I have been looking at slug guns now for my son since in Ohio, we cannot hunt deer with rifles ( besides muzzleloaders ). I was looking at the H&R Ultra Slug Gun, since it has a nice and heavy 24" barrel with their groove technology. The gun weighs in around 9 lbs without a scope, maybe 10 lbs with one. This is not too heavy for my son once we get a sling. I was wondering if a 13 year old kid could handle the recoil of a 12 gauge slug with a gun of that weight. When he was 10, he shot my 20 gauge auto with some target loads and after 20 loads his are got a little sore, at 50 he was pretty sore. He is a tough kid so with a gun that weight, I bet he could handle, just looking for some opinions. I was also looking at the 20 gauge version, which I think comes with a 22 " barrel.