Can your wife heft your shotgun?

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

Guyon

Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Messages
820
Location
Over Yonder, Tennessee
My wife didn't grow up shooting, and she's not a shooting enthusiast by any means. But of late, she's been pretty good about going with me and shooting pistols. So far, she's shot a .22, a .32 ACP, a 9mm Mak, and a 9mm Luger pistol. A 9mm stays by the bed at night, so I wanted to be particularly sure that she is familiar and proficient with that gun.

Today, I thought I'd explain to her the basics of how the HD shotgun operates "just in case." I showed her how to release and rack the action and how to snap off the safety. I handed over the gun just to see if she could chamber a shell. She did fine getting the shell in the chamber, but I was suprised to see that she could not mount the gun at all. The stock was just way too long. In an emergency, she'd have to shoot from the hip, which wouldn't be pleasant for all involved. Also, I realized that she couldn't even hold the gun up for very long. Loaded, the HD shotgun weighs in at 9 lb. 3 oz.

So certainly she's sticking to handguns if any scenario might require defensive fire. But it got me to wondering what might fit her. A 20 gauge youth perhaps?
 
weight

I have a 20ga Ted Williams Auto that I call my HD Shotgun. My wife doesn't find the weight an issue, but, the stock could probably use a few inches taken of it to optimize her use of it. Heck, I'm thinking of doing the work myself...take off a few extra inches and add a rubber butt pad...I have a hard time seeing myself paying a smith to do it when I only paid $150 for the gun.
 
The only SG my 97# 5'0" wife will have anything to do with is the 20g Micro Lightning that I bought for her for bird hunting. I've been thinking about a 20g youth combo also, just to have around. Got 1 grandchild and hopes for a couple more in the back of my mind too.
My wife has almost no interest in firearms other than hunting and, to a lesser extent, self-defense.
She adopted my old Mod 70 .243 featherwt for antelope and has shot 2 cleanly thru the heart. For a handgun she has her own Colt Diamondback .38 and no desire for more hardware. (atleast I'm lucky there!)
 
Another thread touched on this, concerning trap guns.

She needs to pick out what fits her, especially for clay games. That said, IMO a 20 ga semi is one of the best kept secrets for HD.
Used, if need a youth stock can be purchased...etc.

Now I did set my mom up with a NEF 20 ga youth model--arthritis set in and not the handgun shooter she once was. I'm not concerned about her ability to use...she good!
 
My wife can handle anything we have in the house, otherwise it isn't that much good to be in the house if she can't.

I am very impressed with her ability to handle our Rem 870 12 ga. and to be able to cycle rounds through and quickly hit targets. She doesn't like to shoot it a lot, but she can hit quite well anything within interior distances which up up to 15 yards.

It is nice to know your life partner is qualified to handle whatever you have for HD. FYI, her handgun of choice is a full-sized 1911!
 
My wife had done a hunter safety class when I met her and had her own bow for bowhunting deer.
She ahd never fired a handgun.

Now she has 2 Glocks 19 & 26.
She has fired:
9mm / .40S&W / .45ACP / .44magnum / 7.62x39 / .223 / .308 / 12 gauge.

She has no problem shootgun my semi mossberg all afternoon at our informal skeet sessions, and can "on the move" nail a mansized target with my Win Defender 1300 with all 8 shots.

She is only 5'4" and 118.

But has guts like you wouldn't believe.

See how she handled the:
SCARY Scary Scenario!!

In the Strategies and Tactics Forum.

There is a reason I came all the way from New Zealand to get her :D

Regards,
HS/LD
 
My wife can heft my Nova+mag extension just fine. Then again, she is in very good shape and she can bench her own weight.
 
She can heft her shotgun just fine. A 930 special purpose door stop. Work out of town lots so I sleep a little better.
 
My wife used to be 5' 2" and weighed 110 pounds when we were married.

Soon after she was shooting 25 straight at regulation trap with a model 12 Winchester, and later, 25 straight at regulation Skeet with a 101 Winchester.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight.
It's the fight in the dog!!

If she decides to shoot a shotgun well, she can.

If she doesn't, she can't.

See how this champion shooter won her first Olympic medal when she was a little 13 year old girl for instance.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Rhode#1996_Olympics

Rc
 
Last edited:
My gf is not quite 5 feet tall, and my wingmaster is a lot of shotgun for her because of her short arms. Tried a few times with her because she really wanted to be able to handle it, but she kept putting the butt on her shoulder instead of into the pocket and complained about the kick.
So, being the nice guy that I am, I took her down to the sporting goods store and walked out with a wingmaster 20 gauge youth model. She handles that pretty well.

Heck, it has been so long since I had a 20 that I might buy another one for me. I had forgotten how nice they swing and carry.

Wouldn't you know, she finally got the hang of the 12 and put it in the pocket instead of on the end of her shoulder. I might even swap with her. There really isn't a lot that a 12 will do that a 20 cant except for really heavy charges of shot. Most of my bird hunting is upland, with no ducks or geese anymore.
 
Loaded, the HD shotgun weighs in at 9 lb. 3 oz.
Click to expand...

Put the HD gun on a diet and get the stock to fit HER or get another one that does. Chamber empty AND safety on is too much to deal with if she needs to do it without you around - leave the chamber empty, hammer down, safety off - all she'll need to do is rack the slide

BOTH of you read www.corneredcat.com, especially the part on shotguns
 
We live in the country so a shotgun is our most used firearm.

In our case it is a H&R 12 ga. single shot. It is lightweight and very simple to use. My wife and daughter both like it. I have a shotshell sleeve on the buttstock with a couple of different loads. It stands on constant duty by one of the entry doors to the house.

Reloading it is actually quite quick as it has automatic ejector. Break the action open, the empty goes flying out, load a live round, close the action, cock the hammer and bang! It is also very safe as you have the option of not cocking the hammer with an round in the chamber.

These guns are very affordable. I am in the market for a second one which I am going to cut a few inches off the barrel, shorten the buttstock a bit so I can keep the same length of pull when I have a buttpad.
 
My wife has two 20 gauge shotguns she likes. A Franchi 48L, now appropriated to be the "Perfect Truck Gun", and a Remington 1100. She prefers #4 buck. Recoil is not an issue, and the pattern density versus penetration at indoor distances is very good with either.
 
My wife is 5'1 and has arthritis in her hands. She was rather comfortable handling my 870 when I still owned it. It was the recoil I think she minded more so a 20ga is still in her future. But in a pinch she could fire off 6 rounds of 12ga 00 just a couple seconds slower than I could on target.
 
Wow, a serious zombie thread.

ANY HD shotgun should be fitted to the smallest shooter who might have to use it IMHO. If that requires a smaller gauge, shorter stock, recoil pad, less weight in front of the support hand or whatever - THAT'S the way the gun needs to be set up. And if it means Ol' Orangutan Arms hubby needs to learn to shoot with the shooting hand thumb over on his trigger finger knuckle to keep from getting his beak busted under recoil... well, old dogs can learn new tricks.
 
I had a tapco adjustable stock on my 870. It was pretty nice, and I kept it in the corner with it set to its shortest, so my li'l lady could grab it and use it with no worries.
I sold that 870....now I need to get the same style of stock for my 1300!
As it is now, when she shoulders it she cant reach the trigger
 
She sure can, but since she has the ones she picked out she just hefts them.
 
It's an old thread but only one of us has been members long enough to have read it before.

My wife's shotgun is a LT 1100 in 20 ga, a real kitten and not too much ot hold.
 
jmorris,

it is interesting that only the posts from this past week have included the all important advice to have long guns sized for the smallest user. A big guy can use a short stock better than a small person can use a stock that is too long.

Of course for occasional use the short person can sort of forget the fore stock and move the support hand back closer to the trigger guard (if the gun is not a bottom eject) to have the elbow more under the wrist for more strength to just hold the gun up. This can mean some interesting juggling on a pump between shots thought.

-kBob
 
My wife has never used a shotgun before and doubt she would want to shoot one nowadays because of shoulder problems. Probably the only one I would get her to try would be my Winchester Model 1300 20 gauge. I bought a couple of extra barrels for it, one of them being an 18" barrel, just so I could also use it in the home defense role.
 
My wife can heft my 870 12ga just fine, but she dislikes the kick and LOP. So, a few years ago I got her an 870 20ga youth model. Fits her perfect. Just replaced the 21" bbl with a 26" bbl last week, at her request. We don't really do any clays shooting, but she always hits what she's aiming at when it involves opossums, racoons, or other critters around the farm. At just under 5'2", she's not big in stature, but she won't shy away from any firearm. But, she knows what works for her.
She's a keeper.
 
My wife has never used a shotgun before and doubt she would want to shoot one nowadays because of shoulder problems. Probably the only one I would get her to try would be my Winchester Model 1300 20 gauge. I bought a couple of extra barrels for it, one of them being an 18" barrel, just so I could also use it in the home defense role.
Click to expand...

Except that 20 gauge guns tend to be a pound or so lighter and thus can have MORE recoil. Better off with an AR for a shoulder weapon for HD
 
My wife enjoys shooting clays with the 20g 870. It isn't a youth model but it has a shorter length of pull than a 12.

She would be able to use it for other tasks as well although we have decided that handguns are our go-to HD choices.
 
oneounceload

I think the 20 gauge Model 1300 weighs in at a little over 7 pounds and is just 4 ounces lighter than the 12 gauge version. Match that up with some of the low recoil 20 gauge shells out there and I believe that the shotgun would still a viable choice for her if she wants to go that route.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

V
  • Locked
16 or 20 gage shotgun for wife?
Replies
20
Views
3K
machinisttx
M
W
  • Locked
HD shotgun for sister - 20ga?
Replies
17
Views
788
warpspeed
W
J
  • Locked
Shotgun for the Wife Help
Replies
6
Views
560
supercopjason
S
1
  • Locked
Shotgun for my wife, and how to fit stock for wife?
Replies
9
Views
437
RevDerb
RevDerb
M
  • Locked
Shotgun for wife? New to trap and skeet-
Replies
13
Views
1K
maseratisportgts
M
Back
Top