A few weeks ago, my neighbor invited my daughter and me to shoot some blue rock with his son. Our kids are the same age (11 years old) and often pal around together. I still have a Model 870 from when I was a kid that had the stock cut down, but it has a 28" barrel. I brought it along because it's the closest thing I own to a youth shotgun. My neighbor's son has a newer-vintage Youth Model 870 with a 21" barrel.
My old Model 870 was just too long/heavy for my slightly-built daughter, and she couldn't hold it up without leaning way back in a very poor shooting position. We quickly abandoned that option, and she and my neighbor's son took turns shooting his 20 ga. youth model.
Anyway, they invited us to a youth trap shoot in a few weeks, and my daughter wants to go. My neighbor offered for her to use his son's shotgun, but they might be shooting at different stations at the same time, which won't work.
I've thought about getting her a Youth Model 870 because she seemed to do okay with it (they even make a pink laminated stock model), but I see that Browning also makes youth shotguns, including a 20 ga. and 28 ga. BPS. The 28 ga. BPS with either a 24" or 26" barrel has me intrigued. The problem I see with the 21" barreled M870 is that my daughter might outgrow the shotgun within a year or two, although I guess a longer 870 replacement barrel wouldn't be hard to find.
A gas-operated autoloader would provide softer recoil, but I am not in position to spend $1,200 or more to get my daughter into a youth gun that she may or may not continue shooting.
What do you recommend for a decent quality first shotgun for a soon-to-be 12 year-old? Thank you.
