16ga.com Forum Index
Author Message
<  16ga. General Discussion  ~  Best first gun?
UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 6:39 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3370
Location: The Great Northwet

Merry Christmas everyone! I have a young nephew who has expressed an interest in going hunting with me, so I'd like to take him this next year. He will be 14 in January. I'd like to take him to the range to see if he likes shooting first. Should I just let him shoot my 16 hammer gun with light loads, or would I be better off getting him a single shot 20? I don't want to spend a lot in case it's not his thing. I do like the idea of a break action single or double for safety purposes.

Thanks-

_________________
Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com

The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
16'er
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 7:36 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 1393
Location: Tappahannock, Virginia

Not sure of your budget top end, but the franchi SL in 12ga is a very versatile gun. O/U, chokes, and single trigger make it a good all around choice for a starting gun. At fourteen, I’d think a standard lop should be good, or will be very soon.

The gun is around 6lbs, so 7/8 ounce loads will be great for targets. B&P has a nice 7/8oz load that’s pretty soft. At six pounds, load it like a twenty.

I’ve seen them as low as $1000, but $1100 is pretty easy to come by.

Later, he can use heavier loads if needed for game.

My tendencies are to go to prewar SxS’s with straight grips and dt’s. There are some solid $600-800 guns out there, but starting a shooter with an over under semi pistol grip and st is probably more advisable, imho.

Of course the Franchi comes in 16ga as well. Only a few ounces lighter, and the ammo choices in 12ga allow you to load it like a 16, 20 or 28ga. All of which are appropriate for the weight of the gun. (Do you load 12ga as well?) The 16ga SL’s are commanding $1400-1500 currently.

Forgive me for recommending 12ga here, but the weight is well within the Sixteeen gauge field weight, and if you load it right, it can be a sixteen gauge at heart, at least..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
skeettx
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:15 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Posts: 9455
Location: Amarillo, Texas

OK, here is what I did 30 years ago for my son.
Standard Weight 20 gauge 1100 with the extra stock shortened to the nut on the receiver, and a 1/4 inch plywood butt plate. As he got taller, I increased the thickness of the butt plate. Finally he was old and stout enough and I switched the stock to a 12 gauge 1100. Finally he was tall enough for the factory stock.
Had two barrels, one skeet and one modified, switched out as needed for the game hunted. Today might use a set of synthetic stocks to save wear and tear on the wood.

First year, ONLY one shell in the gun but a pocketful of ammo allowed
Second year, ONLY two shells in the gun but a pocket ...
Third year, three shells in the gun, ....

Seemed to work well


http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18608&start=0

_________________
,
USAF RET 1971-95
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
PatrickB
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:19 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 592
Location: Minnesota

Depends on the body size of the youngster. I have one 15 year old nephew that has the body to easily handle any shotgun while another at 14 that is better off with a 20 or 28ga. A good option might be to use one of your guns before investing money and time on a gun for him. Going back to my nephew's one thought shooting was fun but other sports are of greater interest while the other has taken more to shooting and hunting. Possible the range either has a gun or knows someone who will borrow out an appropriate shotgun for a youth.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Woody402
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:33 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Aug 2014
Posts: 286
Location: Finger Lakes

The 16 hammer gun with light loads would be a better choice thst a single shot 20. While easier to handle for a kid weight wise they real do kick a lot.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gomerdog
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 9:11 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 26 Sep 2015
Posts: 94
Location: Fremont County, Wyoming

Only you can decide what is best for your nephew but thank you for asking our opinions. I started my daughters with single 20's with light loads. They didn't have much problem with recoil, but we didn't shoot many rounds to begin with, kind of worked our way up as their shoulder indicated how much was enough. If you want to spend money on a US made firearm, I would choose the Henry single in 20 gauge. I have one in 12 gauge and it's the best made single I've ever used...attractive and has removable chokes, weighs in at a little over 6.5 pounds, so will absorb recoil pretty well. Either the youth model or full sized, depending upon his stature. But I like singles, so take that for what it's worth.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
16gaDavis
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 9:12 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 24 Jun 2013
Posts: 2062
Location: canandaigua - western n.y. (formerly deerhunter)

UDF - Happy Holidays !! I agree with Woody . We can take those 16's down to 5/8 . Load weight is immaterial , just need to get him not fearing recoil and , as he gets used to it , loads can be increased . Bad side is , does the stock fit well enough !? That's when Skeettx plan kicks in .

_________________
Molly sez AArrrooooooah !
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 9:21 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3370
Location: The Great Northwet

Thanks guys. I can find usable 16 or 20 doubles pretty cheap, so I was thinking I might just let him try mine, and if he likes it, I can buy a cheap one later on and cut the stock down. A single would work, but he would outgrow it pretty fast. I like the idea of one shell the first year, two the second..

_________________
Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com

The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dave in Maine
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 9:31 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 12 Sep 2010
Posts: 1972
Location: Maine

What Skeettx said. If the gun doesn't fit him, he'll get beat up shooting it (with just about any load) and more likely than not miss. Each of those is a sure way for him to lose interest.
I like the Henry singles for kids, though I do have an issue with the external hammer. A kid's hands may not be big, or strong, enough to pull the hammer back all the way on one of the Henry guns. If they get it halfway and it slips, there's the chance of an unintended discharge.
OTOH, one of your hammer guns with the big old external hammers would likely be easier for a kid's hands to manipulate. I know I have a bit of a problem cocking both hammers on a flush, but I didn't grow up with hammerguns. A kid might find himself limited to one shot regardless of how many barrels.
My first gun was a Mossberg 500 in 12 ga. I was 16 and pretty much full-grown when I started hunting, so it wasn't too much a matter of fit. I love the big tang safety on them. My other first gun was my dad's single shot H&R. His turned out to be a bit of a rare bird, in that it was one of the 30,000 or so of a model built without an external hammer (compared to millions with the external hammer). It went down the road before we realized it was a collectors' item. But a single shot with a tang safety and no external hammer to worry about might well be the ideal combination, at least to start.

_________________
“A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”
Frederick Douglass, November 15, 1867, speech in Williamsport, Pa.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
1stgun
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 9:35 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 10 Jul 2010
Posts: 356
Location: Ponchatoula, Louisiana

I was started on a 16 H&R Topper single. When there was no discernible bruise on my shoulder after a duck hunt, I was switched to a Win 97 12ga. Dad always said that it was important and easier that he could look at me in the blind and see that the hammer was in the right place verses a safety button!

_________________
The reason I am awed by shotgun shooters is that most of them don’t know how in the hell they do what they do.
Charles F. Waterman,
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 9:55 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3370
Location: The Great Northwet

Dave in Maine wrote:
What Skeettx said. If the gun doesn't fit him, he'll get beat up shooting it (with just about any load) and more likely than not miss. Each of those is a sure way for him to lose interest.
I like the Henry singles for kids, though I do have an issue with the external hammer. A kid's hands may not be big, or strong, enough to pull the hammer back all the way on one of the Henry guns. If they get it halfway and it slips, there's the chance of an unintended discharge.
OTOH, one of your hammer guns with the big old external hammers would likely be easier for a kid's hands to manipulate. I know I have a bit of a problem cocking both hammers on a flush, but I didn't grow up with hammerguns. A kid might find himself limited to one shot regardless of how many barrels.
My first gun was a Mossberg 500 in 12 ga. I was 16 and pretty much full-grown when I started hunting, so it wasn't too much a matter of fit. I love the big tang safety on them. My other first gun was my dad's single shot H&R. His turned out to be a bit of a rare bird, in that it was one of the 30,000 or so of a model built without an external hammer (compared to millions with the external hammer). It went down the road before we realized it was a collectors' item. But a single shot with a tang safety and no external hammer to worry about might well be the ideal combination, at least to start.


I'm actually bidding on a Lefever 16 field and trap single right now, no external hammer, with a tang safety. If I get it cheap enough, that might just do the trick to start with anyway Very Happy

_________________
Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com

The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Woody402
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 10:02 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Aug 2014
Posts: 286
Location: Finger Lakes

The 16 hammer gun with light loads would be a better choice thst a single shot 20. While easier to handle for a kid weight wise they real do kick a lot.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
hayseed
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 11:09 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 14 Feb 2017
Posts: 401

I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot lately. There is no better present under the tree for a young and aspiring hunter or shooter than a long narrow package. That being said it is only special if they really have the desire to use it. I think its best to develop a kids love for the sport and only then get them the firearm.

I guess what I am saying is I think I would let him learn to shoot and hunt first with a firearm that you have and then, satisfying the want with the gift of a firearm is so much sweeter. I know that growing up, the anticipation made getting it more special. FWIW.

If you are intent on buying, remember those single shots, even the 20’s, are kickers.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Byron Whitlock
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 11:10 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Jan 2016
Posts: 488
Location: Oswego, Kansas

While I love my 16's a good gun to start with could be Mossberg 500 20ga youth model because they hold up well for an inexpensive gun and you can easily get a regular length stock and barrels when needed. 20ga skeet loads work very well for starting a young shooter and are easy to get for less than the cost of components for reloading these days.

_________________
Sweet sixteen forever
LC Smith Field Grade
LC Smith Ideal Grade
CZ Ringneck
Win. Model 12
Rem M11
Stevens 235
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger
UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 11:44 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3370
Location: The Great Northwet

My first gun was a Mossberg 500 12ga with polychoke, but I remember it didn't fit me very well and I couldn't hit anything with it, and it did kick a lot. I also like the idea of a break action gun as mentioned before, for safety reasons. I'll just let him try a 16 with very light reloads first, and go from there.

_________________
Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com

The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
All times are GMT - 7 Hours

View next topic
View previous topic
Page 1 of 3
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
16ga.com Forum Index  ~  16ga. General Discussion

Post new topic   Reply to topic


 
Jump to:  

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum




Powered by phpBB and NoseBleed v1.09