Posted on 06/19/2015 5:51:48 PM PDT by rey
The .410 in a single shot is very unforgiving, usually because it is choked full and does not fit the shooter. It is fine for shooting cans on the ground but not clays. The cheaper .410 doubles aren’t any better.
A properly fit 28 gauge is better, but pricey.
I’d find a good range and see if any of the shooters has a decent skeet choked .410 or 28 gauge you could try.
Everyone has an opinion, but I was an A class skeet shooter in .410, with an 97% average.
Typical Ferguson F.D. gear.
Benelli 20 ga
With ComforTech stock and pad
http://www.benelliusa.com/comfortech
I bought these for my daughters
Earliest I remember mine was about 53 or 54. Eventually it was stolen from my father’s collection in a burglary around 1980.
At 11 she is just about to have her growth spurt over the next 30 months. So for now I would take her to shop used shotguns with a swing weight and fit that works for her and she likes the look.
She may well out grow it in the next 30 months but by then you will know what her long term interest will be.
Kids like to pick out their own stuff — its part of the excitement. Make her look at 3 places and then go back and get the one she likes best. I agree with others that a 410 is probably too light. I used the one my dad got for his 10th birthday when I was about 10 and it was sure nice and easy, but it isn’t going to compete if she goes into youth clay
Bummer!
I’ve had two losses, the Ithaca and my favorite Browning B25 Trap.
I did 100 straight in competitive skeet when I was about 12 with a 28ga Browning. I really liked the 28 ga because it was lighter and Brownings are really good guns. 410 is just too small to get good pattern coverage. Also the 28 ga forces a higher level of accuracy which makes stepping up to the larger guns easier when she gets older.
I forgot to mention, definitely don’t go with a pump. It adds complexity to shooting that really doesn’t buy much. They are never used in competition. They are with hunting but it is very rare to get anything on the third shot.
Crescent 410 double hammer gun.
A single shot is the ONLY gun she should learn on. It conditions a young shooters mind to make the first shot count.
That’s a good choice. Or a similar Rossi combo. Cheap, reliable, no extras.
A .410 is a nice little gun for use on shooting fairly close sitting targets. Think of squirrels sitting in the tree 20 yds. away.
Many have offered good suggestions.
Consider that the fit of the gun is going to determine whether she can consistently mount it correctly. It will also determine whether there is face slap on recoil. Can she comfortably reach the trigger?
A break barrel gun will generally have a lighter weight and shorter overall length as it is missing about 4” of mechanicals. That means that the leverage of the weight in the last few inches of barrel will also be less making the gun easier to support. Younger girls often have a lean back stance because they don’t have the strength to support all of the stuff hanging out in front of the support hand. There is also more ability to shorten the stock of the break barrel gun. While adding a thicker pad sounds good, it also requires removing more stock to have the gun fit. Get two stocks now to accommodate getting older.
Adding some weight in the stock can reduce the felt recoil as the slightly heavier gun mass will absorb more of it. For your project I would look at something in 20 ga. so that there are enough pellets in the pattern to make it effective for moving targets. A size 8 pellet has about the same ballistics from a .410 or 12 ga. There are just not as many of them making it harder to hit the moving clay target. Get the 20 ga break barrel gun. That short barrel Stoeger might be a great choice for the starter gun. I have not seen one though.
Forgot to add:
There can be a real cost to buying shells today after price increases. Why do .410 and 28 ga shells cost more than 20 ga? I don’t know but they do. Harder to locate with fewer load options. More reason to go with the 20,
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