most states will not allow a .410 for deer

How tall is your wife?

Has she gone shooting before?

You need to take into consideration her size, large or small, when choosing a long gun.

First thing is to get her to a good Sporting Goods Dealer so that she can try out different guns. Fit is everything, especially if you are hoping to have a hunting / shooting partner for life. If the gun does not fit then it will kick like a mule and she will not be able to shoot it well.

Go to the store with an open mind. Don't get hung up on brand or price just yet. Try as many guns as you can because they will all fit different.

Now that you have a list of what fits, now it is time to sort them out by price, brand, etc.

Buy what fits over price or brand preference.

Just my $.02

Good Luck!

I agree with Mountaineer.

I would've picked an 870 Youth (20 ga) for my wife, but fortunately had her along at one point and she "tried on" the 870, the Nova, the Bantam, and the BPS. Watching her, it was clear that the longer forearm of the Nova was significantly more comfortable for her to reach and manipulate comfortably. Even a 20 can get a smaller-statured shooter's attention, and slugs are just going to amplify that effect. I'd be very leery of using buckshot if you're serious about her shooting out to 100 yards, though.

I'm assuming you're in a "shotgun only" area, otherwise I'd suggest you also look at a few rifles, maybe something in the .243- to 7mm-08 range. My wife actually finds the .243 louder, but worries less about it breaking her shoulder than she does the 20 ga.

Her biggest complaint is probably that neither of the twocome in pink!

870 hands down...then you can turn around and give itto your grandchild to hunt with.

I believe you can get youth model 870's in pink. I think I have seen them at gander mountain.

Paul

Remington 1100 would be a great choice and it would definitely have some soft recoil which she will appreciate.

I'll add another vote for the 20ga BPS if you think she'd like a pump gun. Great shotguns. If you get a smoothbore barrel you can use rifled slugs out to 100 yards and they will make deer very dead, very fast. My dad used his 20ga 870 Wingmaster with the cheap Remington Slugger rifles slugs and killed a remarkable number of deer with it party hunting during the Iowa shotgun season, and with just a vent rib and bead no less. I don't recommend this for your wife, as my was an outstanding instinctive shooter (uncanny might be a better word) before his vision went downhill and he switched to a scoped muzzleloader. For her I'd suggest rifle sights, a 1 to 4x shotgun scope, or even a red dot reflex sight mounted to the receiver. If she just wants a slug gun, you might also consider going with a New England Firearms rifled single shot 20ga and sabot slugs. Good little guns at a very reasonable price, and they're ready for optics. It is only a single shot, but if she's using sabot slugs and a scope, and has the patience to wait for a good shot, one is all she should need.

Good luck.

Mike