What's a Reliable Budget Friendly 20 Gauge Semi-Auto?? Stoeger 3020 or others??

[Nalapombu]

Hey all. 

 

Im trying to help my friend get a 20 gauge shotgun to introduce his wife and young daughter to shooting.  He wants to start by teaching them to shoot easy clay targets.  

 

He’s had problems with a Remmy 1100 LT20 that won’t feed target loads.  Naturally for his wife and girl to have fun and stay interested, he needs to get a shotgun that works when you want it to with the light target loads needed for this purpose. 

 

When he first asked me i thought of the Stoeger 3020 Compact.  Can you all give me your thoughts on this shotgun?  Would you choose this one if you needed an affordable 20 gauge to teach your daughter with?  Is there something else I should tell him about?

 

What about the Tri-Star shotguns?  Franchi?  Are there any that are better choices than the Stoeger 3020?

 

thank you for your help. 

 

BD

[Butterpuc]

I don’t own a 20ga, but would like to for similar reasons.  

 

My Stoeger 3000, is much lighter than my other gas shotguns Remington and Beretta, which is very nice. However, the Stoeger has much more “perceived” felt recoil, which may be a turn off. 

[Hi-Power Jack]

8 hours ago, Nalapombu said:

 

get a 20 gauge shotgun to introduce his wife and young daughter to shooting.  

 

If this is, indeed, an introduction to shooting, I always suggest a .22 RF rifle, outdoors

with ear muffs and reactive targets.   Makes it FUN, with very little noise.

 

AFTER, I'd suggest a .410 shotgun for More FUN and moving targets - easy moving

targets - throw a soda can or clay in the air by hand.

 

Then, see how they react.   No problem ?   Lots of fun ?   Then, a 20 with hand thrown

clays.

 

Tiny steps, if they have No Experience shooting.  Just a single negative experience

will turn off a lot of people who otherwise would truly enjoy the shooting hobby.     

[CharlieD]

13 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

If this is, indeed, an introduction to shooting, I always suggest a .22 RF rifle, outdoors

with ear muffs and reactive targets.   Makes it FUN, with very little noise.

  

Excellent advice, this should be the first play in your playbook to get new shooters in the sport.

[Nalapombu]

My buddy asked me to help him find a 20 gauge and that’s what I’m trying to do.  I’m not going to tell him how best to teach his wife and 12 year old daughter.

[Modoc]

For me, step one would be to have the 1100 gone through by a competent gunsmith . Decent shot shells may also make a difference.  

 

OTOH, my son is shooting a Benelli M2 for most things and my wife has my  Winchester 1300.  The big thing is to make sure that the shotgun fits the shooter, even if he Chas to get multiple shotguns. I learned this the hard way with my wife and MY. Shotgun. 

[eightshot627]

I have two M3020s one for me one for my son. They need all the work the M3000s do. Smooth the mag tube and clean up the extractor groove. Mine is an early blued model and I have put over 1k through it. It still has a hiccup every now and then when dirty. I got my son one last fall and it is much better but we don't have that many rounds through it. 

 

For the price it isn't bad if you like to tinker.  But if you don't look at the Franchi Affinity 20ga.

 

Walt

[dogtired]

I made a 3 gun shotgun out of the 3020.  It has been very reliable and takes parts for the M2.  I am happy.