Webley & Scott Junior .410

This is one of the first proper over-under guns I have seen which has been built specifically for youngsters.

When I look back to my time starting out as a shooter, I had to learn with a Webley & Scott bolt action .410, which was a coarse old thing and certainly not the easiest gun to shoot with!

This gun is an over-under, which most youngsters learning to shoot will want to use, and has a specially shortened stock and 26″ barrels, ideal for a child’s smaller frame.

It is quite light and generally easy to use without being imposing.

In spite of having a very lightweight feel it is very solid and has been extremely well constructed, with good wood to metal fit and good finishing.

The gun is very well balanced, with the weight nicely between the hands, and handles extremely well.

The gun has 3″ chambers – not that a youth will necessarily need them – and has a single trigger with barrel selection on the safety catch.

When new these guns can come with a slightly tight action, making it tricky for a youth to close the gun depending on how strong they are.

Any good gunsmith should be able to ease this. The barrels have fixed chokes, and I find .410s tend to come a little over-choked, so you might want to consider getting these bored out for those learning to shoot.

This gun is quite utilitarian in appearance, with plain, dark wood, but this is probably good for a youngster as this means any accidental damage caused to the gun is not a disaster.

There is not much engraving, with an inlay of a woodcock and some limited scroll engraving, though there is enough decoration to make the gun seem quite special.