Howdy Foax! Heard the cautionary tale about the Dad (me) who bought his son a Remington Youth Express (read, short-stocked, recoil-padded 870 pump w. rifled bbl firing 20-gauge sabot) for a first deer gun?

Thought this gun would be just the ticket for deer/hog hunting in the Georgia Pineywoods. Installed a quality adjustable sling and exchanged the factory rear sight for a good peep. Took son and gun to range for sight-in and familiarization.

Son is a Scout, a standup guy and a tough kid, well-liked by peers and adults. (Three years after this incident, he became Georgia's Junior World Skeet Champion.) Imagine his embarrassment, and my fear for him, when his tears welled immediately after his first shot! I took the gun and fired it myself, only to discover that after a life of shooting everything from .17s to crew-served 152s, the recoil of this gun was among the most punishing I have ever experienced!

Dads, if you don't believe this will hurt your heart, don't try it to see! Since that time, this gun has remained on a shelf in Texas. Which leads me to this question: if you knew what I had to learn the hard way, what would YOU have done to mitigate the recoil of this firearm?

Many thanx 'n best regards,

Howdy Foax! Heard the cautionary tale about the Dad (me) who bought his son a Remington Youth Express (read, short-stocked, recoil-padded 870 pump w. rifled bbl firing 20-gauge sabot) for a first deer gun?

Thought this gun would be just the ticket for deer/hog hunting in the Georgia Pineywoods. Installed a quality adjustable sling and exchanged the factory rear sight for a good peep. Took son and gun to range for sight-in and familiarization.

Son is a Scout, a standup guy and a tough kid, well-liked by peers and adults. (Three years after this incident, he became Georgia's Junior World Skeet Champion.) Imagine his embarrassment, and my fear for him, when his tears welled immediately after his first shot! I took the gun and fired it myself, only to discover that after a life of shooting everything from .17s to crew-served 152s, the recoil of this gun was among the most punishing I have ever experienced!

Dads, if you don't believe this will hurt your heart, don't try it to see! Since that time, this gun has remained on a shelf in Texas. Which leads me to this question: if you knew what I had to learn the hard way, what would YOU have done to mitigate the recoil of this firearm?

Many thanx 'n best regards,


Ouch!!! Not the way you want to start a kid. Sorry that happened. I think I will fire all weapons first before I let a kid try it, especially if It's the first time and I am unfamiliar with the firearm. I remember my Dad wanted to get my little brother a 30-30 for his first gun when he was about 12. I advised him that a light 30-30 has pretty good recoil and to avoid developing a flinch, he might consider something smaller. You want that first experience to be a good one.

Sounds like the young man recovered nicely though

Swampstalker,
the easiest and least expensive way to reduce recoil is to make the firearm heavier in most cases. A mercury recoil reducer in the butt stock would be an excellent start. If that didn't prove adequate, I believe they make ones that fit into the magazine tube and act as a "duck plug" also, this would limit your shots to three but I don't see that as a problem for most hunting.

I bought a similar shotgun to the one you are talking about for one of my previous girlfriends when I was in my late teens, as a result of her being a bit short for the full sized shotguns. I don't recall the recoil being too severe, but I shot a few ducks with some 3" magnums out of the 21" barrel that had my ears ringing for 2-3 days. Muzzle blast has a larger effect on me, in most cases, than recoil does, so that is another consideration. I like a shotgun barrel to be NO shorter than 25-26" for sporting use, which is about what it takes to burn the powder with 100% efficiency no matter the type and length of shells you use. I realize that that isn't always an option when you want a fully rifled barrel for a 20ga.

Of course it never hurts to take them out shooting clays with the light skeet loads to get a little recoil acclimation before you jump into the slugs, especially off the bench. The Past shoulder pads, while considered to be for sissies by some, are a great means of reducing the punishment one recieves when bench testing some firearms. I never feel the shot when hunting, but bench shooting is another thing altogether.