finished the day with a 23. So close yet so far.

Can a woman handle a 12ga. Yes! Not a problem.

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First off I would like to say Randy is spot ON with his post!!

Well getting to follow the NSCA sporting circuit for the last 3 years with my daughter I have seen just about every size person whether male or female. I can tell you without any hesitation that a female of any size with a properly fitted gun can shoot a 12ga. My daughter has been shooting a 12ga since she was 12 years old (berretta 3901 1oz load) and had no problems.

With over 100k of 12ga 7/8 shells loaded in the past 4 years there is nothing that kicks less than a 12ga 7/8 load going 1200fps. Please don't bring up 410 or 28ga unless rich!!!!LOL! The biggest marketing hoax out there is a 20ga has less recoil than a 12ga, not true by any stretch of the imagination! A 12ga shooting a 7/8oz load and 20ga shooting a 7/8 oz load both at 1200fps which kicks harder? The 20ga with a tighter overall inside barrel size which causes slightly higher pressure! Also most 20ga auto’s and O/U are lighter by 1 to 2 lbs which can cause a little more felt recoil.

Now to load sizes 7/8oz patterns better than any 1 1/8 oz load that is the reason that scores have increased in the international shotgun games. Yes a 12ga does pattern better then a 20ga not because of more shot which actually cause a worse pattern, but because 7/8oz load in the 12ga barrel is not as compressed.

Shea has won most her majors shooting fiocchi 7/8 training rounds going 1200fps which will cycle most auto’s that are broken in.

Shea has been shooting a Blaser F3 since jan of 2010 which I have been told by some people to have a lot of recoil. The gun weight is 8lbs 3oz’s and fitted, she shoots anything from 1 oz (1180) to 7/8oz 1325 with little felt recoil. A normal practice for her is 4 rounds of skeet 4 rounds of trap and 3 rounds of 5 stand every other day for 2 months getting ready for the Texas 4H State and shoots about 500 practice birds a week the rest of the year.

I always tell my 4H parents to try and get a used 390 or 391 B-gun or 1100 rem but please spend a little extra and have the gun fitted. Only time I even bring up 20ga is if they have one already and we want to see if the kid really likes to shoot

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

If you are considering a 12ga, look into some international skeet / Int. trap shells. they are slightly less than 7/8 oz at 24 grams and a have enough pressure to operate most autos (works in my 1100, and my A400 Xtreme). WAY lighter shooting than even a 1oz shell.

I have set up a Benelli M2 with a 24" bbl for an old GF. the recoil pad pops off and is replaced with a shorter one to get the LOP down to 13.5"

Having said that, a 20ga 1100 is a nice swinging soft shooting gun.

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  • 1 year later...

I have to disagree with most of the advice regarding 12 over 20. I teach a LOT of youth and female shooters and I find that most do better with the lighter barrel weight offered by the 20ga. For most of these shooters, the forward weight is a bigger issue than recoil. Take her to a gun store with a large selection and let her shoulder a bunch of different guns. Once she finds the one with the weight and size that SHE likes, let her put a few boxes through it, and then get someone to fit it to her.

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I also bought a Remington 1100 Sporting Clays 28 gauge and had it fitted to my wife (with an extra stock fitted for me!). If you reload, 28 gauge is not bad - painful if you only buy factory shells. I also recommend a Remington 1100 Sporting Clays 20 gauge fitted.

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A key point to this thread is availability of low recoil factory 12 gauge shells or reloaded 12 gauge shells. You may want to check availability of low recoil 12 gauge shells in your area if you do not reload if you go the 12 gauge route.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would have some instruction done first before buying a shotgun. If you hand a new shooter. Shotgun without having a good mount etc down then honestly they probibally don't have much of an idea what actually feels the best If they get good technique then a heavier gun will probibally be appreciated once shooting.

The reason people in skeet would shoot the 20 for the 12ga event. Is the desire to have the same feeling gun across the board reather than shoot a lighter 12 ga barrel without the tubes or using a weight which gets it close in feel and gives them a heavier gun. They are not shooting a lighter dedicated 20 ga.

Even an 8-8.5 pound semi shouldn't be an issue for even a female shooter with decent technique as there smaller female shooters using heavier guns and moving them quite we'll. get the heaviest gun you can swing

Edited by EkuJustice
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I got into skeet and trap this past summer. I was using a Stoeger Condor I'd borrowed, but went home with a bruised jaw each time I shot. Although I still had fun I knew this was not the gun for me. A few of the men at the club let me try their shotguns and I fell in love with the Remington 1100. I was able to pick up a used one for a great price and am very happy with my purchase. Shoots great, fits me perfect, and no more bruises!

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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.

I agree. I keep changing shotguns but nothing shoots better for me than my Browning Gold. I've had Beretta O/U's, SKB O/U's, and Franchi's, and I keep coming back to the Browning .
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  • 1 month later...

Hello: You could also look at loading up some 3/4oz shells for ladies or young kids. The big thing for kids is the weight of the gun. A light gun kicks harder than a heavy one but the can't hold up a heavy gun. So light loads work well. My 12ga 3/4oz loads my 11 year old son can shoot just fine in my Beretta 391. He is even on the small side and does great with it. Thanks, Eric

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  • 3 months later...

There is a ton of excellent advice on this thread but I thought I would add my 2 cents if you don't mind. I recently picked out a new shotgun for my wife (5'-1"/115lbs), a 20 ga. Browning silver hunter micro midas, and it did not disappoint! Here is my reasoning:

1. The entire stock is scaled down, so not only does it have a shorter stock but the grip radius has been reduced so it is very comfortable for her fits her extremely well.

2. The stock is/almost a parallel comb so it does not slap her in the cheek. (In my personal opinion this is a must on all sporting shotguns)

3. Gas operated so it's very soft shooting.

4 The overall weight of the gun is very light.

5. Relatively affordable.

As for why I went with a 20 over a 12. I know she could easily handle a 12, she is small but really tough. However as she is learning I would rather recoil be the last thing on her mind. She can go shoot a round of sporting with me and not feel a thing so I see that as a huge plus. As she learns and progresses I'm sure she will move to a 12ga. O/U but as of right now she is absolutely in love with her 20ga. auto!

Hope this helps some! Good Luck!

Daniel

Edited by dzeke
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