[Pull & Mark]

You can start with Syren shotguns for Women. Let her pick out the make and model. You need to take her to a dealer for these shotguns. Let her mount a few O/U's and Auto's and let her make up her mind. You can inform her that the Auto's will take out some of the recoil and might be a better choice to start with? If she wants a O/U shotgun. Make sure you can buy a grip for a PFS stock, for any shotgun she likes before you buy it for her!!! Just in case she needs the recoil reduction later on. The PFS is totally adjustable, so any shotgun can be made to fit her. She will enjoy the reduced recoil as well. Of course a good O/U shotgun and a $1,400 PFS will be much more expensive. So, You'll go over your budget for sure!!! Good Luck in finding something she likes. break em all jeff

 

[Matt D]

Beretta has the Vittoria line that is also geared towards women. That or the Syren line would be where I would start.

 

[likemybrownings]

I just bought a Browning Midas Micro Silver , 20 ga. as a loaner gun for daughter and daughter in law. Hoping to increase interest in upland hunting over my pointers!
So Far So Good, both seem the recoil is tolerable shooting back yard clays. Fall hunting will be more cloths, hope all comes together.

 

[TrapFail]

I like my semiauto Beretta A400 Parallel Target reduced length. Recoil is very manageable.

 

[Barmaleykin]

First - check if she is Left or Right dominant. Depend of result - you will have more or less options.

 

[Parkersetter90]

Check out the syren L4S. My wife tried it and liked it a lot. She wound up with a citori cxs after trying a lot of women oriented guns in the end.

 

[mike campbell]

Oops. From the title I thought you were looking for a trade. Carry on.

 

[shannonsplace]

In your price range,
Semi auto: beretta A400 parallel target, Remington 1100 competition, Fabarm Syren
O/U: Browning XT, Tristar TT-15 DT

 

[AusAmateur]

Used is fine. If it were me I'd be looking for a 682 Beretta with removable chokes and an adjustable stock. Should be easily done within your budget.

 

[slide action]

I would let her be the major player in her selection. Most ladies don't want someone else making all their decisions for them. Let her try a few guns and talk to other Lady shooters.

 

[mpolans]

Used Beretta 682, 686 Onyx Pro Trap, or Browning CXT and a used PFS stock, though that might bust the budget a little. If you can stretch a bit, there's a used Verona LX980 (aka Zoli Kronos) for sale on another forum that might be had for around $2500ish if you can talk the seller down a little...he's had it listed for a while and is no longer including a fancy custom stock it was originally listed with.

For semi-autos, the Remington 1100 Competition Synthetic, if the LOP will fit her (maybe swap on a thin recoil pad) and if you can find one. Beretta A400s are nice too, but pricier.

 

[AusAmateur]

OP, I have outfitted a few lady shooters. Be careful of assuming that a smaller, lighter gun is needed. My lady (5'6") shoots a full-sized 32" U/O. yesterday I saw 3 other ladies, the tallest maybe 5'7", all using full-sized guns (682, Miroku and Browning).

All the female shooters I have seen on the Australian ISSF circuit use full-sized guns, ranging from SO4, DT10s and DT11s, Perazzis of various models and even a Krieghoff.

A bit of extra weight to help reduce recoil works wonders.

 

[The Canuck]

My wife shoots an A400 Beretta Xplor in 20 ga. She started traap shooting with it the first season then decided to buy herself a BT-99 Micro w/30' bbl. She found over/unders to be too heavy for her liking and since she doesn't shoot doubles a single was all she needed. She shoots the A400 still but only for hunting and she can be pretty deadly with it at times....this was a limit of lesser canada's(8) with 5 shots. She knocked 6 out of the sky as they backpedaled over the decoys at 25-30 yds with her first three shots that morning while I played guide doing the calling, flagging and retrieving..😎

And shooting it on trap....

And now since she took up registered and bought herself the BT-99 Micro....

 

[John Sandell]

My wife shoots a Browning Citori CX micro 12 ga. 30"
Great gun for all shotgun sports. Don't buy her a 20 ga. Get it fitted to her body. She picks the gun not you.

 

[jimdh]

My wife (5’1”) shoots a Beretta 390RL with parallel stock (from Joel Etchen) and a BT99 Micro Plus 28”. She shoots the beretta better, but likes the break open gun for simplicity. I agree and think breakopen guns are safer.

The syren guns are great, but maybe a little more than you wanted to spend. My sincere advice would be to find something that fits, then go from there. If it doesn’t fit, she won’t have fun and neither will you.

 

[hunter44]

I would let her be the major player in her selection. Most ladies don't want someone else making all their decisions for them. Let her try a few guns and talk to other Lady shooters.

Excellent advice! If you pick her gun for her you will hear about it every time she has a bad score!

 

[Steel Charlie]

I always get a better gun for my wife than what I have. Then when she upgrades so do I and there is never a discussion about needing a new gun since they are always for her.

 

[slide action]

OP, I have outfitted a few lady shooters. Be careful of assuming that a smaller, lighter gun is needed. My lady (5'6") shoots a full-sized 32" U/O. yesterday I saw 3 other ladies, the tallest maybe 5'7", all using full-sized guns (682, Miroku and Browning).

All the female shooters I have seen on the Australian ISSF circuit use full-sized guns, ranging from SO4, DT10s and DT11s, Perazzis of various models and even a Krieghoff.

A bit of extra weight to help reduce recoil works wonders.

You are correct in idea that " one size fits all" doesn't always work. I knew one lady that stood 6 ft tall , and very athletic. She tried over/unders but ,settled on a light weight Berretta 400. Another average sized lady tried several guns and low and behold she fell in love with a custom stocked Model 12 ! Then there is the case of a young lady I saw at the Grand one year. A friend of mine and myself were in the Remington repair shop. One guy who had just gotten his 3200 repaired and remarked that it was for sale . There was a young lady in there with her dad. This girl stood about 4ft. 8 and couldn't have weighed over 100 lbs. soaking wet but, she wanted that heavy 32 in. barreled Remington 3200. Her Dad found an FFL and she would up with the gun. Last I saw of her she was on the practice trap with that heavy gun, turning targets into powder! --You just never know !

 

[AJT]

My wife and I tried many different guns for fit before settling on an A300 target youth/ladies model. Shorter LOP and VERY light recoil. Excellent gun for trap and sporting clays. Can get into that gun for around $1000 stock and have an adjustable pad and comb added for a few hundred. Comb may not be necessary but I highly recommend an adjustable pad as it helps the gun fit the shoulder pocket.