Choosing Guns for 4-H Shooting Sports-Shotguns or Musings About Shotguns for Kids...

Thoughts from Experience on the Best Choices for New Kids to 4-H Shooting Sports and other Youth Competitions...

If you have read any of my earlier posts, you will see that I am a fan of Semi-Auto Shotguns for new shooters. I have heard arguments against them from "don't want my kid to be able to load that many shells" to "I started with a single shot and my Daddy started with a...", to "they're too expensive". So here are my thoughts... I started with a single barrel break action shotgun myself...but I wasn't involved in any Shooting Sports.. In my area at that time, youth shooting sports programs did not exist. You could play football, basketball or baseball and that was about it. I was hunting squirrels and going rabbit hunting with my family, and it was 1971. As far as "what my Daddy started me with"...If we use that argument and keep working back, it wasn't too many generations ago when we would have said..."well I started out with a flintlock and it was good enough for me...". As far as the number of shells loaded, not an issue with Youth Shooting Sports. We are going to load the number of shells needed for a station, either one or two. There should be adults observing and correcting the child if they load more than needed and if you are a responsible gun owner, then you have control of that firearm while it's not being used at a club meeting or competition and at all other times.

So with all of that said, in NC 4-H, most of our competitions will only require a single shot per turn and at most two. We Shoot ATA style Trap at our Regional and State Competitions, always a single target, even if there is a "shoot-off". In that case the participants shoot from increasing distances until someone misses, so having a gun that will hold and shoot two consecutive shells is not an issue. However, our Hunting Skills Tournament shoots 5-Stand and many of our kids also shoot SCTP or the newly formed NC 4-H Shotgun League which includes Skeet, Sporting Clays and 5-Stand, which does require two shots. NC Hunter Ed Tournaments break their ties with a doubles shootoff. So the ability to load more than one shell is necessary for those games. But my rationale for the SA Shotgun is really not about the ability to shoot pairs, it's about "felt" recoil.

The way that semi-autos operate helps absorbs some of the recoil from the round fired so that it is not absorbed into the shoulder of the kid. SAs also tend to be a little heavier than the break actions and pump actions which also reduces "felt" recoil. That is my rationale for the Semi-Auto shotgun and young shooters. As far as the cost, well at TCYSS, we can provide the shotguns for our kids if they need them. We don't have anything fancy or very expensive, but we do have a selection of youth and adult guns set up for young shooters. Many of our kids either start with our guns until their parents are sure they are going to stick to shooting or even switch to our guns if they have something that is beating them severely when they shoot. Some use our guns until they age out, we don't mind one bit, however, if the kid is serious then having their "own" is an advantage because the gun can be "fitted" and set up specifically for them, which any experienced shotgunner will tell you is a great advantage. Also, I believe that shooting the same gun regularly is an advantage in that we humans will adapt to the gun we use regularly and more or less "fit ourselves" to the gun. It's what all of us did before we could have guns fitted and for those of meager means, like myself. As a kid...we didn't know anything about gun fit beyond "Length of Pull" so that we could actually reach the trigger. My first gun of any kind was a Stevens .410 single shot shotgun that my Father, Uncle and Grandfather cut down the butt about 2 inches with a handsaw right in my Grandfather's store where it was purchased. They re-attached the butt plate and ground it down to fit the stock and I must say they did an exemplary job. (They had done it before...) I got that gun as a Christmas present when I was 8 years old...I actually turned 9 a week later. Two years later I had a new 12 gauge Stevens Single shot under the tree on Christmas morning...I thought to myself...wow I now have two shotguns! Not quite...my .410 was mysteriously back on the rack from whence it came at the Cowden LP Gas and Hardware in Grove Hill, Alabama.

Again, if you read my earlier posts on shotguns, I suggest that younger, smaller kids wait until they are physically able to handle a semi-auto Shotgun effectively. Start with a 20 gauge with light loads and work up from there. As they mature and grow, then they can move up to a 12 gauge shotgun and to a different action gun. Don't start them our with a .410 for the love of God! a .410 is an "experts gun" not a "kids gun". I say that because a .410 is going to cause a lot of misses just because of the small shot string it produces. The absolute best solution I have found for recoil with kids is success! I'm gonna say that again, THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SOLUTION FOR RECOIL WITH KIDS IS SUCCESS! When kids start breaking clays, it is amazing how much that recoil fear diminishes. Start them with a 20 gauge and they'll have success sooner and more often. I once watched a kid at a benefit shoot we participated in shoot a single shot .410 on a 5-Stand. He obviously had to shoot every bird as a single and he proceeded to miss 25 in a row. Watching him...his form wasn't great, he wouldn't keep his head on the gun and his feet were rarely set in the right spot, but it was a lollipop sorta set up on the 5-stand. It was set up more for lots of breaks than for the challenge since it was a fundraiser for a sick child. Using a slingshot, he shoulda broken a couple of targets...As his Dad was signing himself and his son to shoot another round, I asked if we could lend him one of our club guns we had on hand and provide shells for him, along with a little instruction. The kid seemed unsure, he was a big kid, so I wasn't worried about recoil...he was. His father actually was excited for him to try a 20 gauge so he agreed and encouraged him to try it. We started him on station 3 with a straight-away target and an incoming target that hovered about 25 yards out roight in front of him. The kid, I believe closed his eyes for the first shot, but connected on his second and third hitting the straight-away and the incomer back to back as singles. You could see his entire demeanor change. Before the end of the round he was shooting at pairs and even broke a few. We didn't get rid of all his bad habits that day, but we at least got him started on the right path. As far as the 28 gauge shotguns go...Definitely better than a .410, but still not the best choice in my opinion. Better shot string than the .410, and some will argue that it is as good as a 20 gauge, not sure I agree, but it will generally also be a more expensive gun and definitely a more costly gun to shoot as 28 gauge shells are significantly more expensive.

I personally shoot an over/under and have been a fan of O/Us since my 20s. I bought a Finnish made Valmet 12 Gauge when I got my first permanent job in 1985 and fell in love! Unfortunately a burglar took possession of that gun and I lost it forever. Since I have been through a succession of various action guns, but return to the O/U...mostly...I have a little side by side 20 gauge that has a spot in my heart as my "walkin' around the woods with the dog" gun and my rabbit hunting gun. We have been fortunate enough to acquire several 20 and 12 gauge O/Us for club guns. As our kids become more involved in shotgun, we encourage them to try a O/U when shooting at our 5-Stand. We shoot a lot of pairs and our lower end Semi-Autos tend not to cycle the lower velocity shells we get on our grants, especially the 20 gauges. Cycling is obviously not an issue with the O/Us. The biggest issue with them is the kids learning to handle the break action. It usually doesn't take long. The O/Us do have more "felt recoil", and some just don't like them for that reason. O/U recoil is definitely "sharper" than the SAs.

Another thing to consider is weight. In most cases for most things, lighter is better, that holds true for sports cars, tennis shoes, hunting boots, backpacks and field shotguns, but not necessarily for sporting shotguns. Here is the way I have heard this explained. A good field gun is made to be "carried a lot and shot a little" used for hunting and walking fields and woods. A good sporting gun is made to be "carried a little and shot a lot". Unless you are walking a sporting clays course, most shotgun sports don't require that you carry your gun a great deal. When I do walk a sporting clays course (rare) I use a cart made from an old jogging stroller, really don't want to carry 100+ shells around in my vest or anything else for that matter. On a trap field it's only 9 feet to the next station, weight is not a huge issue except for the handling. We encourage the use of a "ground pad" when shooting trap between turns. We encourage our kids to rest the gun on the front rail in a sporting clays or 5-Stand station as well. Fatigue is cumulative. Obviously, a kid doesn't want a gun too heavy to handle. If that is the primary issue, then it is best to wait a little and let the kid grow. Meanwhile they can shoot rifle and archery and build up those muscles. Starting kids on shotgun before they are ready can lead to some major bad habits and may discourage them from ever shooting. You can get a gun with lower recoil and lighter weight too, but be prepared to pay for it! Benelli, Browning, Beretta and others make some awesome lightweight SAs, but they are not cheap. (remember...used is good too!)

Based on what our kids shoot and what we used, here are some suggestions. Unfortunately neither TCYSS or I are sponsored by any gun manufacturer so no dog in the fight. I know folks have their favorites, and I am not going to get into which is better... Benelli or Beretta or Remington or Winchester. Not talking about Kriegoffs and Blasers either...What I am writing about are "entry level" guns for Newer Shooters and from what I've seen that works well with our kids.

Turkish Shotguns: Okay, Turkey may have it's own issues, but in my opinion they make some really good shotguns. They don't have some regulations that other countries that manufacture shotguns do and have an awesome supply of Walnut. Not that Walnut is a topic here. Tristar Shotguns are manufactured in Turkey and are a great "Lower End" Shotgun. We have several Youth Model 20 gauges guns that have now had thousands of rounds put through them without so much as a hiccup when shooting singles. They don't cycle low power shells very well, but again, for our purposes, we are shooting singles with them most of the time. We have some 12 gauge Youth Tristars that has been an absolute gem and have been the transition gun for several of our kids from 20 to 12 gauge without any cycling issues. Our "go to" for most of our smallest kids who shoot shotgun has been some Youth Escort 20 gauge semi-auto shotguns. The Escorts will cycle lighter shells a little better than the Tristars, at least when they are clean. Tristar and Escort also uses Beretta compatible chokes which makes finding various chokes pretty easy, although we generally just use the ones that came with the guns. Weatherby known for rifles, has Turkish made shotguns that do pretty well. We got one as part of an NRA Grant way back that the butt stock will work loose from time to time, but the action has never let us down. It has now fired several dozen thousand rounds without a glitch. Stoeger SA shotguns are built on the Benelli Inertia System and pretty good guns. Going up the scale a little bit, the CZs seem to be pretty good. We don't have any club CZ shotguns, but some of our kids shoot them without any issues to date. There are some nice Turkish O/Us out there too. We have Tristar and Yildiz O/Us that are popular with some of our kids, especially as they become more experienced. The less expensive SAs are not terribly reliable as far as cycling when shooting pairs...as stated earlier, we shoot a lot of 5-Stand at our place with report and true pairs and the kids tend to move to an O/U as soon as they can. Most of these guns are less than $600.00. I found the 3 Semi-Auto Tristar 20 gauge guns on a special for clubs for less than $200.00 each, Not bad for lasting 12 years and going with a youth club. Tristar also makes a nice "Sporting" SA with a 30 inch Barrel and set up for Shotgun Sports with multiple chokes for about $700.00. It has gotten good reviews, but having seen several in action, I would wait and save my money for a better gun if I wanted a serious "sporting gun". Similar reliability issues as the less expensive SAs when shooting pairs.

Moving up a bit to the Remingtons and Winchesters (now a Browning Company). The Remington 1100 is a classic. You can usually find a used field gun for not too much. (Though, more than the Turkish guns new) Great guns that really have a soft recoil. Their newer sporting versions are quite a bit more expensive, about $1200.00, but really good guns. Remington 1187s tend to be heavier, not a bad thing for a Sporting Shotgun and really fine guns. A real good gun for both sporting and hunting is either an 1100 or 1187 with a 28 inch barrel. For trap and sporting clays, a 30 inch+ barrel is preferable, but can be tough to handle for smaller kids and harder to find. Keeping some spare "O-rings" for an 1100 is also a good idea, they tend to get finicky when dirty and the "O-rings" tend to wear quickly.

Going up another notch and getting into the $1000s+, are the higher end Winchesters like the Winchester SX3. Made just for sporting seems to be a good gun, We saw a few at the National 4-H Tournament and liked the looks of them. The Benellis and Berettas and Browning SAs new will push to and over $2k, but a really fine gun. My father was an avid Duck Hunter and would have rather lost me than his Benelli. We have had a young lady in our club that has won 3- 4-H Shotgun State HOAs, two with a Benelli Super Sport. She won her first as a junior with a Remington 1100. She was on the NC 4-H National Shotgun Team and shot in College. We currently have another young man who went on to shoot in college. He shoots both an SA, (Beretta A400 Sporting) and a Browning O/U. In their situation, it was definitely worth the investment.

Pump Action Shotguns: I have changed my tune a little on Slide-Action or Pump Shotguns...I shot an Ithaca pump and a Winchester pump in my teens and early 20s. I would love to have both of those guns back...but I generally have not suggested them for our kids. We have two Remington 870 youth models in our "arsenal". They don't get nearly as much use as our youth SAs, mainly because if a kid is new to shotgun, I always start them out on a semi-auto. However, if a kid wants to try to shoot one of the 870s, I don't discourage them, I just give them fair warning. I explain it this way..."It will be lighter, which will seem like a good thing, right up until you pull the trigger." It will definitely "kick" more than the SA, because it is lighter and because the slide action will not absorb any of the recoil. However, it will cycle reliably with our club shells which are lighter loads and tend not to cycle reliably in our SAs, especially the 20 gauge guns. With that caveat, if the kid wants to try one...have at it. We have have several young men in club now, (May 2026), who will not shoot anything else and take great pride in their abilities to work the action shooting pairs. You can get a quality pump shotgun for a whole lot less than a quality SA or O/U. The Remington 870 is hard to beat. One young man often shoots a beautiful Winchester Model 12 "Black Diamond" set up for trap. (Not an inexpensive gun...and a true classic!) There is even a Turkish made Akkar Callahan 12 gauge Pump gun out there for under $600 with a 30 inch barrel and full set of extended chokes made just for Sporting Clays. Do avoid ultra-cheap youth pump guns...they look like a good idea, they're small, come with multiple adjustments for kids length of pull, weigh practically nothing and kick like a mule!

Since this Blog is about choosing a gun for beginning shotgunners, we won't get into the mid to high end O/Us...I can dream about Kriegoffs...that's about it. However, recently at a State Trap Shoot, I overheard a young lady who will be shooting this fall in College on a Scholarship tell someone that her new Krieghoff was her "College Fund". Her parents gave it to her when she was given the scholarship...In that case it might be cheaper than the tuition.