often when people recommend a shotgun they forget that they grew up with a shotgun in their hand so it feels so natural to them

and a lot of people did not

I worked an event yesterday as an RSO (range safety officer) it was shotgun shoot 10 clays on stands the shooter had 10 rounds the shooter had to move and shoot and were timed many re-ran it several times

I found many of the people attending had recently purchased their shotguns some had never even shot them before many of them city guys it seemed most of them had shot handguns

we often forget city guys often only own handguns and go to the indoor range

they don't know the first thing about shotguns

today my son brought a friend of his from college who had never shot home to the range . kid grew up in the burns and never shot anything before

well we gave him some good experience and instruction got him started on a 10/22 , then a AR-22lr then a couple 22 handguns a revolver and a semi auto, then stepped up to a 9mm semi auto handgun as well as a shotgun and an AR-15 .

guess what he had the hardest time with , the shotgun , did not like the recoil and that was just trap loads


probably the easiest gun for him to shoot was the AR-22lr
next was the AR-15 5.56

People ask what gun they should buy I say the one that fits you the best, most new shooters or less experienced shooters have no clue about fit they think all guns are built the same.

This one looks good

Hmm, I've always had people and have told people that most shotguns, especially some of the so called youth guns, kick like a mule. Think the only exception was a Russian made single shot. 410 we had.

youth guns may kick worse

take the weight out of any gun and recoil is harder the equal and opposite reaction has less mass to move with less mass to overcome it can get moving sooner.


these dummy rounds can be a great training aid for those new to shotguns especially while ammo is still difficult to find and range time may be hard to get https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018805265
they are inert dummy rounds and labeled as such , but weigh and feel the same as real rounds
make sure no live ammo is any where around you when you practice with the dummy and still best to do it in the basement and keep your muzzle down

it is good to practice loading with both hands and muzzle down you can get to ranges where the muzzle may never go above the top of the berm because on the other side of that berm there are people on another range

my son had been shooting trap weekly getting 24s and 25 , then we go out to practice for his upcoming 3gun match I throw the first clay , he smokes it then proceeds lower his gun to his side and eject the hull into his hand and place it in his pouch. what are you doing?
he realized he had his brain in trap mode
he realized he needed to get into 3gun mode every pull of the trigger is immediately followed by a racking of the slide I wasn't going to quit tossing clays till my hand was empty 5 is a good number then he needs to be shucking shells in the gun while I grab another stack of clay.

one of the hardest thing in a 3Gun match is keeping your shotgun fed fast enough when they build stages they are thinking about how they can run you dry when you need to have a minimum 2 rounds in to get the pop up clay

like put a shotgun spinner and 5 shotgun poppers in a row and the last one tosses a clay

I would say we should go shoot a bunch of things get you started right then you can decide what works best for you.

there is also this idea that possession of the tool is enough , it isn't true in Micrometers and it isn't true in shotguns just because you have a hammer doesn't mean you can drive a nail in 3 hits or in 20 hits or without bending it over several times

A Guns a tool a guy with high cheekbones is wasting his time with a straight type of stock when a sporting clay style stock might fit him better. Small hands with a double stack pistol grip seldom works well.

My suggestion to a new gun buyer is to sight the weapon and when you only see the front sight that’s a great start then.