Sounds like you may get insulted quite easily. We live in a different world. My fist car was a VW I paid $300.00 from the money made working after school and during the summer. Now, you see high school kids driving new Jeeps, Mercedes, BMW's etc. Funny thing is, I doubt the high end gifts do not bring as much love as I had from that Old VW, Took it hunting, fishing, first Kiss in that car. Wish I still had it. If someone, a friend or family came over and gave me a single shot shotgun, I would feel honored and thankful. Of course my friends do not have the money to go out and buy shotguns as gag gifts.
And any kid that would feel insulted, needs to find a job and buy his own gun.
We do live in a different world. You give a kid of today a single shot shotgun, they'll likely fire it once and never fire another gun in their life. We (I am about a year younger than you) were ready and game to shoot
any gun handed to us. I still am. Once.
You could have handed me an 8 ga. at 12 years old, and I'd have shot it. And acted my best that it didn't hurt. But the kids of today don't have the same outlook on it that we did back then. If we winced when we shot that H&R Topper 12 ga, (and I did) we were told to "Grow a pair." Do that today and see what it gets you. Most likely an anti-gunner. I have to try to convince kids that said they wanted to try out Trap shooting (I help coach a HS team) that isn't that bad but Dad's duck gun probably isn't the best gun to use, and how about trying a gun that fits like a 20 ga. (there are a couple there for them to try) semi-auto.?
I will confess the first shotguns both my sons shot were single shots, the older one at 8, who ran in the back door yelling, "There's a woodchuck in the log pile, can I shoot it?" I said yes, thinking he'd grab the .22, which he'd shot before, but he grabbed the .410 single, and as I ran after him, he stopped at 10 yards, drew a bead, and popped the chuck in the head. His first "game" shot, and I couldn't even be mad at him for grabbing the .410.
My younger son "claimed" the Win 37 12 ga. I got cheap at the gun shop I was working at when he was 8, but didn't get to shoot it until he was 12. He'd carved his name in the forestock when he was 9
, but by the time he shot it, he was 5'6", and a solid 250 #. It didn't even faze him. He's 6' and 375 now, he could shoot some heavy stuff.
I would say that for the right kid, yes a single-shot shotgun might still be a good first shotgun, (mine was actually a 20ga.
bolt action; the Topper was my second) and yes, for an adult they're usually fine, but there are other, usually better choices.