Autoloader for wife

[vj88]

Hello,
Doing my research on a autoloader for the wife primarily for ducks. So im looking at 12 gauge with 26-28" bbls. Im not sold on her shooting a 20ga but this is still an option. Her Length of Pull is 13-13 1/4. All shotguns named have 26-28" barrels. The Franchi affinity compact as it fits 12 3/8 to 13 3.8 LOP but it is a little light for a 12 gauge at 5.5 pounds and reviews say bot hthe 20 and 12 have unpleasant kick. The affinity catalyst LOP is too long so that's out. The Beretta a300 compact has a 13 -14.5 LOP and at 7 1/4 pounds is likely a much more comfortable shooter and also has a 28" bbl. The final gun I see is the benelli m2 compact and is 13 1/8 LOP and 7 pounds but the price of course is 500$ more than the others. The 20 ga is 5.5 pounds. Finally the Stoger M3000 compact is an option as well. Interested in what other small framed shooters are shooting and what they like.

 

[go4thegusto]

I have a serious recoil issue and have owned and modified them all..Berretta, Browning, Winchester, Benelli (ouch), Fabarm, O/U's with hydraulic buttplates etc etc

I am currently shooting a stock Remington V3. Softest gas shotgun I have ever shot bar none. Super reliable innovative gas system rarely requires cleaning. Kicks out the lightest 7/8 or 24 gram loads. Amazing shotgun at a low price. I sold guns I had $2K invested in when I shot the V3.

 

[quackaddict]

Don't worry about her shooting a 20ga at ducks. That's all I've shot for anything with feathers for the last 10 years almost. If you're worried about recoil, stick to a gas gun. A 3" load of #4 steel will ruin a decoying duck's day. And I can absolutely kill a bird with a 20 just as far as the guys I hunt with that shoot 12s. Just spend a little time patterning the gun, and don't over-constrict it. I typically shoot a SK choke when shooting steel and have had no problems killing birds to 30-40 yards.

Out of the guns you listed for her, I would stick with the Beretta. If you can find a Franchi 720 in good shape, they are FANTASTIC guns. Light weight, low recoil, super easy to clean.

But again, don't think that she has to have a 12 to kill a duck. A #4 pellet moving 1200fps is the same whether it comes out of a yellow shell or a red shell.

 

[Grumman]

My buddy bought his son a M2 20 gauge and he loves that thing. I think he uses it as much as his son now.


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[vj88]

Finally got our hands on a few guns at Cabelas. The 12 gauge compacts are a little heavy in her opinion so were headed the 20 ga route. That makes the 2 contenders the Franchi Affinity Compact and the Benelli M2 Compact. The only thing that worries me on the franchi is the reported additional recoil than the benelli. We may end up having to swap the recoil pad with the increased cost if we go the Franchi route. The benelli fit her out of the box and is a nice gun but is $1300 vs the franchis $750.

Im located in Anchorage Alaska and the hunting I generally do is jump and pass shooting, so shots tend to be a little further. I do get some ducks to decoy but I don't have the patience to sit all day knowing there are ducks I can jump. Thanks for the help.

 

[JustinSmith1754]

The M2 in my opinion is worth the extra $500.00. It is easy to operate, and the inertia driven operation doesn't require much maintenance. I shoot an SBE II and love it. Duck hunters talking shotguns is like car guys arguing Chevy vs Ford though, lol. In the end, a gun that fits her shoulder and fits your budget will be a choice only you can make. I don't think you regret the M2 though.

Another gun you may want to look at is the Beretta 1301 competition with the 24" barrel. It has oversized controls, short LOP, and is a sweet shooting gun. With today's choke technology, you can purchase an aftermarket choke tube to dial in your pattern at the desired yardage. My son shoots this gun in trap shooting competitions. He has put 1,000's of rounds through it with no problems. This is a gun that many would overlook, but for a smaller framed shooter it is pretty sweet.

 

[motts]

I was recently in the same situation with my wife, and we ended up getting her the Beretta A300 with a 28" barrel. It seems like a very nice gun for the money and she has been very happy with it so far this season on ducks, squirrels and rabbits. My wife is not the strongest by any means, but has had no problem with the weight of the gun while carrying it in the field.

The Franchi Affinity Compact 20 with the 26" barrel (only comes in camo) is probably going to be the next thing we get her to replace the Mossberg 500 20 that she's also been using. She was okay shooting 3" loads out of the pump, but definitely felt it after high volume shooting. The light weight of the Franchi kind of concerns me, but if she really has to go back to heavier loads we can always take the Beretta out instead.

 

[vj88]

I ended up buying a franchi compact 20ga for the wife its the black 24" bbl version. The two guns we looked at were the franchi and benelli. The fit was similar on both and the biggest complaint is that even though the stock length fits fine the distance from the pistol grip to the trigger is not as short as needed for a compact shooter. unfortunately we did not find a shotgun that fit perfectly. We ended up with the franchi at 680$ vs the benelli at over 1200$. We did have to buy a skeet choke since the franchi didn't come with one but the benelli did. We will get out shooting skeet in preparation for next years duck hunting.

thanks

 

[bradb]

I and now a number of friends bought Weatehrby sa 08 youth 20s. Mostly(originally) for youth turkey hunts we do. Now its almost always the gun I grab for turkey hunting, awesome little gun. I have Sumtoy choke for it. I do use it some for myself for upland also, but with the short stock it pulls up bad for me, UNLESS I put on a slip on recoil pad to increase the lop. That takes like 2 seconds. I have many other shot guns and find myself grabbing that more then others