New Stoeger Shotgun Wins Award

Since The Sheepdog hasn't said much about guns lately, I think it's time for a Firearms Friday. Below is a press release I recently received from Stoeger Industries about their new award-winning shotgun - the M3500. 

Stoeger’s M3500 Receives Golden Bullseye Award

ACCOKEEK, MD (April 30, 2012) –– Stoeger’s new M3500, 3½-inch semi-auto shotgun received the NRA’s Golden Bullseye Award at the NRA’s 2012 Annual Meetings & Exhibits held April 13-15, in St. Louis, MO. Each year, NRA Publications’ staff members select those products that prove to be the best in their respective categories - rifle, shotgun, handgun, optic and accessory - and award them the NRA Publications Division’s highest honor: the Golden Bullseye.

Now in its 10th year, the Golden Bullseye Award symbolizes the best efforts made during the past year by companies and individuals pursuing excellence and innovation in the manufacture of firearms, accessories and related equipment. When it came to identifying this year’s best shotgun, the editors picked the remarkably economical Stoeger Model 3500 3 ½-inch semi-automatic.

Built around the reliable inertia-operating system, the M3500 exhibits a combination of features that makes it an excellent choice for all types of hunting. Its synthetic stock is impervious to all types of weather and harsh conditions, and it handles a full range of loads, from 2¾-inch up to the potent 3½-inch Magnum without adjustment. For reliability and performance, no other 3½-inch semi-auto in its price range compares.

“The Stoeger Model 3500 is an example of affordable innovation,” said Mark Keefe, American Rifleman's, Editor in Chief. “With this gun you do not have to break the bank to get a reliable 3½-inch semi-automatic that is at home in the goose blind or turkey woods.”

SPECIFICATIONS: Gauge: 12-Gauge  Barrel Length: 24”, 26” & 28”  Chokes: IC, M, F, XFT 
Sights: Red bar front sight  Metal Finish:  Black synthetic, Realtree® Max-4™, Realtree® APG™ 
Stock Material: Synthetic  Average Weight: 7.5 lbs.  Overall Length: 46”, 48” & 50” 
Length of Pull: 143/8”  Drop at heel: 2.5”  Drop at Comb: 1.5”  MSRP: $629 - $719

For the latest news and product information visit www.stoegerindustries.com

For those of you not familiar with Stoeger Industries and the firearms they produce, you may be familiar with their parent company Benelli. Benelli arguably makes the best shotguns on the planet and much of the technology they offer is also found in the Stoegers.

I like to refer to Stoeger's shotguns as "a poor man's Benelli." I highly recommend them. I've owned Mossberg's and others and had several turkeys escape unscathed while using them. Then, I went and bought a Stoeger M2000 and it's been bad news for the turkeys. Every turkey I've lined the sights of the Stoeger up on and pulled the trigger has taken up residence in my freezer. None, nada, zilch, zero have walked away from the encounter. My Stoeger M2000 just flat kills turkeys dead without breaking the bank. Plus, it's very light and therefore won't wear you out carrying it around in the woods. I suspect the M3500 is an excellent hunting weapon, too. Go get yourself one.

But .... don't tell the turkeys.