Stoeger Uplander

[v-man]

I've got the hots for the low cost Stoeger 20ga SxS Uplander. Prefer it with single trigger and screw in chokes. Available new in the low $400's and getting pretty decent reviews. Please don't ask what I'm going to do with it. You all know that's not a fair question. What I do want is any 1st hand reports to help me make up my mind.

[Graybeard]

I've had them in both 20 and 28 gauge. My only real complaint is that the grip area is a bit fat for my tastes in those two gauges and felt more like a 12 in my hand as a result. They functioned fine and fit well enough for me to hit as well as I do with a SxS gun.

[Bitterroot Bob]

Howdy,
I bought a Stoeger 12-ga Coach gun about twelve years ago and used it once or twice a month for cowboy action. I bought it used from a guy who had used it for three years. I sold it to a guy who is using it on a regular basis. The run like Timex watches.
There are three things that I've had trouble with. I'll agree with Graybeard that the stock makes it feel more like a piece of lumber than a shotgun, but what do you want for $349 at Dick's? The early ones had some sort of stained Brazilian hardwood, but the new ones have walnut stocks.
Second is thye child-proof action-lever spring. I have removed and trimmed about four of them so far. I bought a 20-ga Lady's Uplander for my daughter to use when she was eleven. She couldn't get it open. I could, but my thumb turned red and retained the checkering impressions all day. I recently bought a like new 26" 12-ga Uplander w/ tubes and it seems that they have changed spring suppliers. The gun is much easier to open and I haven't had to pull the stock off.
Last is the way the firing-pin bushings will loosen and begin unscrewing from the breechfaces. This can be fixed with a little Loctite.
Stoeger Uplanders are simple, reliable, and strong shotguns that will do a good job for you, but won't win any beauty contests. I bought my last one just so I'd have something with 3" chambers that I won't worry about in a rainy duck-blind. The choke-tube threads are Mossberg, so replacements are inexpensive. I would go with the double-trigger version so you can pick your barrel.

Good luck,
Bitterroot

[Graybeard]

I must admit that on neither of the (I think it was three) guns I had was the lever a problem. If it was heavy it was not enough so for me to notice or remember it. On one or maybe two of them I did use JB Bore Paste in the action so that it opened more smoothly with less stiffness. Time and use would have done the same but the JB got me there a lot faster.

[Bitterroot Bob]

Yup,
The older ones were awful. And, when I would take one apart to change the spring I would spend some time blowing grit out of the receiver where the barrel catch slides. They must have moved the operation out of the mud huts and into a clean building. The guns are much better than they used to be.

Bitterroot