.410 Shotguns and Youth Guns?

adrock1978

adrock1978

Joined
May 30, 2009
Messages
2,538
Can I get a list of decent .410 guage shotguns. Any action is fine; pump, bolt, whatever. Also, does anyone have any other recommendations for a good youth starter gun that can be used for hunting as well? I live and hunt in Jersey, so I'm primarily interested in shotguns. I'm sure I can dig up a zillion .22 rifles. My son is 5 but by the time he's 6 or 7 I want to get him shooting.

Pics would be great!
 
I would go with the Browning BPS Micro in 20 ga, then get the light training loads which are out there. .410's are hard to come by and not nearly as useful as the 20 when it comes to hunting.
 
How will the kick on a 20 be? I can't remember the last time I shot one. And can you get 20g slugs? I'd love to even use a 20 for pheasant hunting. Much lighter than my 870 tactical (You should see the looks :D)
 
A 410 was my first real gun. They are great for learning and target practice, but if you plan to take your son hunting then a 20ga would be a better investment. Cheaper ammo too!
 
Just some helpful advice... a .410 Ga is an experts shotgun...little tight pattern...a lot of well-intentioned parents start their youth on them only to lead to frustration for the youth when hitting anything becomes difficult. I would suggest something in the 20 or 28 ga range. (410 ga is also the only shotgun thats a caliber and not a true gauge...)
 
1SHOT1KILL said:
Just some helpful advice... a .410 Ga is an experts shotgun...little tight pattern...a lot of well-intentioned parents start their youth on them only to lead to frustration for the youth when hitting anything becomes difficult. I would suggest something in the 20 or 28 ga range. (410 ga is also the only shotgun thats a caliber and not a true gauge...)
Click to expand...

Interesting. I heard that as well. I'll have to see how a 20g fits him. And I guess that makes sense being that its .410 inches.
 
1SHOT1KILL said:
Just some helpful advice... a .410 Ga is an experts shotgun...little tight pattern...a lot of well-intentioned parents start their youth on them only to lead to frustration for the youth when hitting anything becomes difficult. I would suggest something in the 20 or 28 ga range. (410 ga is also the only shotgun thats a caliber and not a true gauge...)
Click to expand...

AMEN BROTHER!!!

410 is very difficult to hit with. Go 20 G.

Kids don't have a very long attention span. If they don't taste success quickly, they are likely to get uninterested very fast.

Make sure and get him a good spongy recoil pad. It will kick. Shotguns kick. Just make sure he gets the 'payoff'... fill up a gallon jug with water and have him shoot it. It will explode. This does two things.

1. It shows him the incredible power of the firearm and will lead him to respect it.

2. It explodes! He won't be thinking about the recoil as much as the explosion.


Good luck in your choice. There are lots of kids sized guns nowdays. Single shot might not be a bad one to start with.


.
 
kdstrick said:
AMEN BROTHER!!!

410 is very difficult to hit with. Go 20 G.

Kids don't have a very long attention span. If they don't taste success quickly, they are likely to get uninterested very fast.

Make sure and get him a good spongy recoil pad. It will kick. Shotguns kick. Just make sure he gets the 'payoff'... fill up a gallon jug with water and have him shoot it. It will explode. This does two things.

1. It shows him the incredible power of the firearm and will lead him to respect it.

2. It explodes! He won't be thinking about the recoil as much as the explosion.


Good luck in your choice. There are lots of kids sized guns nowdays. Single shot might not be a bad one to start with.


.
Click to expand...

I completely forgot about that...my dad use to do this all the time when I was a kid...God I miss those days...we also use to fill the jugs with hot water and shoot them on days when the temps were below freezing...also cool effects...he did that with shotguns and all the rifles we shot together. Great learning experience.

(I live in Cali now...but grew up/lived most of my life in New England)
 
Pick up a NEF handi rile made for the RIFLE an then get a shotgun barrel from them for it for $50. This allows the gun to grow with him. The single shot teaches him to be careful with his aim due to only having one shot and the rifle side he can grow into . I say get the RIFLE model which is an SB2 vs. the shotgun only model SB1 as you cannot put a rifle barrel on the shotgun frame. However, you can put a shotgun barrel on a rifle frame., We did this for my nephews and a buddies son. He shot dove with the 410 then a 20 before he moved on to a pump. When he was big enough - around age 7 we let his shoot the same gun, but with the 223 barrel on it. He did not switch out of that gun and he is 16 now. He still hunts with it today. We ordered the shorter stock for him and then changed it out as he grew older. Entire package will run $400. Scope is weak,but kids eyes are better than ours.

LINK http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Rifles/youth.asp

http://www.hr1871.com/Support/accessoryProgram.asp



Initial rifle in 223 or 243 $250
410 or 20 barrel 50
SHort stock 50
 
I was taught to shoot accurately with a single shot lever action Winchester model 110 (or 120, I can never remember which) .22 before I could earn the privilege of multiple shots per reload since you usually only get one shot when you are talking about hunting for food.
You had to turn off the safety for every shot too as a design of that particular bolt action which is very helpful training too. Those guns can be found used for pretty cheap at many decent sized gun shops.
It is no fun to reload every shot after a miss, so you get real good at not missing quickly so that you can start having real fun with repeating guns.
I still have that gun that my dad gave me and when the time comes I will teach my son to shoot responsibly with it.

A 20 gauge would be highly recommended as the next gun after the single shot .22, but I can't say there is any specific model I would choose off the top of my head.

In the desert where I lived as a kid, we filled up our empty milk jugs or 2 liter bottles with river bottom sand which also taught a lot about the penetration power of different rounds and the very impressive stopping power of sand.
Water was fun too, but only for one shot, unless you shot the top first and worked your way down to the bottom at which point you could start making it jump pretty good.
Plus, it was less junk to clean up afterward if you made do with less bottles as collecting brass took plenty of time at the end anyhow.
 
RWT said:
Pick up a NEF handi rile made for the RIFLE an then get a shotgun barrel from them for it for $50. This allows the gun to grow with him. The single shot teaches him to be careful with his aim due to only having one shot and the rifle side he can grow into . I say get the RIFLE model which is an SB2 vs. the shotgun only model SB1 as you cannot put a rifle barrel on the shotgun frame. However, you can put a shotgun barrel on a rifle frame., We did this for my nephews and a buddies son. He shot dove with the 410 then a 20 before he moved on to a pump. When he was big enough - around age 7 we let his shoot the same gun, but with the 223 barrel on it. He did not switch out of that gun and he is 16 now. He still hunts with it today. We ordered the shorter stock for him and then changed it out as he grew older. Entire package will run $400. Scope is weak,but kids eyes are better than ours.

LINK http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Rifles/youth.asp

http://www.hr1871.com/Support/accessoryProgram.asp



Initial rifle in 223 or 243 $250
410 or 20 barrel 50
SHort stock 50
Click to expand...

Thats real interesting. So you send it to them and they fit it with a new barrel after testing the gun? Can you switch back to the original rifle barrel, or is it not really practical?

AZTimT said:
I was taught to shoot accurately with a single shot lever action Winchester model 110 (or 120, I can never remember which) .22 before I could earn the privilege of multiple shots per reload since you usually only get one shot when you are talking about hunting for food.
You had to turn off the safety for every shot too as a design of that particular bolt action which is very helpful training too. Those guns can be found used for pretty cheap at many decent sized gun shops.
It is no fun to reload every shot after a miss, so you get real good at not missing quickly so that you can start having real fun with repeating guns.
I still have that gun that my dad gave me and when the time comes I will teach my son to shoot responsibly with it.

A 20 gauge would be highly recommended as the next gun after the single shot .22, but I can't say there is any specific model I would choose off the top of my head.

In the desert where I lived as a kid, we filled up our empty milk jugs or 2 liter bottles with river bottom sand which also taught a lot about the penetration power of different rounds and the very impressive stopping power of sand.
Water was fun too, but only for one shot, unless you shot the top first and worked your way down to the bottom at which point you could start making it jump pretty good.
Plus, it was less junk to clean up afterward if you made do with less bottles as collecting brass took plenty of time at the end anyhow.
Click to expand...

Any number of .22s would be a good choice. I was thinking a shotgun as his first gun, so once he learns to shoot it, we can hunt with it. I cant hunt with a rifle in Jersey.
 
Go with 20ga pump. Mossberg has several inexpensive youth models and you can buy slug barrels. As others have mentioned the ammo is cheaper, easier to hit the target, and better for hunting. When you just start out only give him one shell at a time. Make him earn multiple shells by showing that he is going to handle the weapon responsibly. Save you from buying another gun as he advances. Its hard to beat a henri lever action in .22.
 
Hello,

The first gun my dad got me was a Savage model 24. Its a 22 mag/.410. I have a lot of guns and its still my favorite. With Iron sites I can head shot a rabbit at 125 yards all day and anything under 25 yards the .410 is awesome. Its the perfect first rifle. I have no idea how many rabbits Ive put on the table because of it but its way more then my Ruger 10/22 and Savage 93r17 combined. My dad paid $150 17 years ago but I have seen a few in ok shape go for around $350. It also doubles as a great backpacking rifle If you dont want to carry a pistol. A .410 with 000 would stop just about anything in the lower 48.

Have a good one,

Chris
 
Mossberg 500e in .410 . Its a .410 on a .410 frame instead of someone putting a .410 barrel on a 12 guage frame.

If you wanted to go with the 20 guage you can also get Mossberg bantam models. I'm not entirely sure but I think the Bantams are designed to take off the youth butt stock and put on an adult butt stock when the time is right.

If you look around you can also find some old Winchester single shot .410's although I don't think they'd make a great starter gun as you have to cock the hammer back to shoot and the hammer styles do not lend themselves to safely letting it off if the shooting opportunity goes away.

I also like the Mossberg models because their safeties are on the top of the tang. Easy to see, easy to operate.
 
I started out with a .410 and in a year had advanced to a 20 ga. I'd definitely choose the 20 as long as the stock fits.
 
Yes you can swith out barrels on the Handi Rifle at will. Think of it as a low end TC Encore. Which if you have the $ is a better choice since barrels are available on the open market. They are just 2 or 3X more in $. I graduated to the TC with a 22-25, 308 and 12 guage barrel. The NEF handi rifle I have set up this way has a 12, 410/45LC, 223, 357 and 4570 set of barrels. I sent it in once and had them do a trigger job on it while they were fitting the barrels. This was set up for kids since i have the short stock and can change it out in minutes. You can take multiple barrels with you and htey switch out and you only need a phillips screw driver to remove the fore end. The 223 is amazingly accurate for a gun that only cost $200 new. If you keep the calibers to 22-250 and below it is great for kids. The 4570 is to much, it was just on the want list and I can say I have one with less than $100 invested.
 
adrock1978 said:
Can I get a list of decent .410 guage shotguns. Any action is fine; pump, bolt, whatever. Also, does anyone have any other recommendations for a good youth starter gun that can be used for hunting as well? I live and hunt in Jersey, so I'm primarily interested in shotguns. I'm sure I can dig up a zillion .22 rifles. My son is 5 but by the time he's 6 or 7 I want to get him shooting.

Pics would be great!
Click to expand...

If your son is 5 and you are looking at getting him going at the age of 6/7 I personally think that a 20 guage is a bit hard on recoil and is likely to be a bit heavy for him.

I would consider a .410 side by side "hammer" gun such as this ...

belg20sbs20folding20410201.jpg


belg20sbs20folding20410205.jpg


belg20sbs20folding20410203.jpg


This is an old Belgium gun but you can get Spanish guns of a similar type. The reasons I suggest this are not just the recoil and weight but the fact that it is a "hammer" gun let's you tell at a glance whether your son is "on safe" or "ready to go" ... and there is a great comfort in this when they are young and need to absorb the whole package of "hunting" which includes "safety" procedures. On a hammerless gun you can't tell easily if the safety is on or off ... and hammers make life much more simple for him if he needs to select one barrel over another because of the choke options.

Ideally get a gun in a "man sized" stock length and get a good gunsmith to cut the stock down in "sections" so they can be added as he grows. The gun need not be expensive but spend the money on getting it fitted right. Two barrels is sensible on a gun used for winged targets ... a single barrel would dampen his enthusiasm due to misses ... but if the gun is fitted right ... that is the most important thing. Shotgun shooting is 90% having a gun which fits and can be used "naturally". Learn as much as you can from the gunsmith about "fit" and checking this ... that way you can monitor the fit as he grows ... you might actually learn a fair bit about your own guns too.

Personally I would consider getting the barrels shortened if need be. It is the choke on the barrels that counts ... not their length. Length is more relevant on "swing" and keeping momentum ... but he is a young lad and you don't want the gun to be out of balance. Take advice from the gunsmith on chokes ... maybe price a set of flush screw in chokes so you can see how it patterns best with options to alter for distance.

As a young lad he will take to this instinctively and even though the barrels may be short as he grows he will still swing it properly as he grew up with it ...

Don't get him a rifle/shotgun as they have no "cast off" and he will be at a hell of a disadvantage in learning proper technique. This is akin to showing him how to shoot wongly right from the start and then having him need to change his technique when he progresses to shotguns which are "cast off".

Expect to budget the same money for proper fitting and maybe more for work on the barrel and chokes. However, this is a "gun for life" and something he can use to teach his kids with.

Taking these steps when he starts is the right time to do it ... what you learn as a child can make you an "expert" as a man ... I coach and train kids in shooting rifles and shotguns to National and International levels and lads who have the right type of beginning are always great shots as adults.:thumbup:
 
I'm going to disagree here. IMHO the .410 is an excellent starter firearm. I started hunting with my Dad at age 5. At age 9 I got my 1st gun, a Mossberg Mod: 183 DF. My dad tough me the fundamentals on a borrowed H&R Model 1900 from my Grandfather. I will always remember cause I was 5 years old when I started and my Grandfather was 5 years old when he started on that 1900 .410. cause he was born in 1895. I was tought not to just point but aim. Yes I know shotguns are for pointing. Teach someone how to aim and pointing will come easier. At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it.
041.jpg

043.jpg
 
Before my son was born I'd already bought him a Rossi Combo (.410/.22lr.). Why? Because it was on sale and I wanted to grab one before they ran out for a year or so as has happened in the past at the local wal-mart.

I see a lot of recommendations for a 20ga. I can't really disagree with it for utility against a .410. IMHO a .410 is a horrible caliber. However, the only purpose it needs to serve for my son is teaching him gun safety and how to properly use a firearm.

After that, it'll just be known as his "first gun" as he has an entire room to choose from for others he wants/needs.

I went with the Rossi for a few reasons...

1. Cheap but reliable.
2. Compact yet large enough to be used by a child or adult. Can't say that about the Cricket. Hell, some kids are even too big for it!
3. Cheap to feed. .22lr is cheap and I have a cubic yard of it. Plus I can reload the .410 shells with my press.
4. Has all of the mechanics that he will need to learn including a hammer, trigger, safety, chamber(s), open sights, etc.
5. From reading the reviews across the net there really wasn't any complaints of any number.

As I said I own everything from a .22lr NAA Mini all the way up to a 40lb.+ .50 BMG. For teaching my son, a Rossi Combo is what I went with.

-Emt1581
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top