My kids are around 12 years old and the wife wants to start shooting clays.  I’ve also taken the kids turkey hunting and they like it.  I’m 6’4” and my gun is too big for them.  Anyone have recommendations for a youth or woman’s semi auto that won’t break the bank.  If their desire to shoot wains I don’t want to be sitting on a $1,000 shotgun that won’t fit me. For simplicity sake I’d like a 12 gauge since I have a bunch of ammo,  preferable a semi auto so it doesn’t beat anyone up too bad with light loads.

I bought my Wife a Weatherby Youth Model. I truly enjoy shooting it just like she does. Hers is a 20 gauge but it will knock pheasants down with ease.

I dont have a specific recommendation except maybe check out Stoeger?  I'm also not really convinced semi-autos do much in the recoil department but I'm 6' 4" 235lb so it could just be a non-issue for me b/c I'm thicc.

As you likely know based on your post, fitment is important.  You'll want to consider whether the wife would use the same one as the kids.  

My wife is tiny so we ended up with a Benelli Montefeltro Youth model for her but that is outside your budget.  If you decide to up the budget, that gun is a highly recommend.

I got a Winchester X2 that was pretty dinged up, but in good working order from a pawn shop for $80.  Of course that was in 2003ish.  But it is still going strong today.  My daughter used it for trap until I bought her a semi for herself.  I still use it for dove hunting.

So check the pawn shops.

Remington 11-87 compact, or even better (if you can find one) the junior model with an 18" barrel.  I think you might only find the junior version on the used market, but they're SUPER handy guns.  

When a petite person says a gun is too heavy, most of the time it's actually too long.

A lot of the benelli turkey clones are decent.  Stoeger, as someone else mentioned, is prob the best bang for your buck new.

I recently went shooting with my daughter and SiL, he insisted that she shoot his 12ga o/u.  

She struggled with it but was hitting clays, seemed to enjoy the game and recoil didn't seem to bother her too much but it was obvious both his and my gun were just too big, too long, & too heavy for her.  Her swing was just awkward.

I suggested we go back to the club office and see what rentals they had, suggested he ask about a gas 20 ga in a youth model and offered to pay the rental fee.  He comes back with a Beretta 20ga 686 Silver Pigeon and a couple 9f boxes of shells, absolutely beautiful gun.  She was shooting doubles consistently in minutes (easy course) and her face just lit up.  Her swing became much more natural and general handling was obviously much more comfortable to her.  Even so I noticed the recoil was pretty sharp given the lightweight gun.  My SiL was just astounded at her ease in handling the gun compared to how awkward she had been earlier.

I then suggested he start looking for a 24" - 26" gas gun, and pointed him to the Mossberg SA-20 bantam model as a decent shotgun for her w/o breaking the bank.  The problem with an O/U in a really light frame gun is the recoil can still bite a novice shooter.

I just went through the same exercise with my wife, as bad as I wanted to buy her a nice 20ga O/U, I know she will enjoy the 20 ga gas gun I bought her way more.  If she turns into an avid clays shooter we'll upgrade to whatever she wants but I suspect she'll tag along when we do family shoots or when I go solo as she enjoys shooting but she is never going to shoot a 30" 12 ga. competition O/U.

All that to say buy something that fits them now, if you find something with extra spacers, longer butt stock or an upgrade program in the future great. I think shotguns in particular need to really fit stature (length, LOP & weight) well since for the most part they are always shouldered and in motion.  Good luck!

Tristar makes a youth 20 gauge gas gun.  It looks like a mini beretta 1301 comp.  I had my gf shoot it and she handled it without problems. I haven’t had my kids shoot it yet.

Remington 870 20ga youth 21" barrel with a limbsaver slip-on recoil pad. She can shoot 4-5 boxes without getting bruised and beat up.

I know it's out of your price range that you wanna spend. I would really reccomend a Beretta a300 ultima 20ga with the kick off system. Softest recoiling gun on the market, my kids love it and hammer clays with it.

Used 20ga Beretta auto loader

My daughter bought a Benelli Nova Field 12 gauge at a local pawn shop. It's really nice and surprisingly light in comparison to a Remington 870 with a shorter barrel. Everyone enjoys using it to shoot clays. For Christmas I bought her a Nordic Components magazine extension. She really appreciated that.

20ga is the way to go, not 12. Women and kids for the most part can’t easily swing a 12ga that’s heavy enough to not beat the crap out of them. 20ga gets you a lighter gun with similar (or less) recoil than a heavy 12. I’ve got 12’s and 20’s and 20’s still my preferred just because the lighter weight gun is easier to carry around and faster to point.

As for the gun it’s hard to beat an 870 for an inexpensive gun. If you want an auto I’d stick to an Beretta or Benelli. If it’s gotta be a budget gun the Viper G2’s get good feedback for a Turkish gun but I wouldn’t buy a gun that has a short warranty and zero parts support. When something breaks and they discontinue the model for the next and have no parts on hand you’ve got an expensive paper weight. I’ve got a 60 year old 870 and 20 year old B guns that I can still get parts and service for.

Don’t be afraid to buy a quality used gun either that will always hold the value that you have in it.. I’ve yet to get a bad used Beretta or Benelli and I’ve gotten some deals over the years.  I was just looking for an ultralight 20ga auto for upland hunting and found an unfired but second hand A400 xplor action for a little over $1K at a big shotgun shop. Years ago I bought an AL391 with the gold inlay ducks for like $500 second hand and that’s a $1500 shotgun in todays market. Decide the basics of what you want and just pop into gun stores on occasion that have selections of used long guns and you’ll find a deal.

If you end up with a wood stocked gun that’s too long most trap/clay ranges will have someone that fits shotguns that can cut it down and install a better recoil pad for $100 or so. They’re used to working on high end trap guns too so they generally aren’t hacks.

As a much smaller guy, I can say that lighter semi auto shotguns don't magically make recoil enjoyable or tolerable