Youth 20 Ga Suggestions

J

Jeffrey Nelson

Active member
Looking to by a 20 Gauge for my son. I would appreciate some input from some guys that already have been there. He will be 10 Monday.
He has been using a single shot 410. . Small pattern, very heavy, and awkward. I would like to step it up for him this year. Thanks Jeff
 
New maybe a little pricey for a youngster but if you could find a nice used one my vote goes to the Ithaca Model 37 featherlight. In 20ga with a 28" barrel it's under 7 lbs. and a gun that will serve him well for a lifetime. Another is one is one that I shoot. It's a Stevens model 512 Goldwing O/U in 20ga. I love the gun. The forearm is narrow which fits a smaller hand. It handles well but won't break the bank.
 
Try to find a used 870 20ga wingmaster. Try to find a i/c or mod or rem choke better. Do Not cut the stock. Find a cut used stock on line, Vintage Sporting etc. Save to original stock, he'll grow into it quickly. If you belong to a club, some one probably has a cut one floating around.
When he gets older he'll want a plastic auto and Dad will have a 20ga. Ithaca is a great gun, pricey, but good. Rem is very common and easy to find. Start out with lite loads. I shoot 12ga 1oz loads and can break any target there. No need to pound the little guy. Have fun with your son, MOM can shoot the 20 also...
 
We bought a youth 870 a couple of years back. Come with spacers to add to the stock as they grow. Seems like a good gun but we haven't put many shells through it, hope to do so on a youth dove hunt in a couple of weeks.
My main issue with it is the short barrel, which I don't really care for. At some point I will have to get a longer barrel for it.
 
I did a little tutorial on my son's 11-87. The gun fits him great now. Proper gun fit is the key to hitting your target, which is why is did well turkey hunting and Teal hunting.

As the tutorial states, I did purchase an 870 youth stock to put on the gun since it would give me the 12" LOP that I currently needed. As he gets bigger, I will install the original stock and it also came with LOP increasing shims. The gun will last him well into his teenage years

Here is the link.

http://www.duckboats.net/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=195595;search_string=11-87;#195595
 
Even though I am dedicated 870 guy, for a new shooter that may be recoil sensitive a 20 ga auto with a 1 shot limit may be a good choice. By all means stay away from anything with an exposed hammer and the single shots can be brutal kickers. I still have my Stevens single 20 ga. and it beats be up, don't shoot it much anymore. The 20 ga. IMHO is a perfect size for almost anything. Good luck.
 
Weatherby SA-08™ SYNTHETIC around $600. My 11 year old got one last year and it has been great for him. VERY light and it fits him great. It comes with shims so you can adjust the size as needed. It is also very soft shooting which is a big plus. He was shooting a .410 single and says there is not much difference in the kick that he feels. The only down side is that it is costing me a lot more in shells because he rattles off 3 rounds every time now. Price, weight, size, and a lot of good reviews online is why I went with it.

It did have an issue cycling light field loads for about the first 2 boxes but that went away.
 
We opted to go with the youth 20 ga. 870 Wingmaster. We got a youth package which came with stock spacers to add has he grows, and the package came with an extra rifled slug barrel, as well a three choke tubes. The frame is a standard size 20 ga, so he can add a longer bbl if he wants to when he is fully grown.

Shoot the lightest loads you can find for target practice and save the heavy loads for the woods and marsh, he will be so excited with game in his sights he won't notice the recoil from the heavy loads. :)
 
If he is the size of my 11 year old Grandson...about average I'm told...nothing will fit him without altering the stock. I bought him a Mossberg mini 510 .. I think? Smaller than any 20 ga I have ever seen. To small for me to shoot.....but it fit him fine. I was cautioned on line that it kicked like a mule as it's just 5 1/2 lbs. So.........

I then found a reduced recoil 3/4 oz 20 ga load and loaded up 100. Worked great for him. There are a couple of factory lite recoil 3/4 oz 20 loads but they are rather exspensive and can be difficult to find.

He says it's just a little more recoil and noise than the 410 he'd shot some last year so I think that combination of gun and ammo (and a year older/bigger) is good for those kids that can't wait until they get a little larger so the youth guns actually fit them.
 
My son is 10yrs old and has been shooting a winchester sx3 compact. Its a great gun for smaller framed kids and women.
 
My little brother has the 20 gauge Remington 11-87 and its an awesome gun. Light on the shoulder. Price wise when Im buying a gun,the way I look at it is that its something Im going to have for the rest of my life.
 
Being a former 11-87 fan and owning four of them still, one for everything; ducks, deer, coyotes and youth gun. My four models span over two decades, the earliest being around a 1990 and the latest being 2008. The quality has dropped off the face of the earth. While trying to keep the gun affordable and the prices unchanged over 20 years the gun itself has suffered. My original never jams. Have had it in bowing sand hunting dunes on a beach at incoming divers, ice, snow, weed seeds and cleaning that is less than adequate. My deer gun is a 1998 plus or minus and it is great also but not subjected to the brutal conditions. The other two every so often just jam for the heck of it despite favorable conditions and proper cleaning. My problem is I have not shot another shotgun since my first 1187 and it is like an extension of me.

Good luck.
 
Guys , Thanks for all the input. I haven't bought anything yet, but I have gotten two guns from a friend of mine. A 20 gauge side by side stevens and wingmaster 870 16 gauge. I'm still looking for the right one and right deal. Thanks Jeff
 
My daughter has been shooting an 11-87 youth since 9 Y.O. It's a little heavy but that eliminates much of the recoil. At 9, she once put 114 3" shells through it in a day.
 
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