20ga semi auto recommendation?

[Markbo]

I have searched for Remy 1100 & 11-87 20ga "tactical" to no avail. My wife is rather small and my 12ga's are a hard no for her. Id like to find a semi auto 20ga with a shorter barrel for her. Any recommendations?

[bula]

Tough question. Most Tacticool gonna be 12 gauges. Many tactical types do swap to youth/woman butt stocks due to ballistic/gear vests worn. Might be easier to look to turkey/deer type set-ups, then extend the magazine, add ghost ring sights,etc.. In turkey/deer models you'll find more 20 gauges.  I don't have a specific model in mind, but suggest you see what Benelli has to offer. Just some thoughts to open the ball.

[bigbrowndog]

It may be fit more than the fact that it’s a 12ga. I’ve shot Practical shotgun matches with small petite 12yo. Girls who can run a 12ga. benelli just fine,...but it was made to fit them. That said, I’ve built 2 benelli M1’s for small women with very short LOP, like 12” or so. both were 20ga. guns and run very well. On a shotgun FIT is way more important than many people give it credit.
You’re in Texas right??? If so where?? I may be able to get you a shortened Benelli for her to try out.

Trapr

[gw425]

I would agree with Trapr.

Greg

[Robster]

I understand the trouble. I hunt cottontail and hare with hounds. Usually it is cold and snowy so I am wearing multiple layers topped with a wool coat. I am 5' 6" so I am short by most standards. I bought my daughter a youth model Mossberg 500 20 guage pump with synthetic stock and fore-end. I use this for deer hunting as it has a rifled barrel. Being a youth model, I can take sections of the butt stock off to make the stock shorter. Being that it is a rifled barrel, I cannot use it to rabbit hunt with shot. Normal shotguns are way to long for me. I got lucky stopping at my LGS. they had a Remington model 11 20 guage semi-auto with the butt stock cut down for a youth hunter. It fit perfectly.

All that to say, I'm a short dude, share the struggles of your wife. I would recommend getting a nice 20 guage semi-auto with a wood stock and cut the stock down until it fits her perfect. Re attach the butt plate and grind down the outer edge until it is flush with the wood.

If you were to do the same with a pump, the struggle would still be there, but it would be trying to reach the fore stock and comfortably hold the gun up.

I recently bought a Remington 11-48. The butt plate was a rubber padded one just over an inch thick. I removed it and put a thin plastic one on it I bought from midway and that helped me out a lot as well.

Here is a link as well to a few of the many options out there
www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2014/12/how-to-buy-your-kid-the-right-shotgun-for-christmas/
www.sportsmans.com/shooting-gear-gun-supplies/shotguns/mossberg-sa-20-youth-bantam-semi-auto-shotgun/p/1477385

[bula]

OP, please define what it is you hope for your wife to be able to do with this new shotgun.  

[k2nd]

Markbo, check out weatherby.com I just received an email from them and they have a “2nds” demo sale with an SA-08 20 gauge youth with a 24” barrel. Price is $400.
k2nd

[Markbo]

Thanks everyone. Read again that 12ga is hard no from her. I'm not going to try to tell her what she likes/wants and frankly neither should you. She WANTS a 20ga semi auto and that's what I'd like to find her. Period.

Maybe I'll just find whatever inexpensive youth model I can to see if she likes it and I can worry about getting a very nice one/fitted later.

[rangersedge]

I've been watching / reading for a while seeking something similar. Best sounding prospect I've seen so far is that Weatherby.

[callmaker]

I bought my kids a youth 11-87 20ga last year. Had to order it in... no store had one here. It comes with spacers for the stock. I’m about 6 ft 185lbs, and it’s pretty comfortable for me to shoot when the spacers are in. Might consider that?

[chantico]

LT-20 Rem 1100 Easy Mods
Its possible to do some basic mods to an 1100 and end up with a very usable defensive duty shotgun.
My wife's gun started as a standard LT-20 skeet gun that I wanted to repurpose as a safe room gun. Fitted the stock (including a kick reducer) to fit her in length and pitch, added a tube to give her 2 extra rounds of low-recoil buck and a choke tube to get the pattern I wanted, put a light on it for if she needed it in the dark, and a big head safety and bolt handle to make it easier to manipulate. Lastly, did a complete action job to make it ultra reliable. She'll never get in a running fight and need to reload, so those parts are unnecessary. All in all, useful and simple for a "woman of later years".

[jd]

+1 on the Weatherby SA-08 20 ga. I bought one back about 6 years ago, and liked it so much that I bought a second one, and then a third one in 12 ga. They are extremely well built and as good of quality as I have seen on ANY shotgun. Fairly light weight, but are gas operated which tends to moderate the recoil. They do require switching out the gas piston to go from light to heavy loads, but that's a one minute job...

I'm known as being a very picky engineer, and I'm impressed with these guns......