Been looking at the M3500 Stoeger shotgun. I believe Benelli makes it. Black synthetic stock and comes with 5 choke tubes. All the reviews i have read have been positive. Any one out there have one or any Stoeger products to chime in on? Im mainly going to use this for skeet and occasional bird hunting. It will shoot 3 1/2" as well so i can do just about anything with it. Any input?


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Yes Benelli makes Stoeger! However...you say it will be mainly for skeet and the occasional bird hunt. This is really not the gun for that, although I am sure you would do perfectly fine with it. You will be doing high volume shooting with skeet and will be wanting to shoot light target loads (preferably at least 1oz loads). Benelli has the inertia system (with most their guns anyways) and it is an awesome system for the heavier loads, but can have some difficulty cycling the lighter loads. Do you really need a gun capable of 3 1/2"? If I were you I would look into Beretta. They use a gas system and the recoil is pretty much non-existent (that's an exaggeration but if you've never shot a Beretta you would be shocked at how little the recoil is). The Beretta 391 is an awesome gun and there are multiple models of the 391..each for different purposes, but I don't know what your budget is...take a look at all the models.

I myself shoot a Beretta...in fact just got a Beretta A400 Xcel Sporting. I mainly shoot sporting clays and will do some bird hunting or some small game here or there. It is a great gun for the sporting clays and does just fine with hunting (although it is a bit of a pretty gun to have out in the field). I'm sure you know that unfortunately shotguns are like golf clubs...they all serve different purposes. If you find that you will be doing a lot of hunting and a lot of skeet, pick up two different guns. One more thing...I shoot a 30" barrel for clays...and that's sort of the accepted minimum.

Then again...some people do fine with just a cheap $300 Remington 870 (not a bad gun actually haha). I guess it just depends on how serious you are about getting something that is tailored to your area of shooting.

 

This is a hell of a gun for the money...don't believe me look at the reviews and some of the articles written on this gun...Beretta 3901 (NOT the 391, the 391 is gonna run you some more cash). If you want sort of an "all around" gun (if you believe there is that sort of thing) this may be the closest thing to it in the $500-$600 range anyways.

http://www.gandermountain.com/modper...iew&i=GM442107

 

That does look like a good gun. But what is Mobile Chokes? I'm fairly new to shotguns so forgive my lack of knowledge. Im more into handguns. This particular gun is $100 more and does not come with any chokes. I know with other products i have purchased in the past that when you get more accessories with something for a lower price, then the main product is sometimes the part that is cheapened up. Is it the Inertia Driven action that is cheaper than a gas system? I also noticed this one shoots up to 3" and the Stoeger shoots 3 1/2" I dont know if i will ever need that option but is nice if i do. The reviews that i read on the Stoeger only had 1 negative. But the guy said he was using cheap shells and it would not chamber the next shell easily. Once he changed ammo, the problem resolved.

 

Mobile chokes are designed for a smaller bore size .721..723. They're shorter as well. Optima chokes are designed for a bore diameter somewhere around .733. The chokes themselves are relatively long. These names are Beretta's names for their different types of choke systems...nothing of much important to you at this point. The 3901 does come with 3 factory chokes. As far as the intertia system...it is by no means "cheaper" quality than the gas system...they are simply two different systems that work better than the other in certain areas. Like I said, the inertia system is great for the big loads, but can have difficulty cycling the lighter target loads that you would use for clays. As far as 3 1/2 inch shells go...you do not need that by any means for any bird hunting, unless you were really big into waterfowl and were hunting big ducks or geese. Even then, there are plenty of people out there hunting waterfowl with 3" shells and have no problems. I am not saying the Stoeger is a bad gun, I am sure it is an excellent gun for the price, but your sort of buying a hunting gun when you said you would be primarily shooting clays with a bit of light hunting. Better to match the gun to your application, it really pays off.

I would highly highly recommend posting a thread on shotgunworld.com under the "Shotgun Opinions" section and say something like "Need help choosing shotgun" or something along the lines of that. Explain exactly what you think you will be using the shotgun for and you will get some responses from many different people who have even better knowledge than I do and have been shooting shotguns their whole life.

 

FWIW, the Franchi shotguns are made by Benelli also.

My business partner just bought one for dove hunting, and he's pleased with the performance and value.

 

Franchi has some nice guns for a good price...although the only one that is in his budget is the Affinity, and even that starts out at around $700. I think the 3901 would be a better clays gun at a better price. Like I said though, check out some other opinions on shotgunworld. You will get a variety of opinions and have several different guns to choose from.

I forgot to say this initially, but THE MOST IMPORTANT part of any shotgun is fitment. If the shotgun doesn't fit you well, don't bother with it, no matter what the price tag is.

 

Not saying that CC268 is incorrect with his information but I had the Baretta and now own three Stoegers. They fit me and my style of shooting very well. I have two 3000 series and just bought a 3500 this past summer. For my set up they are one of the best field guns I've owned. I hunt dove, pheasant, grouse, duck and turkey with the 3000. Since I guide commercial duck and goose hunting blinds I upgraded to the 3500 and so far has proven to be very durable, reliable and the customer service (once you get a contact) is superb. My son has a 3000 series and shoots on his high school trap team and has never had an issue with cycling or feeding with light loads.

I grew up in a family of Browning A5 shooters and have owned Remingtons, Winchesters, Baretta, Mossberg, Benelli and for the money I will stick with Stoeger. Like CC268 stated, it really depends on finding a gun that truly fits your needs and feels right when shouldered.

Good luck and happy shooting.

 

Yea I am certainly not saying the Stoeger is a bad gun by any means...but he stated he would be doing mostly "skeet". I just didn't think the Stoeger would be the best high volume shooter, especially since you really want to be shooting 1oz loads or smaller....the gas guns are going to handle these quite a bit better as well as reduced recoil. A great hunting gun isn't always the best clays gun. If he was doing MOSTLY bird hunting I would say go for the Stoeger! But hey...if you got your mind set on it go for it, just make sure you get a 28" barrel if you want to be doing any clay shooting. The ideal for clays is a 30" barrel or more.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. Im really stuck on this one. The money is not the problem, i just hate to let go of hard earned money that easy. I did the same thing when i was fishing a lot. I bought bait casting combos and bait caster reels separately. Spent a lot of money on one setup and loved the combo i bought from Bass Pro that was cheaper. I would like something that i can do a little of everything with. And by the way, when i said Skeet i meant Clays. The range has Skeet field and Sorting Clays. i always shoot clays. Its just a bad habit calling it Skeet for so many years. I will be going to Academy Sports and Gander Mountain tomorrow to do some investigating. Im not opposed to spending a little more to get something that works. Whats another $200 or so to make you completely happy? I will post back the results. The Stoeger "does" have the 28" barrel BTW. Thanks again.

 

Going to Gander Mountain should be great, if your going to be shooting sporting clays the majority of the time I would highly recommend getting a 30" barrel. If your going to be doing 50% clays and 50% birds...28" will work good.

Goodluck with your decision

 

Well I ended up with the Stoeger. After hearing all the options and listening to the sales guy at Gander, he seemed to think the Stoeger would fit me better. This is a huge jump for me. I was shooting my papaws gun he left me when he died. It is an early to mid 80's Mohawk 48. I think Remington makes it. No choke tubes or nothing. I think it has a 26" barrel. The first time i took it out and I hadnt shot clays since i was a kid, but i shot a 73 out of 100. No previous practice and no choke tube to help me. So im gonna see what this thing can do with a little adjustment to help me out. I would think this would be better but I bought my brother a new 30-06 to deer hunt with so he can keep the one papaw gave him put up. He always killed a deer with papaws gun. He has had that new gun going on 7 years and has just killed his first deer with it about 2 weeks ago. I will see how it does and hopefully improves my numbers. Saturday seems like a nice spring like day to be out anyways, so im planning a trip to the range. Thanks again for all the help.