doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com daughters first double - .410, i need advice

RDD,
I cut down a used std. weight Remington 1100 20 ga for my daughter to learn to shoot with when she was quite young. Loaded 3/4oz light loads in it, but they would still cycle the action. Had another indivisual teach her initially on purpose so there was no intimidation .. he was a elderly skeet champ whom she really liked as a person and it only served to help reinforce good habits and the rules of gun safety .. and I am not an instructor nor a skeet champ. Long story short, I have several dif length stocks for that gun, the shortest is cut back to where the stock nut just clears enough to get the butt plate on it; it has a short plain bbl with a simple silver bead fitted with no choke whatsoever. It will break clay targets at amazing distances [trap or sporting clays] with std. quality target loads. Peter Blakely uses it today and has for many years to teach youngsters to shoot with. It will go to my grandson at some point as it was his mother's shotgun. Peter taught him to shoot with it some years ago when he was quite young.

As tempting as it is, I would strongly advise against the .410 in particular unless your daughters are going to use it shooting squirrel or rabbit [as in mostly stationary targets] and the 28 has no inherent advantage when a 20 can be loaded with 3/4oz loads and will as a rule be just as easy for them to shoot with the softer/light loads. There is also an advantage to using a gas gun from the recoil perspective. Muzzle blast can be as damaging as recoil to a new young shooter, so please don't overlook that aspect either.

These are just some thots, they paid good dividends for me. My daughter became a very good shot and the grandson is also. Neither had any problem transitioning to doubles later for targets or game.

Perhaps something of use to you, glad you are introducing them to the sport early and hope they both derive much pleasure from it and will carry it through their adult lives.

Kind regards,
tw

I'll second Jim's advise about the 20-ga. 1100. lots of them around and easy to alter to shoot. What ever you cut off the stock needs to be saved since you'll be putting it back within a year. Before you know it she will be shooting your favorite gun.

Bill G.

I bought my daughter a 20ga. Rem. 1100. Never regreted it and neither has she. You can even get youth stocks in plastic to put on until they get larger and stronger. I bought her the prettiest piece of wood on a 1100 I could find. She really appreciates the gun and now she is 21.

I'll have to agree with the last few posts, a Remington 1100's the way to go, maybe even a 12 gauge with, very easy to buy off the shelf, light loads such as Winchester AA Xtralites (though a 20 would be less intimidating). There's always old stocks lying around, or for sale on eBay, so it won't be hard to get a new stock as she outgrows the old one.
Steve

I would highly recommend a recoil pad- Hi Viz or Limbsaver...

I'd go with a 20 also....

If you go with the Stoeger yOu could send it to Ed and let him torch the action.

Jim, I'm sticking to my opinion of the .410. In my nearly 70 years of gunning and competitive shooting, only a few competitors shot really well with the .410 and I can't recall any "regular" shooters who didn't do better with another gauge. I agree completely with your other views.

I agree with the 1100 in 20ga. but that said most here probably started with a .410 and it appears we hung with it as far as shotguns go.Make enough gun shows and you with find a 311 or Savage Fox for about the same money as the Stoger and get a better gun to my thinking.Before you cut the stock drill two holes and save the piece cut off. When ready to go longer just dowell the holes and its done.

RDD,

Great to be getting your nine year old intoduced to the sport, the earlier the better. I won't comment re the choice of starter gun brand or gauge as you have had plenty of comments and good suggestions already.

A couple of things hit me though on some of your other questions, and as parents all of us do this. It struck me that filing off "read owners manual before using" and "Stoeger" stamps, as well as the wood grain issue, is probably totally unimportant to her. My guess might be that starting out having her very own gun is the only thing that really matters to her, the fluff will come later to her as she grows in the shooting sports.

And while all projects of this sort for our kids are fun, that's a lot of effort spent on na Stoeger starting gun, sort of the equivalent of restoring a '57 buick when the same hours of time could have been spent on restoring a '57 Chevy or a '57 T-Bird.

Why not consider just doing the stock fitting work and leave the rest alone. Then when she is ready to move up you might be in a position to get her an ugrade gun that she will really appreciate then, and your Stoeger Starter is already set for the next child. You can also then spend your time improving the higher quality second gun.

Just my 1 cent immediate thoughts.

For girls, unless they have a lot of upper body strength, I would vote for a lighter gun than the 1100. I purchased a 20g. Charles Daly semi-auto in youth size. It weighs around 5 1/4 pounds with an aluminum receiver and I think 20" barrels with changeable chokes. With lighter 20 gauge loads it does not intimidate a youngster and gives them a much better chance of hitting a target. It is inexpensive, around $300 new last time I checked and is black from end to end which kids usually like. There is plenty of time for them to graduate to the guns we like.