# Stoeger M3500 problem.. need help!



## JRBASSER (Mar 5, 2014)

Ive had this gun for 3 years now, it has taken every round I’ve put through it problem free, everything from light dove loads to my 3.5 inch turkey load. I’ve practiced the same cleaning method over the last 3 years and have never had a problem. I took my gun to shoot the other day, it would fire the first shell in the chamber, eject it, bolt would close as if another shell was chambered, click.. nothing. Even when I hand cycle the gun, ( which has normally worked and is how I would unload the gun) a shell won’t come out of the tube. I have to press the button to let a shell out, rack the bolt and repeat. Any ideas what could be causing this? Also please hold back from negative comments about the brand, it was all I could afford then at 18 yrs old and it has worked flawlessly so I never felt the need to upgrade.


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## mas5588 (Apr 15, 2012)

Well, first the M3500 has a pretty good reputation I think. It's the older Stoegers that are known for being....well....finicky.

Sounds like it would be related to the magazine cutoff. You have to push that button in order to have a shell come up out of the magazine when manually working the bolt, correct? If I'm remember those right, I'd start there. Something is stuck.

I'll give you the IT solution. Tear it apart and put it back together. See if anything is broken or bent.


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## Drm50 (Dec 26, 2014)

I would bet crud under shell stop preventing the stop from releasing. If spray cleaners have been used a lot it would be the first thing I looked at. Number 1 offender in repeating shotguns.


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## eyecat (Sep 17, 2018)

I have owned (still own) and used several Benelli SBE's and Vinci's, but also have always owned some Stoegers like yours but not the 3.5 inch one, and they are really good reliable turkey/waterfowl guns for their price range. After years of using numerous autos, I think the camo Stoegers with their Benelli Inertia action, are the best value auto in anything close to their price range. My family has harvested a lot of turkeys and some geese with them.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Good to see that the quality of Stoeger shotguns has improved so much. The first time I heard of them was when a local gun store advertised some double barrels for sale. I went there and looked at a Stoeger O/U in 12 gauge. The "checkering" on the forestock looked like it had been hacked into it with a machete! And the joining of the barrel and buttstock was so loose and wobbly I couldn't see how the gun could be accurate!


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## Drm50 (Dec 26, 2014)

Stoeger doesn't make anything. They bid out guns to be made with their brand. All models are not necessarily made by same company. Contracts change from year to year too. I've seen some crude Stoeger doubles out of Brazil. Stoeger use to only sell name brand or quality imports. Today they are like all the others. Buyer Beware.


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## joebertin (Mar 26, 2010)

Drm50 is right. There is probably something in the tube, or the activator for the release on the tube. Tear it down, clean it and examine it.


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## TomC (Aug 14, 2007)

take the whole bolt assembly apart. Clean it with froglube and reassemble. I didn't clean mine for 3 years and it still worked flawlessly.


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