Last week at the Buckeye it looked like the gun most used by the SCTP kids were Brownings. I dont get to other youth shoots but I was surprised how few 870's there were. Practically none. Many were upper level BT's. These kids have access to more money than I did when I started as an adult. It makes me wonder if they will keep shooting when the parent's money is gone.
There are more Brownings because Browning is an affordable brand and they often have deals when gun is being purchased for a youth shooter. No, the majority of the kids will be done with shooting after high school or college but may well come back to it a little later when they have kids of their own.
Just try finding more than a very few that were ATA All-Americans in the 90's that still shoot or are returning to Trapshooting. I'll betcha many more shoot a round of Sporting Clays with their buddies with zero desire to return to Trap. How much longer must we wait since many of 'em are near the 40 yo mark?