My son is 12 and has finally reach the point where I feel he is mature enough to start hunting. He has shot .22 rifles before but never a shotgun. So I need a recommendation on a factory low recoil 20 gauge round to start him out with. Thanks for any input.

It's completely up to you but I was the same age when I first shot a 20 gauge too. Actually I was about 9 and shot some unexpected turkey loads . Anyway I just shot regular 7 1/2 shells. I was fine and it didn't make me feel jumpy at all.

I guess it would all depend on the length of the gun, whether it's semiauto or not and his capability to maneuver it.

May go with a standard 8 shot round, also thought maybe a Winchester AA, or Remington Sts target load.

Will be shooting a pump gun, either a youth winchester 1300 or a youth 870.

Just buy some standard 7/8 ounce loads. Cheapest is fine. There's no difference in the physics between cheap rounds and STS or AA cases as long as the load is the same.

If you DO buy AA or STS...save the cases as they are very re-load-able....if you ever want to go that route.

The heavier gun choice will lessen the felt recoil too.

Yea, just get some cheap low brass, he'll be ok unless he's a really small duffer.

Funny story my older brothers always tell about me.

I followed them squirrel hunting one day when i was in the 8ish age range. I was tall and skinny, a ridge-runner, lol. Anyhow, i wanted to shoot the gun, a 16ga. single shot that was my grandma's. They set a walnut up on a stump and back me up to shoot it. They thought it was a good idea to stand me infront of a tree so i didn't get knocked on my butt. All that did was put a knot on the back of my head!!! lol.

They still laugh about me rubbing my head afterwards.

Didn't bother me tho, i wanted another shell!

I was 9 and was going turkey hunting with my uncle. I was a little feller then. I had never shot a shotgun before so the night before they set some turkey papers up and gave me some low brass shells. I shot them without a problem. Then they handed me a turkey shell. I said "isn't that a little bigger"? My uncle said not much. Will it hurt? Naaah, it's no different than the other ones. I was hesitant but put it in and shot. When I did I flew about four feet backwards. I had no idea what happened to the gun and smacked my head a good one. The nice thing was I got a turkey the next day but it was just a repeat. And we were in a blind. Gun barrel flew backward and poked through the BACK of the blind.

I laugh now and am scared of the turkey shells a little bit. But I will get used to them.

My uncle had a youth 870 which is what I shot. Stick with low brass .

unless he is really small a good fitting 20 with trap loads should not be an issue.

in our Friday night youth trap league I have several lightweights and they all handle standard trap loads from a pump gun well.


first figure out his eye dominace fi you don't already know it , shoot you your eye not to the hand you write with.

fit is huge , up to the cheek into the shoulder , make sure it is in the pocket and not to long or to short for him.
make sure he holds it tight in his shoulder.
posture is next feet shoulder width apart or a touch more stand tall then bend the support hand knee and lean forward so that your weight is more over your front foot.

a demo I do for the kids is to tell them think of a punch it hurts why because it has speed I make a fist and punch my open hand from about 6 inches away you can hear the punch.
then have them stand up strait I place my fist firm against their shoulder the same way I want the gun and I push their shoulder with about the same energy I put in that punch of my hand and they tip back some then have them lean forward anticipating the push and push their shoulder with my fist and they come up to about strait. explaining that because a gun held firm to the shoulder has no time to develop movment they are slowing it down from the very beginning like the push vs the punch.


here is a video to help explain the feet
shotgun stance

next have him pattern set up a target stand that is tall about 8 feet set it out 32 yards and shoot some cardboard with a picture of a clay drawn on it on marker so that he can see it well from that distance load the gun for him so he can't see you do it and after about 3 rounds hand him an unloaded gun action closed do not tell him. if he flinches work ball dummy mixing it up till he can not flinch making sure his stance is good and butt pad in his shoulder well.

when he has this down , with an unloaded gun have him follow some clays keep moving and follow all the way to the ground , have him point out where the clay seems to just hang and have him dry fire on the clay. if I can I have them move right up next to the trap house dry fire on a few then live fire on one , then hand him back an empty gun see if he flinches work that ball dummy till he doesn't

remember follow the clay or the pieces all the way to the ground , follow through is important

all this time you are handing him the gun by positioning it right in his shoulder and getting the right fit he needs to make sure his finger stays off the trigger till he is ready and that you maintain safe muzzle direction this is one of the only times we ever had a student a loaded gun and we do it very carefully so that they don't move position and we get the right fit.

Federal makes a lite load and most dove loads are lighter loads also!

I coach youth trapshooting, and every year the worst mistake I see is parents buy their kid a small lightweight youth 20 gauge that weights hardly anything. Kids quickly develop a flinch and many are unable to shoot 2 boxes of shells in a night. Good way to ruin a kid quick.
Better off buying a adult 870 and shortening the stock, or if you have the budget purchase a autoloader. Most 12 gauge autos kick less than a pump 20.
Winchester makes a reduced recoil load for both 20 and 12s that is nice for youth shooters.

Thanks for all your input. General consensus is run of the mill low brass shells and since I have a those thats what we are gonna shoot.

I had a small recoil sensitive kid and used these 3/4 oz loads.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/183696...4-oz-7-1-2-shot

They were better than the regular 7/8 ounce loads for practice.

Winchester Win-Lite low recoil shells....make trap loads feel like a bazooka. They do not cycle well out of a semi-auto. You hear them but won't feel em'

Yep Winchester low recoil my 9 year old shoots them in 12g and shoots 100 rounds no issue

If he's just shooting trap or tin cans low brass #8 shot is OK but if he's hunting anything bigger then doves you better go with #6 shot.

Why can't people just answer his question directly?

Here you go Sir! Great low-recoil products from people in PA!
Low-recoil:
http://www.rstshells.com/store/c/8-20-Gauge.aspx

For their full line:
http://www.rstshells.com/

Agreed with the advice given, any trap load has fairly light recoil. Now moving up to 1500 FPS steel loads is a whole different can of whoop arse. I bought both of my kids maverick 88 youth pump 20 ga guns. I leave out the stock spacer and use an additional slip on pad (over the stock pad) making the 3" steel loads no problem. Now they hammer ducks and geese all day long without hesitation. I like the set-up so much I bought the maverick 88 in 12 ga, put on a shorter Hogue stock and an additional recoil pad. The most inexpensive shotgun I own and my favourite gun now by a mile. We often goose/duck hunt 3 times per week all season long.