I'm looking for some suggestions for a first trap gun for my 16yr old daughter - she's 5' and 130lbs - medium build. She has fired a 12 gauge before and can handle the recoil, but I'd like to get something soft so she doesn't hate the sport
Any suggestions? Someone recommended a Beretta 391 trap autoloader, and said to get the stock cut down.
I taught my daughter on an 1100 Remington then went to a BT 99 plus micro. Neither kick much. The 1100's are plentiful and are less expensive in case she changes her mind about shooting. Mike
I concur on the Rem 1100, if she can handle the girth of a full size gun. If it's front heavy, take a look at a used 1187 Premier field gun with a 28" light contour barrel (add extra length for the receiver and it's the equivalent of most 30" breal open guns), and put a trap buttstock on it.
It's also possible to make a 7/8 scale trap gun out of the 1100 LT20 by modifying a trap stock to fit. The girth is smaller and it fits small hands better, and recoil is very, very low with 2-1/2 dram 7/8 oz loads. I built one when I had a pinched nerve that crippled up my left arm (I lost about half the strength in it, though now it's only about a quarter lost). This let me keep trap shooting, and interestingly, my average was the same.
If you're in the Portland, Oregon area, I'll let her try my guns with various barrels.
Out of the box adjustabilty, beretta 3901 Reduced length. Or a wenig semi inleteed stock for ladies. Try above link and scroll down to the beretta 3901. I dont think you could do much better than this for 880.00. Ad<a href="http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t196/jrm7800/?action=view¤t=100_0040-2.jpg" target="_blank">
</a>justable comb, cast spacers and length of pull spacers. This is what I did for my wife. The grip to trigger length is key to the fit for a lot of women. This is the wenig ladies trap stock on browning gold. I do believe they make them for most of the popular guns. 150.00 you fit and finish. Has a good amount of features needed for women shooters.
Hey Hoosier, no offense here but the "RL" is for the regular length, the "SL" is the short length. I bought the "SL" by mistake. It comes with 2 pads. One gives about 13 5/8" and the other about 1/16 shy of being 14". I added a couple spacers and a new pad to make it 14 1/4".
Had a proffesional paint job done on the stock, kind of a burgundy crackle with a clear hard coat finish. Have $1300 invested will sell for $1000 shipping and insured included.
Comes with a 28" bbl, and all original equipment, i.e. hard case, 5 optima chokes and manual.
Oop's sorry Hoosier, my 78 year old head had a brain fart. Just checked the shipping carton it came in. You are right, the RL is the "shorty". I would have sworn and lost money on a bet
I made a "poor man's" Wenig ladies stock for my daughter's 1187 20ga.
I took a walnut 1187 monte carlo slug gun stock, and cut the front back a bit, and made a reduced size tenon to fit the 20ga receiver. Then the back of the stock was cut down as far as possible, leaving only minimal clearance to the action spring tube, and a thin soft pad was installed. This moved the grip closer to the trigger, like the Wenig. The comb, because the stock is moving forward on an incline, is a bit higher. I need to reduce the top of the comb slightly.
This may seem gonzo nutzo, but have you considered getting her a 28 gauge o/u to start with? That way, reloading expenses may be tolerable, I bet she would be awesome after a bit at 16's, recoil would not "get" her, and down the road she'd have a great skeet and sporting clays gun. I like the 28; it "hits like a 20 and kicks like a 410"...well maybe not quite that good...but imo, the 28 is the "classiest gauge"...
I myself am a 16 year old girl about 5'6 and mediu build and I shoot a Browning XT and I love it. I have absolutely no recoil what so ever, I have a mercury recoil reducer in my stock and i use ounce loads. There is NO recoil. When I first started shooting i started out with a remington 11-87. I won the National Cornhusker Trapshoot as a 7th grader with it. But I would highly recommend either the XT or the 11-87. either one are great guns.
I got my 10 year old daughter (she is 5 feet even and 100 lbs) a Beretta A303 20 gauge, she shoots it well and enjoys the light recoil plus light weight of the gun.
I just traded for a 391 Urika trap, I should recieve it this week.Suppose to have under 300 rounds throw it. i will not set aprice until I see the gun.Let me know if you are interested.Mark Mauch
KolarDude has a great BT99 micro thats been shortened and fitted...as for recoil, there are lots of very low recoil loads available commercially as well as recipes you could reload. My nephew who I am bringing into the sport has found it to be great fun to load his own"special" loads on the MEC..a very low recoil 24 gram load (less than 7/8th's ounce)at 1100fps and he is busting them like crazy with his H&R that I glued a rib on, cut the stock and added a Kickeez and a CheekEez stick on comb...and with so little shot in each load , its actually worth reloading again even with lead costs
Many of the above suggestions are very good. What I recommend is if you can afford to get her a break open shotgun, have her shoot "mini-shells" http://www.aguilaammo.com/minishells.htm
These are 1.5" 12ga shells w/ a 1/2 ounce of shot and they are a little costly. Basically a 410 load in a 12ga shell that patterns like a 12ga and has NO recoil! They will not cycle an automatic, but they sure break targets. Over time she can gradually shoot heavier loads. In addition, the heavier 12ga gun dissipates any perceivable recoil & really helps kids get started right.
My 12 year old nephew hit 22 of 25 from the 16y line w/ a BT-99 a few weeks ago and never even thinks about recoil that he does complain about in a 20ga.
I've got a Beretta 391 Parallel Target SL (Standard Length) with a 28" barrel. Let me know if you're interested. Less than 200 rounds through it. No Box or case.
I just bought a nice Beretta from Jacqua's whose story was the gun was traded in by a guy that had it built for his wife. She didn't shoot it so he traded it. Sometimes these shooters have guns which have already been shortened which I will pay a little more for if they had a quality job done. I have read Rollin's book on stock fitting (old and new version)and each time I reread the book I find something that I must have missed before. I think the comb and the LOP are the most important fittings for me (and other short armed people?). When I got a gun that was set up correctly for me, I almost peed my pants. What a difference this makes! I was able to shoot good scores with poor fitting guns. With the correct fit the scores went up and it almost seemed to easy for all the fun I was having. MAC (above) has done some work on the distance between the pistol grip to the trigger. This is important to a middle school girl with smaller hands. I had my right hand crushed and since then it became important to me also. If you get near Omaha, stop by and I will let you try a few different guns out at the range. Omaha
My wife is about the same size as your daughter. She shoots a XT 32" and a BT-99 34". My wife went to the gun shop and got the XT 32" all buy her self. I would let your daughter pick out her own gun. Then you know what she realy likes and wants.
Kraiza, this is great advice, and I have arranged for her to borrow a gun this Sunday - I'll let her see how she goes. She is shooting in the Scholastic Clays programs, so there will be plenty of other kids with other guns she can try.
Thanks all for the advice - I'll keep all this in mind.
Sorry 2 at 8, but you had better check the Beretta web site. "RL" stands for REDUCED length and "SL" stands for STANDARD lenght. Perhaps they put the wrong stock on your gun when you orderd it, but cubancigar2000 and hossier daddy have right.
I just got a 391 Urika with a 30 inch trap barrel in today. this gun has been shot but very little. It has the Beretta case and 5 optima chokes with all the factory extras. $925.00 plus shipping ot your FFL. I can take pics tonight if you are interested e-mail me. Mark Mauch
Yes it is a good starter gun, above has one at a great price call Mike
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