A shotgun review for the smaller petite person, the Remington 870 Express Youth 20 gauge shotgun
My wife, bless her soul, already enjoyed shooting before I met her. In fact, she even owned her own pistol at the time. But when it came to long guns, she had a problem – she is very petite, and holding and swinging field-length shotguns was difficult for her.
Overall weight is not so much a problem for her, but overall length is VERY important. After looking around, I bought her a Remington 870 Express Youth 20 gauge shotgun. While it is about the same weight as my field gun, it is nearly a foot shorter. Because of that, she is able to use it quite comfortably and effectively. We have several friends (including members of both sexes) who prefer this exact shotgun, and it is always well-used when we go out.
The stock is somewhat plain, but perfectly fine and functional. It includes a recoil pad of approximately 1″ thickness. The finish on the receiver and barrel is quite good, it is a thick, heavy finish that resists scratches incredibly well.
The action was a small bit rougher than I would have expected when purchased, but it smoothed out very quickly. Considering the price point of the gun, the action is what you would expect, perhaps a bit better. The trigger is also quite decent.
Overall, this shotgun is a large success. MSRP is, at the time of this writing, $385. I believe that I spent approximately $330, and the shotgun has more than lived up to the price tag. I have found no downsides, and am completely satisfied.
If you are smaller of stature, or are shopping for such a person, take a look at this shotgun – I think you’ll be very pleased.
I handled the 20 ga. Rem. youth model just recently and found that length was exactly the problem. The forearm is so far forward that my hand was only on the last few inches without stretching. A man had his sons with him and they were trying one out, barely reaching the forearm. My first gun was a Rem. 870 20 ga. Magnum model when I was 13, and I don’t remember it being like that. My mod. 500 20 ga. isn’t a stretch to hold, and my Maverick 12ga. definitely isn’t. Those two guns are lower priced, lighter, and better finished. They came with vent rib barrels with choke tube[s] and 18.5″ cyl. bore plain barrels, too!