Had to get a new shotgun to finish this season. Unfortunately there's only one store within 3 hours that sells guns. They had a sbe2 the other day and that's what I was planning on buying when I went in last night. Well they sold it and all they had was the stoeger 3500. Sub zero Temps should be the ultimate test on a gun I guess, we shall see how it works.

Have them ship it.

In sub zero temps I would stick with a pump.

Stinks about the SBE II. For the price savings, the Stoeger 3500 is not a bad option. My brother has one that has served him well.

Now get back on the birds!

Thought about it, but my 1100 is about useless, and I don't get many days to hunt and I know I should have saturday and sunday off and they couldn't have had a gun in by then they said. I don't have much longer before most of the water freezes up and ducks become hard to find. It's just gotta last me a day or two a week for the next couple weeks.

Stinks about the SBE, but the 3500 should still treat you better than a gas gun in the cold weather.

I would have held out. Not trying to bust your chops, but the SBEII is an awesome waterfowl gun. However you can always buy one, your going to need a backup.

I had a similar experience and ended up buying a stoeger last season. I have heard/read some down right terrible comments on this gun however I have had nothing but good shooting with it other than it being heavy I love mine. Here is a decent review a guy did on another forum I enjoyed reading and found many similar results.

http://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=153822

I think you did the right thing considering the situation. Get back to hunting your limited days off and forget about gun issues in the field. You can always sell the Stoeger, or trade it after the season and get what you really wanted the SBE2. I have an SBE2. I have had mine not cycle in frigid temperatures because I had not cleaned it. A can of Teflon spray fixed it in the field, but I knew better than to not clean it every so often. Even the best autos can have issues in the cold.

correct me if i'm wrong but they're both inertia guns...?

They both have inertia drive. Stoeger copied it and was selling their guns for $500-700. Binelli bought Stoeger to make some quality control adjustments and now they sell them for the same price as Stoeger did before and kept the Stoeger name.

I bought the M3500 last season. My buddy bought a SBE II last season. He has shot mine and loves it. I've shot his and I love his. Obviously, the SBE II is the better gun, but I think you'll be happy with the Stoeger as a temporary or backup.

Mine has had zero issues and I haven't regretted it.

It takes a lot to kill an 1100 - if the rings are clean and stacked properly, o-ring fresh and the gas ports in the barrel lug clean they run quite well. Have you checked all three? I remember a while back stacking the rings in mine backwards and it did not cycle at all. Worth a look for sure.

Gas guns don't freeze, but inertia guns will run like syrup when its cold. I had a pump freeze, but it was in Maryland on public, Im sure the Chesapeake isn't as tough as your lake, but it was sleeting and froze

yeah I have never had a gas gun freeze or fail unless it had rubber O-rings... That's just antiquated technology nowadays. I think you'll like the Stoeger- my neighbor loves his and I've seen it in action.

You'll be fine with the 3500, decent gun, especially for the price and with heavy loads.

A dirty inertia gun can slow down in the cold, but I have seen way more gas guns fail. Hunt enough in -10 and you better have a spotless gas gun or you're shooting a single shot.