I took my first turkey with a .410 more than 20 years ago, when I was about 10 years old. The shot was about 15 yards, and the 20 lb gobbler couldnt tell the difference if I had shot him with a 10 gauge, it was a clean quick kill. I would say he would do fine to use the .410 out to about 20 - 25 yards, if his gun patterns well. But as some have said, if you have to buy a gun anyway, you might look into a youth model 20 ga, or maybe even a cheap 20 gauge automatic, like the Charles Daly, In the long run he will get a lot more use out of the 20 and it dont kick much worse. Either way, congrats on getting him onto the addictive sport of chasin turkeys.

Mr longbeard, If you really want one, I could shoot a turkey target at 20 yards with my .410 just for fun, and see what it does, it does pattern very well.