My wife mentioned an interest in possibly wanting to go shooting sometime with me, so I was starting to look into what might be a good shotgun to get her. It would probably be used as a multi-purpose gun, depending on what she ends up getting into. Right now I have an 870 Express Super-Mag for just that purpose - multi-purpose.
So really, the only thing I have looked at was the 870 Express Youth. It's 20 ga. and also the 870 synthetic, which is (I think) an inch longer and is 16 ga.
What else is out there that would be good and at a decent price?
Should I look at the youth models, or go full-size? We haven't physically handled any shotguns for her yet, so I was just wondering.
Also, what are any advantages / disadvantages between the 20 and 16 guage?
Thanks in advance for your replies!
Oh, and if it matters, she's about 5' 4" and about 115-120 (when she's not pregnant - Due in Feb) LOL
TH

welcome thauch, i bought my wife a 870 youth model in 20 ga., she loves it and will shoot it all day, the disadvantage less shot cap. with the 20,and getting harder to find shells for the 16[&o]the adv. of the 20 ga. a little less recoil, BTW your wife and mine are about the same size and weight, what would this gun be used for (mainly)?

the 20 ga. is a very fun gauge to shoot, every now and then i'll take out the 20 just for fun

go with the 20 gauge. i have shot everything from turkeys to rabbits with a 20 gauge. and i am talking about hundreds of rabbits with our dogs.it does a fine job. mossberg may have one a little cheaper but if you can i would stick with the 870.

Probably to start off with, just some clay shooting.
I'm hoping to be able to get her to go hunting for partridge, pheasant, small game, possibly waterfowl. Is a 20 good enough for ducks and geese?

some will say that the 20 is on the light side for waterfowl, some of thoseare also the same people that have to have 3.5 10-12ga guns for ducks and turkeys, people have been killing game for years with 2 3/4" 12's w/ 6 shotfor years, the only thing i would suggest, as i have not hunted ducks or geese in several years is the fact of the shot regulatons changing, shooting steel, or bismuth or whatever, it may be required to have the higher shot capacity, you may want to check on the waterfowl board, last time i went we was still slinging lead, BTW as mentioned the 870 youth or the mossberg 20 youth are great guns...let us know what she ends up with

I would look at the mossberg bantam. It not only has a shorter length of pull, but the pump is closer as well. It also comes with three chokes and a ported barrel on the 12 guage models.

It really depends on what fits her the best though.

If she wants something pretty look the brownings.They are not very cheap though.

You could also look into a single shot like a H&R/NEF

Paul

I got my wife a remington 11-87 12 gauge for deer hunting this year. I was going to get her the 870 but the recoils on pumps are to much for women and younger shooters especally when they are just starting out. I would recommend any autos 12s or 20s will be good.

I would suggest a Sako .300 Win Mag (tell her it's a shotgun) with a super scope. When she shoots it the first time she is likely to say, "Honey, this is too much gun for me". And then you say, "Oh sorry dear, I will take that one. You take this 11-87".....

I'd get a 1100 in 20 ga. Going on what you said she 'might' be shooting, IMHO that makes the most sense. A good 20 ga shooter can do almost anything a 12 ga shooter can do. Might be a little light on passing geese, but if you decoying them, a 20 would be fine. On the plus side, she doesn't have to 'shuck' each round and it'll have alittle reduced recoil.

Thauch----I'd definitely consider a 20 ga. in semi-auto--- see how she feels about that--- best thing to do may be have her try different guns & gauges until she finds what she likes before making a big purchase. Probably would try to keep her away from the 3 1/2" Ulti-Mag for awhile, tho------