I had two Stoeger Uplander SxS guns. A 20 and 16 gauge. I bought the 20 new about 30 years ago. It was a bit heavy for a 20. I used it for bird hunting. I only had it for about 5 years until I upgraded to a higher grade 20 gauge SxS. The 16 gauge I bought about 25 years ago. I got it as my first 16 gauge to try. Again it was a bit heavy and the stock was to thick for my liking. I used it for bird hunting. I had it until 3 years ago. I never used it that much as I got better 16 gauge double guns so I sold it. I never had any problems with either gun and I was able to hit birds well with them. I am not familiar with the quality of the current guns. But probably fine as a starter SxS for low volume shooting.

 

I got a used Stoeger Condor 12g to explore double guns. Only ran ~400 shells through it (mostly clays and one pheasant hunt) and it was fine while I had it, though I've read quite a bit about firing pin issues. It was bare bones which I'm fine with, but heavy and I too wanted a smaller bore for its desired use. Unfortunately CZ $100 rebate period just ended but I've had good experience with their budget conscious offerings. Their 20g upland ultralight has tamed the desire for a beretta silver pigeon... for now.
Are you looking for a double gun or semi auto?

 

My Dad has been using a Stoeger 2000 semi auto for more than 20years without any issues. The current models are the 3000 in 12ga and 3020 in 20ga.

 

What kind of Stoeger shotgun? The sxs and o/u models are made in Brazil. I believe most of the Stoeger semiautos are made in Turkey.

 

I am looking at semi-auto but that could change will use mainly for bird hunting.

 

It sounds like budget is a main concern.
If that is the case, then you might want to look at the TriStar and the Retay autoloaders.
However, if you want an autoloader (or O/U, for that matter) that has a good history of reliability, I'd shy away from anything made in Turkey or Brazil.
As with anything, but with guns in particular, you get what you pay for.

A cheap gun is seldom a good gun.

 

Take a look at the Tristar G2 Viper or the Mossberg equivalent. If it’s shoulder issues maybe look at those same guns in 28 gauge.

 

I’ve had a Stoeger 2000 for 15 years. It started as my sporting clays gun and is now my hunting gun. Works great. I did add a mercury recoil reducer to the stock, not so much for the recoil reduction but for the vibration reduction on the plastic stock. The recoil reducer is made by Franchi.

Franchi and Stoeger are both owned by Beretta. The action based on (if not an exact copy of) Benelli’s Inertia Drive (Beretta also owns Benelli). Very clean compared to gas guns and much faster/easier to clean. I believe it takes Mobil chokes.

very reliable and cheap enough that I’m not worried about dropping it somewhere in a field and coming back later….and because parts are either plastic aluminum or parkerized the elements don’t really bother it.

 

I only go waterfowl hunting when someone invites me and I shoot a Beretta A400. My friend, an avid waterfowl who occasionally invites me, shoots a Stoeger semi auto he won in a raffle 20+ years ago. It functions flawlessly. He could shoot whatever he wanted but is pleased with the Stoeger.

 

I have a really good friend and his buddy both bought Stoeger semi 12's. So far they both love them and they shoot them well. I shot my buddies with one of my reloads and it kicked the snot out of me my cheek was sore for days. As a for instance i just bought a Benelli Supernova i shot 3 of my reloads and one of my TSS reloads and thought what a pussycat. So there's that .

I have a benelli montefeltro 20ga that's very lite the recoil is lite with 2 3/4" shells it can get stiff with 3" Turkey loads.

I bought a CZ Drake over under 20 ga on a recent pheasant hunt i shot 12 times my buddy with the 12 ga stoeger shot 25 and was starting to complain about the recoil. His buddy above also bought a stoeger over under i don't know what he doesn't like but the word is he don't like it.

Hope you can pick something useful out of that mess LOL.

 

I have an M3000 which has been flawless for me. If I were in the market for a 20g semiautomatic, I would pick up an M3020.

 

 

M3500 Waterfowl has been pretty good with only a minor hiccup. Stock bolt loosened after about 50 rounds. The Briley bolt release is an improvement but not mandatory- its hardened steel versus aluminum. It sees a regular diet of 3" and 3-1/2" without an issue waterfowl hunting. Also gets used for about 500 rounds a month for sporting clays and 5-stand.

 

Bought my Grandson a 3020 last year and he has been a clay busting bird killing machine with it. Zero malfunctions from walmart value pack to high brass hunting loads. Beretta and their various subsidiaries do not make bad guns.

 

Is that why the Brazilian made Stoeger shotguns are held in such high regard ?

 

I have to give up 12 ga and go to twenty because of health problems.

A 20 gauge gun can recoil just as much as a 12 gauge because typically they are lighter.

Steve

 

My dad has the Condor with 12 and 20 barrels. I've shot it and wasn't impressed. He uses it mostly for trap and I found the automatic safety to be really annoying in that context. More importantly, there back of the trigger guard is recessed into the stock instead of being flush or on top of it. There's a groove/hole at the back of the trigger guard right under my middle finger and I found that to be a little distracting. It's just a weird choice for them to leave it like that.

For what it's worth, I have a Tristar Viper G2 in Realtree Max 5 that I've been very happy with for waterfowl and general messing around. My go-to gun is a CZ Teal. (Cabelas exclusive version of the Redhead Premier)

 

Beretta makes guns from $350 to $500k+, pick your price point. The guy buying the condor for under $400 is not the guy buying a Franchi or a 686, but he might be in the future, or it might be good enough for the 100 shots a year he's going to shoot. As stated, my experience is with the 3020, generally a Benelli M2 copy made in their Turkish plant under Beretta Supervision. It's a good gun. My grandson has fired several thousand rounds through his without problems and has killed many clays and birds with it.

 

Beretta makes guns from $350 ....

You must be talking about a Beretta handgun, right?

 

I first got a Stoeger M3500 as my goose gun and loved it so much I bought an M3020 for lighter targets, mainly pigeons that took up residence in a couple old grain bins on my farm, doves, and pheasants. It too has been a stellar performer. I see PSA has an excellent deal on an M3020 Defense model so I just ordered one yesterday.

 

I have an m3000 for waterfowl. I’ve abused it and it works great.

 

I'm an avid waterfowler and have a Stoeger M2000. It was my only shotgun from the time I bought it just out of college for about 10 years. At that point in life, cost was a major factor. While I did kill a lot of birds with that M2000, it gave me a number of hiccups over the years. Most common was the bolt failing to return fully into battery resulting in the dreaded "click" on the next shot, which saved the lives of quite a few mallards. It became a habit for me to gently nudge the operating handle forward every so often. The gun is a permanent Modified choke now since I can't remove the choke with anything short of a hacksaw. With common 1 1/4 oz duck loads going 1,400 FPS the thing kicks like a mule. Then there was the time I shot the extractor pin out of the gun--no idea how, but I did. To their credit, Stoeger customer service was top notch and I had a new pin via mail in just a couple days.

Six years ago I purchased a Browning Maxus. I asked the dealer what they'd give me for the Stoeger on trade and it wouldn't have been enough to buy a case of ammo, so I kept it as a backup gun. Since then I've shot it exactly once, when the Maxus suffered a squib load on a hunt causing a barrel obstruction (I didn't have a rod with me to clear it in the field, but I did have my trusty Stoeger backup gun so the hunt could continue). In the interim I've acquired a few other shotguns, pretty much any of which I'd rather shoot than that old black boat paddle so it'll probably be a long time before it goes bang again.

My brother has an M3500 which has given him many years of good service. It does seem better built than my M2000. However, he is starting to have the "click" himself.

Long story short if you can spare a few bucks more I'd spring for a better gun, but there are Stoeger aficionados out there.

 

I'll start by saying that our duck hunting crew has all used stoegers over the past 8 years. M3500 and I have an M3000. All of them run well and we have been happy with them. Mine had developed a problem ejecting shells a few years ago so I had to change out the ejector and spring for benelli parts and it has run great ever since. All of them have been very reliable. Only factor is that M3000 (12ga 3in) might be the hardest kicking gun I've shot. I put a different recoil pad on that helps but recently I've started shooting a browning maxus. I hunted my stoeger during turkey season last year and it was just fine.

If recoil is the concern I might look at the beretta A300 ultima in 20ga, I think those are around $800. I also have a browning silver 20ga that was $900, its a good option too for soft shooting.