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I just bought a Compact Stoeger M3020 for my boys. Almost no recoil and only weighs 5.5lbs. Seems to be a great gun.

I got my boy a franchi affinity when he was 5 (just turned 7 last week ). I cut a couple inches off the stock but it was still alittle much to swing. He killed ducks on the water and squirrels with it but I backed down to a 410 which I shortened the stock and lightened the trigger. The 410 lacked kill power so I then decided the barrel was too long on the franchi but didn't cut it since a replacement barrel was $350. I got a mossberg sa -20 that I cut 3" off the stock added 1" pad back too it and had the barrel cut to 19.25". The mossberg was $430 plus tax so the entire gun didn't cost much more than the franchi barrel so I didn't feel bad about cutting it up. He can swing it well.

In stock configuration the sa20 will not cycle 7/8 oz shells and seems to have more kick with 3" steel than the franchi. The franchi will cycle anything you throw at it and seems like a much better gun. Everything is much smoother on it. The mossberg advertises it as 5.5 lbs but is 6 on my scale and franchi was 5.6.

peewee wrote:

ransco33 wrote:I've got a Franchi 20 gauge automatic that I really love. I bought it for my wife to shoot a little, but I find myself doing most of my dove hunting and a good bit of duck hunting with it as well.

Is the Franchi you have the affinity model. I believe my daughter and I may make some gun shop rounds this weekend to let her feel them. After reading more reviews about the 11-87 folks says it is heavy. Didn't seem heavy to me but I am an adult vs. a youth. I plan to just buy really nice 20 gauge auto and keep it myself after the kids are gone. Compact model guns will actually fit me well too since I am vertically challenged. I am going to definatly check out that Weatherby SA-08 also.

I actually have the 720, which I believe was the predecessor to the affinity 20 gauge. It is a very light gun that has next to no recoil.

ransco33 wrote:

peewee wrote:

ransco33 wrote:I've got a Franchi 20 gauge automatic that I really love. I bought it for my wife to shoot a little, but I find myself doing most of my dove hunting and a good bit of duck hunting with it as well.

Is the Franchi you have the affinity model. I believe my daughter and I may make some gun shop rounds this weekend to let her feel them. After reading more reviews about the 11-87 folks says it is heavy. Didn't seem heavy to me but I am an adult vs. a youth. I plan to just buy really nice 20 gauge auto and keep it myself after the kids are gone. Compact model guns will actually fit me well too since I am vertically challenged. I am going to definatly check out that Weatherby SA-08 also.

I actually have the 720, which I believe was the predecessor to the affinity 20 gauge. It is a very light gun that has next to no recoil.

720 is gas , affinity is inertia. In general I like inertia guns better.

DuckBoat wrote: 720 is gas , affinity is inertia. In general I like inertia guns better.

I stand corrected. I forgot the affinity was inertia. I certainly like the inertia guns better, but haven't had any trouble out of my 720. Bottom line is, the Franchi 20 gauge is a light, sweet shooting gun that you will certainly enjoy long after the young 'un grows out of it.

I just bought a Benelli m2 20 gauge. Ali I can say is I love it. Recoil is low and shoots like a dream. Also the weight is awesome 5.9 lbs. Been duck hunting with it and don't miss the 12 gauge at all. I went with the Benelli for multiple reasons reability, weight, feel and I just wanted one haha. My granddad used one turkey hunting and is one bad dude. Rhino choke plus nitro shells bad combo. They make a compact stock model and is very simple to change the butt pad out.

I've been looking at 20 ga o/u. The only hold back I've had is pheasant hunting. Has anybody ever pheasant hunted with a 20 ga?

JMitch wrote:I've been looking at 20 ga o/u. The only hold back I've had is pheasant hunting. Has anybody ever pheasant hunted with a 20 ga?

If you can shoot lead, I wouldn't hesitate taking a 20ga pheasant hunting. 3in 1.25oz #4 or #5 are devastating on a duck.

I bought a sx3 20 this year, and I am very impressed. As a matter of fact, I think I'm done shooting a 12. I have not picked my 12 up but one time all year. I've put two cases of steel and a case of lead through it so far without any malfunction whatsoever. It's light, it swings well. and out to 35 or 40 yards it's a nightmare for a duck.

H20 Fowl wrote:I bought a sx3 20 this year, and I am very impressed. As a matter of fact, I think I'm done shooting a 12. I have not picked my 12 up but one time all year. I've put two cases of steel and a case of lead through it so far without any malfunction whatsoever. It's light, it swings well. and out to 35 or 40 yards it's a nightmare for a duck.

Dang. Really? You've shot 2 cases of steel? Got any openings?

If you can find one......a browning silver hunter micro midas in 20 is a great little rig. My son grew up on the franchi affinity compact and it was also a nice little scattergun. You want the heaviest gun your kid can comfortably handle to reduce recoil. Lighter is not better in this case.

my daughter has the 1187 compact (youth) and it sucks. Have had feed problems with good shells. It wont eject cheap shells. I have had it at a Remington service center for the last 8 weeks. The one good thing is it has a short barrel that a kid can maneuver. A lot of the others have a longer barrels so be sure to check barrel length. I will go with a beretta 20 and cut a barrel if I need to or buy a stoeger o/u youth model and let her try that, but I am about sure that 1187 is gone.