Stoeger M3500 12ga Shotgun Review

Hey! Today,  I'm happy to bring you this 12 gauge shotgun review on the Stoeger M3500 - A lot of viewers have been asking for value line shotguns and this is the first one I could get my hands on. I hadn't shot a whole lot of rounds through it before filming this review, but what I've experienced with it so far is mostly positive. I'm excited to share my thoughts with you today!

This Stoeger M3500 has an MSRP of $849 but I found it at my favorite sporting goods retailer for $799 (Shop Stoeger at REEDS)

The full review on my YouTube channel (Target Focused Life) Includes a full fun rundown of the Stoeger M3500 but if you prefer to read, here is a breakdown.

 Quick Specs

• 12 gauge (Inertia operated)
• 3.5" chamber 
• 28" Barrell (Waterfowl only - other finishes come in 26")
• 7lbs 13oz
• Length of Pull 14 3/8" Out of the Box
• Drop at Comb 1 1/2" 
• Drop at Heel 2 1/2" 
• This Stoeger is also drilled and tapped
• Comes with 5 chokes

Ergonomics/Look & Feel

• Honestly for this price point, I was very happy with the feel of the shotgun
• Forearm and pistol grip are a lot larger than what I'm used to 
• Stock and cheek piece are nothing special - run of the mill
• Charging handle and bolt release are oversized - Always a win for me
• Trigger guard - again, I prefer larger trigger guards. Could still get a glove in comfortably 
• Fiberoptic front bead/mid bead (Once you're mounted, IGNORE THE BEAD!)
• Loading port is be

Trigger 

• 9lbs 7.4oz (Average)
• Talk about a finger workout! In my opinion this trigger is far heavier than I'd ever like to frequently pull
• Trigger has less sponge (pre-travel) than I would have ever expected at this price point

Quality of Build

• I always look at the quality of the build relative to the price. Everything comes together pretty much as I'd expect. The first comment would be about how the barrel and forearm meets the receiver. It doesn't flush up at all and it has me curious as to why it is the way it is
• All quality considered, this Stoeger mounts great! Its definitely forward weighted a bit which is weird for an inertia gun, but It makes it very controllable.

Ease of Breakdown

• This gun comes apart way differently than any other gas gun I've owned
• The trigger group pin comes out and goes in a lot easier than I expected
• I noticed this gun got dirty a lot quicker than my other gas guns
• Not the easiest shotgun to take apart 

Recoil

• As expected, the 3 and 3 1/2" loads can be a workout - they absolutely were
• Surprisingly, the 3 1/2's weren't all that much worse than the 3" rounds.
• Target loads felt typical

Reliability

• I didn't expect much as this price point - a few rounds in and it was having trouble cycling light target loads. I also noticed that the trigger has a bit more reset time in between rounds
• Ironically enough, it cycled right away from the   3 1/2 cycled well too. I will say, before I cleaned it, it didn't cycle nearly as well across the board. 

Speed Shooting

• I find this evaluation valuable because it tests how all the moving parts really come together. From getting on target, having an appropriate trigger pull, recovering from the recoil, and cycling good enough to get back on target. 
• The fastest time I could accomplish with the Stoeger M3500 today was a 1.37 
• THE GOOD NEWS is that for the whole duration of the speed test, I did not experience any cycling issues with this new Stoeger
• I did have some trouble mounting up consistently, but that's to be expected with a new gun. The most trouble I had was with how heavy that dang trigger is

Would you like to see a head-to-head comparison with another semiauto shotgun?

Whether our targets in the field or our targets in life, we will only hit what we are focused on so live the #targetfocusedlife

Stay Target Focused,

Steve