My youngest son finished hunters ed this autumn and I'm thinking about getting him a new Rem 870 Fieldmaster for Christmas. It looks like this gun can be purchased with either a 26" or 28" barrel.

Which barrel length is better for overall hunting and field use? We do shoot some trap but only rarely and casually - just for fun. I imagine the longer barrel would be better for wing shooting but the shorter barrel would be more handy and convenient to carry.

Which would be best?

Poor kids is only 12 and a slight build. He's gonna have a hard time shouldering a full size 12 ga. but I think in the long run he would be happier with the 12 than a youth 20 or something.

I'm thinking maybe the 26" would be best.

Youth 20ga and teach him to shoot and there won’t be anything he can’t kill.

I know if he has a gun that doesn’t fit and kicks he’s not gonna be into it at all. Take him and buy what fits him.

With modern load choices and screw in chokes I personally don't think there probably much performance difference. As far as kid being small he probably grow into the gun. You can learn to shoot well with what ever you have if work with it.. I do believe from my own experience a longer barrel gives better sight window on moving birds when swinging.
If the gun is a 3 inch chamber. Probably shoot anything need or want to with it.

MTCW

Mac

26 is a little easier to find a case but it hardly matters

I am a fan of 20 inch myself , love my 20 inch 12ga shotguns so easy to carry and fast to the shoulder , people talk about sight picture but your shot is only really good for inside 50 yards so not that big of a deal

I like the Mossberg 500C 20ga for kids , then it doesn't matter if they are right or left eye dominant the safety is on top.

if I only ever shot trap I might want a long barrel, I get in and push brush and thick woods , it is just so much easier not having 6 , 8 or 10 more inches on my barrel.

I carry a 12ga 500A Mossberg with the 20 inch vent rib
I have also carried my 870 police with 20 inch barrel with rifled sights that I had threaded for rem-chokes it is heavier and we put on some miles walking so I appreciate the the lighter 500.

I have a Rem 870 junior (smaller than youth size) in 20 ga. and an H&R 20 ga. single shot. He can borrow those when he wants to. He uses the single-shot 20 when we go shoot trap.

I'm not going to buy him two shotguns. This is a once in a lifetime deal. I'm not going to buy him a youth size gun that he will outgrow in five years - especially when I have 20's he can borrow. I'm thinking the 12 ga pump and light loads won't kick any more than the light weight 20 ga single shot.

The only other option is to wait to buy him a 12 gauge after he grows up a little. But, he's been wanting a 12 ga shotgun now and I want to get him into it while the enthusiasm is there. In four or five years he may be into cars or computers and not want to go hunting at all. I don't want to snooze and lose.

then this would be a good gun he can use for the rest of his years
https://www.mossberg.com/500-turkey-52280.html

they only make the 20 inch barrel factory as a turkey gun , but that works.

Well shoot, buy him a Benelli M2 in 28” and he’ll have a gun for life. Mine started out with a Youth 870, then a Ultralight 20ga and then an M2 in 12ga. I “inherited” the Youth 870 and made it into my dedicated turkey gun.

A gun that does not fit, is to heavy and long will cause more problems for him.

I recommend youth 20 that fits with a 20" or there about. My 12 year old is tall for his age and Handel's a yout 870 20 well. My 10 yare old can't Handel it well its to heavy and long he had been shooting a single shot youth h and r 20. With that single shot he bust the clays before hid brother gets on target.

Neither enjoys or likes the 870 26" 12 at all.

They have shot dove, rabbits, and turkey very effectively with the youth 20s above.
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I personally use a 870 lw20 with 21" and have for years. I can't tell you how many hundres of quail dove and rabbits have Fell to it.

Sure you can give him a gun that does not fit and he can grow into it. He will miss, won't get it mounted quickly, develop bad habits.
I have a lot of youth guns for a reason. 4 youth .22s, 2 20g, 2 muzzeloaders, a 7mm-08, 243 357 carbine and 300 blackout AR. Not because I like wasting money but each fills a roll.

If and when he out grows a youth you can simply buy a full length stock for most guns cheaply.

Winchester makes the sx4 in a compact 12 but will still be big if he is small. But gas operation will reduce recoil and it is still light weight.

Franchi also make a nice compact but inertia so a little more recoil. These are two I have been looking at becuse the ones thay have been using are some I bought for my 20 year old daughter when she was young. But she is till very smalland they fit her well.

The sx4 is still a bit large for my 10 year old. But the camo I saw saw last week was around 800.

you could buy a spare wood stock used and cut it to fit him now and then glue the chunks back on as he grows then when all grown put the original stock back on

the trick is drill 2 holes the size of a common dowel rod. drill them deep before you start cutting then all your pieces will line back up with dowel rods when you glue them back on.

if your going to buy a gun that doesn't fit him this is a good way to go , make it fit and adjust each year or two till he is grown.

With today's ammo, 26" is plenty long enough. It's harder to carry a longer gun through weeds and brush.

I agree with a 26” length. Easier to swing and quicker he will get used to it and no need for a 28.

even better todays ammo the gains of an 18-20 inch barrel are small 10-15fps , the gains to a 30 inch barrel are about 100fps more than the 18 inch barrel . you almost double the barrel length 18-30 and 100fps is it a gain of just 8fps per inch if you average it

the net result on target is so minor that any reasonable shot with a 30 is a reasonable shot with a 20 and it is 10 inches shorter. 93% of what the cumbersome 30 produces with the same shells from a 20

the difference I found in a few spots was 26-28 inch barrel makes a 3-6 fps gain over 2 inches and a 22-26 was a 20-25fps gain right back to that average of about 8 fps per inch

I agree with the folks that say to buy him something that fits. I had one of those dads that bought the full sized 12 ga when I was 12 and it was miserable for years until I grew into it. Youth guns have great resale value and are a wise investment. Heck some day he can start his kid out with the same one if you decide to keep it.

But he seems to have his mind made up, and didn't ask about different guns or barrel lengths so I deleted my other reply and just gave him IMO the correct answer to his question.

I am not deleting anything , he has the info

what he chooses is up to him this may help some one else.

26" if used primarily for upland hunting, 28" if waterfowling.
Now that said >> 26" with added extended chokes is a good compromise.

I have to agree ... get a shotgun that fits, now or in the future. If it don't fit, the shooter will be miserable and have no confidence when they can't hit anything. There is more than length of pull to have a shotgun fit right ... it needs to come to the shoulder with bead/s aligned, naturally without thought.

I've done an awful lot of waterfowl hunting here on the Mississippi and have used 26" exclusively since around 1980.

Moosetrot

I know you were looking at Remington - Browning has a program. https://www.browning.com/content/da...73%20Growth%20Insurance%20offer%2019.pdf

Hey GCP... how come you like the Mossberg 500? I've always preferred the 870 myself. The 870 seems simpler and the action is much smoother. I prefer the cross bolt safety on the trigger guard as it is common to many other guns - so that disengaging the safety before taking a shot just becomes second nature and habit without thinking about it - no matter which gun you are carrying.

But, if GCP prefers the M500... there must be something about it I'm not seeing. And, there's a M500 slug barrel/vent rib barrel combo that comes at a pretty attractive price. I like that short barreled turkey gun with screw in chokes, but it's difficult to find and the price is a little steep.

I guess some of you guys missed the part where we already have TWO youth-sized 20 gauges that he can and does use until he gets bigger. Heck, his older, 14-year-old brother has already moved up to a full size 12ga. and he handles it just fine. We don't need a third youth-sized 20 that he's going to grow out of in a few years. He WANTS a 12 gauge now and I want to encourage him in that direction by buying him a hunting gun at the time he's excited it. I don't want to waste my money on something he already has and doesn't want more of. Plus, I'll bet when he's 35 years old he could still be using the 12 whereas another youth20 would be a special purpose gun at best. Or, more likely he wouldn't have any shotgun at all. Heck, I started buying the boys real man tools when they were newborns. He's not even a teenager and already has a better set of tools than most grown men. No, he doesn't use those tools much... yet. But he does some and there's a chance he will more in the future. If he doesn't learn to use a set of tools, at least it will be his fault and not mine. When my sons are 40 years old lets see what they are still using - the tongue and groove plier set or the remote control dune buggy.

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