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best shotgun for 5'2" wife


black eagle

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I have been working on getting my wife to go with me to shoot sporting clays for years. Last weekend she finally caved and went. She loved it and wants her own shotgun(in other words I get to buy a new gun!)

 

 

 

I have been looking at the super feather weight shotgun and the super sport II. I think the feather weight is only 6 pounds. Lighter sounds better to me for her. I was also thinking 20 guage but I wonder if it is harder to hit sporting clays with a 20 guage. Any ideas out there. weight, length, specific gun, auto oe over under etc. What do your wives shoot? This would be for sporting clays only.

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would probably go with a 20 but i would get someone to fit her that knows how to do it so she ends up with a shotgun she can hit with! lay but pad in her arm and let it rest between her forearm and bicep and put her finger on the trigger, she should be able to reach trigger with the proper joint on her trigger finger. have yall figured out her eye dominance yet? If all she is going to use it for is range i would get a dedicated range gun O/U or S/S. used shotguns should be a dime a dozen with economy the way it is, i have seen a group of them on used gun racks! not sure i would go with an inertia shotgun for this application but possible! Good luck! make sure you do not teach her everything:p

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First I would recommend some sort of light weight shooting vest with a padded shooting shoulder. The shotgun I recommend is the Benelli Super 90 Montefeltro Short Stock in 20 guage. The length of pull is 12+1/2 inches and should be just about perfect for a 5'2" shooter. The short stock Monty weighs about 5+1/4 pounds empty with a 24" barrel and 5 chokes. I have used my Monty to help many young boys and girls learn shotgun skills. You can shoot cheap Wally-World shells all day without getting sore and once your wife gets the hang of basic shooting, she can move up to heavy 2+3/4 DR. EQ. shells for longer sporting clay hits. Between the replaceable shims and chokes, she'll be able to find just the right "feel" to out shoot you in no time. The little short stock Monty will also fire 3" shells if necessary but I find them a bit hard on my shoulder. I shoot cheap 7/8 oz., 2+1/2 DR. EQ. # 7+1/2 shot when on skeet and Quail and 1 oz., 2+3/4 DR. EQ. # 7+1/2 shot on Grouse and Pheasent. The 20 guage works great on sporting clays and with it light weight, she will be on target sooner. Lot's of luck and don't forget the shooting vest!

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my wife shoots a 410 o/u. the 410 may seem like a sissy gun, but is way under estimated. from time to time i like to lay my 12ga. down and shoot a few rounds of 5 stand with it. and i can score just as high with it as i can the 12. 3" shells have very little recoil, and 2 1/2" shells recoil is ZERO, ammo is light,and the gun wieghs around 5lbs. but if you dont reload yourself, shells are fairly expensive.they are a lot of fun to shoot. there are all kinds on gunbroker.com for $125.00 to infinity.

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24 July 08

 

I'd look at the Franchi 720 with the youth stock. 12.5 LOP and 5 pounds 14oz. Gas operated guns kick lighter then recoil operated guns and unless you intend to shoot 1000 shells without cleaning them, are just as reliable.

 

DumbDuck

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the best thing to do is go out with several different people who own several different types and makes of shotguns, and let her shoot them all. then SHE can decide what she prefers.you can always have the stock shortened to fit her. my wife is 5' 6", 129lbs. she fell in love with a Fausti o/u 410. we had the stock cut to fit for $40.00. i laughed till she out shot me with it. just remember its about her and what she wants, and is comfortable with.we as men are bad about getting kids,and wives what we like.:)

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One thing to add is to get a shotgun with drop shims/plates. Women generally need a higher comb and less drop on longguns. My wife likes her Monte 20 ga. and has killed many a bird including geese with it. She uses an "A" shim and plate. I believe that this is the 50mm shim and plate.

That being said if you reload get her an O/U cut and fitted in 28ga., or .410. Like shooting a pop-gun. Thing is 20ga kick as much as 12 because of their weight. It's just that they "fit" smaller shooter better. They still kick as hard though. Hardest kicking gun I ever shot was a SxS 20ga. with 2.75" mags.

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I don't think I would go with anything less than a 20. With a 410 she may get frustrated that she isn't hitting anything and give up on the sport. I got a Montefeltro super90 and had the stock cut down in a 20 and I love it!!! I put a full length stock on there and now its a quail killer.

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My only suggestion is that if she loves it now but may not love it in the future, only put as much money into it as you have to. Before I upgraded to my SBEII I shot a youth model Rem. 1100 LT-20. 21 in. barrel, awesome swing and weight and my wife shoots it currently. I'm only 5'6 and my wife is 5'1 and if all your wife will be doing is sporting clays, the weight of the 1100 is great and the recoil is minimal. You can get out with this gun for less than $600 and it's a great youth gun for kids if you have (or plan on) having any. I've learned that big investments for wives can be bad because of how they can really get into something but then it takes the backburner later on when other priorities take precedence. Just my 2 cents.

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I don't think I would go with anything less than a 20. With a 410 she may get frustrated that she isn't hitting anything and give up on the sport. I got a Montefeltro super90 and had the stock cut down in a 20 and I love it!!! I put a full length stock on there and now its a quail killer.

 

Here's the deal with a .410 and its only an observation, so don't beat me up over this. The .410 got a bad rap for being impossible to shoot well from people shooting guns that were cheap ass single shots and bolt action guns. Also, 99% of your .410 were choked full with short forcing cones and short chokes. This is NOT CONDUCIVE to good shooting, unless we're talking blasting a squirrel that sitting in the top of a tree. So, you combine a crappy gun that doesn't fit with a full choke and its amazing that anybody could hit ANYTHING. The gun that I shot the best in my life was a .410 Wingmaster with a 25" barrel that had the Forcing cones lengthened and polished and custom Briley long choke tubes installed. The thing with .410 is the narrow bore deforms a lot of shot which creates flyers. This is good for close shots, but for long range you need long forcing cones and long chokes so as to not deform your shot (keep it spherical). Granted, I used to spend a lot of time hunting birds and shooting sporting clays, but I could routinely kill doves out at 60-75 yrds with an IMP MOD choke and 3" high antimony #7 1/2 shot. This was back when I shot all the time, was in my early 30's and still had 20/15 vision.

A 20 ga Monte still has quite a bit of recoil. I find that 20 ga kick about as hard as a 12 because they are so light. A .410 or a 28ga doesn't kick. Like shooting a pop gun. Recoil drives a lot of more sensitive shooters away. Just start them out at close range. A skeet range has the furthest shot at about 17yrds, if I recall??? A .410 thats choked right is easy to hit with out to 20 yards or so (where most game is killed anyhow).

 

That being said my wife loves her Monte 20ga thats fit to her.

My kid who's almost two now will start out with a .410 O/U thats cut down to fit him. I guess I'll be reloading a bunch of shotgun shells at that point. It's worth it to me though. I guess you have to decide if shooting a .410 is worth it because its either gonna be expensive, or a hassle because of the reloading involved.

Don't discount a .410. They can be deadly.

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