I started out hunting with a Winchester Model 42 pumpgun that I bought at age 12 with my own money (total cost eighty-five 1948 dollars) I earned from working with my Dad painting apartments... Winchester's .410 version of its famous Model 12.
My favorite uncle told me if I had a shotgun, he'd teach me to hunt and take me along with him and my cousin when he went hunting.
That was 60 years ago... and the little Model 42 has resided, unused for almost a half century, in an honored place in my gun-safe... still in pristine condition.
I didn't know .410's were hard to "hit" with... so I killed a good many rabbits and some pheasants with the lithe little pump gun with its ventilated rib from age 13 to about age 24 when my wife gave me a new Belgium-made Browning Superposed 12 gauge in improved cylinder and modified as a Christmas present.
To be perfectly honest, I don't EVER remember
missing anything with that .410... but, of course, at age 13 when I first began to go hunting with my favorite uncle, I sometimes fired 4 or 5 fast shots at whatever game I was trying to hit before I finally "connected".
I shot 3-inch shells exclusively with 3/4 oz. of shot. If the gun had any recoil, I never noticed it while shooting at game... and I was not a "big" kid at age 13... maybe 5'3" and 100 pounds soaking wet.
Two years ago, my youngest son (age 44) took me pheasant hunting at a local game farm. And... just for the heck of it, I decided to take the little Model 42 which hadn't been fired in almost 50 years.
To make a long story a bit shorter, I used 5 shots to shoot at 4 cock birds... and they all died at the other end of the Model 42's modified choke.
That said in the defense of the oft-criticized .410, I agree that a 20 gauge would probably be the best bet for a new shooter because, as pointed out in a previous post, you can buy the shells "on sale" for less than you can handload them.
I believe I'd buy the boy a semi-automatic shotgun... Remington 1100's are good, but expensive. Mossbergs are good... and not as expensive, but I'm not sure if they are recoil-operated or gas-operated. You want a gas-operated action and I'll explain why.
Check out the prices of a good USED Remington or Mossberg at guns shows and pawn shops. Most pawn shop will guarantee the gun will shoot and function properly (if they won't, don't buy it from them, go to another pawn shop). Most pawn shops will pay to fix it if it won't shoot. This eliminates, to a great extension, the "downside" of buying a used gun.
Now... before someone "loses it" over my suggestion of a semi-automatic shotgun, let me expand on my reasons.
A
gas-operated semi-automatic will absorb a considerable amount of the recoil just operating the ejection/reloading system. This means you can shoot the least expensive 20 gauge shells on sale rather than exclusively buying the "light loads" which may NOT be "on sale". This will enable you to give the boy more practice that won't "break-the-bank" quite so fast.
This also means he can shoot FIELD LOADS rather than LIGHT LOADS when hunting with the 20 gauge gun giving him a better chance of hitting a bird or fast moving duck.
But how do you keep him from shooting up the place with 4 or 5 shots like I did due to the excitement when I first started hunting?
EASY... only load a single shell in the gun's chamber... and he has a "single-shot" shotgun. If he knows he has ONLY one shot to "connect", he'll use that "one shot" wisely just as most single-shot shotgunners do!
Then, as he gains experience and confidence... and learns to carefully take his shot... add another shell in the magazine so he has TWO shots. And... eventually, let him load 3 shells.
Just don't sell the little .410 short... it was... and "IS" a useful tool as long as it's used within it's range.
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.