# Benelli Vs. Stoeger



## Jamaulden

Ok So I know they are made by the same folks but just wondering if anyone has done a side by side test of the Benellie Super Vinci and the Stoeger 3500. I will be making a purchase this summer and would like some input. Price is a factor and I know there is a huge price gap however I would really like some good input on this one and not that the Stoeger is $1100 cheaper. Thanks


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## Buck25

To my knowledge neither of these guns have been out for more than a couple months correct? So your not going to get many people that really know these guns true reliability. I think stoeger makes a good shotgun but would obviously rather have the benelli. I think with the prices that different it all comes down to having the money to buy the benelli or not. I'm curious why you are only choosing between these two guns? Does this stoeger resemble a vinci? o and there is an 1100 dollar price difference :wink:


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## Jamaulden

Well the Super vinci has had my eye since I heard it was coming out. But then stoeger came out with the 3500 and it has "the same inertia driven sytem" so they say but ive heard the stoeger kicks like a mule....I believe you get what you pay for but I also believe that fuel will reach $6 a gal by the end of the summer and I may not have the extra $1100. Neither gun has been out long this is true anyhow just hoping someone may have had the chance to shoot both....to bad guns arent like car a test drive would be nice!!!!


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## blhunter3

Why not get a gun that has been tested and proven in the field?


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## Ron Gilmore

blhunter3 said:


> Why not get a gun that has been tested and proven in the field?


But then I would not be on the cutting edge, be in line to be hoodie wearing groupie with my sights set on being a Pro Staffer! :lol: :lol: :beer:

No offense intended to the thread starter, just could not pass up blhunter3 setting one on the T-stand!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## blhunter3

Good one Ron! :beer:


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## dakotashooter2

Thats right......... everyone kows that the geese just laugh at you if your gun is more than 2 years old (this applies to decoys too).......................... oke: oke: oke: oke: oke: oke:


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## Horker23

You get what you pay for!


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## Buck25

i got a chance to shoulder the stoeger today and i wasn't real impressed. It seemed really heavy even compared to the older 3 in. stoeger. The vinci on the other hand is amazing to shoulder but i hear ya with the money situation.


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## Recurvenator

BUY AMERICAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## stewartdco

You get what you pay for! I once had a Stoeger o/u and it was the worst firearm purchase I ever made. The stock fell apart and it was just a heavy gun. When I had problems with the stock they (Benelli - I bought it before Benelli acquired Stoeger) wouldn't back it. I finally ditched it at a sale and got my daughter a Remington 870 Express with the money.

I bought a SBEII years ago and have never had a problem. Like you, money is an issue, but I've never regretted saving up the extra $ for that purchase!


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## lesserhunter

havent ever held a stoeger but i can honestly say the benelli vinci is by FAR the worst shouldering gun i have ever felt. buy a SBE 2 and you wont be dissapointed


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## nodakoutdoors.com

Sold my SBE2 for a Beretta Xplorer - I'm done buying Benelli myself...not reliable day in day out.

My .02 - don't spend it all at once.


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## Chuck Smith

If money is an issue.....look at buying used.

The stoegers (in general, i have not shot this model or make)....are clunkier (don't feel right in my hands), and kick more. Still good guns for the price.

I am with chris.....when I was looking for guns a couple years ago. I went with a beretta extrema 2. I have not regretted my decision one bit. Shoulders great, fast shooting (gets you back on target quickly because of less kick), light weight, etc. But just go to a store....shoulder both and see how they feel in your hands.


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## Andy Weber

Chris Hustad said:


> Benelli ...not reliable day in day out.


Thats funny. Because most of the reviews on the SBE-II say just how reliable they are day in and day out.


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## Buck25

uh oo somebody said something bad about benellis and now people are getting their feelings hurt...lesser hunter just because you dont know how to properly shoot a gun doesnt mean the vinci shoulders badly.


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## lesserhunter

i own a SBE 2 and will say that they arent reliable day in and day out. mine will only cycle federals and hevi metal, other than that i havent had any problems i guess. IMO no semi auto is going to be reliable all the time.


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## Buck25

lesserhunter said:


> i own a SBE 2 and will say that they arent reliable day in and day out. mine will only cycle federals and hevi metal, other than that i havent had any problems i guess. IMO no semi auto is going to be reliable all the time.


wow dude i'm suprised by the honesty! benellis are obviously good guns just giving you a hard time ha


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## nodakoutdoors.com

Andy Weber said:


> Chris Hustad said:
> 
> 
> 
> Benelli ...not reliable day in day out.
> 
> 
> 
> Thats funny. Because most of the reviews on the SBE-II say just how reliable they are day in and day out.
Click to expand...

Notice you said *most*, I know a lot of ex-SBE2 owners.

A couple problems that occurred regularly with mine:

1) Slow action - I found I was cleaning my gun CONSTANTLY, especially the "slides" where the trigger action slides forward/back. If you got any build up in there, the gun just slowed down and at times it turned into a single shot (especially on cold or precip days).

2) I'm not best at describing another problem but when the action goes forward, it "twists" to lock into place. Mine wouldn't always do that...causing yet another single shot.

A gave the gun the benefit of the doubt and ran it for around 5 seasons. A couple years ago I got a Beretta O/U as a backup gun and due to the unreliability of the SBE2 I ended up using the O/U the vast majority of the time (love that gun). But to be perfectly honest I wish I switched to a Beretta auto sooner.


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## lesserhunter

i have problem number 2 with mine quite regularly as well


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## Andy Weber

Chris Hustad said:


> Andy Weber said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Chris Hustad said:
> 
> 
> 
> Benelli ...not reliable day in day out.
> 
> 
> 
> Thats funny. Because most of the reviews on the SBE-II say just how reliable they are day in and day out.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> A couple problems that occurred regularly with mine:
> 1) Slow action - I found I was cleaning my gun CONSTANTLY, especially the "slides" where the trigger action slides forward/back. If you got any build up in there, the gun just slowed down and at times it turned into a single shot (especially on cold or precip days).
> 2) I'm not best at describing another problem but when the action goes forward, it "twists" to lock into place. Mine wouldn't always do that...causing yet another single shot.
> A gave the gun the benefit of the doubt and ran it for around 5 seasons. A couple years ago I got a Beretta O/U as a backup gun and due to the unreliability of the SBE2 I ended up using the O/U the vast majority of the time (love that gun). But to be perfectly honest I wish I switched to a Beretta auto sooner.
Click to expand...

Not calling you out and calling you a liar, but I have never had any one of those problems, and neither have any of the local guys with SBE-II and Old SBEs. My SBE-II is one I got new the first year they sold them. Well I didnt buy it but my father did because I couldn't even shoot a 12 ga. then. But I know I have easily ran 10 cases of shells through it from trap to turkey. Never once had a problem like you said. I have had some jams but they were my own fault. I had a shell with a little mud on the base put in it and when i swung i tipped my gun to the side so far that when it tried to eject the mud and gravity wouldn't let it and it got stuck..my own fault. To each his own, but if this guy is deciding between a *benelli and a stoger like he said.. I would go benelli.*


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## 32-40win

Why not look at the American version SBE? it's quite a bit cheaper, same gun other than the stock. Or an Extrema.


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## Save Hens

ya get what you pay for in most cases..comparing these 2 are sorta like comparing a KIA and cadillac..


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## Andy Weber

Save Hens said:


> ya get what you pay for in most cases..comparing these 2 are sorta like comparing a KIA and cadillac..


Hey..don't be dissin KIA, they hold value better than Cadillac haha. :rollin: 
Sorry back to the guns.


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## johnsd16

I have had the EXACT same problems as Chris with my Cordoba in cold weather. If you look at what Benelli recommends for extreme cold you can fix this problem 100%. If you are going to shoot it in the cold, like 20F or below, you need to take it completely down and clean with a DRY rag those rails and the bolt and everything else in there. DRY DRY DRY, I can't stress that enough. Not with an oily rag, DRY, get everything SUPER DRY as in NO OIL at all. ALSO, beyond cleaning the sides of the bolt and those grooves in the reciever, you need to clean the tube that the bolt arm goes down. The one in the buttstock with the plunger. The best way I have found to do this in a pinch is to use the thin aluminum magazine plug and wrap your DRY rag around it and run the plunger a few times. This will wipe any oil/dirt from the inside of that tube.

After hunting with my single shot Cordoba on a barn burner canada/mallard hunt in 8F weather I was ready to give it the discus toss into the cattails. My browning O/U got used the next day then I cleaned that benelli as described back at the hotel. It worked flawlessly the rest of the trip, and back in MN in 0F weather, then plowed through 5 shot strings of cheap Fiocchi 2 3/4 pheasant loads when it was -23F and countless trap loads shooting pigeons at silos again in sub zero temps. Zero problems.

Now some guys may have done all this and still had some problems, but it was a wake up for me. Simple, no daily cleaning, just had to get it dry one time in Nov then it was good to go. Now running it dry all the time is not the best but you can lube it up for the rest of the year. Of course you can always keep the outside lightly oiled, and all trigger groups are designed to function with zero oil.

I previously worked behind a gun couter for 9yrs part time at a place that was a dealer for Benelli/Fanchi/Stoeger and Beretta/Sako/Tikka. We had FULL IN STORE warranty on all our new guns for 2yrs. This was above and beyond the manufacturer warranty as we had an in house gunsmith. My point is if things broke/didn't work we saw them come back in. We sold hands down more Benellis than Berettas but we also stocked quite a few more Benelli. Overall, once Beretta got away from the old gas guns (Pintails were never that popular in our area) and went to the ExtrI and II, they had similar frequency of problems- few for both. I would say Beretta was slightly more per capita than benelli but if that was even true, it wasn't much. There are haters and lovers of both. The SBEII and ExtrII are superior to the other autos out there right now. Saying one is better than the other is Ford/Chevy IMO, and I have seen a large sample size. I can't tell you how many Browning Golds in various configurations we had come back, SX2s were slightly better. The Stoeger 2000s have the problems with poor quality parts and more breakage that any auto at that $$ level will.

The benelli reps that were worth a darn would always say get them DRY in the cold, or use only a tiny amout of synthetic/teflon based lube. I thought that meant relatively like as in dryish. They mean Sahara dry, Janet Reno dry.

Back to the topic of this post. The Stoeger is not the gun with Benelli is, get what you pay for is very very applicable. The component parts are not the same quality, fit and finish is poorer in all portions of the gun, there are not the added features and quality of materials. Honestly if you only have $400-$500 to spend on an auto, I'd look used SBEI, M1 or SX2 before a new Stoeger. Just my 2 cents.


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## Buck25

john- i had the same problems with my sx3 in the cold, needs to be dry and it works great


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## Horker23

Run Benelli's dry or with graphite! Never with oil or lube and your gun will perform day and day out. Ive own my SBE for 9 years and have had minor issues. This fall before goose season purchased a new SBE2 and havent had a issue yet when alot of other guns have!


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## Buck25

graphite?


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## Horker23

yea graphite shavings you can get them from your local gunsmith


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## coyote sniper

I have had a super vinci for about 2 weeks and put about 200 rounds of trap through it and a handful of 3.5 inch and havn't had a malfunction of any sort yet. I owned a stoeger sxs that was a 2.75 to 3 inch and after shooting one 3 inch in it the safty would come on after each shot. also have a SBE and could get away with cleaning it maybe once a season and might have a stovepipe jam once in a great while if I was shooting a trap load I was very happy with the gun. IMO get the super vinci if money is a issue I doubt they are making a limited run of em just save longer and be happier in the end.


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## Nick Roehl

I have a SX3 that I purposely didn't clean last fall(besides the barrel) and put quite a few cases through it. I never had one problem and I was shooting Fed blue box so it was about the dirtiest gun I have ever cleaned at the end of the season. When it got cold out I put a little break free in it, and it did well in the cold with 3.5er's.
Honestly it doesn't matter what gun you get. There are always some problems with every type of gun. Just get one that shoulders well for you and keep it clean as much as you can.


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## 32-40win

Most autoloader problems are due to lack of proper cleaning, or improper lube, or too much lube. That is a common problem since they were invented. And there are mechanical or design faults to contend with also, they are only a small part of the complaints I've noticed, design faults occur, 105CTI seem to be a good example. The Stoeger is a price point gun, the Super Vinci is a top end gun. Both will have one problem or another occur at some point down the road. For the most part they will both cycle and go bang when they are supposed to. Has the military designed a perfect autoloader yet? Have they got a failproof cold weather lube or cleaning policy ? 
Overall the Vinci is likely to come out to be a better buy in the long run, but, they could have a bad day in QC, or the right person may be getting a Stoeger built on the right day. No different than a GM product from one plant or another, don't know til you drive it.


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## Wetland Warriors

I've had stoger and benelli and what i've heard about the quality has shown to be true. Benelli is made more durable and reliable and hence is more expensive. It is worth the extra money to buy a benelli or beretta over a stoger.


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## Hunter_58346

Throw your Rem oil away and get a can of Otis spray,,,,,


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## possumfoot

i bought my sbe2 when they fist came out.. i have had a couple small issues, but i have always sent my gunt back to benelli and it has never cost me a cent.. mag extentions and 3.5s are hard on a gun..

recoil is not much of a factor for me, but they do kick.. after some much time shooting a sbe2, every thing else just seems bulky..


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## Choclabmax

dakotashooter2 said:


> Thats right......... everyone kows that the geese just laugh at you if your gun is more than 2 years old (this applies to decoys too).......................... oke: oke: oke: oke: oke: oke:


 :rollin:

i remember this one flock of canadas that came in,they said wow look at that tool shootin 3 1/2 xperts and a nova without the recoil crap in the stock... :******: so of course out of pure rage i jumped up and pulled the trigger 3x..mind you it fired every shot, then 3 birds fell. but hey who knows, maybe i should invest 2grand into a gun so it can do the same thing?


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## Wacker 44

The biggest problem with benelli and stoeger is that the spring is located above the trigger mechanism and runs into the stock causing dirt, mud, cattails, etc. to get into the spring and dry it out and make it not slide properly and to get it apart you have to heat it up and screw it out because it has a lock on it that needs to be heated to move making it hard to clean out. Now benelli makes the franchi I-12 were the spring is located underneath the barrel of the gun where absolutely nothing can get to it and you can get to it easy to keep it clean and lube it up and the I-12 is only about 800 bucks unfortunately i think it only comes in 3 in. though. But I have the m2 by benelli it's only a 3 in but i shot just as much if not more than my buddy who has a 3.5 in shotgun, but with any gun you buy you just need to clean and maintain it and you will be fine. Good luck.

Wacker 44
Finish'em


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## Flycaster

Go for the Benelli, I have an M2 and a Legacy 28, and will be picking up my new Super Vinci this week. 
Never had a problem, shot ducks and geese in below zero weather, hundreds of rounds of skeet and sporting clays. Very happy with my guns.


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## surfscoter

Chris Hustad said:


> Sold my SBE2 for a Beretta Xplorer - I'm done buying Benelli myself...not reliable day in day out.
> 
> My .02 - don't spend it all at once.


Ok, I'll have to admit that I have never heard of the Xplorer. I looked it up on youtube and everything is in Italian.

I shoot Benelli and have never had a reliability problem. I have a friend with a Stoger auto loader and he hasn't had many problems. Might be worth the hassle of making sure you gun is clean every morning to save a few hundred dollars.

My problem with the Beretta is that they are too long for my short arms. lol


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