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My wife is looking at getting into clay shooting, I’m not well versed in this side of the sport and thus far made do with my grandfathers old S/S.

She tried a 12b O/U today and felt it too heavy and too heavy in recoil for her (she’s a small framed person).

What would likely be a better choice for her?
Is. 20b semi auto a good compromise in weight and recoil reduction or do semi auto 12b genuinely reduce recoil significantly?

Been shooting clays over 30 years... I find not much difference between 12 and 20 apart from price...

My wife shoots a 20b semi, and she quite likes it. She finds 12b a bit much and as the running man said, effectively, there is little difference. A 12b semi will have a bit less recoil than an o/u, but naturally will have more felt recoil than the identical model 20b. The biggest thing is to ensure that whatever you buy for her - you get it fitted to her. My wife is a bit vertically challenged and we got her a Franchi 'youth model'. A properly fitted gun makes all the difference.