dzeke

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

I have to agree, they are fine to take to the dove field and shoot a couple boxes a year through but have a tough time holding up the abuse of 1000's of round a year. I got a condor, my first O/U, when I was about 13, I wore it out in one year of shooting (4-H/SCTP) probably only 2000 rounds or so. I found a used Citori and I have been shooting it for 14 years. I have easily put 50,000 rounds or more through it. Hope this helps with your decision!