Woman's little shotgun

[Jim c]

I've been takin my girlfriend clay shooting with my 12 bore but she is instantly on to a looser as she can barely hold it up let alone aim and shoot. I'm looking for a light weight over an under and thinking maybe a 20 bore any advise would be great

 

Cheers jim

Edited November 6, 2013 by Jim c

[la bala]

sounds good to me.

[Guest stevo]

20 gauge semi auto

[Jim c]

She wants an o/u would a 20 be much lighter than 12

[bakerboy]

If we knew where you are, you could maybe get an invite to try out a few differing guns.

[Jim c]

I'm in Lowestoft

[bakerboy]

I'm in Lowestoft

Lets hope the locals can help you out.

 

Over to you Lowestoft people

[Jim c]

Cheer guys

[bostonmick]

I would take her to a dealers where she can hold some different guns of all gauges just to see what weight suits her best.however having said that there are many ladies shooting 12 gauges with no issues so maybe she just needs to hold the gun a different way unless she is particularly petite.and of course there is a cost factor smaller gauges tend to cost more.

[Jim c]

Yeah she only wright 7 stone so very small

[peteri]

_{She sounds about the same size as my wife - who's about 7.5 stone and 5'2".}

 

_{You need to get her to hold lots of guns, because you need to know what she is sensitive to.}

 

_{Your girlfriend is facing a number of challenges:}

 

_{1. The stock size, most are way too long for smaller ladies - this means the gun will feel way too heavy and they'll tend to push their hips out to compensate (women instinctively use their hips more for this than men).}

_{2. The stock/foreend width}

_{3. Gun carrying weight}

_{4. Gun swing weight}

_{5. Recoil}

 

_{By holding (and then) firing as many guns as possible, your girlfriend will be able to work out what ones of these she is sensitive to.}

 

_{Using Karen (my wife) as an example, in order the impact for her was 1, 2, 4, 5, 3 (in order of 'severity').}

 

_{We're lucky in that where we shoot (Sporting Targets) there was a couple of good guns to try (Silver Pigeon 20 gauge and a very cut down Browning 12 bore) and some other people, including Liz on this forum helped out.}

 

_{What decided it for Karen was actually mainly the stock width - every 12 bore she tried was just too wide, especially at the fore-end. Recoil wasn't an issue on the day, but she did notice the evening after a 12 bore she was achy.}

 

_{We tried semi-autos, in addition to the normal stock length issues - Karen found them more awkward to carry (a broken gun balances better) and in her words 'not worth the faff' with regards to loading and jamming etc.}

 

_{Last week we plonked the money down on a new Beretta Silver Pigeon 20g, just the right gun for her right now. We tried 12g guns (Ultra-light for example) which weighed the same, but the width of the grips on the smaller framed gun just worked for her and made it feel 'right'.}

 

_{The gun is now away getting the stock trimmed, quite a chunk is coming off - down from the standard 14 ish down to 12.75.}

 

_{If you're ever around Bedford, give us a shout and you can have a go.}

 

_Cheers

 

_Pete

[Bobba]

In terms of 20 bore I have both a Miroku mk60 grade 1 and the new Beretta silver pigeon. Both excellent guns but slightly different in weight and balance. This suggest that your lady should try as many as she can to get what initially feels right for her before you start having alterations made to stock etc to make it right for her.

[kent]

My Mrs isn't able to fit most guns off the peg. Her eye is way too low and LOP is way too long for her shoulder width. The weight and shot charge (hence bore) is less an issue

[ehb102]

I've been takin my girlfriend clay shooting with my 12 bore but she is instantly on to a looser as she can barely hold it up let alone aim and shoot. I'm looking for a light weight over an under and thinking maybe a 20 bore any advise would be great

 

Cheers jim

 

The smallest ladies I know have DT10s/DT11s 12G, but they are really into clays. The most popular 20G around the Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club is the Beretta Silver Pigeon, much-liked by those who prefer a whippier feel when they move the gun, and who don't want to lug an extra 2lb around in the field. I've seen Lincolns and Franchi falconettes in use for clays as well, but that's it. Mostly it's Silver Pigs. Even my husband has a White Onyx, which is a silver pig without the engraving. Trouble is, they're expensive. So if you don't want to spend best part of a grand you're looking at a semi automatic.

 

Personally I like the synthetic guns like the Browning Cynergy as they are lighter but still 12G. I don't have one though. I'd like one for skeet.

 

OT: I'll be at the Norfolk flush so if there are any women who want to have a go at shooting my very short stock Browning 425 I'm happy to share. I can also provide 21g cartridges by arrangement. If you're not used to lifting that amount of weight, you'll probably get DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) but that wears off after a couple of times out because you become strong enough.

[robbiep]

My wife (5'2" tall, 8 stone in a rainstorm) got a Beretta Silver pigeon 1 in 20 bore. 5/8ths of an inch off the standard stock, and it fits her perfectly. Normally shoots 21g No. 8s, and doesn't find the recoil or gun weight a problem

[CheatingRabbit]

My Daughter - under 5ft...

 

shoots a 28 bore, with good results! Don't write off a small bore gun. Just be aware of the extra cost for carts

 

CR

[Bobba]

My Mrs isn't able to fit most guns off the peg. Her eye is way too low and LOP is way too long for her shoulder width. The weight and shot charge (hence bore) is less an issue

I'm a bloke and off the peg is a problem for me too but for different reasons. Instinctively I tend to look along the barrel at about 10 to the hour and look down along the comb. Fortunately I live about 30 mins from Nigel Teague's workshop and a gun fit and stock alterations does the job.

[welshwarrior]

My wife's 5'2" size 10 and gets on well with a slightly shorten Beretta 687 20 with an adjustable comb.

 

She started with a cheap but sound FIAS Browning Medalist 20 bore 14" lop and fairly high comb, a little heavier than her Beretta but help recoil we only shot a few cartridges I then shot or we had a coffee and slowly increase the number of shots as she developed the muscle and core strength than is used in shooting.

 

Dry mounting at home also help build up the arms etc.

[Westley]

Hi, look at a Franchi Falconet 12 bore. Weighs about the same as a Beretta 20 bore. I have just sold one to a young lady who has been using it with 21 gram and 24 gram cartridges to good effect. There is a wider range of cartridges available and they work out a bit cheaper too.