Expanding a Club Youth Gun Program the Right Way
We recently added six new shotguns to the LNSC Youth Program - not as a replacement, but as an expansion of our existing club gun inventory.
As our program has grown, so has the demand for safe, properly fitted entry-level equipment. This addition was about capacity, flexibility, and access, not upgrading for the sake of upgrading.
Here’s what we added:
12 Gauge (4 total):
• Winchester SXP Trap (Pump) -1 Full Size & 1 Compact
• Stevens 555 Trap (Break Action) (adjustable combs) - 1 Full Size & 1 Compact
20 Gauge (2 total):
• TriStar Raptor - Semi-Auto (Youth)
• TriStar Trinity - Break Action (Youth)
All of these are entry-level guns by design. They’re meant to complement what we already have on hand and give us better options when it comes to fit, recoil management, and teaching fundamentals.
A few things we’re intentionally balancing:
• New shooter access without long-term dependency
• Multiple action types for safety and learning
• Youth-appropriate sizing instead of “grow into it” guns
• Manageable maintenance and accountability for a shared fleet
I’m curious how other programs approach scaling a club gun inventory:
• At what point did you know you needed to add more guns?
• What drove your decisions - size, gauge, action, or cost?
• How do you keep club guns from becoming permanent solutions?
• Any lessons learned the hard way?
This isn’t about brands - it’s about building sustainable programs that lower the barrier to entry while still developing independent shooters.
We have 3 total 1 12 gauge tristar trinity and 1 20 gauge we also have a triastar raptor 20 gauge that has a youth and full size but stock. We received these through a NRA grant. We hoped they would get used more but most of our shooters only want to shoot what they brought. Most times when I hand them a different gun they perform better but seem to go back to there own gun quickly