I've had a M3K for years that has been great. But I broke it in with buckshot and never run 3" because I don't hate myself. The loose stock on this may have contributed to some of the failures.
Honestly, you're doing the community a huge favor by testing these shotguns. Those who would be looking at a budget tier shotgun (myself included) don't have enough money for rigorous testing of a home defense shotgun, so your testing is helping identify which tools will work and which aren't worth the money. Thank you, your cameraman, and especially your shoulders.
Mine runs fine. If you’re planning to run 3” hot loads all the time then spend the extra $1k, but if you want a shotgun that’ll run normal 00 and slug defensive loads these are just fine. There’s a reason these guns are popular with competitive 3 gunners.
just dont get an inertia shotgun theres a reason why i dont buy them for waterfowl hunting some of them interias if your bulked up with clothing wont cycle either. ive got a gas turkish shotgun i picked up for $450 and runs 3" 1550fps flawlessly killed lots of birds. ive been happy with my kirici, revolution armory here in canada
@ the SPAS 12 is regarded by a lot of folks as being highly overrated. Not to mention for the price you can get a nice Benelli M4 or 1301, plus plenty of practice ammo.
My main waterfowl gun is a stoeger m3500 (same gun just a 3.5” chamber). I had the exact same issue with the stock. Your malfunctions are caused by the stock issue due to the inertia driven recoil action… some red loctite on the stock nut and you’ll never have the issue again. My stoeger has been thru hell and back. Thru the mud ice sleet snow etc. works every time. Love that thing
James, this isn't a gas gun. It's inertia driven. Clean and oil the gun out of the box, they're shipped in cosmoline. Tighten and loctite the stock, and do NOT use the push pull method. Seat it FIRMLY in your shoulder, or the inertia system will fail to feed. These are hunting shotguns first, not combat shotguns. I just unboxed a Stoeger M3K and blew 400 rounds through it without any issues.
I agree I've got a 3500 I knew it was cheap when I bought it however I've put over 5k rounds through it with 0 issues besides occasionally firing it too far off my shoulder
These are no longer shotgun torture test, they’re just James torture videos lol I’m convinced there’s a subset of commenters that just love putting this man through it haha
Actually, most of us just wanted him to do his job and put out videos that aren't biased, but that's why most of us aren't sticking around. He acts like he's never used a shotgun before.
I have a M3000. When I got it, I broke it down, cleaned it, lubed it, then broke it in... It's been very dependable. I'm not a big fan of pistol grip shotguns, so I may swap out the stock one day.
Thank you. At least 23 other people have given you the thumbs up re the correct way to prepare any new shotgun just for ordinary use let alone a 500 round test...... Have you ever found that the one two or three gas ports from the barrel are incompletely drilled or have drilling debris in them? That stuffs up the gun right from the start.
I’ve had my stoeger m3k since 2021 and besides a few ejection issues in the first couple hundred rounds which I remedied with the $5 benelli extractor and the loose stock issue which never came back up after some loctite it’s been awesome. Thousands of rounds and broken clays later I love this shotgun.
My favorite cheap shotgun is my $300 police trade in 590A1 that came with food crumbs in the FCU. Thank you to my local PD's weapon procurement guy who thought getting rid of a whole arsenal of finely made Mossburgs to trade them towards new Rustington 870s (yes they were rusting in patrol cars less than a month after purchase) was a good idea. We are all very thankful for you gracious donations to our personal armories.
That’s why I buy real Remington 870’s. Vintage models. Built like a tank, haven’t rusted and won’t. Also since the receiver is made of steel, the carrier dog won’t pop out of place when you drop the shotgun on the ground 😉
Stay away from the Mossberg 940....there crap as well,it has the same problems as the 930 with the or3gun parts, lifter problems,feed problems, catastrophic jams,it hit or miss with the 940 half are good half are bad, just look on UA-cam you'll find people have plenty of problems with them, then you'll have UA-camrs who don't have problems at all, a lot of UA-camrs Re NOT honest though they're hiding the jams the ones getting paid to promote, stick with Beretta or Benelli for autos
For future reference, James, The Stoeger is an inertia action gun and they go together like a Benelli or a Franchi. You have to affix the handguard to the barrel in the same position as it will be when installed first, bolt forward, and then slide it over the mag the tube as a single unit. It will all slide right into place very easy and then put your barrel nut on.
@@ZREXER1250they don’t include a manual with the gun. At least, they didn’t with my 1301 tactical. I had a gunsmith show me how to assemble/disassemble mine.
I own this gun and a SBEIII. I cant speak for "out-the-box reliability" as the first thing I did before shooting it was change the extractor and extractor spring to a benelli M2 extractor and spring. never had issue with extraction or ejection. After a while, i would occasionally get a round that hangs up while feeding. I called barretta/benelli in mayland and they instructed me to slightly cant my shell elevator inward for smoother operation. This took it from near perfect reliability to flawless reliability. While I did not have these cycling issues with my benelli, I had some QC issues regarding bolt carrier finish and a chipped carbon fiber barrel rib. I was able to get those parts sent to me for free, biut it was also a $2,000 gun. My point is that, today a lot of things are half assed (even expensive stuff), especially in QC. the only good thing about the m3000 is its price and that there are many replacable parts for it as well as interchangable benelli parts.
@@michaeldegginger7076 Considering a maverick 88 is up to around $250, it definitely qualifies. Cheap ain't what it used to be. Same reason you can't find a junker car under $2K anymore.
@@michaeldegginger7076$450 is a good chunk of change. But, look at it within the context of semi auto shotguns. Compared to similar offerings from browning, beretta, and benelli, it is cheap.
Because this is an inertia-action shotgun. The moment shoulder stock loosened to the point of virtual detachment, it was destined to malfunction…but you knew this.
I could feel your guy's pain assembling it the first couple minutes of the vid! I had a very similar issue assembling my Turkish shotgun, except it was a pump. Had it about a year and sold the dumb thing. Bought a vintage 1970's Remington 870. Best decision I've made when buying a shotgun.
I absolutely love my Beretta A300 Patrol. It has been flawless for me. Upgraded the magazine end cap to an aluminum GG&G and its much nicer. And the Beretta Pro Lifter is so much better, truly no downsides and you can still ghost load if you want.
If your not set on semiauto, the mossberg maverick it hands down the best new budget shotgun made in mine and many many others opinion. Best 110$ i ever spent on a gun. He has a burndown on it. It broke every piece of equipment and shoulder that touched it while it yawned at the meezly 500 rounds.
I have the M2000 pump version with the extended 18.5 barrel with the extended toob that goes the length of the barrel and love it. Wanna get the pistol grip stock for it but it's never in fockin stock
One of my first shotguns. I heavily modified mine, even had the loading port filed and opened up and put a worked trigger and it holds 12 shells. Used it extensively for 2 years in 3 gun and when i retired from that i started using it in sporting clays. Even though the barrel is only 24 inches it does well shooting clays. It took about 25 buck shot to break it in. And has gone through at least 3k shells without an issue. I retired it 2 years ago. But it was well worth the $500 i paid for it plus about $300 i put into it. I also purchased a m3k version afterwards and it does good also. Now it sits on the wall along with several other shotties
Have had a Stoeger M3500 for +10yrs and it’s more reliable than my Benelli Super Eagle… BUT I did have that stock issue initially, it is a pain in the ass to take down, the plastics are abysmal and it weighs nearly 10lbs. I hate that I love it but I love it.
Yeah I have a m3500 too and I never had issues like this in mine. I have had to retighten my stock but it has been extremely reliable for several years and I abuse the shit out of it waterfowl hunting. The only issue I have had is one day when I left it out and it rained and froze up. Didn't fire the first time.
I have an m3000, not an issue so far after seven hundred rounds, change the stock to a magpull because the original was to long on me and stippled the grip areas, also put an oversized bolt release. No issues on assembly or disassembly and has runner from buckshot to slugs without a glitch, also everything I’ve heard from other owners is pretty much the same as me
Glad I’m not the only one here that had a workhorse M3500…..maybe the quality went down in the past 10 years but mine ran like a freight train while bird hunting
I really wonder what is going on with this video. Not sure if he just got a bad gun or if he is limp shouldering to cause the failures. You have to have the stock against your shoulder to properly cycle a inertia gun. Maybe the stock issues are causing him not to shoulder properly.
I waited and waited for this very video but I couldn't wait anymore for last week I purchased the a300 ultima patrol and I'm glad I did after watching this video
I continue to be amazed by your bad luck with Turkish shotguns. I've had nothing but success with my four, all from different manufacturers in Turkey. Pump, semi-auto, and mag fed all with zero malfunctions.
My Dad and I both have Stoeger M3500’s, and they’ve malfunctioned on us so much over the years that we’ve dubbed that sound the “Stoeger Click.” It doesn’t matter how clean you get them or how well lubricated they are, some days they just refuse to cycle. Oh yeah, they also jam 80-90% of the time shooting 3.5 inch magnum shells, even though they’re chambered in 3.5 in- the extractor likes to let go of the rim right before the empty shell clears the chamber, leaving you stuck with a nasty stovepipe. For some reason they seem to like the 3 inch magnums shells though.
My experience as well. Cleaned inside the mag tube as well as they have this preservative oil in there as well. The only thing mine wouldn't run is 1 oz trap loads.
I just got my Stoeger M3k today. I cleaned off all the factory "oil" and lubed everything real good. I took it out to run some heavy loads for break in. It ran everything I put in it. 100 rounds of 1 1/8 1300fps, 100 rounds light target loads, and 100 handloads of hot buck and slug. not one single malfunction. My stock did loosen up after about 100 rounds (a known issue) but easy fix to tighten the nut. The issue with installing the barrel is the recoil spring binding on the barrel. It took me a while to figure this out, too. try to put it all together with the handguard off and you'll see where the spring is getting in the way of the barrel. Overall, I'm very happy with my M3K. I'm adding a knock off SRO dot to it and some grip tape on the sides of the handguard.
15:31 Personally, I would have liked to see how it ran if you were able to torque down the butt stock bolt and degrease the recoil spring, but I know these are "fresh out of the box" tests.
If you hate before taking it out of the box, you’re probably gonna hate it out of the box. Mine went together in about a minute. I followed the break in procedures according to Stoeger and I’ve had 0 issues.
I was actually thinking that it’s possible the gun is performing like that partly because of the assembly job we watched… not saying this is a good product… but I am saying that a top notch product that’s been assembled poorly is gunna perform poorly, it kind of applies to any machine.
@@terry92ishoperator error. When I first get my guns, I go through, clean them, inspect every bolt, loctite as many as I can, and hand rack the action about a thousand times. I then run some basic low power range ammo, about 100-200 rounds worth. Clean then gun, oil it, check over everything, and never had a single issue with any brand from Mossberg to Taurus. Stoeger is just fine.
I don't have these problems with my Stoeger M3000. Yes, assembling the shotgun for the first time is a bit tricky, but it's definitely reasonable, especially given the price. However, the weapon works perfectly in operation. I shoot Rottweil Trap ammunition with 28 grams. 250 shots in quick succession on steel targets worked perfectly. I then completely disassembled and cleaned the weapon, all screws were tight and nothing came loose. The shooter with his Benelli M90 wasn't so lucky that day. These are my experiences.
I don't have problems with mine either. But I knew it might have some issues from the factory that I could eliminate. I tore it down and cleaned it, polished the mag tube (the rough painted surface on the early ones was an issue), lubed and reassembled before shooting. The foregrip and stock i ended up stippling because james was right it is slippery. All this cost me zero dollars. Oh I did change the plastic mag follower to a low drag aluminum one from moa precision for $20. That's probably why James's bolt was outrunning the magazine
@@SideSwipePB But they’re having issues for the same reason James is, not properly preparing the gun for operation. The gun takes maintenance for proper operation, bottom line.
I know you hate doing these James, but not only are they entertaining at your expense (which immediately makes it funnier), they're very informative for us poors that can't go and buy a shit gun and run testing for reliability. So thank you James. I appreciate all the work you do.
Ok, I tried a Stoeger 9mm hand gun at a range day, and that thing had a better grouping at 7 yards with iron sights, than the glock I had just shot with a red dot, JS. It was smooth and felt very good in my hands. Oh, and they cheeeeeeap!
James, thanks for finally doing a Stoeger video- it was literally the reason I joined subscribestar over 2 years ago. I wish this shotgun performed better, and I'm tempted to make excuses for it, but I won't. You have it fair treatment, it would have performed better if you gave it a once over before the range- but so would have every other Turkish gun. I have 2 pieces of criticism about this test, and then a piece of advice for anyone who is a new owner. 1. It's not that difficult to assemble, the franchi's assemble the same way. Once you figure it out once you'll never struggle with it again. 2. It's not fair to say they won't reliably shoot 3” magnums, my m3020 has fired hundreds (maybe 1000) rounds of 3” duck and pheasant rounds, including really fast steel stuff. They're durable. For new owners, these things like hot loads for their 500 round break in period. 1oz, 1250 fps or greater. After break in, they handle the lighter stuff better, but will never feed low recoil stuff like white rhino. The rounded bolt handle and enlarged bolt release are new within the last 2-3 years. The factory butt pads are terrible, and inconsistent between guns- get an aftermarket recoil pad. If you have an m3020, get one with the right screw spacing, shave it down with a belt sander.
I currently work at a gun store and have for the last five years. I can’t speak to Stoeger shotguns from before that time period and we sell a ton of them, I have only had to send one back since I’ve been there. We aren’t a small operation either, we are one of the largest gun shops in the Florida panhandle. Quality can change. I wouldn’t own a Taurus from 25 years ago, however a current GX4 is one of the best Conceal carry 9mm Micros you can get. Remingtons from 40 and 80 years ago were fantastic, newer ones are complete garbage. The new Stoeger are good to go.
Toss up between Remington and Kimber. When overpriced firearms go back more than less expensive ones, I'd claim that the more expensive ones are garbage. To that point, there's a difference between less expensive and cheap.
I looked at an 870 last year, then looked at another, and then another. Three 870s in a row had sharp burrs in the loading gate and around the chamber. So, no, still dogshit.
Even if you find a nice 870, without burrs, sharp edges, or stiff controls, it will rust. It does not care how often you apply oil, it does not care if its a safe queen in a climate controlled room. The finish is so dog awful, it will degrade. I had my new 870 for three months, light coat of oil, temp controlled room, one weekend of goose hunting (may i mind you, I was in a field, not on water) bam, minor surface rust on the receiver, and the entire rib on the barrel, rust. It has not been a good idea to go with an 870 or any other Remington for that matter, over something else, for a long time now
You are obviously biased. You hated it before you even had it out of the box. My friend won one in a raffle. He did not want it so he offered it to me for next to nothing. I had to buy it. Mine went together out of the box in less than 2 minutes. You have to remember that this is a inertia action shotgun. If you do not support the gun properly, it will have a failure to feed. But you knew this. You were obviously setting this gun up to fail because you don't like it. So they didn't tighten the stock bolt well out of the factory. A little thread locker, a wrench and 3 minutes and problem solved forever. I have never had this problem with mine. Granted, I only have a few hundred rounds through mine but, I have never had a single problem. I think that it is an amazing gun. Well worth the price. I love it and recommend it to everyone.
First of all thanks for the testing James. Second I own a M3000 Freedom Defender and I went skeet shooting with my friends all of them using my M3000. We ran the 3 dram loads the manual recommends and we fired around 200 loads of Federal targets and didn't have a single failure. Also have ran Federal 00 bucks and slugs and no issue at all. The stock never came lose but I must say that the bolt handle and the bolt release pad actually came off. Contacted Stoeger customer service and tech support from Benelli responded and sent me better quality parts which I replaced myself. Now all issues are fix. I don't doubt that are quality control issues when companies offer products this cheap compared to their higher end counterparts but I do like the fact that Benelli is behind Stoeger and any issues you will have they will respond in a timely manner.
Your experience with Stoeger (Beretta family) was substantially different and better than mine. Less than one box into a new gun, the front sight parted company from the shotgun. I called "Stoeger" and they wanted the whole gun back...I was living in very rural Alaska at the time, the hassle of traveling to the nearest FFL (essentially because they don't repair, they replace, would have become an FFL trip) involves a few hundred $ and a day, sometimes two. So dudes, just send me a new barrel and I'll send you the old....anyway, long story short, it was a huge hassle. Stoeger sucks. Obviously there are reasons why they don't even bother repairing.
All Hail James Reeves. Dark Lord of the Scattergun Burndowns .. If that Stoeger needs a new home, send it to me. I'm not assembly challenged and I have some loc-tite. With all due respect.
Thank you for testing the Stoeger M3000 as I have been waiting to watch this from you for years now. Well I own two Stoeger M3000's. One a 28" barrel bird gun with walnut stock and at first it didn't cycle the the #7.5 shot 1100fps but once I broke it in with a box of #5 shot 1300+fps it fed the #7.5 shot 1100fps w/o faults. The owners manual recommends breaking in with heaver loads. But though the manual does not say to, I did clean the shipping oil and re-oil the barrel & receiver before break-in. When I bought the gun the forend stock would not fit and I had to have Bass Pro shops send it back to the Stoeger vendor to fix the fit-up (this was after they - Bass Pro - scratched the barrel and stock trying to jam them together - grrrr). But now the gun is working well and I think it is a great value for a semi-auto in the $500 range - looks gorgeous in burnt brown cerakote and walnut stock. So I bought 18.5" barreled Freedom gun - same as you tested - during an on-line sale but haven't shot it yet. It's just a great compliment to the 28" bird gun as all the parts swap (including chokes). I will be committed to make it work like it should. Too many three-gun enthusiasts using the Stoeger shotguns to call them junk. I have seen another video review of the Stoeger stock loosen but to me that is a minor issue when considering the price saving over other tactical guns. Now the owner manual says the ammunition required is 1 once shot and 3 drams (28 grams) of powder but almost no ammo manufactures list these. So I look at the velocity and size of shot as a reference when buying ammo. So I think that you proved out of the box the Stoeger will flop and thanks for your efforts. But my Stoeger M3000 is still my favorite semi-auto. cardo0
@LTVoyager No, he used the money to buy the gun and demonstrate how shitty that gun is and he makes money from the video. If I bought that turd of a gun it would all be loss. No he has a gun that doesn't work and that can't be resold
It’s inertia driven and has a 100 round full power load break-in period. The stock just needs to be tightened. Stoeger is owned by Benelli and makes/shares parts with The M2 and M4. This is a great semi-auto and has lots of aftermarket upgrades from TTI and Brailey
Cope harder. The remington versamax is a clone of the Benelli M4 but its dog shit. Doesn't matter if it shares parts, the parts are made shittier like the gun.
Dude your videos are ALWAYS on point and right on time!! I was literally looking at getting one of these last week! I have a Stoeger as my crane, geese, duck gun. It works great for that application. Never had a malfunction so I’ve considered one for a tactical home defense gun.
that's very interesting, I have the M3000 field version with the 28" barrel for the past 3 years since I basically turned 18. Got it out of the box, cleaned it and oiled it. I've shot about 700-800 rds through mine and only issues I've had were due to just shooting loads that aren't powerful enough (mainly birdshot loads), anything below 1 1/4 oz had cycling issues. But any buck or slugs cycled as intended. I've even polished the mag tube to help smooth out the action and still not issues or rust with just regular maintenance. Now with that being said, it having nothing to grip while also being super light makes it not fun at all to shoot, especially slugs, but maybe that signature Turkish QC managed to get me a good one, you however not so much it looks like.
@@Piledriver2235 yeah, but with the people purchasing this, they are more likely to have a needle, spoon, and lighter to do this mod. They cant afford a soldering iron.
@@1011-n3tDude can't figure out how to install a barrel without beating it off a post, let alone being able to tighten a stock bolt.i doubt he capable of doing a few cheap mods. Lol
We use a m3500 for duck/bird. Stock came loose. It’s a 13mm in the back. The 3500 we use 3 1/2 inch mag for geese. Only had issues with cycling using cheap low brass.
I am surprised you had such bad luck. I absolutely love my M3000. Use it all year long for shotgun competitions, 3 gun matches, bird hunting etc year round and I don't think I have even had a single malfunctions in the few years I have owned it. Sad to see you got a lemon
Same boat here, I've Had my M3000 Waterfowl Edition for 6 years, and it's always ran anything I've shoved in it, even Covered in mud, and Ice Frozen all over it from those Freezing rain Mornings.
When you go in with the goal of making it look like crap you do thingsto confirm it... buy the worlds nices hand gun and limp wrist it youll get issues, beat the shiz out of a high end shotgun "putting it together" youll make issues hes not trying to see it the gun is good, hes doing his best to hate it and make you hate it too....
Ive had the same m3500 for about 8 years now. Ive used it as a paddle used it as a trap shooting gun left it in the bed of the truck uncased and have never cleaned or oiled the gun and it hasnt jammed a single time and has never failed a single time. Its the same gun as a 3000 just chambered for 3.5" shells
It's literally a Benelli Inertia gun. Same exact system. Pulling it out of the box and running 500 rounds through it without any lube whatsoever is a fool's errand. But that wouldn't be hyperbolic enough.
The M3000 is my all-around shotgun, started as a freedom 7+1 tactical then got a longer barrel, wood furniture, holosun 503, and some internal upgrades. Good capacity, good balance, overall very reliable except the recoil system doesn't like anything less than 1100 FPS. But it did require attention at first--clean and apply generous lube, look for wear points and polish them down, don't run garbage ammo, etc, stuff that is common with all budget guns. But it has matured into a very good gun.
Good points. Nothing less than 1180 fps after a 100 round break in with 1325 fps. Lock tight and retorque the stock bolt. Smooth and polish the action and magazine tube surface. Lubricate then reassemble and leave the action open for a week. Then begin the break in. After the break in use it for a shotgun match or shotgun course then decide if it is a keeper before any upgrades.
2:44 The one universal issue with these guns is, they ship with extremely heavy recoil spring grease, which is why a lot of people were having hang ups in cold weather, even with magnum loads. I feel like Stoeger should include instructions in the manual to run a degreaser before applying a light gun oil to the spring.
This is why James is the king of shotgun content on youtube. Who else has made an honest appraisal of this gun? Guess I'll save up for a Beretta A300 instead.
Cheap Turkish shotguns are always hit or miss. I bought a Citadel warthog back when everyone was saying they were the sh!t, and I could not get it to cycle shells. Finally put a tube extension kit on it with a better spring and follower and polished the crap out of the internals. Yeah, it works now but if I need a shotty I’m grabbing my old AF police riot shotgun I got from the pawn shop instead.
I’m glad you did this review! People online love to say that a Stoeger is a Benelli for people who like to save money. That thing is a POS. I’m stuck to my SBE and my Montefeltro.
ONE of the reasons the 1301 and the A300 are more money is that they smooth out all the edges of the chamber and lift gate. These cheaper Turkish guns are made such tight tolerances that they hang up when new. You need to polish the chamber with drill and scotch pad wrapped around a barrel cleaning brush. That's why they have the break in period. Polish the chamber and you don't have to break it in.
That's why it misfired. It is an inertia driven action. If you do not support the gun properly, it will miss feed. I can't believe this guy is too dumb to know this.
I have a stoeger m3000 tactical. I have put around 350 rounds through it. The only time it has jammed is running low recoil bird shot and buckshot. Anything traveling at less than 1200 feet per second will choke the gun. Haven't had any issues with full power bird shots, buck shots, and slugs. The stoeger can take Benelli extractors though. So you can probably switch them out and get better extraction. In addition, the stoeger m3000 uses an inertia driven system. Not a gas system. The stock being loose probably prevented the gun from cycling. An inertia driven system needs resistance in order to cycle. A loose stock would be an antithesis to the system. Like if you were to limp wrist a Glock constantly and complain that it jams all the time. I think this review was done in bad faith.
@@R_K_S2401 Reduced recoil patterns better. There's a reason Federal's tactical buck is the gold standard. I'm definitely not recoil-sensitive. I just want to run the best instead of coping because I picked a D tier Turkish POS.
I’ve had one failure with mine. Only 1, and it was a failure to eject. And it could have been just not placed on my shoulder well enough cuz i was shooting a skeet coming at me fast. Been duck hunting several seasons and shot skeet for 2 years. Then again, i clean and tighten everything BEFORE shooting it as you should with all firearms. I disagree with this fail. I think you should clean and tighten everything then retest it. I just don’t feel it was a fair run for it. I’d even be willing to help with that test, and I’ll bring mine with me also. I’m not crazy far living at the border of LA / TX. That stock moving around is what i believe is causing your failures due to it being recoil operated. Put some locktite on that stock and shoot the 500 again. I’ll bet it makes it. I shoot really really HOT 3 inch bismuth hand loads for duck season and never have any issues. I probably have over 5000 rounds through mine in the 2.5 years I’ve owned it. Thank you for your awesome videos sir!!
Do you do an oil change and full tune up on your car every time before you drive it? No? Then why excuse poor quality with doing 10x more "maintenance" just to make it work?
@@a.k47-74 how do you figure? Yes, vehicles go through a “pre delivery” before being delivered to a customer by the dealership. Trust me, i work for GM Firearms on the other hand, should be done by the operator. Any firearm should be taken apart and cleaned and inspected before firing. And i never said anything about “every time”. The first time it should be gone through.
I really appreciate you following through on this one man, been waiting for a while! I wasn’t here for the Stoeger to win or lose, I just wanted to hear your take on it. Good work James🫡
Obviously it wouldn't have helped with the stock coming loose but these "experts" should know that regardless of the firearm you always disassemble and thoroughly clean and re-lubricate a new firearm prior to first use. Otherwise the test is meaningless. That's not to say that there aren't guns out there that CAN be reliable straight out of the box but it is of no matter. ALL new guns get disassembled, cleaned, inspected and re-lubricated prior to first use. BTW... 30 years ago the rear stock came loose in a similar fashion on my new Mossberg 590. I re-tightened it and that was the end of that.
I find locktite + tightening the stock bolt tends to fix that issue. I have a new maverick 88 that did that first range session. I did as previously described and the issue is gone.
@@neilrobinson1991 Someone should tell all these "burn down" experts. Sadly, a lot of gun test videos I watch on YT involves taking a firearm directly from the gun store to the range and doing a "reliability" test. As for these shotgun tests, I gave them the benefit of a doubt on the use of garbage ammo.
Yeah I just don't get the obsession with semi auto shotguns let alone cheap ass ones. I have a semi auto Beretta and it's nice but I still prefer pumps for simplicity sake
James- I have the tactical version of the M3000. Pic rail, longer mag tube. And I have to say it has cold led everything from light Winchester white box #8 shot to 3inch Turkey load with nary a hiccup. No break in period and yes it was slightly tough to assemble but once I got the procedure right no problems. But no question you had some type of lemon. I also have a MAC2 which is a clone of a Benelli M2 and that thing has been functioning flawlessly from the get go. In fact I killed 3 turkeys with it so far this fall, 2 of them at almost 50 yards. And it only cost me 365.00! But I also have 2 Mossberg’s, a 940 JM Pro and a 940 Tactical. Both are of course excellent and load from the magazine with stroking the action.
I’ve still got a m2000 with thousands of round through it. Shot skeet competition with it for years, 75-100 shots every weekend. I use it for everything, never any issues.
It kind of defeats the purpose. While typically on TFBTV, we have a "one return" policy, I buy these all off the rack and if I sent every one of them back to the manufacturer, not only would the videos take forever, but I'm sure I'd get something different back anyways. Part of the problem with Turkish shotguns is QC and if I am the only one getting QC'd guns, then my results are going to be skewed as compared to the common buyer.
Interesting. I've seen lots of them that run great, but they are gamer guns with opened up loading ports and wizard staff mag tubes, running sopping wet. That model almost looks like a 1201FP.
Just saying this is what I've found ,the Turkish semi shotguns don't like the push/pull style of shooting. They require 100% hard pull back into the shoulder, 100% of the cycling time to function correctly. So, it's "not" built for "everyone".
I had problems with my M3000 Tacticool. I replaced the extractor claw and ALL of the springs in the bolt with Benelli M2 parts. (Inertia spring too!) Now it runs like a Singer sewing machine. (Minimum 3 Dram 1 oz). The Tinnitus Show has a good video bout this weapons system. Hope this helps!!
About 10-12 years ago I got an m2000 as a kicker in a trade. It cycles slower than a pump but it stands up to cold weather. Apparently, it's the only working stoeger in existence and is purely a loaner for the duck blind
I can tell by the drum and paddle that it's one of the older model M3000s, the newer ones come with the same size parts as the competition shotguns. To be fair mine has had over 500 round including 3" mags and worked flawlessly. However the first thing i did was upgrade the follower and spring in the magazine and swapped out the stock for a Magpul stock via adapter from (I believe) Midwest Gunworks. Well worth it.
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Hey James I live in Baton Rouge and work in Nola been a long time subscriber and if ur looking to private sell that stoger I’ll buy it from you
But but but James it's an inertia driven shotgun it'll run forever lol that's what I always hear
I've had a M3K for years that has been great. But I broke it in with buckshot and never run 3" because I don't hate myself. The loose stock on this may have contributed to some of the failures.
If I wanted to watch someone complain for 30 minutes, I could’ve just gone to TikTok or CNN
@@AntoineWilliams7118 or MSnbHEEHAW. lol or the View
I know you hate these shitty shotguns James, but you took mailroom away from us. Sacrifices have to be made.
😂
Wait??? No mo mailroom? Do I gotta sub to his onlyfans for that now?
Damn right they do
Wait… is mailroom officially gone? My optimistic side was just hoping he was too busy lately and that’s why we haven’t seen them.
@@ryaneirich5535no, but James is probably too busy breaking trash shotguns and icing his shoulder
Its never been about the shotguns. Its about the meltdowns James has along the way.
“There are 206 bones in the human body; 207 when I watch James Reeves have a meltdown.”
"I do not always watch meltdowns on UA-cam. But when I do, I watch...James Reeves."
Lmao
Losing his shit taking it out the box.
Refund your patreon $450 stiffy
Honestly, you're doing the community a huge favor by testing these shotguns. Those who would be looking at a budget tier shotgun (myself included) don't have enough money for rigorous testing of a home defense shotgun, so your testing is helping identify which tools will work and which aren't worth the money. Thank you, your cameraman, and especially your shoulders.
I agree.... had this on the to get list.... just scratched it out.
Mine runs fine. If you’re planning to run 3” hot loads all the time then spend the extra $1k, but if you want a shotgun that’ll run normal 00 and slug defensive loads these are just fine. There’s a reason these guns are popular with competitive 3 gunners.
just dont get an inertia shotgun theres a reason why i dont buy them for waterfowl hunting some of them interias if your bulked up with clothing wont cycle either. ive got a gas turkish shotgun i picked up for $450 and runs 3" 1550fps flawlessly killed lots of birds. ive been happy with my kirici, revolution armory here in canada
meanwhile Ian on FW just had multiple fails on his very not cheap franchi spas 12 in less than 20 rds...
@ the SPAS 12 is regarded by a lot of folks as being highly overrated. Not to mention for the price you can get a nice Benelli M4 or 1301, plus plenty of practice ammo.
My main waterfowl gun is a stoeger m3500 (same gun just a 3.5” chamber). I had the exact same issue with the stock. Your malfunctions are caused by the stock issue due to the inertia driven recoil action… some red loctite on the stock nut and you’ll never have the issue again. My stoeger has been thru hell and back. Thru the mud ice sleet snow etc. works every time. Love that thing
James, this isn't a gas gun. It's inertia driven. Clean and oil the gun out of the box, they're shipped in cosmoline. Tighten and loctite the stock, and do NOT use the push pull method. Seat it FIRMLY in your shoulder, or the inertia system will fail to feed. These are hunting shotguns first, not combat shotguns. I just unboxed a Stoeger M3K and blew 400 rounds through it without any issues.
I agree I've got a 3500 I knew it was cheap when I bought it however I've put over 5k rounds through it with 0 issues besides occasionally firing it too far off my shoulder
Also I watched him fire it with it away from his shoulder multiple times. He can't physically handle the recoil and that's ok get a 20 gauge
Spot on he’s floating the stock off his shoulder.
@@TheGunSmith he did that on purpose. he knew what he was dealing with.
"What do you mean my manual car won't shift gears if I don't touch the stick?"
This gun grew up in a middle class family with a small business.
Doesn't matter unless it really cared about its lawn.
Just WTF is that supposed to mean
The passage of time shall be un burdened by what has happened in your middle class family and small town
@@Veritas419nothing apparently.
@@Veritas419 Just fell outta a coconut tree, eh?
These are no longer shotgun torture test, they’re just James torture videos lol I’m convinced there’s a subset of commenters that just love putting this man through it haha
100%
The only one putting James through it is James himself
@@gigabytes5955 I know I was just joking
100%
Actually, most of us just wanted him to do his job and put out videos that aren't biased, but that's why most of us aren't sticking around. He acts like he's never used a shotgun before.
"I'd rather run the Cobain drill"
That drill is such a headache.
I did see a bright light before I tried it. Now some dude won't stop calling himself 'Ra.'
Too soon. 😊
It would probably malfunction
“He had good aim” -Dave Mustaine
I have a M3000. When I got it, I broke it down, cleaned it, lubed it, then broke it in... It's been very dependable. I'm not a big fan of pistol grip shotguns, so I may swap out the stock one day.
Thank you.
At least 23 other people have given you the thumbs up re the correct way to prepare any new shotgun just for ordinary use let alone a 500 round test......
Have you ever found that the one two or three gas ports from the barrel are incompletely drilled or have drilling debris in them?
That stuffs up the gun right from the start.
I’ve had my stoeger m3k since 2021 and besides a few ejection issues in the first couple hundred rounds which I remedied with the $5 benelli extractor and the loose stock issue which never came back up after some loctite it’s been awesome. Thousands of rounds and broken clays later I love this shotgun.
My favorite cheap shotgun is my $300 police trade in 590A1 that came with food crumbs in the FCU. Thank you to my local PD's weapon procurement guy who thought getting rid of a whole arsenal of finely made Mossburgs to trade them towards new Rustington 870s (yes they were rusting in patrol cars less than a month after purchase) was a good idea. We are all very thankful for you gracious donations to our personal armories.
I hope you didn't waste those crumbs, donut crumbs never go bad. Neither do McDonald's fries.
@@wizardofahhhs759an attempt at humor I see. There will be others. Maybe they'll work. Keep trying.
Yep. That's how I got my 590A1. Only bought it for the bayonet lug though. Not to serve as any primary.
@@mattmarzula What's YOUR favorite donut?
That’s why I buy real Remington 870’s. Vintage models. Built like a tank, haven’t rusted and won’t. Also since the receiver is made of steel, the carrier dog won’t pop out of place when you drop the shotgun on the ground 😉
When the Maverick 88 exists, no reason to buy this
Agreed! Love my Mav 88
Love the Mav
Yeah, seems like it just isn't worth buying semi autos unless you go big
Mav 88 is your budget king friend
If you can’t come up with $800 to at least buy a used Mossberg 940 Pro Tactical, then yes just stick your broke ass to a pump
Stay away from the Mossberg 940....there crap as well,it has the same problems as the 930 with the or3gun parts, lifter problems,feed problems, catastrophic jams,it hit or miss with the 940 half are good half are bad, just look on UA-cam you'll find people have plenty of problems with them, then you'll have UA-camrs who don't have problems at all, a lot of UA-camrs Re NOT honest though they're hiding the jams the ones getting paid to promote, stick with Beretta or Benelli for autos
For future reference, James, The Stoeger is an inertia action gun and they go together like a Benelli or a Franchi. You have to affix the handguard to the barrel in the same position as it will be when installed first, bolt forward, and then slide it over the mag the tube as a single unit. It will all slide right into place very easy and then put your barrel nut on.
This is the sort of info that needs to be included in the manual.
@@kutter_ttl6786: It is.
These guys are idiots.
Super easy to do, can't believe these clowns couldn't do it.
@@ZREXER1250they don’t include a manual with the gun. At least, they didn’t with my 1301 tactical. I had a gunsmith show me how to assemble/disassemble mine.
I own this gun and a SBEIII. I cant speak for "out-the-box reliability" as the first thing I did before shooting it was change the extractor and extractor spring to a benelli M2 extractor and spring. never had issue with extraction or ejection. After a while, i would occasionally get a round that hangs up while feeding. I called barretta/benelli in mayland and they instructed me to slightly cant my shell elevator inward for smoother operation. This took it from near perfect reliability to flawless reliability. While I did not have these cycling issues with my benelli, I had some QC issues regarding bolt carrier finish and a chipped carbon fiber barrel rib. I was able to get those parts sent to me for free, biut it was also a $2,000 gun. My point is that, today a lot of things are half assed (even expensive stuff), especially in QC. the only good thing about the m3000 is its price and that there are many replacable parts for it as well as interchangable benelli parts.
James Reeves: *starts a series on torture testing cheap, shitty shotguns*
Also James Reeves: Why do you people do this to me?
I don't know if $450 qualifies as "cheap".
@@michaeldegginger7076 Considering a maverick 88 is up to around $250, it definitely qualifies. Cheap ain't what it used to be. Same reason you can't find a junker car under $2K anymore.
@@michaeldegginger7076$450 is a good chunk of change. But, look at it within the context of semi auto shotguns.
Compared to similar offerings from browning, beretta, and benelli, it is cheap.
Because this is an inertia-action shotgun. The moment shoulder stock loosened to the point of virtual detachment, it was destined to malfunction…but you knew this.
I bet Scott's neck is itching. Kentucky Ballistics
Bingo
Nooooo it's Turkish, it's automatically shit. There aren't hundreds of people successfully using them as entry level and backup competition guns.
Yup. It was probably in the ‘Tur-glish’ instructions to tighten the stock retaining bolt at some stage of the assembly.
In the end, there can no deviation from: “The Message”
I could feel your guy's pain assembling it the first couple minutes of the vid! I had a very similar issue assembling my Turkish shotgun, except it was a pump. Had it about a year and sold the dumb thing. Bought a vintage 1970's Remington 870. Best decision I've made when buying a shotgun.
Apologies, I was one of the guys that begged for this shotgun to be reviewed... I'm buying a Beretta patrol.
Yeah,
The Beretta is the best…
Good move. For semi-autos, go with Beretta or Benelli. Of note, Beretta has had some phenomenal rebates as of late.
I absolutely love my Beretta A300 Patrol. It has been flawless for me.
Upgraded the magazine end cap to an aluminum GG&G and its much nicer. And the Beretta Pro Lifter is so much better, truly no downsides and you can still ghost load if you want.
If your not set on semiauto, the mossberg maverick it hands down the best new budget shotgun made in mine and many many others opinion. Best 110$ i ever spent on a gun. He has a burndown on it. It broke every piece of equipment and shoulder that touched it while it yawned at the meezly 500 rounds.
Same
my m3000 has ran flawlessly for over 3 years never had a misfire or ejection problem. i love that gun
I have the M2000 pump version with the extended 18.5 barrel with the extended toob that goes the length of the barrel and love it. Wanna get the pistol grip stock for it but it's never in fockin stock
Stoeger 3020 is the absolute tits for dove. 1oz shells to break it in. Anyone who says otherwise is gay.
One of my first shotguns. I heavily modified mine, even had the loading port filed and opened up and put a worked trigger and it holds 12 shells. Used it extensively for 2 years in 3 gun and when i retired from that i started using it in sporting clays. Even though the barrel is only 24 inches it does well shooting clays.
It took about 25 buck shot to break it in. And has gone through at least 3k shells without an issue. I retired it 2 years ago. But it was well worth the $500 i paid for it plus about $300 i put into it. I also purchased a m3k version afterwards and it does good also. Now it sits on the wall along with several other shotties
Have had a Stoeger M3500 for +10yrs and it’s more reliable than my Benelli Super Eagle… BUT I did have that stock issue initially, it is a pain in the ass to take down, the plastics are abysmal and it weighs nearly 10lbs. I hate that I love it but I love it.
Yeah I have a m3500 too and I never had issues like this in mine. I have had to retighten my stock but it has been extremely reliable for several years and I abuse the shit out of it waterfowl hunting. The only issue I have had is one day when I left it out and it rained and froze up. Didn't fire the first time.
I have an m3000, not an issue so far after seven hundred rounds, change the stock to a magpull because the original was to long on me and stippled the grip areas, also put an oversized bolt release. No issues on assembly or disassembly and has runner from buckshot to slugs without a glitch, also everything I’ve heard from other owners is pretty much the same as me
Glad I’m not the only one here that had a workhorse M3500…..maybe the quality went down in the past 10 years but mine ran like a freight train while bird hunting
I really wonder what is going on with this video. Not sure if he just got a bad gun or if he is limp shouldering to cause the failures. You have to have the stock against your shoulder to properly cycle a inertia gun. Maybe the stock issues are causing him not to shoulder properly.
@@cfritz420 that would explain the bumpfire as well.
James out here contemplating his life choices and how it led to him being the Turkish Shotgun expert. 👍
Peer Pressure
Yes thinking the Vice President elect is younger than I am. What went wrong?
expert lmao... 🤡
He decided someone had to do God’s work for us poors.
I waited and waited for this very video but I couldn't wait anymore for last week I purchased the a300 ultima patrol and I'm glad I did after watching this video
I continue to be amazed by your bad luck with Turkish shotguns. I've had nothing but success with my four, all from different manufacturers in Turkey. Pump, semi-auto, and mag fed all with zero malfunctions.
My Dad and I both have Stoeger M3500’s, and they’ve malfunctioned on us so much over the years that we’ve dubbed that sound the “Stoeger Click.” It doesn’t matter how clean you get them or how well lubricated they are, some days they just refuse to cycle. Oh yeah, they also jam 80-90% of the time shooting 3.5 inch magnum shells, even though they’re chambered in 3.5 in- the extractor likes to let go of the rim right before the empty shell clears the chamber, leaving you stuck with a nasty stovepipe. For some reason they seem to like the 3 inch magnums shells though.
Do content for the poors, everyone knows the rules. James has the best import car and shotgun channel out there, never fold to the algorithm.
Today's the day! Appreciate the video king
Sees cheap shotgun burndown... looks at the video length... yup it failed lol
I bought 2 of them .I clean grease off spring an mag tube .worked perfectly
My experience as well. Cleaned inside the mag tube as well as they have this preservative oil in there as well.
The only thing mine wouldn't run is 1 oz trap loads.
A $20 low drag aluminum follower is a nice upgrade
I just got my Stoeger M3k today. I cleaned off all the factory "oil" and lubed everything real good. I took it out to run some heavy loads for break in. It ran everything I put in it. 100 rounds of 1 1/8 1300fps, 100 rounds light target loads, and 100 handloads of hot buck and slug. not one single malfunction. My stock did loosen up after about 100 rounds (a known issue) but easy fix to tighten the nut. The issue with installing the barrel is the recoil spring binding on the barrel. It took me a while to figure this out, too. try to put it all together with the handguard off and you'll see where the spring is getting in the way of the barrel. Overall, I'm very happy with my M3K. I'm adding a knock off SRO dot to it and some grip tape on the sides of the handguard.
15:31 Personally, I would have liked to see how it ran if you were able to torque down the butt stock bolt and degrease the recoil spring, but I know these are "fresh out of the box" tests.
I think that you should give it another go, but you should definitely tighten the stock up.
If you hate before taking it out of the box, you’re probably gonna hate it out of the box. Mine went together in about a minute. I followed the break in procedures according to Stoeger and I’ve had 0 issues.
The stock fell off dude it’s shit 💩
@@terry92ish There's a wrench for that. And Loctite is a thing.
I was actually thinking that it’s possible the gun is performing like that partly because of the assembly job we watched… not saying this is a good product… but I am saying that a top notch product that’s been assembled poorly is gunna perform poorly, it kind of applies to any machine.
@@terry92ishoperator error. When I first get my guns, I go through, clean them, inspect every bolt, loctite as many as I can, and hand rack the action about a thousand times.
I then run some basic low power range ammo, about 100-200 rounds worth. Clean then gun, oil it, check over everything, and never had a single issue with any brand from Mossberg to Taurus.
Stoeger is just fine.
@@terry92ishyour supposed to make sure all screws are tight to begin with
The start and stop of the music never fails to make me laugh at the failures. Iconic at this point.
Gotta do the Winchester SXP Defender next
I don't have these problems with my Stoeger M3000. Yes, assembling the shotgun for the first time is a bit tricky, but it's definitely reasonable, especially given the price. However, the weapon works perfectly in operation. I shoot Rottweil Trap ammunition with 28 grams. 250 shots in quick succession on steel targets worked perfectly. I then completely disassembled and cleaned the weapon, all screws were tight and nothing came loose. The shooter with his Benelli M90 wasn't so lucky that day. These are my experiences.
I don't have problems with mine either. But I knew it might have some issues from the factory that I could eliminate. I tore it down and cleaned it, polished the mag tube (the rough painted surface on the early ones was an issue), lubed and reassembled before shooting.
The foregrip and stock i ended up stippling because james was right it is slippery. All this cost me zero dollars.
Oh I did change the plastic mag follower to a low drag aluminum one from moa precision for $20. That's probably why James's bolt was outrunning the magazine
Plenty of videos on youtube with people having issues with theirs. Just cuz 1 or 2 run, doesn't mean they overall don't have issues.
@@SideSwipePB But they’re having issues for the same reason James is, not properly preparing the gun for operation. The gun takes maintenance for proper operation, bottom line.
That M90's name? Albert Einstein.
"Trump barely a week after election got James Reeves to finally review the Stoeger" add that to the list lol
OMG I laughed harder at this than necessary.
@twelvepercentitalian2511 😂 it was like the first thing I thought about 0:05 into the video
😂😅😅😅
Many tubers are coming out completely.
Project 2025 makes James the Secretary of Turkish Shotgun Testing.
I know you hate doing these James, but not only are they entertaining at your expense (which immediately makes it funnier), they're very informative for us poors that can't go and buy a shit gun and run testing for reliability.
So thank you James. I appreciate all the work you do.
Ok, I tried a Stoeger 9mm hand gun at a range day, and that thing had a better grouping at 7 yards with iron sights, than the glock I had just shot with a red dot, JS. It was smooth and felt very good in my hands. Oh, and they cheeeeeeap!
Palmetto State has them for $220ish with a $75 rebate. Ordered the STR9 MC
@@JimHawking- Nice! I scour those daily deals but missed that one! thanks!
James, thanks for finally doing a Stoeger video- it was literally the reason I joined subscribestar over 2 years ago.
I wish this shotgun performed better, and I'm tempted to make excuses for it, but I won't. You have it fair treatment, it would have performed better if you gave it a once over before the range- but so would have every other Turkish gun.
I have 2 pieces of criticism about this test, and then a piece of advice for anyone who is a new owner.
1. It's not that difficult to assemble, the franchi's assemble the same way. Once you figure it out once you'll never struggle with it again.
2. It's not fair to say they won't reliably shoot 3” magnums, my m3020 has fired hundreds (maybe 1000) rounds of 3” duck and pheasant rounds, including really fast steel stuff. They're durable.
For new owners, these things like hot loads for their 500 round break in period. 1oz, 1250 fps or greater. After break in, they handle the lighter stuff better, but will never feed low recoil stuff like white rhino.
The rounded bolt handle and enlarged bolt release are new within the last 2-3 years.
The factory butt pads are terrible, and inconsistent between guns- get an aftermarket recoil pad. If you have an m3020, get one with the right screw spacing, shave it down with a belt sander.
9:34 “The Cobain Drill” 😂 I hysterically laughed out loud
As someone who used to manage a gunstore, i sent more stoegers back for repairs than any other gun, theyre garbage
I currently work at a gun store and have for the last five years. I can’t speak to Stoeger shotguns from before that time period and we sell a ton of them, I have only had to send one back since I’ve been there. We aren’t a small operation either, we are one of the largest gun shops in the Florida panhandle. Quality can change. I wouldn’t own a Taurus from 25 years ago, however a current GX4 is one of the best Conceal carry 9mm Micros you can get. Remingtons from 40 and 80 years ago were fantastic, newer ones are complete garbage.
The new Stoeger are good to go.
Why would people bring their gun back to the store just to get it sent off for repairs? Sounds made up tbh
Toss up between Remington and Kimber. When overpriced firearms go back more than less expensive ones, I'd claim that the more expensive ones are garbage. To that point, there's a difference between less expensive and cheap.
@@dcwillis87what do you think of stoegers from 5-6 years ago ?
@@dcwillis87 I have heard how bad panzer m4 shotguns are I have had 1 failure in 400 rounds I have shot through her.
You're doing an important service. I guess the only request still on the list is a modern Remington to see if they've fixed their issues
I looked at an 870 last year, then looked at another, and then another. Three 870s in a row had sharp burrs in the loading gate and around the chamber.
So, no, still dogshit.
@@randytrashcansupposedly the new field master is going to correct those issues. Still yet to be seen.
Even if you find a nice 870, without burrs, sharp edges, or stiff controls, it will rust. It does not care how often you apply oil, it does not care if its a safe queen in a climate controlled room. The finish is so dog awful, it will degrade. I had my new 870 for three months, light coat of oil, temp controlled room, one weekend of goose hunting (may i mind you, I was in a field, not on water) bam, minor surface rust on the receiver, and the entire rib on the barrel, rust. It has not been a good idea to go with an 870 or any other Remington for that matter, over something else, for a long time now
James knew he was going to fail this shotgun before he even started.
You are obviously biased. You hated it before you even had it out of the box. My friend won one in a raffle. He did not want it so he offered it to me for next to nothing. I had to buy it. Mine went together out of the box in less than 2 minutes. You have to remember that this is a inertia action shotgun. If you do not support the gun properly, it will have a failure to feed. But you knew this. You were obviously setting this gun up to fail because you don't like it. So they didn't tighten the stock bolt well out of the factory. A little thread locker, a wrench and 3 minutes and problem solved forever. I have never had this problem with mine. Granted, I only have a few hundred rounds through mine but, I have never had a single problem. I think that it is an amazing gun. Well worth the price. I love it and recommend it to everyone.
First of all thanks for the testing James. Second I own a M3000 Freedom Defender and I went skeet shooting with my friends all of them using my M3000. We ran the 3 dram loads the manual recommends and we fired around 200 loads of Federal targets and didn't have a single failure. Also have ran Federal 00 bucks and slugs and no issue at all. The stock never came lose but I must say that the bolt handle and the bolt release pad actually came off. Contacted Stoeger customer service and tech support from Benelli responded and sent me better quality parts which I replaced myself. Now all issues are fix. I don't doubt that are quality control issues when companies offer products this cheap compared to their higher end counterparts but I do like the fact that Benelli is behind Stoeger and any issues you will have they will respond in a timely manner.
Stoeger runs just fine
@@Fenrirsulfre Not for everyone
@@Fenrirsulfre clearly you haven't watched the fucking video before posting
Your experience with Stoeger (Beretta family) was substantially different and better than mine.
Less than one box into a new gun, the front sight parted company from the shotgun. I called "Stoeger" and they wanted the whole gun back...I was living in very rural Alaska at the time, the hassle of traveling to the nearest FFL (essentially because they don't repair, they replace, would have become an FFL trip) involves a few hundred $ and a day, sometimes two.
So dudes, just send me a new barrel and I'll send you the old....anyway, long story short, it was a huge hassle.
Stoeger sucks. Obviously there are reasons why they don't even bother repairing.
Nice! This gun, and coincidentally, you, are the reason I have a 1301 today.
All Hail James Reeves. Dark Lord of the Scattergun Burndowns .. If that Stoeger needs a new home, send it to me. I'm not assembly challenged and I have some loc-tite. With all due respect.
Thank you for testing the Stoeger M3000 as I have been waiting to watch this from you for years now. Well I own two Stoeger M3000's. One a 28" barrel bird gun with walnut stock and at first it didn't cycle the the #7.5 shot 1100fps but once I broke it in with a box of #5 shot 1300+fps it fed the #7.5 shot 1100fps w/o faults. The owners manual recommends breaking in with heaver loads. But though the manual does not say to, I did clean the shipping oil and re-oil the barrel & receiver before break-in. When I bought the gun the forend stock would not fit and I had to have Bass Pro shops send it back to the Stoeger vendor to fix the fit-up (this was after they - Bass Pro - scratched the barrel and stock trying to jam them together - grrrr). But now the gun is working well and I think it is a great value for a semi-auto in the $500 range - looks gorgeous in burnt brown cerakote and walnut stock.
So I bought 18.5" barreled Freedom gun - same as you tested - during an on-line sale but haven't shot it yet. It's just a great compliment to the 28" bird gun as all the parts swap (including chokes). I will be committed to make it work like it should. Too many three-gun enthusiasts using the Stoeger shotguns to call them junk. I have seen another video review of the Stoeger stock loosen but to me that is a minor issue when considering the price saving over other tactical guns. Now the owner manual says the ammunition required is 1 once shot and 3 drams (28 grams) of powder but almost no ammo manufactures list these. So I look at the velocity and size of shot as a reference when buying ammo.
So I think that you proved out of the box the Stoeger will flop and thanks for your efforts. But my Stoeger M3000 is still my favorite semi-auto.
cardo0
Your pain saved me the pain. I’ll be buying the Beretta. Thank you!!
Thanks for wasting your money so I don't waste mine
Couldn't agree any more!
Looks at my old Remington 1100T....👍
Actually, he’s wasting your money if you watch his channel. Who do you think pays for UA-cam? It is the “you” in UA-cam.
@LTVoyager No, he used the money to buy the gun and demonstrate how shitty that gun is and he makes money from the video. If I bought that turd of a gun it would all be loss. No he has a gun that doesn't work and that can't be resold
@@robdickinson829 You probably think that if you get in an accident and collect from your car insurance that it is free money also.
@LTVoyager no there a great value to me in James destroying that gun. Why do you think it costs me anything to watch a video
It’s inertia driven and has a 100 round full power load break-in period. The stock just needs to be tightened. Stoeger is owned by Benelli and makes/shares parts with The M2 and M4. This is a great semi-auto and has lots of aftermarket upgrades from TTI and Brailey
Agree, love mine. A good cleaning to get off the shipping preservative and they run great.
@@ZREXER1250does it looks like normal oil ?
Cope harder. The remington versamax is a clone of the Benelli M4 but its dog shit. Doesn't matter if it shares parts, the parts are made shittier like the gun.
Maybe they bent the action bars putting it together. They certainly did not inspect and lube the action or magazine tube surface.
@@gigachad6885no, mine had a cosmoline goo all over the insides. Super sticky.
Cobain Drill.......Love It.
My first gun was a stoeger 2000 and ive been using that for hunting and trap for at least 12 years now with no issues. I love this gun
Dude your videos are ALWAYS on point and right on time!! I was literally looking at getting one of these last week! I have a Stoeger as my crane, geese, duck gun. It works great for that application. Never had a malfunction so I’ve considered one for a tactical home defense gun.
that's very interesting, I have the M3000 field version with the 28" barrel for the past 3 years since I basically turned 18. Got it out of the box, cleaned it and oiled it. I've shot about 700-800 rds through mine and only issues I've had were due to just shooting loads that aren't powerful enough (mainly birdshot loads), anything below 1 1/4 oz had cycling issues. But any buck or slugs cycled as intended. I've even polished the mag tube to help smooth out the action and still not issues or rust with just regular maintenance. Now with that being said, it having nothing to grip while also being super light makes it not fun at all to shoot, especially slugs, but maybe that signature Turkish QC managed to get me a good one, you however not so much it looks like.
Get a soldering iron or wood burning tool and stipple over the factory checkering. Very easy to do and no more slippery grip. A great free mod
@@Piledriver2235 yeah, but with the people purchasing this, they are more likely to have a needle, spoon, and lighter to do this mod. They cant afford a soldering iron.
@@RedZeppelinAirship that's methed up
@@RedZeppelinAirship Wood burning tools are 20 dollars at your local hardware store, less if you go to harbor freight.
We need more:
- Mailroom (it's been almost a year for gods sake!)
- If guns were cars
- Car reviews
James, I'll take it if you are selling. One stoeger m3000, tossed (atleast) once.
Same here. There are a few mods to make, and that gun will run quite well.
@@1011-n3tDude can't figure out how to install a barrel without beating it off a post, let alone being able to tighten a stock bolt.i doubt he capable of doing a few cheap mods. Lol
Thank you for taking one for the team, saved me 450$
Sorry the stock came loose, was hoping for a complete burn down. Built mine for 3 gun, and she has been a budget workhorse.
We use a m3500 for duck/bird. Stock came loose. It’s a 13mm in the back. The 3500 we use 3 1/2 inch mag for geese. Only had issues with cycling using cheap low brass.
That's some inspiring gunsmithery!
I am surprised you had such bad luck. I absolutely love my M3000. Use it all year long for shotgun competitions, 3 gun matches, bird hunting etc year round and I don't think I have even had a single malfunctions in the few years I have owned it. Sad to see you got a lemon
My exact opinion. He got a lemon. Mine has been amazing
Yeah, i got the m3500 and it shoots way better than my 590.
Same boat here, I've Had my M3000 Waterfowl Edition for 6 years, and it's always ran anything I've shoved in it, even Covered in mud, and Ice Frozen all over it from those Freezing rain Mornings.
@@darrinshumate9059 I’m really upset about this one.
James needs to
Try out a different Stoeger m3000
When you go in with the goal of making it look like crap you do thingsto confirm it... buy the worlds nices hand gun and limp wrist it youll get issues, beat the shiz out of a high end shotgun "putting it together" youll make issues hes not trying to see it the gun is good, hes doing his best to hate it and make you hate it too....
Ive had the same m3500 for about 8 years now. Ive used it as a paddle used it as a trap shooting gun left it in the bed of the truck uncased and have never cleaned or oiled the gun and it hasnt jammed a single time and has never failed a single time. Its the same gun as a 3000 just chambered for 3.5" shells
I like your reviews on everything.
This went exactly as i expected. Great vid
I use a Stoeger M3000 M3K variant. Keep it clean and lubed and it runs fine with
2 3/4 shells, bird shot, duck rounds, and slugs.
Has yet to jam.
🐂 💩
It's literally a Benelli Inertia gun. Same exact system. Pulling it out of the box and running 500 rounds through it without any lube whatsoever is a fool's errand.
But that wouldn't be hyperbolic enough.
@@BofadeezNUTZ-r1e 🏳️🌈
@@SGvalentine 🫵🏻👰🏻♀️👌🏻👈🏿
@@BofadeezNUTZ-r1eprojecting?
James Reeves the Turkish Shotgun Destroyer.
I think James is taking shotgun armorers classes from Tim Walz.
@@nchintalapani Oooo burn!!! 🔥
On top of that, his limp wristing is causing all of those failures. Get with the program.
The M3000 is my all-around shotgun, started as a freedom 7+1 tactical then got a longer barrel, wood furniture, holosun 503, and some internal upgrades. Good capacity, good balance, overall very reliable except the recoil system doesn't like anything less than 1100 FPS. But it did require attention at first--clean and apply generous lube, look for wear points and polish them down, don't run garbage ammo, etc, stuff that is common with all budget guns. But it has matured into a very good gun.
Good points. Nothing less than 1180 fps after a 100 round break in with 1325 fps. Lock tight and retorque the stock bolt. Smooth and polish the action and magazine tube surface. Lubricate then reassemble and leave the action open for a week. Then begin the break in. After the break in use it for a shotgun match or shotgun course then decide if it is a keeper before any upgrades.
What is your mod list?
2:44 The one universal issue with these guns is, they ship with extremely heavy recoil spring grease, which is why a lot of people were having hang ups in cold weather, even with magnum loads. I feel like Stoeger should include instructions in the manual to run a degreaser before applying a light gun oil to the spring.
11:53 James literally went cursed meme gun on us
This is why James is the king of shotgun content on youtube. Who else has made an honest appraisal of this gun?
Guess I'll save up for a Beretta A300 instead.
Cheap Turkish shotguns are always hit or miss. I bought a Citadel warthog back when everyone was saying they were the sh!t, and I could not get it to cycle shells. Finally put a tube extension kit on it with a better spring and follower and polished the crap out of the internals. Yeah, it works now but if I need a shotty I’m grabbing my old AF police riot shotgun I got from the pawn shop instead.
I’m glad you did this review! People online love to say that a Stoeger is a Benelli for people who like to save money. That thing is a POS. I’m stuck to my SBE and my Montefeltro.
ONE of the reasons the 1301 and the A300 are more money is that they smooth out all the edges of the chamber and lift gate. These cheaper Turkish guns are made such tight tolerances that they hang up when new. You need to polish the chamber with drill and scotch pad wrapped around a barrel cleaning brush. That's why they have the break in period. Polish the chamber and you don't have to break it in.
except every single stoppage he had was not chamber or extraction related; they were all feeding and ejection related.
These Turkish guns are not made to tight tolerance at all. Being tight is just shitty machining on these
Watching the recoil throw you back in grateful it’s not me. I will pray for your shoulder 😂
That's why it misfired. It is an inertia driven action. If you do not support the gun properly, it will miss feed. I can't believe this guy is too dumb to know this.
Can the new owner survive assembling it?😅
ROFLMAO 🤣
Sounds like that POS has its own wait period built in just by assembling it! 🤣🤣
Assembly is so fucking easy, I swear these two clowns never touched a gun before this video.
The 80s called they want their federal slugs back. Man those things were hot.
First time watcher, love the content. Definitely going to subscribe
I have a stoeger m3000 tactical. I have put around 350 rounds through it. The only time it has jammed is running low recoil bird shot and buckshot. Anything traveling at less than 1200 feet per second will choke the gun. Haven't had any issues with full power bird shots, buck shots, and slugs. The stoeger can take Benelli extractors though. So you can probably switch them out and get better extraction. In addition, the stoeger m3000 uses an inertia driven system. Not a gas system. The stock being loose probably prevented the gun from cycling. An inertia driven system needs resistance in order to cycle. A loose stock would be an antithesis to the system. Like if you were to limp wrist a Glock constantly and complain that it jams all the time. I think this review was done in bad faith.
Well said!! He had made his mind up to hate this gun before he even had it out of the box.
"Anything traveling at less than 1200 feet per second will choke the gun."
So the best self defense buckshot won't run it?
@immikeurnot I use full power buckshot, so it's not an issue for me. I am not that scared of 12 gauge recoil.
You will need a lighter inertia spring for lighter load shells.
@@R_K_S2401 Reduced recoil patterns better. There's a reason Federal's tactical buck is the gold standard.
I'm definitely not recoil-sensitive. I just want to run the best instead of coping because I picked a D tier Turkish POS.
I’ve had one failure with mine. Only 1, and it was a failure to eject. And it could have been just not placed on my shoulder well enough cuz i was shooting a skeet coming at me fast. Been duck hunting several seasons and shot skeet for 2 years. Then again, i clean and tighten everything BEFORE shooting it as you should with all firearms. I disagree with this fail. I think you should clean and tighten everything then retest it. I just don’t feel it was a fair run for it. I’d even be willing to help with that test, and I’ll bring mine with me also. I’m not crazy far living at the border of LA / TX. That stock moving around is what i believe is causing your failures due to it being recoil operated. Put some locktite on that stock and shoot the 500 again. I’ll bet it makes it. I shoot really really HOT 3 inch bismuth hand loads for duck season and never have any issues. I probably have over 5000 rounds through mine in the 2.5 years I’ve owned it.
Thank you for your awesome videos sir!!
Do you do an oil change and full tune up on your car every time before you drive it? No? Then why excuse poor quality with doing 10x more "maintenance" just to make it work?
@@a.k47-74 how do you figure? Yes, vehicles go through a “pre delivery” before being delivered to a customer by the dealership. Trust me, i work for GM Firearms on the other hand, should be done by the operator. Any firearm should be taken apart and cleaned and inspected before firing. And i never said anything about “every time”. The first time it should be gone through.
Nah, we’re good 👍
videos like this cost me money, now I'm gonna have to buy a dam 1301
These shotgun burn downs have become my favorite vids for sure great job
I really appreciate you following through on this one man, been waiting for a while!
I wasn’t here for the Stoeger to win or lose, I just wanted to hear your take on it. Good work James🫡
Nice accidental discharge at 8:56. 😮
Obviously it wouldn't have helped with the stock coming loose but these "experts" should know that regardless of the firearm you always disassemble and thoroughly clean and re-lubricate a new firearm prior to first use. Otherwise the test is meaningless. That's not to say that there aren't guns out there that CAN be reliable straight out of the box but it is of no matter. ALL new guns get disassembled, cleaned, inspected and re-lubricated prior to first use. BTW... 30 years ago the rear stock came loose in a similar fashion on my new Mossberg 590. I re-tightened it and that was the end of that.
I find locktite + tightening the stock bolt tends to fix that issue. I have a new maverick 88 that did that first range session. I did as previously described and the issue is gone.
The manual explicitly states to clean heavily prior to use haha. That’s what causes all the malfunctions with these apparently. I have had no issues.
@@neilrobinson1991 Someone should tell all these "burn down" experts. Sadly, a lot of gun test videos I watch on YT involves taking a firearm directly from the gun store to the range and doing a "reliability" test. As for these shotgun tests, I gave them the benefit of a doubt on the use of garbage ammo.
My maverick 88 NEVER had a failure ever in 9 years since I had it, neither has my 590 A1, neither has my Beretta 1301
Yeah I just don't get the obsession with semi auto shotguns let alone cheap ass ones. I have a semi auto Beretta and it's nice but I still prefer pumps for simplicity sake
James- I have the tactical version of the M3000. Pic rail, longer mag tube. And I have to say it has cold led everything from light Winchester white box #8 shot to 3inch Turkey load with nary a hiccup. No break in period and yes it was slightly tough to assemble but once I got the procedure right no problems. But no question you had some type of lemon. I also have a MAC2 which is a clone of a Benelli M2 and that thing has been functioning flawlessly from the get go. In fact I killed 3 turkeys with it so far this fall, 2 of them at almost 50 yards. And it only cost me 365.00! But I also have 2 Mossberg’s, a 940 JM Pro and a 940 Tactical. Both are of course excellent and load from the magazine with stroking the action.
I’ve still got a m2000 with thousands of round through it. Shot skeet competition with it for years, 75-100 shots every weekend. I use it for everything, never any issues.
Turkish shotguns are the new 'Saturday Night Specials'.
Send it back, give them a chance to fix it, and then try to destroy it when you get it back😂
It kind of defeats the purpose. While typically on TFBTV, we have a "one return" policy, I buy these all off the rack and if I sent every one of them back to the manufacturer, not only would the videos take forever, but I'm sure I'd get something different back anyways. Part of the problem with Turkish shotguns is QC and if I am the only one getting QC'd guns, then my results are going to be skewed as compared to the common buyer.
@@JamesReeves based
Didn't the M4 with mods also fail?
@@JamesReevesThe QC game of chance is always lost on the "mine's been flawless" guy
Followup to my own commnt: the M4, bone stock, passed
Interesting. I've seen lots of them that run great, but they are gamer guns with opened up loading ports and wizard staff mag tubes, running sopping wet. That model almost looks like a 1201FP.
Just saying this is what I've found ,the Turkish semi shotguns don't like the push/pull style of shooting. They require 100% hard pull back into the shoulder, 100% of the cycling time to function correctly. So, it's "not" built for "everyone".
I had problems with my M3000 Tacticool. I replaced the extractor claw and ALL of the springs in the bolt with Benelli M2 parts. (Inertia spring too!) Now it runs like a Singer sewing machine. (Minimum 3 Dram 1 oz). The Tinnitus Show has a good video bout this weapons system. Hope this helps!!
About 10-12 years ago I got an m2000 as a kicker in a trade. It cycles slower than a pump but it stands up to cold weather. Apparently, it's the only working stoeger in existence and is purely a loaner for the duck blind
I've heard many times that this was a really good budget semi auto shotgun to buy. Thank you for testing this so I don't have to waste my money on it.
This was not a good example of how to test a cheap inertia driven shotgun at all, let alone how you should be running one out of the box.
You think maybe the internet just likes to watch James suffer?
I can tell by the drum and paddle that it's one of the older model M3000s, the newer ones come with the same size parts as the competition shotguns.
To be fair mine has had over 500 round including 3" mags and worked flawlessly. However the first thing i did was upgrade the follower and spring in the magazine and swapped out the stock for a Magpul stock via adapter from (I believe) Midwest Gunworks. Well worth it.