Stoeger 3500 factory turkey choke

[Mike Honcho]

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I recently bought a Stoeger 3500 (mostly for waterfowl hunting since I already have a Mossy 835/Star Dot and a BPS 10Ga. set up for turkeys) and I was curious as to how it would perfom with the stock extra full choke they provide with the gun.   Upon looking at the choke I was underimpressed as it had a lot of tool marks in it. It also looks like a soft metal...maybe even aluminum...I will check with a magnet tonight, didn't think of that yesterday.
It measures .655 at the muzzle end of choke.

I took it out yesterday  (64 degrees) and for ammo just grabbed some Remington 3" #4's turkey loads ...not my normal turkey loads as I use Hevi 13 , just wanted to get a ballpark idea on POI etc.

Pattern was blown but real issue was I took the choke and and looked at it and it was deeply scored from the shot and there were small pieces of metal peeled away...even some back on the bolt and in the action.  Has anyone else seen this?

[ghillie]

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Interesting...I'm curious to hear more about this as I have a 3500 on back order and am waiting for it to arrive...

[Mike Honcho]

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I'll check on the material and let you know what I found out...another thing that really bothers me is the
HS Undertaker choke was a very rough/tight fit...when I got home I sprayed some Rem Oil on it lightly and got it installed...just hand pressure...it was tight going in and the threads seem rough tightening it up...it fits fine in my friends Benelli Nova.

The factory Stoeger chokes all screw in as they should.   So far the gun functions fine...I've shot a mixture of 2 3/4, 3" and 3 1/2 loads thru it. ...no real light 2 /34" loads as I don't shoot those anyway, but so far it eats everything I've put thru it with flying colors.   

I hope this gun doesn't prove to be a "turkey" ...pun intended.   I plan on using it as my number one waterfowl gun and would like to use it once in a while on turkeys as well.

[reynolds243]

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never shot the factory but it is the same one i got when i got the M2000 stoeger as well. Killed a few birds with the one in my M2000 before my Other choke came in the mail. Still have it and it is nothing like what you listed above so not sure what the deal with yours is.

[Mike Honcho]

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I looked at my extended extra full factory Stoeger turkey choke a little more at lunch time today... it is made of steel.   From the looks of the inside it must be a very mild steel.