My Daughter's New 20 Gauge

[drcook]

I posted this on another forum also, but here goes.

I just bought my kid a new shotgun. Gander Mountain had Remington do a special run for them

http://www.remington.com/products/f...shotguns/model-870-express-jr-specialrun.aspx

http://www.gandermountain.com/modpe...xpress-Jr-Shotgun&i=GM420190&r=view&from=grid

It is 1" shorter in LOP than the standard youth model. My kid is 4'10" and almost 17 so she will be lucky to get over 5'. She is muscular and athletic though, being a dancer since before kindergarten.

So far she has agreed to go squirrel, pheasant and grouse hunting. I am sure eventually she will go for rabbits also.

Eventually I am going to be a longer vent rib 870 barrel and have it shortened back to 23"/24" and rethreaded for the chokes. The extra couple inches will help on the swing, but from everything thing I see/read, not much ballistically.

We also have an 870 youth slug barreled gun, left over from my boy, that I will use the extra barrel to turn into a turkey gun as my wife, who does rabbit hunt with me, says she wants to go turkey hunting. So I can get a tight choked barrel and it is already drilled and tapped with a scope mount rail attached.

We had looked at the Mossberg 510's. But from everything I read about them, they are vicious little kickers in 20 gauge. They would have been perfect for kids in 28 though. The 410 chamberings are good recoil wise.

I also reserched the Mossberg Bantam, but really liked the 870 better and since we can switch barrels around, it will work out great.

My wife uses the youth model 1100 20 guage I bought for her.

 

[Milkmaster]

Congratulations! I am glad you went to the trouble of doing your homework. It will all pay off in the end and make a much more enjoyable hobby for your family.

 

[Virginian]

I was wondering if those barrels were the same as the Special Field barrels, but evidently not based on your input. I would still think that little gun would be much tougher on the back end than an 1100, but I don't think you can get under 12-1/2" LOP with an 1100, and that's with a thin recoil pad. Looks like you did some homework. Very refreshing compared to the "What should I get?" usual posts.

 

[Coop45]

Nice looking!!

 

[drcook]

Thanks for the compliment, I try to always do my homework. I used to be a tool & die maker and then wrote software for a living for 25 years so my mind is used to working that way.

I don't want to get her something that will hurt her, so she doesn't want to shoot. I also have a 9mm that fits her smaller hands that I am teaching her with.

My kid is a very accomplished shot. I had a 38-55 BPCR rifle built for her, sized the same way as this shotgun, ie: a shorter length of pull. The 1st time I put her behind it, she was shooting bullseyes at 100 then I move the sights for 150 and she did the same on the 150 yd sighter. Then she stood up and said I'm done and hasn't shot it since.

HOWEVER the other day she said she wanted to start shooting again and show the old guys how it is done.....

I have a lead on a 28" 870 barrel for a really good price. I am waiting back on some further information on it. It can be cut back to the length I am thinking about.

These little shotguns are built on the 870 express frame and are chambered for 3" shells. As I find out more about barrel compatibility I will keep all informed.

Even if she doesn't take any game, I will get to show her some places I have found. I walked into a great little valley the other day.

We have well over 10,000 acres of public lands within an hour and a half of the house and in the next year or so we will hit them all. I started working with our pet beagle. She will always be a pet and stay in the house, but tonite I drug a rabbit skin around the yard and she picked right up on it and found it easily. She was a pretty happy happy girl.

It only took me 10 or 15 minutes to teach her to do the obstacles, she actually is a really smart hound dog. She house trained in 1 or 2 days.