how tight of a pattern for kids?

[frezznh2o]

been working on a combo for my 14 yr old daughter and want a pattern good enough to kill but not so tight she misses. what kind of pattern do you try and get in your kids guns? she will be shooting one of my 12 ga guns. she is 5'10" so it fits her but too skinny to handle the 3.5 hevi's i normally shoot .   
best compromise i have found is golden pheasant 2 3/4 #5 nickle plated. light recoil and puts almost the entire load in a 10" circle at 20 yards and in the 90's at 30 yds. i don't want her trying to shoot past 30 yds but i did shoot 10 shells at a turkey target and got an average of 20 in the head/neck with no less than 8 in the spine/brain at 40 yds.
not opposed to buying another gun if a 20ga with 3" hevi shot will perform better.

[stinkpickle]

You might want to try some #6's, too. 

[frezznh2o]

good point .local shop only had 5's but i might order a box of #6. if the 6's are as consistent as the 5's may give me the extra margin of error i'm looking for.

[stinkpickle]

Also, you two could fire some light dove loads together to be sure you're both sighting the gun the same...and THEN slip in one of your turkey loads when it comes time to hunt.  She won't notice the recoil when the gobbler shows up.   

[afoshie]

shoot a 3" shell in it you might be surprised what they will do

[frezznh2o]

tried some 3" win HV with 1 3/4 oz if #6 this afternoon. kicked a little harder but not to bad. got 119 in a 10" circle at 40 yds. just for kicks backed up to 50 yds and got 68 in 10". shot the golden pheasant at 40 yds and got 88 in a 10".(not bad for only 1 3/8 oz of 5's.)