Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum 20ga suggestions?

If you want to go with the BPS, I have a new youth gun with the spacers in the stock. I would be open to trading stocks if swapping them wasn't a big deal.

I think that is his plan! When he does it right, he can sure hit a baseball hard. Being over 5' and 125# at 10 doesn't hurt either. That said, we still make him do his homework, even if he does consider that a Plan C. LOL

KK- Thanks for the boresighter suggestion. Have never thought of that, but plan on giving it a try.

DryPowder- I will be in touch if the need arises for a shorter stock on a BPS.

30- The attributes of an OU that you mention are what make it attractive for me for a kid. Only break action shotguns I'd been around were single barrelled, hammered things that I find less than ideal.

If you go with a 20 ga O/U, I don’t think you can beat the CZ for the price. For a pump, either a LH 870 or the original Ithaca 37 would be my two top choices.

If I could locate a LH 870 in 20ga, it'd be hard for me not to buy it. In all my looking, I've yet to run across one for sale.

I'll check out the CZ and see if they are neutral cast. In reading a review about the budget O/U he shot, it stated that it has a slight RH cast. Only mention of that I've seen, but he did say it shot softer than the 870.

Lh 870's and 1100's were built on full size 12 gauge frames. Little or no weight savings. Got one of each downstairs in the safe. Will say again the Legacy Escort auto in 20 ga is a good gun. The only auto 20 besides the Benelli.

Browning uses zero cast on/off in their stocks as far as I know.

FWIW, CZ makes OU in both 12 and 20 with cast for a left hander. The Drake is the one most in my price range. No real mention of right hand cast in their other offerings, but if the advertise a true LH one I'd assume the others are for RH...

Scott- Thanks for the info on the LH 870. That takes it out of consideration for me. I have a question out to Legacy about the Escort in LH. The website still shows it, but the downloadable pdf specs/pricing sheet does not. Some are still available through vendors, which is still a possibility. With the magazine cutout, I'm guessing it'd not be much different for a 10yo to use than a pump gun from a safety standpoint. Now if I could get my hands on one to see if he likes it...

I agree with previous posters, I have a Ithaca 37 20 gauge. Bottom eject, LH safety installed. Light, handy, very well made. I like the Browning as well, bottom eject and buttery smooth.

In for a penny, in for a pound...

I won a Gunbroker auction for an Ithaca 37 with a 28" modified barrel. I had seen in posted previously and won the auction for a darn low price. It's worn, but in pretty good shape. In fact, I'd say it's in roughly the same or better shape than the 870 I got at 16. First order of business will be to replace the broken buttplate with a red recoil pad, install a lefthand safety, and replace the sight bead. Can't decide if I want to go with a KickEez or an Ithaca sunburst replica. The Pachmayr sporting clays pad was my first choice, but doesn't come in red any longer. I'll probably let my son decide on the site bead, but I'm leaning toward gold! It's only a few bucks more than brass. And it's gold! The wood's in pretty decent shape, but I'm thinking it would make for a good project for the two of us to refinish it. Other than the one really bad spot on the receiver, the metal's in pretty darn good shape. A few old, rust spots and some pitting. I'm thinking I'd like to refinish it as well, but not sure with what or how. In a bit of research, it seems that metal refinishing can be quite the rabbit hole to do down...

Anyway, here's the pics.
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr
[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/867/41085733724_0ec57ea321_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr

Very nice, Pointer. Are you sure you want to take on a refinish job? It's an old gun and I have no issues with it looking its age.

Now that I have it in hand, I'm not sure how much I'll do on a refinish. It's actually nicer than I expected as the pics on Gunbroker were not very good and I think it's why I got it for the price I did. Heck, it's not in much worse shape than most any other firearms I have. The safety, front site, possibly grip cap, and recoil pad should be easy and cheap enough.

One thing I'm waffling on is the recoil pad. I can't decide if this is retro cool or tacky...

PoInter,

I may have a lefty 870 20 gauge for sale in the near future. For some reason having trouble with the stock fit with the shotgun on the skeet field. Never had that issue with a Remington before....driving me crazy.

Doc

Took the boys for a quick overnighter to the cabin on this weekend. Took the Ithaca along for a test drive. Everytime my oldest picks it up he comments on how light it is. lol. No moving targets, but it apparently shoots to POA for him as all the cans "died" with one shot. It seems to fit him well!

Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr

That's a confidence builder.

He's very much enjoying it! Now I just need to get the LH safety and replace the butt plate with a recoil pad.