Gun For Petite Wife

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Dreaming100Straight

New member
I am thinking about a gun for my wife and am thinking about a 20 gauge compact/youth semi. A buddy of mine, who got a new Ithaca 37 20 for his wife is trying to sell me on getting a 12 Gauge, because the weight absorbs a lot of recoil. I haven't the heart to tell him that he made a mistake, IMO, in getting her a fixed breech gun.

Recoil isn't the only issue my wife has. Because she is 4'11" she needs a shorter LOP than a standard 14+ inches. Neither do I think her strong enough to heft a heavy gun.

Is it wrong for me to think of a compact 20 semi given the above or do you think I am missing something?

Also, how many makers offer a compact semi 20? I can only think of Remington, Mossberg, and Franchi, but am keeping the Benelli M2 Compact in mind. The Montefeltro is pretty, but no comfort tech stock absorbing recoil. As far as I know, Beretta doesn't make a compact semi.

I think I want a gas and not inertia.
 
Clays, small game, or feathered birds? Parking lot to the skeet/trap range, or side of the road, down the ditch, thru the fence, and across the field & back.

You understand what I'm talking about, right?

Just added, HD?

.
 
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I would go with the 20. I may like 12 gauges but I also have a 4 foot 11 inch wife about 110 pounds. Her shotgun of choice turned into the Mossberg 500 Youth Super Bantam. I know you're not interested in that but I was because it has a shorter length of pull and offers a short stock with recoil pad. I think that measured out to 12 inches and then add a spacer and the second recoil pad and you're up to 13 inches length of pull.

The gun was pretty light so I put some weight in the stock. This is only for shooting clays when I go to the range. She's animal friendly. But even with the weight she gets a pretty good recoil punch out of standard velocity shells.

The other option would be reduced recoil shells for $1-2 more per box.
 
if she is cute along with petite Ill take her, and you can have your choice of any gun I have in the safe.....
 
Short and recoil shy, if it is for HD, an AR; otherwise, the heaviest 12 or 20 she can handle firing the lightest loads. Without trying to sound snarky, many women that size do not have great upper body strength, so trying to hold a long gun with any weight can be tiring quick (My first was also that tall).
Again, IF this is for HD, besides the AR look at a decent handgun, letting HER pick it out of course.
If it is just for some grins and giggles on a skeet field, a 1100 in 28 will work nicely.
 
I often ask OP's the intended use of a gun, and here I leave it out. It would be so she can occasionally accompany me to the skeet and trap range. I would keep it stoked with a HD load at home, in the unlikely chance that she needed it. Our principal HD shotgun is a 12 gauge 870. She can just use it but it is just too much for her.

If I was to get a gun for her to use for HD, I would probably get a handgun.

That link to the cornered cat was a good tip. A long while ago I remember seeing an article there for guns for women. The list of compact shotguns also helps. I don't think of youth size shotguns is current, but it helps. Only after writing the original post did I think of Browning.

Yes, she is cute else how could she be so fortunate as to land moi?
 
Yes, she is cute else how could she be so fortunate as to land moi?
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Where's the BARF emoticon?????:D:p

Seriously, for going to the range - as in slugs and buck; or as in the clay clubs for some skeet and trap???? Again, for grins and giggles at the clay clubs, the 1100 in 28 is about as sweet as it comes IF it fits her; (same for the 20 as both are on the same frame)

Depending on budget, one of the A400s - the the bronze 7# hunting version in 12 will work since you reload and you could reload 3/4 oz reloads

IF you go the A400 route, do N OT get the Kick Off since you most likely will need to have the stock shortened; go with the regular Beretta Gel-Tek pad
 
IF you go the A400 route, do N OT get the Kick Off since you most likely will need to have the stock shortened; go with the regular Beretta Gel-Tek pad
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I wondered about that, since I most likely would have to shorten the stock if I got her a 12. By the bronze do you mean this model?

J40AW16 A400 ACTION 12/26 (Bronze Receiver)

That is the one without the kickoff. It's a nice gun and at the top of my budget, but the good part is if she doesn't shoot it then it's mine.

Still, it would be a lot simpler to go with a 1100 compact 20 and for about a third the price, if you consider the cost of cutting the stock.

I would be tempted to go with something like this if it came in a semi.

M870ExpressCompactPink_81150_sm.ashx


First I have to get her somewhere with rental guns.
 
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Damn! I thought my girlfriend was short at 5'2"!!!

She is recoil shy and has a bad right shoulder so the best I get out of her when I shoot skeet/trap is a great cheerleader(yes she was a cheerleader in HS) but she just likes to hang out with me what ever I do.

I have a 20ga 11-87 and the kick is not bad at all. I prefer a 20ga and I'm 5'11" 225. I think they make the 11-87 in a youth model
 
Weatherby SA08 Synthetic Compact.

L.O.P. 12.5", it's a 20 gauge, and it's a gasser.

BUT it is made in Turkey......and you get Weatherby Customer Service.


Just another option.

And for short people, just cutting the stock is not necessarily a good option. A proper "youth" stock has a commensurate shortening of the reach from the pistol grip to the trigger. A person with a glove size 6 does not do well if the pistol grip length (aka trigger reach) is based on a glove size 9.
 
I am currently building my 4'11" daughter an Ithaca 37 16ga gun that will be sized correctly for her. (my daughter will never be any taller, she is done).

BUT if I was going to simply buy her another gun, for starters I would get a youth model 870 with choke tubes. Cheap enough that if she decides to not keep shooting, no big loss, easy to resell and cheap enough to get her into the game.

She might need the ultra-youth with 12 1/2 " LOP stock. That is what we bought my daughter and is what I am going to set the LOP up on the stock of the 16ga I am building her.

After that, if she wants to keep shooting, I would track down a youth model 1100. I bought one of those for my wife. She is 5'3" 115 lbs. She uses a 13 LOP.

I also built her an Ithaca 37 16ga sized for her. She thinks her 38-55 BPCR rifle recoils more than the 16ga does.

Unfortunately, there are not many 24" choke tube, vent rib Ithaca barrels available on the used market and the current iteration of Ithaca Guns does not make them. I have 2, one on my wife's gun, 1 for my daughter's.

Gander Mountain has the youth models on display. Take her there and let her try them out. That will be a good place to start as to determining LOP, gun weight, barrel length without spending any money.

A buddy of mine, who got a new Ithaca 37 20 for his wife is trying to sell me on getting a 12 Gauge, because the weight absorbs a lot of recoil.
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the current iteration of Ithaca 37's are superb guns, but a bit on the heavy side. plus for height challenged people, you simply cannot buy them off the rack and have them fit correctly. I am 5'6" and cannot comfortably shoot a new M37. That is why I build and/or restore older Ithaca 37's for my own use.

a 12ga would probably be too much for her. They are heavy guns (7.6 lbs according to the website). a 20 is a bit less, but the shortest, lightest barrel would be a 26" field barrel unless you had a gunsmith shorten one back and rethread it for tubes.
 
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SHR970: I hear you on Turkey and Weatherby customer service. Also I think my wife would appreciate a semi.

drook: I recall that you know a a bit about things. Something like the youth model 1100 is likely what we will settle on. Perhaps a new compact 1187. The gun will also be used by my 5'3" daughter. If a pump didn't kick so hard and I had a 20 reloader I would be tempted to get them that compact 870 with the pink camo. If they don't want it, I am sure BigJimP would want it.:D
 
The 20 is plenty!
I keep several boxes of #4 Buckshot loads for my 20Ga SxS.
with my disabilities, I am not always able to handle the recoil of my 12 Pump.
Due to pain, there's days I can;t take the shock of the big gun and the little SxS is lighter, kicks less and being a double, it's almost the same size as my chopped Pump!
There are 20 ga Slugs too!
ZVP
 
I pm'd you a link for some of the 1100 youth models I have seen out for sale. I simply cannot believe how they have skyrocketed in price ! The one I bought my wife has wood furniture on it and there are some for sale right now pretty much identical to her's, used of course, in excess of $1000.00, one person wanted $1400.00 I believe.
 
I have a granddaughter that is 19 - and petite... 5' 1" or so ...and a shade over 100 lbs...and not a lot of upper body strength.

She likes the Benelli Super Sport, 20ga, 28" barrel at just a shade over 6 lbs..and with the comfort tech it shoots softly / and I load 3/4 oz of shot at 1200 fps for her in the 20ga ...to soften it even a little more.../ overall length is 50"

http://www.benelliusa.com/supersport-shotgun

Browning, in their Silver series of semi-autos....has a number of micro guns...with lengths of pull around 13" / and I think they're much better guns than the Remington options - but a little more money ( and we all know getting another $ 300 out of you --- is a full weeks work - at least ) :p

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=020B&cid=011&tid=389
( teach you to pick on me about pink guns )....

the Midas Silver - in Buckhorn Pink...
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=020B&cid=011&tid=407

By the way ...give her $ 2,500 and let her pick out her own gun/ and a MEC 9000 GN loader for you to load her custom shells with / and take a couple of lessons.....

...my word I thought you were smarter than to pick a gun for her ...:confused: .....but I guess not !!
 
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