We get this question a lot: “I want to buy my son [daughter, wife, grandson, granddaughter] a shotgun and was thinking about a 20 gauge over and under because it is light and he [she] can carry it and hold it up. What do you think?”
Well, they might be able to hold it up but they ain’t gonna pull that trigger more than once because it is going to hurt when they do it.
When your basic assumption is flawed, your conclusions will be wrong regardless of how logical they are. There are almost as many misconceptions about shooting a shotgun as there are about which gun is best and for what purpose. We have decided to discuss some of the most frequent concepts and misconceptions by well-intended folk about buying someone they love their first shotgun.
We hear the horror stories, typically from the wife who wanted to learn – or at least try – to shoot a shotgun. The husband offers her a shot or two with his 12 gauge with some leftover magnum loads from hunting seasons past, and you know the rest of the story. One shot and they are out of here. And because of the pain, she becomes very suspicious of what you are really doing and calling it bird hunting.
With the beginning shooter, two big things must be considered: recoil and weight. All shotgun shooters, whether they admit it or not, have to deal with recoil. Some are more sensitive than others. But in all instances, recoil is the enemy and must be dealt with, especially in the beginner. In order for us to make some sense of all this, we need to consider that most of the beginners we see in shotgunning are teenagers, along with the occasional wives and girlfriends of avid shotgunners. This puts almost all the new prospective shooters in one category: small framed and not familiar with mounting a gun, much less a shotgun to a moving target.
Most shotguns come with an overall stock length of about 14 ¼ to 14 ¾ inches in length, which for almost all beginners is at least an inch too long. So the first thing we will all have to agree on is that whatever gun is chosen for the first gun, it has to be cut off to at least 12 ½ to 13 ½ inches length of pull. If a shotgun is too long or too short, it will kick more. And because it doesn’t fit, success will be haphazard at best, and shooting consistently with a shotgun is hard enough as it is.
Keep in mind that research shows (and our findings agree) that success has everything to do with the frequency and duration of tasking.
The weight of the gun is a big deal for a beginner. Unlike a rifle that is typically carried and rested on something when a shot is taken, a shotgun is carried, and then must be moved and mounted in front of the moving target and the shot is taken. The rifle shooter tries to steady the rifle as the shot is taken. The shotgun shooter must keep the shotgun moving, so they need to have the strength to carry, move, mount, and shoot a shotgun. When hunting with a rifle, the hunt is over after one shot. But it’s different with a shotgun, whether on clays or game birds. The gun is moved, mounted, and shot over 100 times – and in some instances 1,000 times or more in a day. Just having the strength to hold the gun up for that many shots is critical for success.
There is no trade-off between weight and recoil. Heavy guns kick less than light guns, but the gun must be light enough for the novice to carry, move, mount, and shoot at least 50 times per outing in order for them to become proficient with it.
This brings up something the novice or first-timer should consider, but that most people want to ignore. The novice must be willing to practice moving and mounting the gun in order to build up or develop the muscle groups necessary to move and mount the gun repeatedly and consistently. If they are not willing to do this simple act, we’re afraid there’s nothing that can be done to help them achieve success with a shotgun.
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