deer hunting with shotguns

I agree with Mr John Here. Though not knowing your son, and how much you have to spend the Mossberg 500 is a good way to go. You can even find some used 500's at a much lower price. I shot deer for years in Ohio with just smoothbore and a bead sight and brought home 2-5 a year that way. Just keep your shots 50-75 yard range. Also, Mossberg sells rifled choke tubes ($18) for the 500 so you will not have to buy the Rifled barrel if you do not want to. (You can put True glow sites on the smoothbore. $30) Athough the rifled barrel gives you better accuracy. The saftey on the tang of the mossbergs is another plus in IMHO. It will keep an inexperienced hunter from having to hunt for the saftey in the trigger housing with thick gloves on, is sometimes very frustrating. Especialy when you get buck fever!! I lost a turkey that way one time, having to move my head to look for it, and that sharp eyed turkey was GONE! Use 2/ 3/4 shells somewhat less kick than the larger shells, don't know how well your son takes the recoil.If you have some $ to spend just go ahead and get him an rem 11-87 combo. Fine/smooth shooting shotgun. You can get all the accesseies you will ever need for the 11-87 real easy and cheap. The 11-87's come in many different configurations from 2 3/4- 3"-3 1/2. Plus it will last him a lifetime, and can go through all the different hunting seasons with this one gun. Try finding parts and accessories for other (foreign) shotguns.Last, I started with a single shot brake open shotgun as a kid. You can get these for $90 at wally world. Cheaper used. I still used it to this day! I hope this helps. John

TPrice,

Check out the link below.

NEF (New England Firearms) has a barrel exchange program and can fit an extra 20 gauge slug "Tracker" barrel to your son's single-shot shotgun, for approximately $60 plus S&H. Your son's gun is most likely a an SB-1 type single-shotgun, and with NEF's barrel exchange program can be up-graded to anything larger than a .410, except 10 gauge.

Two conditions you need to keep in mind when taking advantage of the barrel exchange program are that the SB-1 action CANNOT be fitted with rifle-caliber barrels, and you will have to send your son's receiver to the factory to be hand-fitted.

I realize an 14-YO boy may not be as big as his dad yet, but if your son can handle the recoil of a 20 gauge slug, you might look at that route. I don't have a youngster of my own to take hunting, but I started with a single-shot .410 myself, and if your boy was properly taught to shoot his gun with another barrel (probably with open-sights, although NEF makes barrel that can also be scoped) if he's patient the 20 gauge will easily take a deer at most ranges.


NEF Barrel Accessory Program http://www.hr1871.com

One other answer (and the cheapest and best) is to order/buy a 20 gauge modified barrel from H&R for his .410. a youth model in 22" or a 26" standard model 20 gauge barrel. It will have a bead sight and will shoot inexpensive foster style slugs great and accurate out to 40-50 yards with the bead sight or have the chamber area drilled and tapped for a H&R scope rail. No problem with a 20, plenty of steel to drill into. Barrel $39.00, scope rail w/hammer extension $18.00, return shipping $5.00, a better deal could not be found anywhere. If you get the Tracker II barrel you will probably want to shoot sabot slugs which are much more expensive than the foster style, nice but the barrel is more money and so are the slugs. The way to go is to save money, have fun, and shoot deer...<><.... (Of course you could look around for a used 20 Gauge H&R Topper, Model 158 or Pardner, cut the choke off (only needed if it is a full choke, mod shoots slugs fine) and set it up for foster slugs, you might be able to find a used one for about $50-$65...)

Many parents and hunter safety instructors use the NEF single shot as a first gun or training tool. The only problem I see is the new shooter is seldom, if ever, taught how to return a cocked and loaded gun to a safe hammer down position. The reason this is avoided has to do with the hand size and strength of the young shooter. It is indeed hard for most youngsters to control the hammer while pulling and then releasing the trigger to lower the hammer.

The NEF system has an interlock that prevents the action from opening while the hammer is cocked. The older single shotguns (ie. Savage/Stevens Mdl. 94, 95, Winchester Mdl. 37, etc.) had no such interlock. The action could be opened with the hammer cocked. Thus, the youngster could simply open the gun and lower the hammer in complete safety. Of course the gun could also be fired with the action unlocked if you held the action lever open and pulled the trigger! This is why the current NEF guns have an interlock system.

Rossi gets around this by adding a safety lever that puts a block in front of the hammer. One still has to lower the hammer manually as this system is not a hammer drop safety and does not appear to be designed to take a continual pounding.

Moral of the story: Teach your youngster to lower the hammer on a live round (or primed case) to make the gun safe. If this gives you the jitters, teach with another gun.

Rick 618, is this what you were trying to convey?

Ralph