New here and would like some help please

[romeo212000]

Well I finally joined and Im looking forward to hanging out. I do have a quick question if you could please. I have a 13 yr old brother om law who I am considering buying a combination birthday/christmas gift for. I am looking for a solid 20 gauge shotgun around the $200 dollar mark. I have looked at the mossberg 500 pump, any other suggestions and info on either would be appreciated. The dilema I am faced with is this kid is growing like a weed and I am pretty certain an adult gun wont fit him. But I dont want to buy him a youth gun and then him outgrow it in 6 months or even a year or so. Any ideas. Thanks in advance.

[Starter52]

A Mossberg 500 is a great choice. If your BIL is over 5ft 2in an adult gun will fit him; maybe not perfect, but usable.

[sanson1]

mossberg 20ga is a good choice. buy one with a youth stock, many stocks are available for that gun. heck, buy an adult model and if he feels uncomfortable get a youth stock. ATI makes an adjustable stock

[Bartkowski]

500 is a great choice, but if he can handle a 12ga now, I would get a 12ga, hes only getting bigger.

[esmith]

I second getting a 12 ga.

If hes going to shoot it now just have him use handicapped loads and if thats too much just slip on a nice recoil pad. There is no point in getting a gun and then knowing you could have had something more for the same price.

[Bartkowski]

And when you hunt, recoil isn't noticed. 870 is nice to, but if buying new then I like the mossberg more.

[Lee Lapin]

Welcome aboard!

Let's see. First thing to do with any new shotgunner is to determine which is the dominant or master eye, and make sure the dominant eye and 'handedness' are on the same side. This first link is to an archery site but the test is the same no matter what the shooter will be using- see http://www.archeryweb.com/archery/eyedom.htm . Or use this one- http://www.hunter-ed.com/ms/course/ch3_dominant_eye.htm , or this one- http://www.totalshooting.com/html/mastereye.html .

If this gift isn't intended to be a surprise, I'd suggest letting him have some say in deciding what he likes as far as gauge, make and model are concerned. Do you have a shotgun or two he could try, that might fit him well enough to be manageable? Perhaps other family members or friends in your area could help with that too. If none of that works out, it might be worthwhile to spend some time at a local gun club which offers rentals, if there is one near you. I like to see people get some hands-on time, and trigger time if possible, before they lay out hard earned money to buy a gun in order to try it.

I'd consider a 12 gauge, given the much larger variety of loads available for it. Light loads in a heavier gun will usually offer less felt recoil than light loads in a lighter gun. I think a repeater is a good idea, and in your price range a pumpgun is going to be a good choice. I would not shun a used gun in good working condition either, if you feel comfortable buying used.

Most any shotgun will need to be fitted to the person using it, and in the case of a fast-growing young man it might need to be refitted pretty often too. Any good current production shotgun by a major manufacturer should be a good choice. I'd stick to wood furniture, simply because wood is easier to fit and re-fit as needed. Sticking to a major manufacturer's product that is still in production means you shouldn't have trouble getting a replacement stock to chop up so it fits properly as the shooter grows, and replacing it with the original later as needed. I would count on buying the extra stock, and sacrifice it to fit the gun properly. Changing stocks on a pumpgun is no big deal, and stocks are where the fit is most important.

As a general rule it is easier to use a shotgun with a too-short stock than a too long one. I'd not hesitate to get a spare stock to get properly fitted at first, and save the cut-off wood to reattach in sections as needed later. I'd put on a premium recoil pad (Decelerator, Limbsaver, KickEez etc) if the gun didn't come with one, and not worry too much at first about fitting the pad completely if it didn't interfere with the gun mount. Having recoil pad hanging out over the stock looks funny but it offers more surface to soak up recoil too.

Another important thing with a smaller statured shooter is to get a 'field' length forearm, rather than the shorter law enforcement length. It's easier for shorter arms to handle the longer forearm- it doesn't require reaching out so far to pump the gun. Holding up a pumpgun with your support arm straight out is a difficult proposition, and a long forearm will help with that. Different manufacturers handle the forearm thing in different ways, Remington uses one length forearm tube and different lengths of forearms, Mossberg has a couple of different lengths of forearm tube.

Hope all this helps some, it's good to see you looking out for a young shooter. I hope it all goes well for both of you!

Regards,

lpl/nc

[Geno]

Lee:

Wow, comprehensive and awesome answer!

What Lee said +1

Doc2005