What shotgun for Dove?

[The Old Jaybird]

A 410 for any beginner will be very frustrating. It is a very difficult weapon to master. You would be just as successful throwing the 410 shells at the birds.

Get a Rem 20 ga 1100 light with a short stock. Felt recoil with a shotgun is all in the shouldering of the gun. I would shoot 300 12ga targets a day in skeet practice and never had a bruised or sore shoulder.

You have to lean into the shot, and shoulder firmly, the recoil should be a shove, not a hit or slap. Take an aggressive stance, attack the target, be it clays or live birds.

 

[Buck119]

I have a 12GA Beretta A400 Xtreme 28".
My kid has 20GA Charles Daly pump action 22".
The last three seasons he has always reached his limit well before me .

 

[Bear44]

My opinions about wing shooting are basically worthless because I'm a terrible wing shot. LOL!

With that said, I'm currently trying to learn to shoot a CZ Woodcock Deluxe 12ga with 26 inch barrels. It's a really pretty gun with nice wood and a case hardened receiver. A little heavy, but very handy and the weight makes for a smooth swing and faster follow up shots. I add a slip on pad to get a longer length of pull. I'm 6'4".

I started the day with IC and Mod chokes on Saturday, but the birds were keeping their distance so I shifted to Mod and Full. Of course the next birds I had come in range flew right over me at about 15 yards. I might as well have been shooting a rifle at them.

I switched back, but mostly shot my Mod tube for the rest of the day. An Imp Mod as a second tube would have been perfect, but I didn't have one.

Had a blast and did better then I ever have before on dove.

 

[Old_School]

A 410 for any beginner will be very frustrating. It is a very difficult weapon to master. You would be just as successful throwing the 410 shells at the birds.

Get a Rem 20 ga 1100 light with a short stock. Felt recoil with a shotgun is all in the shouldering of the gun. I would shoot 300 12ga targets a day in skeet practice and never had a bruised or sore shoulder.

You have to lean into the shot, and shoulder firmly, the recoil should be a shove, not a hit or slap. Take an aggressive stance, attack the target, be it clays or live birds.

My Dad started me with a 410 dbl bbl (full x full) at 10 years old. Shot it for 3 more years until I could bring home about 75% as many doves as he did. Tough learning experience.

He said years later that he did me a disservice by starting me with a 410. Live and learn. At the time (1960s), there was no such thing as a "youth model" shotgun. And in a rural area, no one with the expertise to shorten an adult stock.

When he handed me a 16 ga at age 14, I was hitting as well as most adults, even with the overly long LOP and weight. I finally grew into it.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

 

[BanjoJohn]

When I was about 13 I started shooting a Rem mod 11, 12 ga. with Winchester Super X high brass #9.

 

[hops2899]

Ithaca 37, 16ga

 

[CAMSDADDY]

If my doctor will ok me to shoot birds next week. I will be using a Remington Model 11 20 ga that belonged to my dad. It will be the first time my son and I have gone together so taking Pops gun will add to the day.

I wasn't sure how functional the 11 was. I don't remember my dad ever shooting dove. I shot his model 1100 but is was eventually misplaced as most of the nicer guns he had. I went today and shot the 11 and it was great. It will accompany me to the field Saturday.

 

[CAMSDADDY]

Shoulder your shotgun and your groin should be ok. Been through that twice. Get him a 20ga and don’t look back. You’ll waste time with a .410 and lotsa money. Enjoy it

A 410 for any beginner will be very frustrating. It is a very difficult weapon to master. You would be just as successful throwing the 410 shells at the birds.

Get a Rem 20 ga 1100 light with a short stock. Felt recoil with a shotgun is all in the shouldering of the gun. I would shoot 300 12ga targets a day in skeet practice and never had a bruised or sore shoulder.

You have to lean into the shot, and shoulder firmly, the recoil should be a shove, not a hit or slap. Take an aggressive stance, attack the target, be it clays or live birds.

My Dad started me with a 410 dbl bbl (full x full) at 10 years old. Shot it for 3 more years until I could bring home about 75% as many doves as he did. Tough learning experience.

He said years later that he did me a disservice by starting me with a 410. Live and learn. At the time (1960s), there was no such thing as a "youth model" shotgun. And in a rural area, no one with the expertise to shorten an adult stock.

When he handed me a 16 ga at age 14, I was hitting as well as most adults, even with the overly long LOP and weight. I finally grew into it.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

Last year I found the model 11 did a great job in 20 gauge. I have my grandfathers model 11 in 12 gauge being rebuilt. When we went my shot a 410 single shot but came up without a bird.

Today I had planned to shoot the 20 and my son to shoot a 410 pump that belonged to my dad. The 410's length of pull was a little much and it was heavy. I remembered this conversation from last year. I text a friend who was heading to the shoot and he offered to bring a youth model 20 gauge pump. The gun was a savage 320 and it was lighter than the 410. My son shot his first dove and probably a 1/2 box of shells. I have to work on his confidence as he is slow to shoot and hesitates. Needless to say I am sunburned and he said he had a great time. Looks like I'm in the market for a 20 gauge youth shotgun

 

[CAMSDADDY]

Update thread resurrection.
I am still missing dove with my dad's Model 11 20 gauge. I read in here that if you miss with 20 you will miss with a 12. I came here reading up thinking I should buy a 12 gauge after this Saturdays hunt. Of course Im always one to look for a hardware solution to a software problem
A few weeks after my last post my son bought himself a Savage youth 20ga. The gun is still doing what he needs it to do. We didnt do much on the dove field saturday but he had a great time shooting skeet after lunch and before the shoot.

 

[joshua.neal2012]

Update thread resurrection.
I am still missing dove with my dad's Model 11 20 gauge. I read in here that if you miss with 20 you will miss with a 12. I came here reading up thinking I should buy a 12 gauge after this Saturdays hunt. Of course Im always one to look for a hardware solution to a software problem
A few weeks after my last post my son bought himself a Savage youth 20ga. The gun is still doing what he needs it to do. We didnt do much on the dove field saturday but he had a great time shooting skeet after lunch and before the shoot.

You know, those old Model 11s and Browning Auto 5s can take a little getting used to. The little hump on the back just reads differently than a curved receiver. I know on my Auto 5 - I have to just really pay attention to mounting the gun, but once I do (and get the lead right) it will flat out smash doves. (Granted, it is a 12 ga and a "modified" choke that shoots like a super-turkey-blaster-9000 - so you can shoot doves at SR-71 altitudes and absolutely hammer them...)