Stoeger Condor: Total junk? Semi-junk? Or OK for what it is?

[mannyrock]

Dear Guys,

   I shot skeet for 12 years, so yes, I know that what everybody who is serious about the sport needs is a Browning Citori or better.  No question there.

  But, I have a 19 year old nephew, who does not own any shotgun, and wants to join the skeet club at his college to see if he likes it.  Some things he sticks with forever, some things he decides he just doesn't like.  If he joined the club, however, he would definitely stay with it for an entire semester.

   Unfortunately, when I got out of the game, I sold my skeet gun.  So, I don't have one to lend him.

   Yes, I have strongly advised my nephew and his father that if they want a minimum, quality starting gun, they should bite the bullet and  look for a deal on a Grade 1 Citori in 12 gauge.  Unfortunately, they simply don't want to spend the money ($900 or so), even though I told them that if they ever resell it, they will get almost all of their money back.

   So, what does that leave?   I see the Stoeger Condors, and I've read posts from people that are casual skeet shooters that they work fine with no problems.  I have heard other broad statements, without documentation, that the Condor is a 2,000 shell gun, and then it is finished.

  So, does anybody have any practical experience with the Condor Supreme???   For $500.00 or so, they look pretty good as a starter piece.

   I also reseached online the Remington Spartans (around $700), made by Baikal, but for every good story I hear about them, I hear an equally bad story.  (Firing pins breaking after a few hundred rounds?  Walnut colored finish coming off on your hands? Safeties jammiing, etc.)  My brother (nephew's father) was pushing in the direction of the Sparan, but I told him he was crazy to spend $700 on a Spartan, when for $200 more, he could get a used Citori.  Also, if he resells the Spartan, he won't get $300 for it.

   My nephew mentioned the Remington 1100s, and successors, but I personally don't like them.  (My wife owned one once.)   With those dang rubber O-rings, and the dirty gas system, she had to really clean the gas system and rings about every 50 shots, or it jammed.   And, I personally saw many times on the skeet field guys who were shooting 1100s, that would call for a double, have the second round jam, then yell "Damn!", pull off the forestock, reach in their pocket, pull out a spray can of lubricant, spray down the gas tube and rings, put the forestock back on, and then try to proceed with the game.  (They seemed very practiced at this procedure!)   No thanks.

   Personally, I love the Beretta A-390 with a sythetic stock. Unbelieveably reliable.  But, even these are  $900 new!!!  (Four years ago, Walmart was selling them for $450!!)

  Thanks for any advice, particularly on the Stoeger.


Mannyrock

[GRIMJIM]

For a starter gun? I think it'll do fine. I wanted to try hunting with an o/u and also didn't have the money for a berreta. I chose the spartan over the stroeger though. It just seemed to be a more solid gun to me. It is what it is, an entry level gun. I've shot some skeet with it and it goes bang when you pull the trigger. As for durability, I don't have enough rounds through mine to comment on that.

[mcgiiver]

Be careful, I have a Condor. Its a sturdy gun mechanically. My problem was I couldn't hit anything with it. A friend suggested that I look at the stock dimensions. He was right, as it turned out the stock was cast for a left hand shooters , about 1/2" of cast.  I checked with Stoeger and they said all their guns are cast neutral, not so. I started looking at Condors in various Dick's Sporting Goods stores and found many of them cast for lefties. More than were cast neutral. I finally sent mine in to Stoeger and they replaced the stock, however the new stock still has some left hand cast in it, about 1/8".  I installed a Morgan adjustable recoil pad with out much success. I will sell mine to someone who it will fit.

[cjclemens]

I have a condor o/u in 20ga.  About 200 rounds through it so far with out a hiccup.  It's light, well ballanced, and it points and shoots well.  The chokes are the old browning invector style, and they're a bit hard to find, so if you find them on the shelf, grab the ones you think you'll need all at once.  Carlson makes decent tubes that are not too expensive.  Briley makes X2 extended tubes for them as well, but they're kind of expensive for a budget shotgun.  I'm just waiting for the weather to get a little better so I can take it back out to the range!

[jlbeebe]

I bought my boy a condor youth. He shoots sporting clays for the school team. He shot it all last year with very few problems. There were a few problems with failure to fire at the begining of the year. After a few hundred rounds it seems fine. Over all I would say it is a solid starter gun but I wouldn't plan on getting much back out of it. I bought it  because I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a quality gun and then have my boy lose interest. He has really taken to this so I am going to sell his condor and buy a beretta 3901.

[GRIMJIM]

I bought my boy a condor youth. He shoots sporting clays for the school team. He shot it all last year with very few problems. There were a few problems with failure to fire at the begining of the year. After a few hundred rounds it seems fine. Over all I would say it is a solid starter gun but I wouldn't plan on getting much back out of it. I bought it  because I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a quality gun and then have my boy lose interest. He has really taken to this so I am going to sell his condor and buy a beretta 3901.

Shooting clays in school. You don't find that around me. I wish they did.

[kitchawan kid]

I have a Stoeger Condor 12ga. and like it,I did have some problems with lite primer hits and sent it to the factory and they repaired it,after that had no problems.