20 Gauge for Female

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Do you all think a 20 Ga with a slug barrel is too much for a small framed female to shoot as a deer gun. I am looking for a firearm for my wife to use and she is smalled framed about 5 feet tall and I don't want to sit her down when she shoots something. Alot of the rifles - even carbines - are too heavy for her but she likes the weight of the single shot H&R - Georgia only allows 20Ga or larger so I am wondering if it may be too much for her.

[BILLY D.]

there are several companies that produc a recoil shield for women specifically. it will spread the recoil so at least she won't end up with a sore shoulder.

there are many recoil reducers on the market also for us small framed people. i put one in my rem870 slug gun and it made a huge difference. think about it.

i would highly suggest you sit her down for hunting, especially turkeys. unless you want your firearm held at the shoulder all the time. in the time it takes to shoulder you will lose a bird, because they see everythig and are quick to react.

also make sure she has a good pad betwen her back and whatever she is leaning against.

bill

[jmarriott]

20 guage 3 inch full rifled slug barrels with sabots and light weight single barrel shotguns are a kicking machine.

The ultra slug hunter is like 9 pounds without a scope and is the 12 guage gun with an ultra heavy 20 guage barrel on it. Tracker II weight is 5.5 pounds unloaded. The 11-87 sportsmans deer weight is 7.4 pounds unloaded and the sporting 20 1100 is 7 pounds even. I might go for carring around 1.5/2 pounds over the recoil.

Still 20's are deadly accurate and accually shoot better at distance than the larger 12 guages with some loads over 100 yards.

[kt]

is there any other reason to turn away from a centerfire? maybe you can only use slugs? just curious because i just cant see some of the ruger bolt actions or a remington model seven being too heavy or kick too hard, if most of the 12 year olds out there can carry a rifle in the woods something must be comfy for her. a 7mm-08 perhaps. not to mention now a few companies make that recoil reduced ammo, pretty good stuff i here. otherwise. 20's are great, but good lord, i shoot alot and a lot of big stuff. but those break action 20's make my 12 gauge goose loads look soft. now it would be a step up in price but not considering money a gas auto will recoil less.
kt

[fabsroman]

Yeah, the single shot 20 ga. is not a good option unless it weighs a ton. There are several things that reduce felt recoil. One of them is the weight of the gun. The heavier the gun, the more the gun itself absorbs the recoil. Next thing you can look at is the action. Semi autos spread the recoil over a longer period of time which makes the recoil much less sharp (i.e., she doesn't get the entire recoil at once). The third thing to look for is what Billy mentioned, a pad that she can put on her shoulder to absorb some of the recoil. I wear a shooting vest with a pad on the shoulder when I shoot clays or I sight in my slug gun. Last but not least, think about putting a recoil reducer on the gun. I have a recoil reducer in the butt stock of my SBE, and when I shoot slugs out of it I use a recoil reducer on the magazine cap (i.e., I have two recoil reducers on the gun).

I have two sisters, one that is 5' 7" and around 140 lbs, and another that is 5' 5" and about 115 lbs. Both of them shoot my youth model Beretta 391 20 ga. semi auto when we go clays shooting and it doesn't seem to bother them much.

The one thing I wouldn't do in your situation is prop her up against a tree or anything else that doesn't move. Putting a tree, or other imoveable objecy behind her will cause her to be sandwiched between the gun and the object, and she will definitely feel every ounce of recoil from that gun, both in her shoulder and in her back.

[skeet]

Fabs is right about the single shot guns kicking. I started my daughter at age 8 with a Rem 20 ga 1100 and she handled it fine. I had a single shot 20 ga H&R for her first day goose hunting and it beat her up pretty bad so I cut a stock down for the 1100 to fit her and she never looked back. As stated the only way to really reduce recoil is to add weight or go with an auto to spread the recoil over a longer period of time. When teaching my female students I almost always start them with a 20 or 28 ga semi auto...usually the 28 ga to be honest. Be kind and get her a 20 ga autoloader. They also have rifled bbls for them.

[rem 700]

A sims Limbsaver can be installed, and a shoulder pad can be worn over or under a jacket(of which its own thickness will help too), so a $20 recoil pad, and a $20 shoulder pad and that gun should kick somewhere around like a 223-243.

[Catfish]

A nice 20 ga. semi-auto like the Rem 1100 would surver very well. The 3 in. slugs will have about the same recoil as a 12 ga. slug and she may prefer the 2 3/4 in. slugs, but they will stop a deer. Especially those little things you have down there.

[BILLY D.]

Originally posted by fabsroman
Yeah, the single shot 20 ga. is not a good option unless it weighs a ton. There are several things that reduce felt recoil. One of them is the weight of the gun. The heavier the gun, the more the gun itself absorbs the recoil. Next thing you can look at is the action. Semi autos spread the recoil over a longer period of time which makes the recoil much less sharp (i.e., she doesn't get the entire recoil at once). The third thing to look for is what Billy mentioned, a pad that she can put on her shoulder to absorb some of the recoil. I wear a shooting vest with a pad on the shoulder when I shoot clays or I sight in my slug gun. Last but not least, think about putting a recoil reducer on the gun. I have a recoil reducer in the butt stock of my SBE, and when I shoot slugs out of it I use a recoil reducer on the magazine cap (i.e., I have two recoil reducers on the gun).

I have two sisters, one that is 5' 7" and around 140 lbs, and another that is 5' 5" and about 115 lbs. Both of them shoot my youth model Beretta 391 20 ga. semi auto when we go clays shooting and it doesn't seem to bother them much.

The one thing I wouldn't do in your situation is prop her up against a tree or anything else that doesn't move. Putting a tree, or other imoveable objecy behind her will cause her to be sandwiched between the gun and the object, and she will definitely feel every ounce of recoil from that gun, both in her shoulder and in her back.

fabs

thats why they sell those 12x12 foam pads at the sporting goods stores for, to sit on and to place on your back and shoulder area.

[fabsroman]

Billy,

Didn't even think about the foam pads. She would definitely need that behind her if she was propped up against a tree. Not a bad idea. Foam pad on her bottom, foam pad behind her back, and a recoil pad on her shoulder. She just might not feel anything.

Then again, I rarely ever feel the recoil when I am shooting at game. Most of my recoil is felt while sighting in guns or after several hundreds of rounds shooting clays.

[BILLY D.]

fabs

thats the set up i use, especially for turkeys. you are right about a shotgun nailing your beautiful bod to a tree. bark eats ya up. and it isn't real comfortable to even lean against.

[fabsroman]

Billy,

I like your new avatar. What made you decide to go with that thing?

[rem 700]

Originally posted by fabsroman
Billy,

I like your new avatar. What made you decide to go with that thing?

LOL

[BILLY D.]

fabs and rem 700

it's kind of special to me in it's meaning. it belonged to a very special friend that i met on another forum called predator masters.

sunday a week ago she was out in a wilderness area in missouri hunting and had a massive heart attack. but i am sure she died happy because she was doing something she liked to do, being in the outdoors and hunting.

her name was staci matheis. she was just a peach. always upbeat, personable and a great sense of humor. her screen name was "me" and that was her avatar. i thought i would use it as an honor to her so she will live on for a while longer.

she was a lifetime diabetic and had two heart surgeries, but she kept on truckin'. never complained and was just a joy in everyones life that she touched.

it's funny in a way how we connect on these forums and make friends and how other peoples lives touch our own. i never got to meet her personally, shake her hand or give her a big hug, but i found her to be an influence on me. she was one of those people you think about and say to yourself "what a nice person and i wish i was like that". i also added a line to my signature. that was stacis also.

if you care to go over to www.predatormasters.com. there is a post there called "take a moment to remember "me"." you will see what everybody thought about her.

there was a thread here sometime back by us old geezers about being out hunting or fishing and the good lord calls us home. i wrote that if i were and passed "consider that i died a happy man".

well i guess that is true in stacis case also. she died a happy lady.

so thats the story of the avatar. i know it's not very manly, and doesn't have much hair on it, but i don't care. it's a tribute to my friend a huntress, and a special lady friend.

[rem 700]

Sorry for the joke Billy; I thought it was suppost to be a funny. As with you, I'd say "Consider I died a happy man"