Semi or O/U

[TAWS]

I live basically in the shotgun world. I have been shooting competitively since I was 14, and I still am, but nowadays at 79 I don't tour the tournament trail like I used to. I am a Level lll Sporting Clays Instructor with World & National titles. The best all around shotgun that I have found 9-10 yrs. old is a Beretta gas operated shotgun, models if you can find them are the 303, 390, 391, & A400. Now to you dads out there who think that they will have a new shotgun to shoot that's great if you and your son or daughter are about your height and length of pull, you might get by, which is unusual. The shotgun needs to be fitted to the shooter. They will be more comfortable and enjoy their time with you in the field or on the sporting clay ranges.
Get the right gun and then find a "good qualified level l, or ll instructor and let them help get them on the right track. Dads I know you will want to help but I have worked with some of the best and they will all tell you do not try to teach your Wife, or Kids.

 

[Mmac52280]

I let a buddy's 9 yr old son shoot my wife's Beretta a400 he said it didn't recoil much at all and loved shooting it, he had been shooting an older citori earlier that day and was doing well with it but recoil was getting to him alittle

I bought a Beretta A400 Extreme plus in 12 gauge. Eats any length shell, even 3 1/2" but recoil using trap or field loads feels like a 410, or less. Lightning fast follow up shots. My tiny granddaughter can handle it with ease. Pricey, but kids are worth it. I've seen recoil ruin too many people on shooting and hunting, especially women and children. Just my .02

 

[Straight Shooter]

As has been mentioned a couple of times, don't buy an inertia operated semi if recoil is a factor. Go gas operated. I started shooting a 20 gauge at nine. By twelve I was shooting a 12 gauge semi auto, gas operated. I have an inertia operated Benelli clone and with one of my coyote loads it beats the he!! out of me.

 

[Oldtime Shooter13]

As mentioned previously, fit is everything when it comes to shotguns. I purchased a Red Label years ago in 20ga. I used that shotgun for one season over sorting dogs and could never get comfortable behind it. Red Label has more drop in the stock and clearly did not fit my shooting style or my build. I switched to SKB 600 and loved that shotgun which I used for a few years, but it was fixed choked and wanted versatility of choke tubes.

Long story made shorter, I've owned Brownings, SKB's, Beretta's, Remingtons and many more. For upland game and shooting over a sporting dog, I like an over/under. A good Pointing Dog most wing shots will be fairly close and I always used open choke for my first shot and tighter pattern for follow up or second bird. I have never been a fan of semi-auto for upland game, but would be less recoil. But, shooting at game I have never had an issue with recoil.

Advice for your young GSP and making her successful. Pheasant hunting is much easier than Grouse on your young dog. Pheasant try to hid in grassy cover and if your dog has a decent nose she will find them easily. Using wind to her advantage is your job. Grouse on the other hand don't like to hold and are very difficult on young GSP. Their natural predator is a fox or coyote and grouse don't know the difference. If you have Woodcock in your area, put your young dog on them. They hold good and your dog will become more steady to point. Timber-Doodles were my GSP greatest joy to hunt. I miss my girl and the upland game over pointing dog.

 

[Lee7588]

I bought a Beretta A400 Extreme plus in 12 gauge. Eats any length shell, even 3 1/2" but recoil using trap or field loads feels like a 410, or less. Lightning fast follow up shots. My tiny granddaughter can handle it with ease. Pricey, but kids are worth it. I've seen recoil ruin too many people on shooting and hunting, especially women and children. Just my .02

I agree hers is a 20 ga and with the kick off system the recoil is minimal. My wife is 5'1" and the a400 works well and she is a great shot with it

 

[TAWS]

Gauges 20 or 28 for the younger kids older and larger kids can maybe handle the 12ga. Don't even think about the 410 as it is mostly an experts caliber, it is not a guag.

 

[jeb405]

Two points to share.

Most semi's (as others have said I also prefer gas guns) also have the ability to adjust stock cast and drop, huge improvement compared to OU's.

My upland gun is a 26" 20ga Winchester 101, long out of production, think Citori as this one was also made by Miroku in Japan, super light weight, does not swing well but fast to the shot on a flush and great to carry all day. So light it is unpleasant to shoot from recoil even in 20ga more than a couple of boxes. When you go light enough even lesser shells can be uncomfortable.

Good luck, I hope we are helping.

JB

 

[blvette75]

Help me choose.

Wanting to get both myself and my kids out more, I kinda dove into a bird dog this summer and figured I would get into pheasants and grouse more. GSP puppy is finishing her first round of training and trainer said take her out in the field. She's 7 months so not expecting the world from her but my problem now is I could use a good upland shotgun.

Time for me to get a new gun! I play with rifles everyday, but dont focus on shotguns as much.

I have 4 small kids all 9 to 4 so I figured a 20ga would be sufficient for pheasant and Ruffed grouse here in MN, and would allow the kids to shoot it as needed with less recoil.

I've narrowed down my choices to a benelli montefetro, a citori, or an old production red label. Figured the Benelli would be a little nicer for the kids to shoot, but always wanted a nice O/U. I like the idea of a new O/U, but I might lean towards an older citori or an older red label if I can find one because they are usually nice and broke in. Both the benelli and the old red labels tend to fit me almost perfect as well.

Any thoughts from you experienced upland hunters?

I got my daughter a Tristar G2 20 gauge with the youth stock and bought a full size stock with it, had a good fit and finish. It is a nice gun, not as nice as the Beretta but uses the same chokes. Works well for her and because of the low recoil she can shoot it all day if she wanted to.

 

[buzby]

I'm a huge proponent of double barrel shotguns! Follow up shots are smoother, with no action cycling. Overall length is shorter with the same barrel length, also because there's no bolt (this is nice in the grouse woods). I feel that they are safer, and easier to maintain.

20ga is sufficient for all upland game. Less recoil, the guns weigh less, and the shells weigh less.

Anything cheaper than a Franchi, will likely give you issues and will be cheaply made. The "B" guns are the best value, beretta and browning. They fit slightly different. You'll know which is for you.

Red labels are solid, but heavy.

Shotguns for kids are hard. Lighter and shorter is much easier for them to handle, but trade off is more recoil. Autos, recoil a bit less, but longer, heavier.

This might be the only time I'd recommend a CZ double barrel. You can get a mostly reliable gun that you won't mind cutting the stock down on! Cut it down to fit them, then you can add good recoil pad. It will be safer for kids to operate too.

 

[Allen Kitts]

A shotgun that fits you will not fit your kids and everything with a shotgun is about fit. If it doesn't fit you you wont shoot it well. I bought a Benelli M2 in 20 ga. a few years back and that was the end of it. I shoot it for everything. Its just great. Very low recoil, very light and it just fits me. Semi's tend to kick less, old Red Labels can kick like a mule. For grown ups not so bad but for kids it might be a little much. The last thing you want to do is have your kids start off with a gun that kicks to much and makes them start flinching. Its very hard to get a person to stop that bad habit once they start. Good luck and let us know what you come up with.

 

[tpe187]

Small kids use throws this completely off so I would focus on a gun for you. First, gauge - 20ga for sure (ammo cost/availability and handling are the biggest reasons) Recoil is generally a wash because the 20s are a lighter gun. Benellis are generally trimmer and more maneuverable for hunting and would be my first choice for an adult doing any kind of field hunting. A 20ga O/U is generally more maneuverable and safer than any semi but minus one round for hunting. And you don't get the fit adjustability that you have with shims provided with Beretta A400s/Benelli M2/SBE3/Ethos. I don't know if the Montefeltro has shims. A consideration though is any of the semis that have some kind of recoil reducing stock will not be able to be cut down/change a pad to below 14" as you would need to do for the kids. If you want to start shooting some clays, I would start leaning toward the O/U. When my boys were 11 and 13 I got them a Browning Micro CXS in 20ga with 26" barrels. I also got a Beretta A400 in 12ga that I reloaded 3/4 oz loads for. The boys shot the O/U the best because it fit them the best. Eventually they moved up to shooting my Beretta DT10 and Browning Citori XS Skeet for clays. Our hunting setups are Beretta A400 Xtrem Plus in 12ga, Beretta A400 Lite in 12ga, and Benelli SBE3 in 12ga for ducks/turkey. If field hunting, we go with our Benelli M2 and SBE3 in 20ga. Now that we have gone all over the place - I recommend you get a Benelli M2 20ga with 26" barrel for hunting and get the kids a 20ga Remington youth LW20 model 1100 in 20ga. The Remington's are easy to source an adult stock later as well as plenty of 26/28" barrels as they grow into them. I wish I had done that to start...

 

[just_jon]

I was a semi auto guy until I bought a used 20 gauge red label. Those shotguns have not been out of the safe since. I've since added 12 and 28 gauge red labels.

So treat yourself to a O/U and pick up a youth model pump gun for the kids.

 

[Radman]

Help me choose.

Wanting to get both myself and my kids out more, I kinda dove into a bird dog this summer and figured I would get into pheasants and grouse more. GSP puppy is finishing her first round of training and trainer said take her out in the field. She's 7 months so not expecting the world from her but my problem now is I could use a good upland shotgun.

Time for me to get a new gun! I play with rifles everyday, but dont focus on shotguns as much.

I have 4 small kids all 9 to 4 so I figured a 20ga would be sufficient for pheasant and Ruffed grouse here in MN, and would allow the kids to shoot it as needed with less recoil.

I've narrowed down my choices to a benelli montefetro, a citori, or an old production red label. Figured the Benelli would be a little nicer for the kids to shoot, but always wanted a nice O/U. I like the idea of a new O/U, but I might lean towards an older citori or an older red label if I can find one because they are usually nice and broke in. Both the benelli and the old red labels tend to fit me almost perfect as well.

Any thoughts from you experienced upland hunters?

I own 4 gas operated semiautos & 1 O/U. I like them all equally.
I can shoot the Renegauge and the 2 Remingtons all day long - no problems at all. I'll feel the O/U after 3 or 4 boxes (I shoot in a t-shirt) but the O/U is fun to shoot.
I've never had an issue with any of them, but the V3 tends to get slightly finicky when it gets dirty. Just my experiences.
Get what will work for you and your's (for a long time). Good luck.

 

[Mmac52280]

I agree hers is a 20 ga and with the kick off system the recoil is minimal. My wife is 5'1" and the a400 works well and she is a great shot with it

Taught all 3 of my girls how to shoot, starting with my old Remington nylon 66 first. Have 1 Savage 24 in 22lr/410. Then the Springfield AR, then the M1A. Recoil was factored first. You can't shoot well if all you're thinking about is the coming recoil. You have to build up to it. My twins were shooting my Beretta Storm in 45 acp at the end of their first day, because they wanted to.