Even though I own a couple of fine auto shotguns and some expensive over and unders, I' m a little on the old fashion side when it comes to turkeys. A lot of people would shrug their shoulders and laugh but one of my favorite turkey guns is a single shot New England Firearms 12 gauge Pardner with a fixed full choke. It is still a fairly cheap (a little over a $100.00 retail) gun and one doesn' t worry about scratching or dinging it up in the turkey woods. For a 15 year old it would certainly be safe being you have to pull the hammer back before it will fire. However it wouldn' t be what I would consider a good deer gun. Mossberg is offering a combo barrelled pump in the 500 series for around $370.00.



It would be difficult to find a quality new gun for under $300.00. Mossberg does offer a pump gun called a Maverick 88 series that the suggested retail is $250.00 for a 28 inch barrel. I don' t have any experience with these so I can' t vouch for the quality of the Maverick 88.

However if you can stretch a little Mossberg, Remington, and Winchester offer some pumps that are close to that number. I would pick the Mossberg or Remington over the Winchester because I think the slide action is built a little better.

Most of the turkey hunters are using a full choke (the tighter the better, hence so many after market chokes) with their turkey loads (1 1/2-2 oz. loads) and they do pack a wallop. Assuming your just taking close shots (25 yards) I wouldn' t be afraid to use a standard 1 1/4 ounce hunting load. If recoil is an issue with the 15 year old that would help, but usually in the excitement of the moment recoil is not a big deal, it is the practicing that hurts.

Good luck.