Fast forward 2 years and now my daughter at age 12 is showing some interest ( I showed her the Youtube video of Dania Vizzi shooting skeet). Need to find her a shotgun that fits and was thinking a gas SA 20 gauge. Am I going down the right road or would you advise a 28? I need to develope and hold her interest on this one, dad needs a hunting partner.
Battue and I don't always agree on every little thing but he is spot on in this thread. I coach a team of kids and have for many years. Two of the boys I coached for several years are now shooting international trap at the very highest level. I run a bunch of Beretta semi-autos and every one of them has held up incredibly well. Not one has needed any sort of significant repair, and some have over 100K rounds through them.
The key to turning your daughter into a happy hunting partner is two things -- you MUST keep recoil to a minimum and you must get her good coaching. The coaching may be hard to come by but you can solve the recoil concern by getting her a Beretta A400 20-ga. For 12 yr olds I have a 391 and an A400, both 20-ga, that I enlarged the gas ports in the barrel (with a long drill bit), so that the gun will cycle properly even with very light loads, which is all I want them to ever shoot. I buy them Fiocchi 20-ga Trainer loads, which are a "28-ga load" (meaning 3/4 oz) in a 20-ga hull, with a low muzzle velocity. With the old 391s I had to also add a bit of weight to the front of the magazine tube to get them to cycle with small kids, but all the A400s need is the gas ports enlarged. Warning though, doing it wrong can result in needing to buy a new barrel. You might also have to buy another barrel is she ever wants to shoot big waterfowl loads in the gun. No big deal, spare barrels can be had for $300 - 400.
The 20-ga A400 with the Kick-Off (recoil reduction) system is WONDERFUL for bigger kids, and with one they can shoot regular 20-ga loads (which are cheaper and easier to find). However, on a 12 yr old girl the KO is probably not going to work (the kid does not weigh enough and the gun moves them back instead of working the piston in the Kick-Off). Nevertheless, if I were you I would buy her an A400 "Upland" 20-ga with the KO system and a 28" barrel. The beauty of it is that, unlike the older Beretta KO systems, which are on the butt of the stock, preventing you from changing the LOP, the Upland KO is in the middle of the stock. You can therefore shorten the stock if need be. Just save the piece of wood you cut off because you will want to glue it back on in a couple of years. And, sooner or later the KO system WILL work for her, and trust me, the way they reduce recoil (when they work) is very, very nice. There is a price to be paid for that recoil reduction, and that is that the gun with it must be cleaned more often than a regular A400 without one. Not a big deal, and well worth it.
As for "chokes," all she is going to need (whether shooting trap, skeet, sporting or pheasants) for at least the next 12 months is an IC choke. I do not like the extended chokes because unless I LocTitle them in they shoot loose too easily, and a loose choke can result in a destroyed barrel. The 20-ga Upland comes with flush chokes (IC, Mod and Full) which stay in a hundred times better than the extended ones do.
Good luck, and enjoy the journey.
