I fondled a Stoeger Condor in a gun shop a few months ago. Even took off the forend, the barrels, studied it good and hard.
The Brazilians are making better stuff. Lots better. Better finished, better looking, better wood, in general just a lot better.
The old Stogers were just a inch above the Chinese junk, and below even the Russian and Turkish guns, in overall quality. Somebody somewhere is listening, though, and they are using better materials with better quality control now.
I can't recomend a cheap over and under for anybody, especially not to somebody just starting out with shotguns, for whom money is tight. There's an old saying that Browning used for a while:
"A poor man can't afford anything but the best"
God alone knows how many different shotguns I've either owned or shot over the last twenty years. A bunch. I think I'm right when I say that a shooter needs to buy the best quality gun in the price range he can afford, rather than buy the cheapest gun of a certain type he may want. In other words, if you have four hundred bucks to spend, far better to get a nice used Remington Wingmaster 870 pump with Remchokes, or maybe even a used Remington 11-87 Premier than a new low end Brazilian, Russian, or Turkish double. If you have seven hundred bucks, then a fresh, low mileage Beretta 391 is a far, far better deal than the best of the cheap doubles. Around eight hundred and fifty and certainly at a thousand bucks, we are solidly in used Browning Citori and Beretta 686 range, and might even by a brand new Ruger Red Label or Weatherby SKB Orion.
A really good shot can take a cheap double gun and shoot it like a house afire. They will shoot. But, until you've owned or really compared the really good middle priced over and under shotguns, which are the Ruger Red Label, the Weatherby Orion(also SKB/Ithaca), the Browning Citori(also Miroku), the Winchester 101 (also Nikko), the Beretta 686/7, and the Valmet 412ST, I don't think you'll be able to appreciate just how much better those guns feel, point, and shoot. But that's not the main reason to wait, save up, and buy one of the middle priced over and unders.
The only good reason to shoot an over and under is pride of ownership. Yes, they have the choice of two chokes, but the bare, simple, sad truth is that no shotgun on earth really works, handles, points or shoots a whole lot better than a Remington 870. Even the Wal Mart cheapie 870 Express is all the gun anybody ever really needs, to do anything and everything with. Gas operated semis offer less felt recoil, but it's doubtful if they offer a quicker second shot. If double guns aren't a source of pride to the owner, there really isn't any good reason to shoot one. You can be proud of the guns I named, in any company, anywhere. They all handle, shoot, and point as well as shotguns can be made to.
Better guns are like jewelry for men. Our wives may have costume jewelry, cubic zirconia, and all that, but they aren't really proud of them. Real quality is what satisfies, lasts, and endures. Look for quality for the dollars you have to spend, and you get the real bargain.
With all my shotguns, I usually chose a Ithaca Model 37 Deluxe Vent Rib pump I paid $200 for, used, when I go bird hunting. I am as proud of that gun as anything I own. There isn't a scrap of plastic or aluminum in it, it handles and shoots like a fine British side by side, and I just love it dearly. Because it's a geniune high quality shotgun, regardless of how you shoot the second shot, or what it cost.