Youth shotguns...another one.

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Anonymous

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Looking for input here.

My little hunting partner isn't so little anymore so we sold his Mossberg 510 Mini and are now looking to replace it with something little bigger but still not quite a full size shotgun.

He's enamored with the idea of an over-under...I found a Stoeger Condor "Youth" 20ga. that is about the right dimensions for a reasonable cost (at least for an over-under) but I have zero experience with these. Junk or not? I will be unlikely to fire thousands of rounds but will be subjected to a lot of upland hunting.
 
Look into the Benelli M2 compact, I know some of the benellis have shims so you may be able to buy one good gun and add shims as your son grows.

My buddy bought his wife a stoeger, he said it's nothing "outstanding" but not a bad gun at all for the price
 
I like Benelli as well, I also think letting your not so little buddy choose what he wants is an excellent idea. A life lesson if you will. The Stoeger is not a Beretta or a Browning, but it is functional. My BIL has several very nice over and unders for upland hunting, he runs a Stoeger in the duck blind. It killed just as many ducks last weekend as my Benelli.
The lessons, a serviceable over and under can be had at a reasonable price. A fine over and under is earned, doing well at school, working hard, saving money, etc. He will see the difference when you go shopping.
In answer to your question, I know one Stoeger, it is three years old, and has duck hunted twice a week almost every week for three seasons. Lots of mud and muddy labs, rain etc. The only issue was the butt stock worked loose but was easily fixed.
 
Finally found something workable... Remington 870 Compact 20ga. 13" LOP and a 21" barrel.

Flipping the safety for LH is easy enough.
 
An excellent choice, also being a left hander, there is value in learning how to safely handle right hand guns.
 
Mossberg bantam is working well for my son. Safety on top so easy for him to use controls lefty, 22" barrel and stock comes with spacers
 
His 510 was a Mossberg and the tang safety was a real bonus. Of course- just finding youth guns in stock anywhere is something of a bonus.

I'll let him try it with the RH safety and see how he does since it is in the same place and function that my M2 safety is.
 
I do think training your son to use the right hand safety is a great idea. Certainly there are left hand variations of many shot guns out there, availability is almost non existent.
How has the ptarmigan hunting been in your A/O?. They were terrible this fall around King Salmon.
 
ptarmigan have been about average and we did ok in the early season. It really doesn't pick up here until late winter when the birds come lower into the valleys.

Grouse are on an up cycle however and the sharptails have been excellent.
 
I was very surprised at the population fluctuations last year to this year. Typically we fly south, find sand blows around the king salmon river and limit out in short order. This year it was very poor. Lucky to shoot a couple of birds. Consensus was too little snow during some real cold snaps, apparently the birds had nothing to borough into for protection. It will be interesting to see how quickly they recover.
No idea how well they eat in winter, but the birds we get in August and September are feeding on berries and are the finest eating upland game I've ever eaten.
Hope you and your son have a great time.
 
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