I'm sorry Mcgunner didn't believe me. Thank you drsfmd , for letting him know that this indeed did happen. The next time I post anything I'll try and be more precise . The person who Stoeger came apart, was due to the tab on the front end
Okay, I can see that. The piece is probably spot welded by machine or something, not sturdy.
My old Spanish Sarasqueta SxS that I bought in 1971 at Cooks Discount in Bryan, Texas going out of business sale for 100 bucks is still going. The forearm did split, hard use in the salt marshes over the years. Functionally, it never broke, but a lot of years of hard use and it's not nearly as pretty as it was when I bought it. The hand checkering is all worn, the nice walnut a little less nice, but it still shoots!
My Spartan SxS is the only other double I own and it's only about 4 years old, still going strong. But, I don't put 60K rounds a year through it. Does exactly what I wanted of it, though,for 300 bucks investment. I cannot knock it.
Stoeger, well, I've never been tempted, but I hear from CAS guys that they hold up well, why I was a little skeptical of the "fall apart" thing. These guys shoot a lot of rounds, but probably not as much as an avid clays guy does. When I shot IDPA, I only had to take along 150 rounds or so and these guys are shooting 3 guns in a match, rifle, revolver, and shotgun, so I bet their round count isn't MUCH higher than mine shooting doves in a season, but they do shoot all year I guess.
I'm not being argumentative that cheap is the way to go with a double, just that they can have merit to SOME shooters. I don't wanna toss mine, put it that way. If and when I get a stack barrel, though, I should be in the position to look for a Browning which is what I really want even if they are Japanese made. They aren't THAT expensive when you look at the price of a similar quality SxS after all.