Brad Johnson
Member
A couple of years ago my old Browning Sweet Sixteen finally gave up the ghost. Since the cost to recondition the gun was going to be around $800, and I've never really been very big into shotgun stuff, I just set it aside as a nice wall hanger. What few times I did go out I was lucky enough to have a friend that let me borrow his Benelli. Very nice gun and I would like to have one, but at close to $1000 it was most definitely not in my price range.
Fast forward to just before Christmas....
I walked into my local gun shop and saw a display for a Stoeger B2000. I thought someone had placed the wrong gun in by mistake because the display gun looked like a Benelli. When I mentioned this to the owner he said that it should look like a Benelli bacause it is one. Come to find out that Benelli owns Stoeger. Well, now...
Best I can tell, the Stoeger name has been stamped on a Benelli receiver. In fact, I'd bet good money that many of the parts will interchange, right down to the rotary-locked recoil-operated bolt. Obviously it can't be the same gun and cost 1/3 as much, and I suspect that there are many plastic or aluminum parts in the Stoeger in place of comparable steel parts on the Benelli. Also, the wood fit, while not sloppy by any means, simply was not as exactingly precise as it was on my friend's Benelli. The wood was also more plain in grain and finish. Still, the gun was on par with anything I've seen in the price range.
Wrap it up, Bud. Santa just got a new best friend!
I thought that maybe I had made a mistake when my first box of shells produced several failures to cycle. After a lot of very-not-nice words, I finally traced the problem to ammunition. It seems that Wal-Mart's ultra-bargain Winchester White Box 7/8 oz. 12 ga. loads do not have quite enough "oomph" to reliably operate the action. A switch to 1 oz. loads was all it took to remedy the problem. After the switch I experienzed zero failures of any kind.
How did it shoot? Great! Although the 26" barrel on my Stoeger swings a little faster than the 28" barrel on my friend's Benelli, the guns feel idential in the hand and at the shoulder. After a little time spent getting used to the shorter barrel, I was breaking birds just as fast as I could get them loaded on the thrower. I even got bold and tried several doubles. No problem! There's even the satisfying "clang" of the bolt slamming home that reminds me of my old Browning. Sweet! While recoil is not quite as soft as some gas-operated guns (a la Remington 1100) it's still very manageable, and noticeably easier on the shoulder than my Dad's 870.
Price on mine? $450 out the door. Opinion? Great gun for the money! I would definitely recommend that you take a look at one if you're in the market for a modestly priced autoloader.
Brad
Fast forward to just before Christmas....
I walked into my local gun shop and saw a display for a Stoeger B2000. I thought someone had placed the wrong gun in by mistake because the display gun looked like a Benelli. When I mentioned this to the owner he said that it should look like a Benelli bacause it is one. Come to find out that Benelli owns Stoeger. Well, now...
Best I can tell, the Stoeger name has been stamped on a Benelli receiver. In fact, I'd bet good money that many of the parts will interchange, right down to the rotary-locked recoil-operated bolt. Obviously it can't be the same gun and cost 1/3 as much, and I suspect that there are many plastic or aluminum parts in the Stoeger in place of comparable steel parts on the Benelli. Also, the wood fit, while not sloppy by any means, simply was not as exactingly precise as it was on my friend's Benelli. The wood was also more plain in grain and finish. Still, the gun was on par with anything I've seen in the price range.
Wrap it up, Bud. Santa just got a new best friend!
I thought that maybe I had made a mistake when my first box of shells produced several failures to cycle. After a lot of very-not-nice words, I finally traced the problem to ammunition. It seems that Wal-Mart's ultra-bargain Winchester White Box 7/8 oz. 12 ga. loads do not have quite enough "oomph" to reliably operate the action. A switch to 1 oz. loads was all it took to remedy the problem. After the switch I experienzed zero failures of any kind.
How did it shoot? Great! Although the 26" barrel on my Stoeger swings a little faster than the 28" barrel on my friend's Benelli, the guns feel idential in the hand and at the shoulder. After a little time spent getting used to the shorter barrel, I was breaking birds just as fast as I could get them loaded on the thrower. I even got bold and tried several doubles. No problem! There's even the satisfying "clang" of the bolt slamming home that reminds me of my old Browning. Sweet! While recoil is not quite as soft as some gas-operated guns (a la Remington 1100) it's still very manageable, and noticeably easier on the shoulder than my Dad's 870.
Price on mine? $450 out the door. Opinion? Great gun for the money! I would definitely recommend that you take a look at one if you're in the market for a modestly priced autoloader.
Brad
