Looking to buy a shotgun for my boys, 13y/o and twin 11y/os. They'll share it for now to shoot clays and learn how to use it and bird hunt. Need recommendations on auto vs. O/U and who makes the best value.

I learned to dove hunt on a New England Firearms single shot .410 and then graduated to the same in 20g until I bought my own 870.

That's not exactly what you're looking for but I'll say I learned to pick my shots and get efficient! In the early years my dad would give me one box of shells to last the whole weekend.

I started with a 20 ga. single shot (unsure of brand) then and 870, then 1100 12 ga. which I still have but it's just too heavy for them. Was thinking Yildiz O/U, I don't know much about Stoeger.

My son had a Weatherby SA-08 20GA semiautomatic the last two seasons that was great.

$500 yildiz 20ga O/U from academy is a pretty good deal. My son (13) has one. Going to try it out on some birds next weekend.

Benelli Montefeltro. They are about $1200 new but great guns.

I had one and both my kids shot it but quickly outgrew it. Sold it to another local dad with kids for $1,000 used maybe eight times. They love it.

Worth spending a little extra on a shotgun.

When my daughter was young I bought her a Tristar youth semiauto 20. She was pretty proficient with it on ducks and dove. Ended up replacing the buttstock with a standard size and she still uses it.

My 11yo twins have a Retay Masai Mara 20ga with a youth stock and a TriStar Viper G2 youth 20ga. Both go bang every time and I like shooting dove with both of them, but they're still a little much for them to handle for more than a few shots. They don't like shooting my 12ga Pigeon w/28" barrels but do tolerate my 694 w/32" barrels better than any of them, but it's obviously too much gun for young girls to shoot very many times. Think I might try a gas gun for them this year like a Micro Midas & let them grow into the inertia guns in a year or two. Dan Carlisle said he thinks 13 is the best age to introduce a shotgun to a kid and I think he may be right in my case.

Check out the Browning BPS 20 gauge pump. Great starter gun and worthy of passing on to next gen.

STRONGLY suggest single shot (410, 20, 12) so they learn to make 1st (& ONLY!!) shot count!! My dad, granddad, uncle, etc. did not hunt so mistakenly learned on Remington 12 ga 870. I would shoot "early" (before in range) to be SURE to get 3rd shot!! My 3 sons required to carry BB gun to learn gun safety for 1-2 years before allowed to shoot single shot then graduated to Remington 870.

You can turn any shotgun into a single shot, though.

bam02 said:

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You can turn any shotgun into a single shot, though.

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Of course you can, but then his kids won't be able to add "hunting with a single shot" to their "walk to school up hill both ways" stories down the road.

We end up using the 20 gauge semi more than any other gun every season.

I always recommend the daly 601 20ga youth because it's the cheapest short lop gas operated one I could find. My pretty average sized 10 year old shoots it really well but it's still a bit too big for him. Has cycled everything I've fed it without a hitch including absolute minimum 1/2oz reduced recoil hand loads. Very very soft shooting

Browning Micro 20ga