Beretta A300 or Stoeger M3000

Beretta all day long over a Stoeger. Gas guns are soft shooting. Berettas generally run a long time before needing cleaning. I have seen several Berettas on the clay fields. I have never seen one malfunction. Not to say they wont, though. I have only seen a few Stoegers. I recall two that gave the owners trouble every shot or two.

I have a 10+ year old AL391. I have never disassembled it for cleaning. I just wipe off the dirty parts. It's never had a malfunction. I dont plan to fully clean it until it does.

If the Stoeger is so good why did your friends decide $800 more for a Benelli ?

Axis II said:

The guys I hunt with are pushing the Stoeger because its inertia driven and supposedly wont have any issues being run dirty, wet, etc. They are also shooting $1200 Benelli shotguns. I can get the Stoeger for $400 out the door which is really enticing.

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Like I mentioned in another thread, Stoegers can be hit and miss as far as quality control is concerned. You may get a great gun, a true Benelli-equivalent, or a jam-o-matic. Nowadays there seems to be far fewer issues than with earlier M2000 models but be aware of this possibility. If you're buying new, it's got warranty of course.

The basic design is very solid. It's all about details and even the worst examples can be fixed (see my thread about this) although it means a couple of hours of work instead of a gun that runs 100% out of the box. Mine's every bit as slick and reliable as my factory-polished $2000 Benelli Centro Supersport now and cycles ammo my Benelli M3 or any of my gas guns won't, so the bargain basement price may mean you'll have to do some fit & finish work the manufacturer has omitted.

Stoeger is owned by Benelli; that said, I'd go for the Beretta over the Stoeger every day

I couldn't in good faith recommend the stoeger. Granted my size sample is exactly '1' but that is enough for me to doubt the brand. What a POS that '1' was!

If i found an a300 for 550 clams in the black i would probably have to visit a chiropractor after i dislocated my hip reaching for my wallet. If you want a camo version you can squirt some paint on it for 5-10 bucks.

ColtPythonElite said:

Beretta all day long over a Stoeger.

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This.

I replied on the last one, and I still love my Stoeger. So does my cousin. We put ours through hell and they just keep chugging along. I've hunted with a lot of guys who bring expensive artillery, and I see no advantage in the field. If cost is a concern, get the black. Geese likely won't know the difference. I can say my friends Beretta, don't know the model, choked hard on muddy water and duckweed while the stoeger took it in stride.

I had a Stoeger M2000 that never gave me problems. It went to a friend of my daughter with no family support, he is still using it ten years later. I believe the M3000 did fix the issues that plagued some M2000’s. I’d own a Stoeger semi-auto shotgun with no reservation, I also own a Stoeger Cougar that’s never missed a beat.

When it’s all said and done though give me an A300. It’s just a better shotgun. When shooting heavy duck and geese loads the greater recoil attenuation of an A300 will be noticeable, and the effects of recoil are cumulative. Today’s gas guns will go a long time between cleanings and to me the longer clean times advantage of inertia guns is over-rated.

When it comes to camo vs black, I like the look of camo better. I’ve also come to the conclusion over the years that the only advantage camo might possibly have an advantage for is for turkey. And I’m not 100% convinced then. As evidenced by the paucity of camo in the pictures I don’t see camo as necessary even though I like the look better than black.


I have two inertia shotguns, both Affinity’s. I like them a lot and use them dove hunting. I definitely do not use them when shooting heavy loads.

Considering the hundreds, maybe thousands of 2oz magnum loads I've put through the (very - carbon fiber rail, short mag tube and so on) lightweight, inertia action Supersport with little or no discernible discomfort, I've come to a conclusion that sensitivity to felt recoil may be very subjective. On the other hand I seriously dislike O/U:s and SxS:s for shooting even medium field loads unless they have a particularly good recoil pad.

Gas guns seem to have some degree of a felt recoil comfort factor going for them in general but I just realized the last time I intentionally brought one to a hunting event of any kind was around mid 90's.

A personal preference, maybe? Unless I'm anticipating a culling hunt where shot count may rival that of a FlaK88 -battery during an air raid, felt recoil is pretty much a non-issue for me.

George P said:

Stoeger is owned by Benelli; that said, I'd go for the Beretta over the Stoeger every day

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Actually, Beretta owns them all----Benelli--Franchi--Stoeger---Sako/Tikka

Beretta Holding - Wikipedia

Omaha-BeenGlockin said:

Actually, Beretta owns them all----Benelli--Franchi--Stoeger---Sako/Tikka

Beretta Holding - Wikipedia

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Fortunately Benelli customer service is run separately from Beretta. And since Benelli owns Stoeger and Franchi they handle Franchi and Stoeger customer service, not Beretta. And that’s a good thing. Beretta customer service stinks IMO and the opinion of many others. In fact if it wasn’t for Cole Gunsmithing I wouldn’t even consider owning a Beretta shotgun.

Gas recoil and inertia recoil. So where does the felt recoil of a pump gun fit in and compare? There is a difference in the way the guns recoil and that did take some getting used to. It feels like the inertia gun takes a little longer to recoil than manual systems. I can feel the bolt going home at the end of it's cycle. At first this felt odd and I can see why some might not like it. Now I don't even notice it unless I'm paying close attention.

Cvans said:

Gas recoil and inertia recoil. So where does the felt recoil of a pump gun fit in and compare? There is a difference in the way the guns recoil and that did take some getting used to. It feels like the inertia gun takes a little longer to recoil than manual systems. I can feel the bolt going home at the end of it's cycle. At first this felt odd and I can see why some might not like it. Now I don't even notice it unless I'm paying close attention.

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FELT recoil is a function of fit; actual recoil is a function of weight of the gun, mass of the ejecta and velocity of the ejecta

Axis II said:

Well I handled a M3000 today and watched it get put through the paces of shooting today and it did well. One guy had me close my eyes and shoulder it and see if everything lined up and 7x my eye lined up right down the rib and on the red bead. I don’t know if that’s good that I see down the rib so flatly.

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If you saw rib. you'd be shooting high.........these guns come with shims to adjust the fit for both LH and RH which is a plus

Axis II said:

I didn’t actually see the rib. My eye line was straight down the rib or completely flat. Only thing I saw was the red bead.

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That's good; then fit for you is pretty darn close

Congrats! A quality choice. I'm sure it'll serve you well.

I recently had the same decision to make and chose the Beretta A300 Outlander with True Timber camo. Have shot 3 boxes of shells with 100% cycling success and recoil is soft and easy. Happy with my decision. The camo is good and should be useful come turkey season and future coyote calls. I do plan to reduce the length of pull with the spacer that was included with the new gun. Also plan add a stock spacer to adjust the drop by 65mm. (but, had to buy it) It shouldered a bit high and it is a bit too long so am looking forward to making those adjustments. I also like that it came with sling studs for attaching a carry sling. I'll be using it mostly for turkeys and coyotes, so hands-free carry over my shoulder is essential.