Cas City Forum Hall & CAS-L
CAS TOPICS => The Longbranch => Topic started by: n1111z on February 11, 2015, 05:39:26 PM
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Pards, I am anglin' to get my gal into shootin' and thinks she will be o.k. with powderpuff lodes for her six guns and long gun. (She shoots good with modern guns already). Problem is she is only 98 lbs. soppin' wet and I am worry'n about the scatter gun. I'm wonderin' what is the best and simplest shotgun for a little gal like her? I'm discountin' the pumps but what about them sxs's in a 20 guage with internal hammers? What about them ones with one trigger, are they legal? Or the singles? Any advice from you vets would be greatly appreciated now. Thanks, the Doc.
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We've had a lot of smaller Ladies shoot at the club or at the business where I work, they seem to do better with a 12 ga using light target loads than a 20 ga. The 12 ga guns are heavy and recoil less because of it. Unless they practice a lot the '97 causes more trouble, at the club shoots. We have one Lady who shoots a lot and does fine with her '97. I think a new shooter is better served with a SXS just because it's simpler to use.
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20 gauge is absolutely the wrong choice. 20's are lighter and ammo makers try to pack the same punch as a 12 gauge into their offerings.
Even with lighter loads, the 20 is still a light weight gun and recoils more. Additionally, the circumference of 20 gauge rounds and chambers makes loading them on the clock more difficult.
A good 12 gauge with Winchester Low Noise - Low Recoil (a.k.a. Featherlite) or Federal Metro loads will be the softest shooting shotgun you can have with factory loads. Here's a place where handloading comes in real handy. You can make your own rounds that will perform as consistently as Featherlites with even less recoil than those rounds deliver.
The stock length is very important to the amount of felt recoil. And, mounting the gun properly to the face is extra important.
I have one observation about recoil sensitivity that seems important to share. The amount of noise a gun makes seems to have an affect on the psychological perception of recoil. Make every effort to get sub-sonic loads and use them exclusively. Metros and Featherlites are sub-sonic. If you give her 2 3/4 dram ammo (or hotter), she will not be a happy camper. Longer barrels are quieter as the combustion is more complete before gas leaves the barrel.
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Recoil sensitivity is more mental then the size of the shooter - once they get the technique down. I found some AA low recoil shells at Wolly-World at a good price. I showed them to Mary as I put them in the cart and explained that they wouldn't kick so hard. She says, "What's the fun in that?".
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M'lady had to work up to a 20. And she's a good buck fifty and cyclist.
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The idea that 20s are lighter is not always true nowadays. It used to be back in the day when almost all 20s built on 20-sized frames, but a lot of todays' popular cowboy ones aren't. They are made on the same frames as the 12s. It's been that way for more than 30 years.
The recoil of a shotgun is based on the weight of the gun, the weight of the shot charge, and the velocity of the shot for the most part. So the 6.4 pound Stoeger 20ga shooting 7/8 oz of shot at Light or Featherlight velocity will kick less than the Stoeger 12 at 6.5 pounds shooting a 1oz Light/Featherlight shell and virtually the same when you can find 7/8oz 12ga shells in Featherlight loads.
You're going to see "heavy" 20s most often in the cheaper brands, which are very often the popular brands in CAS. They're often a better deal in local gun shops when they sit on the shelf longer than 12s.
It's worth being a smart shopper. Check the weight of the gun you're interested in and compare.
Most popular 20s are about 6.5-7 pounds with 20" barrels. So are most popular 12s. Shoot the same weight shot in either and you'll get the same recoil.
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I know this is an older post, but I thought I would just mention that when my daughter went with me to a shoot and shot a stage after, she used a SxS 12 ga. with light loads, with no problem. She goes 110.
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May be to late as the OP has not responded and his choice may have been made... :-\
I'd option away from single triggers , they can fire both barrels simultaneously.
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May be to late as the OP has not responded and his choice may have been made... :-\
I'd option away from single triggers , they can fire both barrels simultaneously.
I would imagine you're correct, the choice has likely been made. I should've been more specific, I added the information more for an FYI for those who might follow.
I don't know about all single trigger designs, but I have a Stoeger that has been with a gunsmith for somet time now, trying to figure out why it doubles. Stoeger doesn't know, and I can't afford another at this point. Yes, I would be going the double trigger route if I had it to do over again. Interestingly, in years and years of shooting O/U shotguns, I never had one double fire, which is why I went with a single trigger SxS.