Taking the Women Shooting

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Dreaming100Straight

New member
My wife and daughter are taking me shooting tomorrow. They are petite, 4'11" and 5'3". All I have is a couple of 12 gauges. An O/U and a Remington 870 Express.

I am thinking if a junior size is available I should rent it for them and get a 20if they have one.

If they don't have a junior, then try to get them a semi 12 gauge. If they don't have a 12 auto loader, then I may as well have them shoot my 870 with the lightest loads I can whip up tonight.

Any suggestions? Bad plan?
 
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Sarge

New member
My wife recently got interested in shotgunning; she's a little bigger than your gals, but not much. I started her on clay birds with my old Wingmaster with a 18 1/2" IC barrel. She didn't like the recoil much so I added a Limbsaver pad, which shortened the pull and softened the recoil.

When she started really hitting them, the recoil became less noticeable. Then she looked at a Mossberg Super Bantam 20 gauge (pink camo. of course) which I wound up buying for her birthday. It has a really short stock and comes with spacers to make it almost normal size. Both of us can shoot it with the spacer installed and I can think of no better starter gun for little gals.

The last time we shot, she had her first go at 25 targets and broke 19 of them. She'll burn through a couple of boxes of Universals now and never give it a second thought.
 
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BigJimP

New member
Try and rent a gas operated semi-auto ....and then run the lightest load they have thru it..../ but its not just the gague - its the overall weight of the gun that is a factor too.

If they are leaning back at the waist ...or back on their heels...because the gun is too heavy / then go with something lighter if you can...

28ga is a much better "learning gun" than most other gagues...in my opinion.

If they have a 28ga gas gun ...that might be perfect ! Make sure you focus on them having fun ...if they want to stop, then stop! ...don't push them beyond the point where its not fun for them.
 
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jaguarxk120

New member
Chances are the O/U has a little more weight to it and less recoil.

By the way Kim Rhode is 5'4" and she can out shoot any member on this forum!
 
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Dreaming100Straight

New member
All they had for rent were some 12 and 20 gauge pumps and a youth size 20 gauge Remington 870. We rented it. The wife never hit a thing, but had a good time trying, while my daughter got 10 of the 25 and when I let her try my XS Skeet with one ounce loads she got one of three. She even hit one out of 3 shooting my 12 gauge 870 Express with the 18.5 inch barrel.

I helped my daughter shoot, but left it up to the puller to help my wife while I shot from the other end of the line. I knew she would react negatively if I told her what to do.

All is for the best, as I kind of like being able to get away by myself to shoot.
 
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jaguarxk120

New member
Hey if this is the first time shooting, the main objective is to have fun, not the number of birds broken.

Next time around maybe you can have a replacement stock for one of your guns that fit the gals better and they can start working on form.

Kim Rhode started at some time. If anyone shot as much as she does they would not miss either.
 
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Dreaming100Straight

New member
The extra stock is a good idea. Then if they use it much I will look around for a 12 gauge semi in a ladies or youth size. My daughter being 5'3" can almost handle a 14"lop, but the wife being smaller she really needs something shorter. I just want to make sure the 12 will cycle with 7/8 ounce loads.
 
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jaguarxk120

New member
If your looking to buy a autoloader, look real hard at a Remington 1100, one of the softest shooting auto's made. Being a gas gun it should not be dependent on the type of load put through it.
 
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BigJimP

New member
replacement stock is a terrible idea in my opinion....

look around for a used 28ga ...with changeable screw in chokes...Remington made a number of them in the 1100 and 11-87 series of semi-autos. Some of the older ones are fixed chokes ....but that's easily fixed for about $500...

Another option is the Browning silver series semi-auto gas gun ...in a 20ga ...its pretty light / so easier for a petite person to handle.../ they make more than a few models...and the micro or the standard may work...


http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=020B&cid=011&tid=375

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=020B&cid=011&tid=350
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If you find a decent used O/U ...that isn't too long or too heavy for them ...you might find a used gun that has 20ga or 28ga full length tube inserts...there seem to be a lot of them around in the winter.
 
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jaguarxk120

New member
Even with a 28 gauge gun, the ladies still need a stock that fits. A shotgun stocks are cut for the average shooter unless a youth model is found.

By the way the OP may not want to feed a 28 gauge gun shells can be pricey.
 
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Dreaming100Straight

New member
This is priceless. My wife thought that she was supposed to guess where the target would be, point the gun at that spot, call for the target and pull the trigger. She never realized that she was supposed to point the gun at the clay.

As for new Brownings and all, I didn't even get one until I shot for the better part of a year and during all that time I was happy with my synthetic 870 Express.

Now I could give her the XZ Skeet to shoot, but then I would need another gun. I guess I could get a trap gun and borrow her's for skeet!
 
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jaguarxk120

New member
Having a stock that fits makes all the difference in the world. A poorly fitting stock is like having a kicking mule, but one that fits makes recoil so much better.

Lighter loadings help a lot too. If you reload try some 7/8 oz. loadings.
Shooting 1 1/8 trap or 1 1/4 express loads do nothing for the shooter, except beat them into the ground.

Plus having someone coach the ladies would help out and make their range time much better.
 
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Dreaming100Straight

New member
The woman were shooting 20 gauge which is a 7/8 oz. Had there not been a youth gun available I had boxes of 7/8 oz 1200 fps ready for use in my 12 gauges.

Unless either show significant interest in shooting on a regular basis, I can't see rushing to buy a new gun for them, but if I come across a fair deal on a ladies semi or a youth model I will be interested.

Were I to drop 1K on a new gun, the Browning Silver Hunter Micro looks even more interesting when I look at it again. http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=020B&cid=011&tid=389

At least at this point, I like the fact that it is offered as both a 12 or a 20. I would go with the 12, but do not know if my wife can handle the extra pound.
 
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