Wanting to get my son a youth model 20 gauge. He is 5 and will grow into it as he gets older. Leaning towards a youth model 870. Anyone have any other suggestions or youth model shotguns they are willing to let go of?

A pump shotgun is going to be extremely difficult for a young kid given their lack of arm muscles. I'd highly recommend a Remington youth model 1187 in 20 gauge. Much shorter barrel that doesn't have all the weight at the end for a young in to hold up. My son is 10 and still shooting his.

Bought my son a single shot 20. It was a great gun to teach fundamentals. It is now reserved for his son.
However, he graduated to other guns fairly quickly, as he was a big boy. He's now 6'4", and 23 years old but still a very avid hunter and fisherman.

Shortest LOP 20ga is Mossberg 510 mini Super Bantam (since you're talking about a 5 year old). Yes, it's a "cheap" Mossberg but that's where I started my kids. Treated it as single shot anyway.

The safety on ours was super tight so I replaced with aftermarket and shortened the spring until reasonable for operation.

I was looking into this. Mixed reviews. Was yours useable?

I got an youth 870 (30ish years ago) I still bring out every other year or so....love that little gun.

I bought the mossberg youth 20g semi-auto in 2012 for my boys to dove hunt. They grew out of it, but now my wife occasionally uses it. Never had any issues with it.

Maximus Johnson said:

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I was looking into this. Mixed reviews. Was yours useable?

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Yes. My oldest was 7 when he killed his first turkey with it. Only issue was the safety being impossible for kids to operate. Replaced it with an NDZ Performance safety and used a pair of side cutters to trim a little at a time off the spring until it was operable.

My cousin just bought one this fall and the safety wasn't an issue at all on his.

I bought the Mossy 510 for my son when he was younger. A pin came out of the forearm where the action attached, and Mossberg gave me enough trouble replacing it that I ended up deciding to never buy or recommend Mossberg to anyone again.

YMMV

I have a youth model 20 ga. It's like new. Bought it for my grandson but he got really sick about that time and wasn't able to use it except for test firing a few rounds. By the time he got well enough to hunt he had gone through a growth spurt and had outgrown it. If interested, shoot me a message.
Crowley nineteen fifty 3 at yahoo.

Youth model 20 what? And how much asking? If OP passes on it.......

I'd suggest a semi-auto youth model 20. Only give him one shell at a time to start. The semi auto will help manage recoil when they are that small. I coached 4H shotgunning for 4-5 years and helped a lot of small kids get going shooting clays. We allow them to start as early as 8 in our club.

I bought a youth model 20 o/u for my daughter. She didn't have interest. Now I have a fantastic gun that is as light as a 28.