I'm also very much in favor of starting a kid out with single shot rifles and shotguns. They are a great choice from the standpoints of learning proper gun handling and safety, and learning there is more to good shooting than flinging the maximum amount of lead. I started out with the 20 gauge version of the aforementioned Savage model 220 hammerless which I bought with my paper route money. I still have it, and still have the Winchester Model 67A single shot .22 that Santa Claus left under the tree when I was 10. They both provide a lot of memories, and I can't imagine ever selling them.
James: he out-grew his Model 12 (1913 20 bore). Too short now.
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But since the genie is already out of the bottle, and your son has been using a shortened 20 ga. Model 12, the most cost effective solution might be to simply buy a longer buttstock to get a few more years out of his present shotgun. You could hang on to the shortened butt to make it suitable for another kid in the future... maybe your grandson.
