# Need help choosing first shotgun



## Hawker (Jan 6, 2003)

Looking to buy a 20 ga. autoloader for turkeys, rabbits, upland, trap, and anything else I get invited to do. Needs to chamber 3" shells and have 24" or shorter bbl. Would be nice if it came in a youth stock, too, but I guess I could have it cut down. 

Been looking hard at the Benelli Montefeltro, Benelli M1 Field, Beretta 391 Urika, Charles Daly Field Hunter, and Remington Youth Turkey Camo, but am open to suggestions (so long as you aren't pushing a 12 ga.)

So, ladies, what do you recommend?


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## Mr. 16 gauge (Jan 26, 2000)

Hawker;
Just out of curiousity, why not a 12 gauge? I see lady trap shooters all the time busting clays with a 12, and in addition to that, there are a fair number of female waterfowlers using 12 gauges in the marsh. A 12 is definetly more vesatile than a 20, esp. for bigger birds such as geese & turkey. Why the aversion?


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## Hawker (Jan 6, 2003)

Got into recoil/flinching problems with 12 ga.'s, even auto-loaders. Wore pads, used earplugs, BTDT. Want to shoot a lot and have fun so must have a 20 ga. (16ga.'s are too expensive and hard to accessorize).


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## caznik (Jun 3, 2002)

Hello Hawker,
This is the CAZZZZZZZ, I have a daughter that has been hunting with me since she was 12 and she hunts deer, turkey and all other kinds of small game. Since she has been hunting with me she has been useing a 410 single shot that her grandpa bought her for her first gun and she has not missed a thing yet with it. But now I feel she should go up to at least a 20 ga. shot gun. Last year I had baught a Remington 870 12 gauge and thought it be a nice gun for her to turkey hunt, so her and I went out to shot it and there is no way that I let a woman shot a 12 gauge with turkey loads in that. I shot it first and it did have a good kick to it. I think it would be good for you to have a Reminton 870, 20 ga. with the full turkey choke for it for turkey hunting. There is a model that you can get in camo or just plane with a wood stock to it, the camo is about 75.00 more. You may also may need a diferent choke on it for rabbit hunting. But if you like to rabbit hunt just buy a single shot 410. Now if you like to go deer hunting, get the Reminton 870 with the rifled barrell. These would be 3 really nice guns to have for a lady to go hunting. Well I hope you have good luck finding one................CAZZZZZZZZZ  Dont forget to check out Bobs Gun And Tackle from Hastings.....They have good prices on guns............


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## L80rider (Apr 3, 2002)

Hawker I'm with you on the 20 ga.

I have a 20 ga Rem. 1100, semi auto, youth model. I LOVE IT.

I practiced and Practiced and shot my first Pheasant.

Bought a rifled barrel and scope. Practice and practiced and shot my first Deer (Big Doe) 75 yards, dropped her in her tracks.

Nothing rabbit hunting this year, but then again, nothing came across my path.

I'm planning on turkey hunting this year for the first time. I'm more concerned about me being quiet and still enough, than I am shooting. (If it comes near me I'll shoot it, but I get fidgety easily) I'll probably try my Dad way of turkey hunting, falling asleep, and waking up to shoot. Works for Dad every year!

Mr. 16 ga. We understand SOME women can use 12 ga with no problems at all. But for some of us, it's just more kick that we are willing to abuse our bodies with.

The guys at the club insist me that I NEED to get a 12 ga if I want to hunt. I say I just NEED to get better with my 20 ga. So far I'm doing OK. Pheasant and Deer down.

Keep up the search until you find the perfect gun for you Hawker, it makes all the difference in wanting to go out and shoot or not.
Until I finally got this gun, I would begrudgingly go out, flinching and in pain. NOW I'm the one to say, "Let's go Shoot", "lets go Hunt".

Women can enjoy the sports right beside the men. Sometimes we just have some extra challenges to meet. I'm a WOMAN don't give me a MAN's gun. Give me something I can enjoy as much as you do. I have a Bow, set up for my strength (NOT my husbands) I have a Motorcycle that I can reach the ground to. These are NOT excuses, they are challenges. Step up and meet the challenge and ENJOY.

Gail


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## SafetyMan (Apr 13, 2001)

I'm a pump-gun guy, IMHO, less hassle, less jams, easier to clean, and just as fast on the trigger: by the time you recover from recoil, pick your target back out, point and shoot, I've done all that and cycled another shell...

For my wife, who is 5'2", a Remington 870 Youth 20ga. And she's deadly with it. She picked it out, and I think she's happy with it.


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## Pinefarm (Sep 19, 2000)

Get the Remington 1100.


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## Mr. 16 gauge (Jan 26, 2000)

L80rider;
The reason I asked and the reason I brought it up (about the 12 gauge) is that recoil is not just a function of gauge, but other factors as well. Most prominantly is stock fit.....a good stock fit will find the shooter feeling minimal "felt" recoil ( i.e. 'kick'); poor stock fit (too long, too short, or too "straight") will kick the dicken's out of you, irregardless of gauge. I have my grandfather's old single shot 20 gauge that has a stock as straight as an arrow......the darn thing kicks worse than my .30-06! In addition, gas operated semiautos (such as your 1100) can appreciably decrease recoil.
A lot of smaller framed ladies do well with youth model 20 gauges because these guns have a better stock fit for their size.....unfortunately, the gun manufacturers don't make these in 12 gauge. I am willing to bet that if they did, you would probably see more ladies using 12s than there currently are.
Glad you like your 20 gauge 1100.....great gun and if you keep your shots within the limits of your gauge, you should have no problem harvesting your turkey. Good hunting to you.


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## Walligator (Mar 30, 2003)

I have the Remington 870, 20 gauge. Great all-around gun, I just change the choke to accomodate whatever I'm hunting for or if I'm skeet shooting. It's a great gun and I'd really recommend it.


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## Bow Hunter Brandon (Jan 15, 2003)

Thought I would bump this up to the top since my wife and I have been talking about getting her a gun of her own that actually fits her.
I found this thread with a search.
Does anyone have the youth 20 gauge 1100 remington? does it come in wood stock and shoot 3 inch out of that setup?
All we have found so far is the youth 1100 in the tukey gun ( camo package) that shoots 3 inch and my wife wants a gun that looks nice since It will be her only gun I cant blame her.

Im thinking either the wood 3 inch if they make that. Or I am seriously considering having a stock ordered and installed on the tukey setup from a wood 2 3/4 version.

Thoughts?


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## victor mi pro bowhunter (Feb 12, 2001)

Walligator said:


> I have the Remington 870, 20 gauge. Great all-around gun, I just change the choke to accomodate whatever I'm hunting for or if I'm skeet shooting. It's a great gun and I'd really recommend it.


Yes the 870 is a fine gun my mom use's one
my self i use a 870 12 gauge 

go and take a look at one and see if they will let you shoot it


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## L80rider (Apr 3, 2002)

Hello BHB, 

I've got a Rem 1100 Youth Wood Stock, AND I LOVE IT. but....
They don't make them anymore (shame, I have the same feelings as your wife, it's my gun and I want it NICE) BUT....
They are out there, you just need to be patient and search for them. Took my husband 9 months searching on e-bay finally found one, came upstairs to ask me about it, went back down to the computer and it was SOLD (you snooze, you lose). Fortunately for ME, another one came along not long after that one. A guy in California bought it for his daughter, then she broke her arm and couldn't shoot for a while, then she got into girly things, then she out grew it. So I got it and it was like NEW, only shot twice (before I owned it) Since then I've shot 2 deer with it (75 and 65 yards) (probably the only deer shot in Cheboygan county killed with a shotgun, and a 20ga at that), a pheasant and hopefully a turkey next weekend.

I got a Hastings Riffled Barrel for it, scope mounts directly to the barrel, easy to switch between barrels for the type of hunting you're doing.

I do NOT believe it comes in the 3" though.

Good Luck and Good Gun for a Woman.

Cheers, 
Gail


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## Bow Hunter Brandon (Jan 15, 2003)

L80rider, Thanks for the info. Atleast if they made it it might be possible to have the stock ordered as a replacement one and installed on the newer turkey version that comes in 3".
Thanks,
BHB


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## Hawker (Jan 6, 2003)

I ended up with the Charles Daly Field Hunter Youth, which I ordered from Wal-mart ($259). I then put a standard (adult-sized) stock ($50) on it--I wanted the youth model for the shorter barrel. I've very happy with that gun. It's ultra light, very inexpensive, and takes any chokes sized for Remington's. So far, I've taken two big gobblers with it, last year's at 15 yards, and this year's at 36 yards (Hevi-shot #4's, baby!). I've also shot a fair bit of trap with never a jam. I haven't had a chance to take it out for rabbit or upland (I usually hunt all that with the bird). As for deer, though I could put a slug choke on it, my mentors have convinced me that a dedicated deer gun, with optics, is the way to go. So, I just bought an H&R single-shot, fully-rifled, 20ga., youth model, slug gun. It was only $209. So, I have two nice guns for what that 1100 probably runs alone. 

Another option I looked into was to buy a muzzleloader as my dedicated deer gun. Then you have a much longer season and the modern ones are not all that difficult to deal with and can be fairly inexpensive. However, since my new hunting partner just happened to have an extra Omega muzzleloader lying around, I didn't have to buy one. Now I have two dedicated deer guns, one for my daddy to use.


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## Lindsey (Jan 22, 2000)

Brandon,
Check with a competant smith or Remington to confirm that the 3" 20 gauge 1100 will cycle 2 3/4" loads. I've heard that it won't. You might want to look at a 20 gauge Rem 11-87. My understanding is that the 11-87 will cycle 2 3/4" and 3" 20 gauge shells.

Lindsey


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## Bow Hunter Brandon (Jan 15, 2003)

Thanks for the information everyone. As it stands right now Deputy is giving me a wood stock for Remington 11-87. Since my wife likes my 12 gauge 11-87 but its to big for her to shoot well (length wise) I am going to have the stock cut down and then fit onto my gun for her to try out. We are going to see how it is with the full length barrel. If it feels good and fits well we will buy an 11-87 12 to have it all fit to and call it good. If not then we may play around with a shorter barrel as well.


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## Lindsey (Jan 22, 2000)

Brandon,
Following a discussion with Hawker at the WWOW pasty making session about 3" 20 gauge vs 2 3/4" 12 gauge loads I did some research on Remington and Winchester's web pages. 
Both manufacturer sell 3" 20 gauge turkey loads with 1 1/4 ounces of lead or hevi-shot leaving at 1185 fps. Many of the 2 3/4" high brass 12 gauge loads made both both manufacturers also have 1 1/4 ounce of lead leaving with similar velocities. Recoil should be similar for the 20 gauge loads and 12 gauge loads shooting the same weight of shot at similar velocities.
Factory 1 ounce and 1 1/8 ounce 12 gauge loads with 1100 to 1200 fps muzzle velocities should recoil a bit less. 
With careful and thoughtful load selection a 12 gauge can have 20 gauge recoil levels. Of course they can kick like a mule if you shoot some of the hotter loads.
Hope I'm not preaching to the choir.
Good luck to you and your wife.
Lindsey


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## Bow Hunter Brandon (Jan 15, 2003)

I had not considered that and it was very helpful . Thanks,
Brandon




Lindsey said:


> Brandon,
> Following a discussion with Hawker at the WWOW pasty making session about 3" 20 gauge vs 2 3/4" 12 gauge loads I did some research on Remington and Winchester's web pages.
> Both manufacturer sell 3" 20 gauge turkey loads with 1 1/4 ounces of lead or hevi-shot leaving at 1185 fps. Many of the 2 3/4" high brass 12 gauge loads made both both manufacturers also have 1 1/4 ounce of lead leaving with similar velocities. Recoil should be similar for the 20 gauge loads and 12 gauge loads shooting the same weight of shot at similar velocities.
> Factory 1 ounce and 1 1/8 ounce 12 gauge loads with 1100 to 1200 fps muzzle velocities should recoil a bit less.
> ...


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