16 ga for kids first gun
Question:
>ubject: 16 ga for kids first gun >A friend of mine wants to buy his 11 year old son a 16 ga pump.
Why not let him? Personally, I think that everyone should buy as many guns as possible- it is more fun that way. But, seriously, if "your friend" won’t listen to YOU- why would he listen to complete strangers? Randy Wakeman Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
> Note: I weighed 130 lbs when I graduated from high school! > — > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > Chris Barnes AOL IM: cnbarnes
You still weigh 130 lbs don’t ya Chris? 
Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
First thing I have got to say – that I am not an expert on shotguns!!!! what I am an expert on is observation, and what I have observed- when we put boy scouts(35 in the last year and have 10 more signed up fo the week after next) thru the shotgun shooting merit badge is the kids seem to always go with what hurts less- We have a couple of different 12’s, 20’s and 410 everything from bolt action 12’s to 870’s, a5, 1300, 1100’s and 500’s, the kids seem to go to the gas automatic . after a few rounds of practive they choose the gun they feel most comfortable with- it was my 1100 20G until one of the dads got his son a 1100 20g youth model- the kids can shoot that gun all day long- Because of my business, I get to do some TV shows every once in awhile. I have a sports optical shop and I do all of the dress glasses, safety, conatacts, and what I specialiize in are sports optics- hunting fishing, cycling, diving glasses- We did a show on teaching a boy to hunt- what we did first was take him to a skeet range- we made sure that he knew what his targets would fly like- #1,2,7,8 high and low positions should represent close to 75% of your shots. we got the boy hiting about 80% of those and he felt comfortable- then we took him to the field- he wound up taking 9 bird and had 3 no shots( 1 flew 6" from the dog, 1 flew right at the camera man, and 1 flew right at me) This kid knew that he could hit the birds and boy did he have a great time!! we have the video and he sent it to a grandfather and he cant believe how good my son is- I think what I am trying to say is the keyword is preparationand preparation means practice-more is better and with that 20G you model the boy is going to practice!! we just got a reloader that one of the guys from a cable TV Sports show gave my son and he is starting to reload Please take a good look at the 20G’s out there I realy believe that you will be suprised at what you find- I realy tore up the Pheasant last year in South Dakota without tearing up the birds meat! Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
A friend of mine wants to buy his 11 year old son a 16 ga pump. They plan on hunting upland game and waterfowl. I’m trying to convince him to buy his son a 20 or a 12. Not trying to detract from the qualities of a 16, but ammo is harder to find, it’s more expensive, fewer types of shells are offered by the manufacturers, non toxic shot is pretty scarce, etc. The kid weighs about 130 good idea or that a 20 or 12 is a better choice? If you think I’m wrong, reassure him the 16 is a good choice. TIA Paul Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > A friend of mine wants to buy his 11 year old son a 16 ga pump. They plan on > hunting upland game and waterfowl. I’m trying to convince him to buy his son a > 20 or a 12. Not trying to detract from the qualities of a 16, but ammo is > harder to find, it’s more expensive, fewer types of shells are offered by the > manufacturers, non toxic shot is pretty scarce, etc. The kid weighs about 130 is not a > good idea or that a 20 or 12 is a better choice? If you think I’m wrong, > reassure him the 16 is a good choice.
An 11 yo that weighs 130 lbs? Get the 12. Put a butt-pad on it if he must. Use light loads if needed (especially at first). If the kid is this big already, he’ll outgrow the smaller gages pretty quickly. Note: I weighed 130 lbs when I graduated from high school! — + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Chris Barnes AOL IM: cnbarnes Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
Psandhu169 wrote >manufacturers, non toxic shot is pretty scarce, etc. The
kid weighs about 130 him the 16 is not a >good idea or that a 20 or 12 is a better choice?
No, but I’ll post here and you can fwd it to him or tell him to read here (don’t want to *impose* my wisdom, tremendous as it is The problem is not really what gauge to get. The 16 will be too much for the kid, but he’ll grow into so fast it doesn’t matter. The real problem is that for the kid to have any kind of positive experience at all now (as in, get a bird or two), he’s going to need a very light gun, or he won’t be able to handle it, and he’s going to need a very short stock, or the gun isn’t going to fit him now and he won’t be able to hit barn doors with it. So my answer is, buy or borrow a *temporary* gun for every young shooter to use until they are 14 or so and can handle the gun they will be shooting from then on. When they outgrow it, pass it down to little bro/sis, or sell it, loan it or give it away to another young shooter. This gun is a single-shot, or, if one is well-off, a nice little double-barrel SxS or O/U (which they are allowed to load only one shell into, until they’ve proven their commitment to safety). The repeaters would fit the bill size-wise, but I shudder at the thought of putting a semi-auto, or even a pump, into the hands of a beginning shooter, and especially a kid. If you’re buying a small, lightweight gun for the young fellow, you sure don’t want him shooting a gauge that is punishing in light guns, and 12 ga. and 16 ga. are just that. So . . . I say get young shooters a "youth" cut, lightweight gun, single or dbl-barrel, in 20 ga. 28 ga. would actually do (since they can’t hit at, and therefore should not shoot at, long range anyway), but 28’s are expensive and so are the shells. Go with the 20 ga. For now. Cush Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
