Shotgun for the Misses!

[Polchraine]

Some semi-autos may also have issues too

[greentangerine]

My Benelli Supersport won't cycle with 21g cartridges.

[Pippin89]

Good call, although I imagine if the ground is so strict on the cartridges being used, then they are likely to be one of those that don't allow S/A's

[jack Mack]

Hi All.

I took my misses clay pigeon shooting yesterday and she absolutely loved it! She isn't really one for hobbies so its great to find something she wants to keep doing. So the next step is to get her some lessons, which I have sorted. Following that I want to get her a shotgun. It will go on my licence for now as there won't be a time when she goes without me any time soon.
So can anyone recommend a cheap 20 bore to get her started? I have a Lanber 12 bore which does the job for me. But she can't hold it up. We borrowed a 20 bore yesterday and that was much easier for her. Budget of around £3-400 s/h.

You may already have got her a gun, but if not take her to your gun shop and ensure the gun fits her first. If you can,Have her try the gun on a ground and be sure that the heel on the Stock is not too pronounced. I have a Koss, a cheap Turkish gun which is perfect for coaching and fairly affordable.

[DaveB]

I bought a Franchi 20 bore "Youth model" semi for my wife (she is somewhat short in stature) and she loves it. It is gas operated so it can use most light loads, though we generally buy 24 gram, not 21 gram. Sadly it does not appear that Franchi offer this model anymore, they seem to be concentrating on inertia-driven semis now. I find most inertia semi-autos have real issues with light loads. I had two different inertia-driven semis that I sold-on for this very reason. They also seemed to have issues with fibre wads too - not enough recoil it seems.

[Ovenpaa]

I quite like the Franchi offerings and they are OK to work on as well. One major downside is spares can be an issue, having said that, anything spares related coming out of Italy right now is an issue.