Teenage girl skeet shooting.

[ru44mag]

My friend's daughter is 16, maybe 5' tall and maybe 110 lbs. She is shooting a Remington 1100 20 ga for a school skeet shoot. The instructors keep telling her dad she needs a 12 ga. I personally think the 20 ga is perfect for her. Should he listen to the instructors and get her a 12 ga? If so, any recommendations?


Sorry. No pictures for you pervs.

 

[mcapo]

My friend's daughter is 16, maybe 5' tall and maybe 110 lbs. She is shooting a Remington 1100 20 ga for a school skeet shoot. The instructors keep telling her dad she needs a 12 ga. I personally think the 20 ga is perfect for her. Should he listen to the instructors and get her a 12 ga? If so, any recommendations?


Sorry. No pictures for you pervs.

I’ve spent many a round on the skeet range with grown men kicking the crap out of my score with 20 gauges. Heck, my 6’3” 30 year son even prefers a 20 for trap.

The best gun for her is one the fits her the best and swings easy for her.

That being said; a 12 ga is more versatile and it’s pretty common (or was when I could see good enough to shoot skeet) for people to load 12s light and end up with 20 ga recoil in a 12. Then run a heavier load on the trap range or in the field.

 

[Dead Duck]

12ga is the way to go.
I just recently got my 15yr old over her fear to shoot a 12ga. Within one day she went from shooting light birdshot through a heavy semi-auto with little recoil to shooting 00-Buck through a pump gun that you feel all the recoil of high-wall loads. I was very impressed with her.

All my gun's stocks are a bit too long for her but she was still able to manipulate the action.

 

[Disposable Heart]

Caliber is subservient to fitment of the gun to the shooter from what I've experienced. I like 20 gauge and I guess I'll be weird, lol. But fit that gun to your critter, don't just hand it to her.

If you have the 'standard' model 1100 20 gauge, then you have a 12 gauge frame and possibly the best 20 gauge platform. The weight of the 12g frame to suck up recoil, 20 gauge recoil. Win/win. With practice, the marginal difference in payload between 20 and 12 will be mitigated. A dedicated 20 gun won't need the trial and error tuning involved with trying to get 20 recoil out of a 12 gun (which unless you're handloading or using 'lite' shells, then its not an issue)

I will say this: If she decide to keep shooting and the political events on the horizon, 20 gauge always seemed to be on the shelves at Walmart (plus .270 and .40, lol), so that is a consideration.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

If she is doing well with the 20ga, I say stick with it for now. She can always upgrade to a 12ga later on if she feels the need. Gauge doesn't make that big a difference in skeet...if it were trap she was shooting, I would be more inclined to recommend stepping up to 12ga.

 

[VUPDblue]

When I was a young’n I started shooting trap with a 20. Dad said I could step up to a 12 when I broke 50 straight. I was only in that 20 for less than two years. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a 20 for any of the clay games.

 

[4651feeder]

All I know is with a 20 I can shoot four rounds of trap and wake up the next morning not feeling what I did the day before, While it may be argued reduced 12 loads will produce little recoil; one has to wonder if effect on target is different between that and a good 20 load. My vote goes to letting her choose what she wants to shoot, cause in the clay sports the first obstacle to overcome is between the ears anyways.

 

[mcapo]

Caliber is subservient to fitment of the gun to the shooter from what I've experienced.

RFT

 

[Hookeye]

IIRC

the 20 might have a longer shot string than a 12.
But the 12 delivers the same amount of shot w less pressure/recoil.

But then we're talking clays and not critters, so most folks run light loads.
Cheaper, less recoil/fatigue.

Dunno when it gets to the light stuff, if the 12 starts to shine brighter.

1100 LT 20 is a sweet rig no matter what IMHO.

 

[printcraft]

......Sorry. No pictures for you pervs.

 

[JettaKnight]

Normally I prefer standard clay pigeons, but if you can find a launcher big enough for teenage girls, then who am I to judge.

 

[schmart]

I agree with many others that a gun that fits is more important than the gage. My daughter is slightly smaller than your friend's and she really struggled to hold any of my 12ga guns to even shoot it once. However, a 20ga youth gun fit her perfect and she loved it.

I would be interested to understand why the instructors are pushing the move to a 12 ga. Depending on who is providing the ammo, they may have gotten a good deal on a large amount of 12 ga, and are struggling on keeping up with 20ga...

From a practical standpoint, a 1 1/8oz 12 ga shell, has about 30% more pellets than the 20ga. Those extra pellets can certainly help break birds and that could also be their justification. However, if she can't swing it easily, those extra ones will miss just as well as the rest of the load.

--Rick

 

[ru44mag]

Thanks for the info. I passed it on.

 

[STFU]

Normally I prefer standard clay pigeons, but if you can find a launcher big enough for teenage girls, then who am I to judge.

 

[Winamac]

I just think it is totally awesome anytime I see or hear of girls and or women being involved in the shooting sports.We need more of it.

 

[Mark 1911]

Sorry. No pictures for you pervs.

Can never be too careful around here!

 

[bobjones223]

Your timing is impeccable!

Just got done taking my 16yo daughter to shoot sporting Clay's for the first time and went through 100 rounds.

She was using my youth model 870 20 gauge and I was running a 12 gauge 870.

We got to looking at the payload and velocity and they were very similar. The 20 had 1/8th ounce less shot but same velocity.

I had her jump behind the 12 and she said it kicked less but was harder to hold up for a long time.

So my take away was lighter gun=more recoil but easier and faster to handle.

If she can handle the weight of the 12 I would probably go that direction just for the additional 1/8oz of shot....more shot=more pellets=better chance to break clay.

 

[STFU]

Your timing is impeccable!
Just got done taking my 16yo daughter to shoot sporting Clay's for the first time and went through 100 rounds.
She was using my youth model 870 20 gauge and I was running a 12 gauge 870.
We got to looking at the payload and velocity and they were very similar. The 20 had 1/8th ounce less shot but same velocity.
I had her jump behind the 12 and she said it kicked less but was harder to hold up for a long time.

So my take away was lighter gun=more recoil but easier and faster to handle.
If she can handle the weight of the 12 I would probably go that direction just for the additional 1/8oz of shot....more shot=more pellets=better chance to break clay.

Very interesting analysis. I would not have thought this would be the case. (Totally makes sense.) Then again, I am not really a shotgun guy.
I have not shot skeet/trap in 5 years. I need to learn more and get better.

Thank you for laying it out in a real world scenario.

 

[ru44mag]

She is a tough little girl, and said it wasn't the recoil of the 12 gauges she tried that bothered her...it was the weight.

 

[Dead Duck]

She is a tough little girl, and said it wasn't the recoil of the 12 gauges she tried that bothered her...it was the weight.

And there is the problem my girls had.
They wanted the lightest guns I had but they also kicked the hardest because they ARE lightweight. Heavier the gun, lighter the kick. Unless it has all those fancy dampeners, buffers and pads... which mine don't.