20 gauge pistol grip recoil

If he just HAS to have a pistol grip, just have him fire a 20 gauge with a stock in the same manner as if it was a PG only shotgun and see what happens. FWIW, a standard 20 gauge was all I could handle at 11.

No good can come of him shooting a PGO at his age. Have him learn to shoot a shotgun properly first.

Why not get a Mossberg Bantam, or maverick 88 youth model? With their 12" LOP they are not nearly as long as a standard 14.25" Lop stock, and at least with the maverick, it comes with a stock extension, so he can literally grow into the gun.

When I was a youngster, I thought it was an amazing privilege to just learn to shoot. My grandfather made it interesting by setting out little bottled waters with different colors, and clay pigeons down range for me to shoot at. I learned the basics of marksmanship, gun safety and had a lot of fun with a single shot .22.

If you're going to introduce the lad to shooting with a 20 gauge, I would definitely recommend it be stocked. There is still a lot of recoil in a 20 gauge, considering they are new to shooting.a pistol grip would probably prove dangerous at worst(if they were to try to hold it up to their eye level), and frustrating at best(shooting from the hip, or even eye level is not very easy, and kids can get annoyed when they aren't hitting things). With a stocked gun, they can learn the basics, as well as employ the gun in a wide variety of ways, such as bird hunting, and clay shooting. I can guarantee that watching a new shooter of any age rejoicing over their first broken clay, is and will forever be a memorable moment.

Anyhow just my little Ramble,
Have a great day!

~Leo

Why would you want him to shoot a pistol grip shotgun at that age? It won't teach marksmanship or foster a respectful love of firearms. All it will do is be an exercise in pain.

Teach him on a .410 youth shotgun. If you want it tactical, get a pistol grip AND collapsible stock like an ATI or Mossberg Flex stock. If he's big for his age, he might be able to do a 20 gauge (but not really)

Cowboy action shooters usually recommend a 12 gauge over a 20 gauge gun for women and younger shooters, because in the opinion of many, perceived recoil of a 20 is actually greater than a 12 due to the weight of the gun. Ammunition of course makes a big difference too. No need to punish him with magnum loads; light trap loads would be a more friendly introduction.

Why not give the kid a chance to shoot both and let him choose? If you do not have both a 12 and a 20 yourself, surely you have friends that can fill the gap.

20 ga shotguns are lighter than a 12 but they fire shells with 7/8 oz to 1-1/4 oz (3" mag) of shot so the physical recoil is pretty much the same. A youth model Maverick as SOAB recommended with a good recoil pad would work well as a trainer. The 22" barrel on the youth model reduces the weight from the longer barrels of the adult models making it easier for youngsters to handle.

The average weight of an 8 year old is only 56 lbs with a ht of 4'-2". Even mild recoil to a adult man would feel 3X heavier to a boy just because of their lighter weight and less muscle. Recoil is much easier to manage from a stocked weapon when proper shouldering and snug hold is used.

I've fired a pistol grip Ithaca 12 ga and found the recoil to be painful to my hand, esp. the web between the thumb and forefinger even when using mild target loads. Hitting anything from the hip was problematic and since the gun was a friends I never had the opportunity to gain any skill with it. The only way I could hit anything was to hold it like a pistol with one hand, something a kid would have difficulty doing or doing safely even if they could manage it.

I completely agree with others here. Pistol grip and 8 year old just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Did he see it in a movie or something? I have one as my home defense gun, other than that, it really has no other purpose. If he's got to have one (been there) I'll add that I've fired both 20 and 12 and really didn't notice too much of a difference. Could be just me. And I wasn't 8. Go for the Mossberg Flex or a regular 500 for that matter with an extra pistol grip and short barrel. That way when he gets bored with the pg (he will) he can switch it over to a real shotgun and go hunting or bust clays.

A good compromise, MN Fats. Get him a regular 20 ga. with a regular stock first, have him start with the regular stock, pick up a Pistol grip for it, then after he's shown sufficiency with the regular stock, switch out the stock for the PGO for a carefully supervised range session , and you'll find when he can't hit anything with it, he'll lose interest in a PGO real fast. And the OP is only out the cost of the PGO grip.

Another possibility is find a range that will rent you one.

If he must have a "tacticool" gun, why not get him one of those goofy pistol grip Ruger 10/22s? Starting on a shotgun, especially a pistol grip shotgun, is a bad idea for any shooter IMO, regardless of age.

I don't feel a .410 is a good first shotgun, they are for experts IMO. Too hard to hit a moving target with a .410 for a beginner.

Recoil with a 20 gauge pistol gripped shotgun might even be excessive for an adult.

A tacticool .22 would probably be the way to go.

No good can come of him shooting a PGO at his age

Click to expand...

No good at any age without a lot of experience.
What is he gonna DO with it? Pull the trigger and have it go bang? OK, and then.....

I bought a little Mossberg PGO .410 some decades ago. I still have it.....it wears a full stock now.

IMHO any gun for a 8 year old is too much of a gun. There are too young to be using firearms. I say start a young boy off at around 12 with a Pellet gun or 22.cal. with complete supervision. You can go to Pyramyd Air guns for articles on this subject.

On to Pistol grip shotguns. I have a number of 12ga. A year ago I started studing the ballistics of the 20 ga. and low and behold they are close to the 12ga. just at shorter distances. I ended up with a Mossberg flex and have a 18" cylinder barrel. I have the tactical stock, the grip stock, and a hunting stock. I also have a Slug Barrel for deer hunting etc.
I love shooting the Pistol grip at the range. Very manageable recoil, easy to maneuver. I can shoot this for many, many rounds at one trip. I also added fore end grip which really aids me in handling, plus a tactical flashlight with the switch near the front end grip for quick on and off. I have a sling that I can carry around the house or range and have the strong hand free. I had my Smith install a "Enhanced Safety" for faster use and a Larger action release button. Love this gun. Study the ballistics and you will be amazed. For home defense you cannot beat the 20.

Jeb Stuart said:

IMHO any gun for a 8 year old is too much of a gun. There are too young to be using firearms. I say start a young boy off at around 12 with a Pellet gun or 22.cal. with complete supervision.

Click to expand...

This varies widely depending on the kid IMO. There are kids who are plenty mature enough to daily carry a gun at 12. Others are still too immature well into their 40s and 50s. I started running a chain saw at 12, which most would agree is far more dangerous than supervised target shooting. A couple hundred years ago it was standard practice for kids to have regular adult chores and responsibilities at 11-13. Heck, the legal minimum age to hunt alone in many states is 12 yo or less in a couple cases. Kids haven't lost the ability to be mature at those ages, the parents have just gotten a lot worse at training them.

Jeb Stuart said:

IMHO any gun for a 8 year old is too much of a gun. There are too young to be using firearms. I say start a young boy off at around 12 with a Pellet gun or 22.cal. with complete supervision. You can go to Pyramyd Air guns for articles on this subject.

Click to expand...

I started shooting my Dad's .22 Remington pump at 5 and was bagging jackrabbits soon thereafter. My first .22, a Winchester Boy's Rifle, was a Christmas gift shortly after my 8th birthday. At 12, I had a 20 gage Remington 870 and was taking my limit of doves and pheasants. Of course all shooting was under strict supervision until I was 10 or 11. We were a ranching family, so I was around guns all the time and well trained in safety, maintenance, and use.

Double post.

BAck in the 30's Ithaca produced a 20ga double barrel pistol called "Auto and Burglar"

Just me and my kids, but they all were taught to respect and understand the "power of guns" at an early age.
They all started with firing a .22 then moved up as they wanted.
My eldest boy wanted to try my .44 at age 10, so he did. His second shot literally took out the X from 10 yards!!
Still, no pistol-grip shotguns here- I don't see the benefits.

Jeb Stuart said:

IMHO any gun for a 8 year old is too much of a gun. There are too young to be using firearms. I say start a young boy off at around 12 with a Pellet gun or 22.cal.

Click to expand...

And I say keep that to yourself. Plenty of us have been firing guns supervised at ages half of your recommended age. And double the caliber.

You know what they say about opinions ... Well, anyway, here's mine.

PGO shotguns look cool, but that's about it. They have no advantage over standard-stocked ones, except maybe portability and concealability, which aren't going to be important for a kid, anyway. Now, the cool factor, that's something he will want, but don't let that push you into buying him something that's more or less a dead-end in terms of getting into shotgunning.

As many people have said already, Mossberg has lots of options for youth models with reduced or adjustable LOP. Some of them are even kind of tacticool. Start with one of those. If he's going to be shooting any flying targets, by all means get a 20-gauge, but I'll buck the conventional wisdom here and say that a .410 isn't bad for getting started with safe handling and stationary targets. The reduced recoil is a big advantage for getting a younger kid started. Something like this could work:


Mossberg Mini Super Bantam .410

Then when/if he moves on to the 20-gauge, you can start playing Tinker-Toys with the .410 and build it into a home-defense gun for yourself. Extend the stock back out to adult-size, or even swap it out for a pistol grip. It has an 18.5" barrel, just like the PGO models.

I was in the field hunting with my father (a career Marine) from as early as around 7 or 8. This was a time for my father to teach me by learning about nature, watching him handle a firearm and just learn. I got my first gun a Marlin 22 bolt action. Before I was even able to shoot it, Dad had me in the NRA safety class, and then the NRA hunter safety classes. I would then shoot at NRA matches on Saturdays. It was then that I started carrying a gun on my own while hunting.
I go to the range often, sometimes twice a week, at least once. (Junkie). I see folks bringing in young kids all the time. And man some of them are just outright dangerous. Just a few weeks ago, I had to get the rangemaster as some jerk had his young daughter and her finger constantly on a 22.cal that she clearly could not operate on her own.
If you want a 8 year old or younger to shoot guns that is your prerogative. I just do not want to be around them. I hope you can respect that.
We had a young kid accidentally kill a hunter on hunt many years ago. Supposedly he was well trained at his young age. His mistake. He was just too young.
JMHO.

Note: I have worked around many kids around 7-10 and many older. Most are very easily distracted, they are still in the learning stage on how to stay in control of behavior, task, etc. All it takes is one distraction from a youngster to have a disastrous result.Is it really that important to place a firearm in there young hands so early? I just don't get it.

WI has a minimum age of twelve for .22 or shotgun for 4-H. This year they extended it to air rifle also. Usually, by 12 they get that guns have to be handled safely. You have to take it on an individual basis. Using my kids as an example, my 23 year old son was trustworthy enough to let run around the farm with a .22 or .410 at 8. His 19 year old brother? Not so much. He 'lost' a shotgun he 'forgot' was in the truck he traded away last fall. I don't let him out of my sight when he has one of my guns....

I had a Mossberg 20ga with a pistol grip. Pretty snappy. No worse than my 444 Marlin Thompson/Center Contender pistol.

Bet you weren't 8 years old when you shot either of them, though.