Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Stoeger m3500 vs SBE III

I have an original SBE and love it. It is the easiest shotgun to clean and maintain I have ever owned. Not a dirty gas operated shotgun. I put a Limbsaver recoil pad on it and a mercury recoil suppressor in the stock. Don't feel much kick even with 3.5" shells. I shoot sporting clays with light #8 shot loads all the way to heavy 3.5" loads. Try getting a used SBE that is in good condition and you can't go wrong. It is so fast you can shoot 5 shells before the first hull hits the ground. If you can shoot accurately that fast. When I bought mine, no one except Benelli was using the recoil operated system. Now, Franchi and Browning are doing it. Don't know if anyone else is. Should be able to pick up a SBE or SBE II used cheaper than a new SBE III. Would have to shop around or look online and have one delivered to your gun dealer.

You guys claiming gas operated shotguns are dirty are pretty much full of gas.

I love my 3500. I have had a sbe11 and and beretta a300. The stoeger shoots just as well. No issues at all. Been from ducks to doves. Freezing to sweating and it just works.

Well.....my 11/87 was a filthy pig.
The crud would come off in chunks, no lie.
My sbe3, totally different bird.
The junk stays in the barrel...what little there is.

A gas gun will always be "dirtier" than an inertia. Whether that matters is up for debate, but the basic physics isn't.

I looked at pretty much everything. I really like the SBE III but I also like the SX4 at $900 less. Aimpoint has a sweet optic for shotguns in the S-1 micro.

If prices was no obstacle, I would spring for the SBE. I have no issues with a gas gun as I won't be shooting it enough to worry about getting it dirty.

No way would I buy the Benelli over the SX4, or the SX3, for that matter, considering the price points of the two. Heck, I’d buy the Winchester if they were both priced the same.

I can't really argue with that. I really liked the SX4 but the legendary reliability of the SBE factors in a little.

Tim, anyone have any deals on the SX4 3.5" that you know of? I may be in the market unless I can run across a good deal on a used SBE 2.

I watch the “legendary reliability” of the SBE spit and sputter a bit every year while hunting in Arkansas. Don’t get me wrong, they do work very well overall, but they do trip up some. The best Benelli that I have seen out there is a Cordoba. The only gun that I have seen quit out there was a Remington. We worked on it that night and it ran for the rest of the week.

Hey Brad,

Check your PM.

For shooting coyotes, any of the guns listed should serve you well. Running one hard after ducks and geese is a completely different challenge. That is where you will start to see hiccups and failures. I would have a lot of confidence in an SX3 or SX4 for waterfowl, therefore coyotes would be a no brainer IMHO.

That's what I figured. My calling buddy ordered a SBE III and it came in today. Wish it were mine!

The Stoger is heavy. I do a lot of walk in public land waterfowl and bird hunting. You couldn't melt a Stoger down and pour it on me but only because the weight.

If you can find an SX3, I'd take that over the new 4 model. They are tough as nails, reliable, and don't have cheaper plastic internals like the new 4 version.

But shotguns should always be picked on "fit first, then features."

Other than the trigger guard, what is plastic on the SX4 that isnt on the SX3? I had read the gas piston on the 4 now is all metal wheras the 3 had a plastic ring on it. The recoil spring tube is aluminum as is the magazine tube. Trying to find out the real differences in the two as I'm in the market for a new waterfowl gun and I'm strongly considering the 4 due to the new larger controls. I've shot a M1 the last 10 years so going to a gas auto would be a change.

I dont understand the disdain for good polymer parts. I've never seen a broken trigger guard on a Benelli, Glock, XD or any other name brand firearm that uses polymer.

The SBE III sure patterns nice with W-W varmint shells