yep, LOVE mine
I've had mine about 4-5 years now and absolutely love it. It is NOT the same as the Super Black Eagle because it doesn't handle 3 1/2" mags, only 3". It is more similar to the Montifeltro. I've never felt the need for 3 1/2" inch shells anyway. I have a 870 Supermag and can't say they kill any better than a good 3". Actually, 3" shells typically have higher velocities than 3 1/2's so they hit harder.
Nonetheless, it is a great gun, a better design, IMO than the Benelli. Reason being, the inertia (spring) mechanism is under the forend, not in the buttstock. Benelli's are great guns, but they experience problems when exposed to mud and muck. Dirt and water gets into the spring tube in the buttstock and corrodes the tube/spring and it's nearly impossible to clean. Stoeger's design, having the spring under the forend (over the magazine tube) enables you to easily clean and lube the spring and carrier.
That said, I have experienced slight problems with a sticky bolt on my Stoeger as Phil mentioned also. The problem comes from being lubed improperly with the wrong grease. Both times I've had this happen, the gun has been wet/dirty and it's been extremely cold. I've experimented with a couple different lubes and think I've come up with the best method to fix this problem. (Phil, pay attention!)
What I've done is to disassemble the gun, take the bolt out and the spring off, clean and degrease everything, then lube the outside of the magazine tube and the rails, spring and slide with Moly Bore Prep. This product has moly suspended in a liquid that evaporates off, leaving a thin film of moly on the surface. The moly is a dry lube that won't attract dirt and won't be affected by moisture. I used my gun Tuesday on a snow goose hunt and even in 19* temps, the bolt was very quick to cycle. I hope I have the solution. So far so good.
In summary, buy it, you'll like it!
Charlie
PS - plus you can cycle 4 shells, even when plugged to 3 shell capacity. there's a little trick involved, but it works nicely.
