WoodsHunter Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 I need advice. I'm looking for a light-weight, low-recoil, 20 gauge shotgun for my wife. We've looked at a number of guns, mostly semi-autos, including Remingtons, Brownings and Benellis. She likes the Benellis, especially the Legacy, for their lightness. Would she be better off with a model with a syntheic stock to reduce kick, or would a shock absorbing butt pad on the Legacy be enough to make the recoil less of a factor? I have a Super Black Eagle, which I use primarily for turkey hunting and like it alot. But, with 3 1/2 turkey loads it does pack a punch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty or death Jr. Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 The montefeltro silver in 20 gauge looks like a legacy, and with a shock absorbing butt pad, it shouldn't have much of a kick. And it only weighs 5.6 lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 We don't know your wife or anything about her. We don't know what kinds of shooting she'll be doing. What she likes about Benellis is the very thing that she'll not like about them. The only thing an Inertia gun has to lessen recoil is the gun's weight and the recoil pad. By their nature, Inertia shotguns will deliver more recoil to her shoulder than will gas-operated guns. Gas guns are typically heavier, and they re-direct part of the energy from the blast in order to cycle the action. Both of these scrub off perceived recoil. Have her shoot your SBE with standard velocity dove loads. If the recoil from that bothers her, then she has no hope of being satisfied with any 20 ga. Inertia shotgun. Instead, look at something the the Beretta 390 series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsHunter Posted December 28, 2006 Author Share Posted December 28, 2006 Thanks guys, I appreciate the sound advice. Tucker, you are absolutly right, I should have given a little background about my wife. I almost did, but didn't want the post to get too long. But, since you asked.... My wife is 5"4', solidly built, turns 50 this March, and is a naturally gifted shot. She played a lot of sports in High School and some in college. She is a naturally good shot, breaks more blue rock than I can, and when she did go out smallgame hunting (it's been about 20 years since she has been out in the field) she was able to nail woodcocks with a 410! She has had some health issues during the last 5 years, mostly dealing with her thyroid. She tires quickly and does not have the physical stregnth she once did. Hopefully, she will recover a lot of that as she is stabilized with her medicine. We have a new beagle, Daisy, who will turn 10 months old on December 1. She is from a good line of hunting dogs and we both want to take her out for rabbits. We both enjoy running beagles and belonged to the Lycoming County Beagle Club for many years. Our older beagle, Corkey is 11 years old, a great companian with a good nose, but gun shy. We have decent grouse and rabbit hunting in the area, almost no pheasants, and occassionally run into woodcock. So, to recap, Lynn wants a light gun, with little kick. She does have good shooting genes. Her family tree includes Doc Bogardus, a well-known sharpshooter of his time, who popularized the use of glass balls as targets in the 1870s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
split arrow Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 the Remington 870 in 20 gauge is light weight and little kick. I started using it when I was 14. I although the Franchi line of shotguns have real ow recoil I have had nothing but troubles with the I-12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdkidaho Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Go over to Shotgun World and post this question in the Beretta forum. I'm sure the guys there will be able to recommend a good gas operated shotgun for your wife. Tuckers advice is right on the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsHunter Posted December 30, 2006 Author Share Posted December 30, 2006 I had my wife shoot a S&W 20 gauge semi-auto and a Ruger Red label over-under 28 guage my brother owns. Lynn was fine with the recoil of both and was breaking about 2/3s of everything we through up with both guns. Not too bad for not shooting a shootgun in twenty years. She liked the simplicity and handling of the over-under. We went shopping and we found a Browning Citori Lightning Field 28 gauge on clearance at Gander Mountain yesterday. She has now purchased her first gun! I am slightly jealous. It is a beauty. The bad news is we need to shorten for the stock to fit her. Lynn's wrist to trigger finger measurement is only 11 & 1/2"s. I plan to have a Limbsaver recoil pad put on when we cut down the stock. It will be a lot of cutting. But, I don't like the idea of cutting up the new stock. According to the shop's gunsmith the forearm and butt stock are matched by making them from the same piece of wood. The gunsmith's Brownell's catalog had one replacement listed, but it was about $400. Any suggestions for other, more reasonable sources? Or, should we just go ahead and hack away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewforum.php?f=53 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagrizz Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 The gunsmith's Brownell's catalog had one replacement listed, but it was about $400. Any suggestions for other, more reasonable sources? Or, should we just go ahead and hack away? Check out Wenigs. THey have various different grades of wood and such. http://www.wenig.com I think that is the correct link. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooderman Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 WoodsHunter, Tucker is right about the recoil. I will say this, even if your wife is buff, weight of the gun does matter (especially if she says so). Last thing you need is having her complain during a hunt or walking a sporting clays course about the weight of the gun being heavy. I know it is a fine line so look into a good recoil aftermarket pad like Pachmayr or Limbsaver and get a good vest (that fits her, not your old one, something like a MizMac womens only vest). Ok, my wife is 5'2 and 96lbs. She hates recoil but she also hates heavy guns. I explained the whole ID system and lightweight vs. recoil thing so she knew what she was getting into. Well, got her a Montefeltro 20g. I had it cut down and fitted with the shims/spacers it comes with and a Pachmayr Decelerater pad. I also got her a MizMac Vest. We have always shot guns but shotguns are new to us. Anyway, she took that thing out and loaded it up with some Magnums to break it in and and went to town. With the load she was shooting (1 1/4 oz shot #6 in 3 inch) kicked pretty hard for her. She did say that it kicked less than the 20 Nova pump she had been shooting. Now that it is broken in she shoots the light loads and let me tell you, she goes AFTER IT! She says that it kicks less than any Semi-Auto she has ever shot. She has rented and shot Beretta's and Brownings during the "which gun do I like Phase". Best thing I could have done is let here pick the gun. If you do that then it is not YOUR gun. It is hers and they will take ownership better over it. I think alot had to do with the fit, pad, vest and loads but all I can say is she loves the gun A LOT! She likes cleaning it too she says and says it is super easy and fun, GO FIGURE!?!?! Just my two cents. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsHunter Posted January 13, 2007 Author Share Posted January 13, 2007 Thanks everyone. The Shotgun World site did the trick. We now have a stock on the way! The only downside is now I'm spending even more time on the computer exploring all the links on that site. A side note. I ended up trading a couple of guns on a used Beretta Urika 391, 12 gauge, at a local gunshop, for myself after reading all the positive comments on the Beretta site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtCathy Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 I own a 20 ga Monte with the short stock (12+1/2" LOP). I'm 5'5" with short arms. I use the lightest and cheapsest shotshells I can find, usually from places like Wal-Mart. My Monte weighs just over 5 pounds. I hardly notice the recoil especially when I'm swinging on a quail or grouse. These cheapy shells work just as good as the high priced heavy hitting stuff. On the rare occasion that I've flushed a pheasent, they go done hard. Of course I'm walking my birds up and not hunting wide open ranges like in Oklahoma. Did take the Monte to the range and shot some heavy loads plus 3" stuff. Won't do that again, ha ha. So, my advice for shooters that hunt close and not going for geese or turkeys is, use light shells. They work just as well with almost no recoil. Also have an older Browning Citori 20 gauge Special Field, that I had a gunsmith shorten the LOP to 13" for me. The gunsmith did an excellant job and you can't tell the stock has been shortened. This little over/under weighs just over 6 pounds and when I shoot very light shotshells, IT IS, the perfect quail gun. When I'm going into the field for 3-5 hours I always take the little Monte. When I've been invited to a short morning hunt with some fellars, I take the Citori to show off my shooting skills. These small shotguns with light loads are fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_Brooks Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Woodshunter, If you don't mind sharing, what did Gander Mountain want for that 28ga Citori on clearance? If you don't want to share, I certainly understand, but thought I'd check since I bought a new over and under yesterday. keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsHunter Posted January 17, 2007 Author Share Posted January 17, 2007 It was $1399.00. The reduction was only $100.00 off their regular price. Not a great deal, but I think the gun is well worth the price. The main thing is, my wife really likes this gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_Brooks Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshhawk Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Midwest gunworks has browning replacement stocks and forends,you should be able to buy a stock for under $200.00,the 20/28/410 all use the same receiver , you can check availability on line, then call,I've had good results buying from them in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL_Waterfowler Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 If the gun was going to be for my wife, I would go and hack away! You could go and spend the $400...but why? You can always change the stock back later if you wanted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birddog Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 should look at the Winchesters .... sort of taboo on here but they're nice and light and shoot like a dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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