Stoeger M3000 Mini Review after 1300 rounds

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Stoeger M3000 Mini Review after 1300 rounds

Postby FlyingKat316 on Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:49 pm

Hey all,

So I purchased a Stoeger M3000 in August after reading some praising reviews on it. Purchased from Buds for $461.50 and shipping was fast and smooth. Got the gun and immediately loved it. The weight is around 7 1/2lbs but this gun feels fairly light. Initial pre-shooting thoughts were that the gun was very light, swings well, but was a little rough around the edges in regards to the operating system. Took it out, running a Carlson's Full choke and hit 21 out of 25 clays first go. Unlike its more expensive counterparts this gun is made in Turkey under license by Benelli. From my understanding and reading the factory is owned and operated by Benelli Corp employees.

Chokes: The choke system is quite nice because it utilizes Benelli's Mobil Choke system so if you have a Benelli, Beretta, Stoeger, or Franchi all the chokes will work in any gun that uses the Mobil system.

Shooting: The gun slicked up well and after 1300 rounds it now feels like my Franchi Affinity. The felt recoil is like a rolling punch you would find on a Remington 1100 (I have 3) and is very nice if you plan on shooting more than a few boxes.

Longevity: The M3000 seems to be a workhorse type shotgun that can handle many thousands of rounds throughout its lifetime. If the gun will maintain or become looser with time is to be foreseen but so far it seems to be holding. The finish I chose is a matte black finish that so far seems to be very robust. The gun has three different configurations two of which have the matte black finish (Synthetic/Wood) and one which is a Max 4 Camo finish. I have shot in the 45 degree rain with this gun and it has not put a single mark on it. The gun is very resistent to scratches and wear.

Maintenance: Maintenance is very simple as the M3000 uses the Inertia Driven system and therefore is similar in regards to a pump action in terms of maintenance. \

Issues: I encountered some issues with this shotgun in recent range trips mainly resulting in FTEs. The gun would jam up upon firing or would not even cycle with certain loads. I have found that the gun tends to like higher velocity/dram loads in excess of 1250FPS. My M3000 also prefers certain brands such as Federal, Winchester, and Herter's. While I like Herter's as it is widely available near me, it tends to stick in the gun due to a problem which I have yet to solve. Anything lower than 1250FPS and you risk the gun starting to FTE. My diagnosis for the M3000 line is just to use higher velocity loads to achieve reliable function.

Overall Thoughts: This is a great shotgun for anyone looking into getting into Inertia Driven guns without dumping a large sum of cash on a Benelli or Franchi. Comes ready to go out of the box and will net you hours of enjoyment with little required time on maintenance. If you are skeptical of the Stoeger brand as I was, rest assured that this is a quality company owned and operated by an extremely consumer satisfaction driven parent (Benelli). Comes with a 5 year warranty from Stoeger which is a big plus in my book over some other manufacturers warranties. After shooting this gun on two separate trips I went a little crazy :D and bought the M3020 which was DOA (thats another story). Overall I love this gun and would recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone looking into getting a nice semi-auto shotgun that can be used for almost any application.


Please post any questions, comments, concerns you have below and I would be happy to address them.
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FlyingKat316
 
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Location: Dinkytown/Minneapolis

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