doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 20 Ga O/U For SMALL Lady...Recommendations?

take a look a the cz "mini" frame 28ga - have the stock trimmed and it should be a dream for her. My 13 year old daughter is using a tristar 20ga with 26" tubes I picked up used for $320, another 40 to trim the stock.... cant wait to see her bust her first doodle over our SMP!!!

Gary

Don't have a clue as to what a new Micro Citori weighs but, I'm certain the 20 we have weighs 6 lbs or less. Now I'll have to get it out and and weigh it to satisfy my curiosity.

Get a 20ga Beretta BL3 or BL4. It'll weigh a few ounces less than 6lbs, it's got a steel frame, nice and svelte, and they aren't all that expensive--you should be able to find one around 1000 without trying too hard. A lot of gun for the money if you ask me. 26" barrels with a cut stock would be just the ticket. 7/8oz field loads are no issue with recoil in the field, load up some 3/4oz shells for the range and you'll be all set.

If you'd consider a sxs, let me recommend the Bernardelli Gamecock. You should be able to pick up a 20 gauge with double triggers and extractors for about $1,000, perhaps less if you look around a bit. You might have to shorten the stock, but the gun as issued weighs just at or a bit under 6 pounds.

Two posts already suggest SKB. Among numerous models, it may be easiest to find a used Ithaca/SKB Model 100, which weighs I believe 5 3/4 lbs. in 20 ga. with the 25" barrels. SxS, extractors, single selective trigger, chromed bores, pistol-gripped. Well-balanced, pleasant to carry afield all day. In Montana, I suspect you'll want tighter chokes than on a specifically quail-choked gun. Maybe IC & M. I used one of these for years, mostly early season on pheasants and occasional quail in E. Nebraska, then ruffed grouse and state-released pheasant in upstate NY. As many on this board have repeatedly confirmed, these are excellent value, largely trouble-free guns. While 2 3/4" shells will probably be best for your companion, these will take 3" magnums, though that will naturally boost the recoil. I cut the butt on mine slightly to accommodate a Pachmayr "Old English" Decelerator for lightly-clad days, swapping for a custom buttplate of thinnish aluminum sheet when winter demanded thicker clothes. I believe you may be able to pick up a Model 100 for $5-800, but haven't followed the used market recently. As the original wood tends to be rather light colored and varnished, you may want to refinish toward something darker and oiled. There are fancier versions of the basic 100 as well, among these the 280 and 480, both straight-stocked. They fetch correspondingly higher prices on the used market. A few days ago "Researcher" posted a 1979 catalog illustration of this entire line: http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=238439#Post238439 You'll want to make sure the action is tightly bolted to the stock, or cracks may appear at the scalloped edges. Access to the nut is through the hole beneath the buttplate. Don't recall what size socket at the moment. Others have acraglassed to ensure the best fit for the action against the wood. If the stock already has a hairline or two at the scalloping, you can repair these yourself with thinned epoxy, as described in numerous posts on the site. I did, and the crack never advanced.

I didn't see mention of a price range. The Beretta 68X guns probably make the most sense.

But if you can somehow put one of the discontinued 20 ga Beretta ASE BLEs in her hands I'm pretty sure the discussion will be over. They are basically subgauge versions of the ASE90 target gun (now the DT10). The similarity stops there as they are usually delicately proportioned, almost never over 6#, and single trigger examples are around - though many have DTs.

The graded versions, EL and EELL, bring substantially more money but will cement your now-elevated status in her eyes.

Sam

Just curious: is the problem you relate your companion having with "heaving the gun to her shoulder" a pure problem of weight, or is it that the gun is front-heavy? I've run into a number of sxs (usually at the lower end of the price scale) where the gun was light in absolute weight, but was so front heavy it seemed like it weighed a pound or so more. FWIW, I've always shied away from the O/Us because they seem, to me, to carry heavy - a question of balance fore and aft. That, and the CZs seem to be front-heavy across the line, probably as a function of the way their barrels are built to accommodate choke tubes (assuming her gun has them).

Rebalancing the gun by dropping some lead under the buttplate might help some, and that can be done at home with a power drill and some recast wheelweights.

Also, re her proportionately-smaller hands and DT, it's worth remembering that (at least in my experience) French and Belgian sxs seem to have grips which are more svelte than other nationalities'.

More good suggestions...thanks.
Dave in Maine: the problem is both weight and balance - the gun is definitely front heavy. Also, the stock is unnecessarily thick at the wrist and forend. You are right, I have also seen Belgian and French (and early German) o/u with much slimmer stocks.
I am personally not an over-under guy. My own tastes are 16 ga SxS (or single shot, which I am now shooting), 30" barrels or barrel, and 5 3/4" to 6 lbs. I am 6' 3" with big hands but I love guns with petite actions and slender wrists and forends. However, my companion is used to an over-under, and I have been taking for granted that she is likely to be more successful with one. Maybe I should revisit that assumption, and think about a SxS (as some of you have suggested.) Again, she is remarkably un-recoil-sensitive, so I don't believe lighter weight is an issue.

Well the Miroku that I posted the link to should do quite well and the chokes can be reamed to what ever you want.
The gun is reasonable in price and not a collector gun, so the stock can be modified

Another one, worth a look at least. http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=246257908