Light 20 gauge loads for my boy? Help please

[hoof]

Are there any commercially available light (3/4 oz) loads for the 20 gauge. I got all the stuff around to reload some nice light ones for him and believe it or not my dad can't find the presses he had it has been that long since we reloaded shotgun shells. I think I just need a few boxes of something really light to give my son some confidence and then I can switch to regular game loads.

Thanks in advance.
CHAZ

[ezzy333]

Would be my suggestion if he can't handle a commercial lighter load he isn't ready for the gun. You will do more to harm his confidence by getting him out there too early than anything else you could do. His confidence is going to get better and better till he shoots and then reality sets in. Your job is to be certain when it does that you gave him a fighting chance to succeed.

Ezzy

[Mountaineer]

Fiocchi Trainers...3/4 ounce....1120 fps, maybe, I forget.
Seldom operates a semi-auto tho if that is the gun in question.

Most important, often more than load used, are target presentations that encourage success...seeing broken targets will go a long way to learning the important factors of focus and follow-thru while forgetting the largely imagined factor of recoil with the lightest loads.
The skeet field is the best introduction with certain stations and doubles to be avoided early on.

Not knowing any of the physical characteristics of the lad says that proper gun fit will also help anyone...especially beginners.
Make sure he has fun and never shoots too much early on and gets tired...for then we all can begin practicing missing.

[JMc]

WIthout knowing age and the gun it is hard to suggest a load; however if he is young and like most youngster has either a youth pump or a single shot 20ga starter gun then nothing is going to help as those things kick like mules. Good luck with finding the loads and training a new young hunter.

[hoof]

I found that Winchester and Fiochi make low recoil loads for the 20 gauge. I think I am going to try the Fiochi first, as it is a 3/4 oz load at a slightly higher velocity than the Winchester load which is 7/8 oz.

My boy is young, too young for me to mention, but he is big for his age. He is successfully shooting a 410 single, and I would leave it at that, but he can't seem to anchor a squirrel with it. I won't let him shoot until they are bayonnet distance, and he still knocked one right out of its tree and it shook itself off and climbed right back up. PA law doesn't allow me to carry a gun to back him up either.

I got him an 870 youth model, which is still just a little long in the LOP. He has to lean back to comfortably hold the gun. I just purchased a collapsible tactical stock (M4 type) to put on to shorten it up even farther.

I will probably only need the light loads until he is comfortable with the gun. He wanted 2 1/2 inch .410's for a while too.

Here is his current shotgun, and his first game animal ever, a chukar taken out of a tree in a "pre-flight" position.
CHAZ

[Jonathan]

I started my daughter on the winchester low recoil/low noise loads, they are acceptable for close to mid range shooting and really do make a difference in the recoil. Make sure you adjust the LOP correctly, it will make a big diffference in your son progressing with proper form.

[Gordon Guy]

Check out the RST Brand of Shotshells, they are only available online.

http://rstshells.com/rst_classic_shotsh ... shells.htm

They produce some low recoil low velocity loads

I've also used 28 ga shells in a 20 gauge gun using an adapter. The recoil is significantly reduced but as previously stated these low recoil shells and the gauge adapters don't work in semi-auto's.