I know that money can be an issue, but I bought my 10-year old an 870 youth model in 20 ga that he can use forever. When he grows, I can put a standard length stock on it. Ditto for the barrel. Here is a picture of him with it last Saturday, the first time he shot it. After a couple practice shots at a plastic bottle, he was ready for the birds. He did manage to hit a Valley Quail on the wing - and we were both mighty proud! A single shot, multi-purpose gun would quickly be discarded, I think, and then the money would be "wasted." Just my 2 cents. I think Remington is still doing the $50 rebate, so find one on sale....that's what I did. The recoil pad it came with was pretty hard, so took it off and just put a slip-on Limbsaver on it that I bought at Walmart. That way, I didn't add anything to the length of pull, which was about right for him.