I will add to this post as well. I bought a Franchi Affinity last year and have ran about 7 flats through it so far, that's 1750 shells, its been a great gun, very light also.
Very good buy for an interia operated gun.
The Stoeger is a heavy 2x4 over a pound heavier, does the job though I guess.
Not sure how many people on this forum even know how to take an automatic apart to clean it all but if you do you will find out the Affinity has a lot less parts the a gas gun. Very easy to break down and clean.

I have been hunting for 44 years. I know how to take care of a shotgun. I bought two 3.5 SX3 Winchesters in Feb. of this year from different stores. Both shoulder well, have a great trigger and have minimal recoil. They will cycle anything but they are finicky on ammo that falls on the low side of the diameter tolerance. After you chamber a shell and out one in the mag tube, any relatively smaller diameter shotgun shell no matter what length ---2-3/4 through 3-1/2" is a pain to get the third shell in. They work fine with Winchester Dry Lok and Remington Nitro Steel.

I also learned that there is no warranty with an SX3 or at least the manual says nothing about one. I don't have time to deal with this. I plan to hunt this season and send both of them back after it is over. I will let them know now. I made three skeet trips, one teal trip and one big duck trip before this started. Knowing what I know now, I would have done two things differently: 1.) I would have gotten a 3" gun. I don't need the 3.5". 2.) I would have gotten a Bennelli.

If your are like me, you won't be satisfied with settling for almost as good as. I should have waited a while longer and saved more. Lesson learned.

Let me add this. I see NO mention of Warranty in the Winchester manual----shocked. The Benelli has a TEN year warranty whether you turn the warranty card in or not. Crocodile tears

Winchester does do warranty work on their firearms. They just don't have a written warranty. Other firearm companies do this too. I believe ruger is one as well. It's called a good faith warranty. They stand behind their products.

My brother had his sx3 worked on. He just called them up and they had him send it in. It came back in just a few weeks. He wound up having to send it in again and they sent him a new shotgun. No problems since. My sx3 has operated flawlessly for six seasons of hard use. Only 1 jam ever and I think it was do to being dirty.

The sx3 is also browning made. Browning will stand behind it too

Thanks for the head's up. I have one of them dialed in to me. I raised the and shimed it to Cast On since I am left handed. It melts into me. My son s using the other one and is a dead eye with it.

???????????? Some of your post makes little sense and some don't make any sense at all ..... . What in the world are you talking about here ?? Are you sure your not a SPAMMER ?

I bought one 26" Black Shadow 3.5 SX3 from Buds Gun Shop.

I bought one 28" MOSGB 3.5 SX3 from Cabela's in Allen, TX.

Both guns are finicky with any ammo regardless of the length if it is made the - side of the diameter tolerance. They do not want to accept the second shell in the mag tube with the plug in.

When i started having issues, i broke both of them down to the screws to look for causes. Nothing I can see is wrong and I keep my firearms clean and lightly oiled. When i put my shotgun back together, I reversed the safety and changed neutral shim for the shim that is cast on, raises fhe comb and lowers the drop. I put the camo version back together and reversed the safety on it as well since my son also shoots left handed.

I still wished i had gotten two Benellis but i am trying to make the best out of it until after the season is done. The closest repair shop authorized by Winchester is McClelland's and they are one to two weeks out. And, why should i have pay anything for two shotguns bought in February of this year to function as advertised?

No spam just a word of caution on the SX3 and again trying to get through it and make do for now.

I own 3 winchester SX3's as well as 2 Benelli SBE II's. I am also pretty handy when It comes to wrenching my own guns as well as handloading shotshells, metallic and casting.

Just how in the hell does the diameter of a shotshell, that is on the low side of tolerence, have anything to do with getting a second shell in the magazine? This makes ZERO sense.

The SX3, Browning Maxus, and Browning Silver are all made by FNH in Belgium and have the same guts. They are top tier guns and one of the best values in an autoloader. Both of my 12's are 3 1/2 and my 20 is a 3 inch. None have ever given a hint of trouble. They all load effortlessly and digest any loads thrown into them. Even the cheapo walmart promo winchester universal trash that turn the Benellis into single shots. Maybe you assembled something wrong? Trash built up in mag tube? Tilting follower? Did you break them down and clean the magazines of packing grease?

The SBE's shine in the blowing grit. Gas guns choke but they keep chugging along with anything over 1 1/8 oz 3 dram loads. I believe the SBE's are waaaaaaay over priced for what they are. In fact, I'd imagine that the SX3 or even the Nova pump cost them more to produce, with the amount of machine work that go into them. They are worth the asking price to me only in the sense that they will function when all others choke, in the conditions I put them in.

My 2 cents, for what its worth...

1. I sell high end fluid systems that average $40K a pop and go upwards. And as such, I keep tools in my work truck. One of those tools is a caliper. We noticed some shells would feed and some would not. We kept digging into it and found the cheap blue box federal steel and cheap winchester target shells are smaller in diameter. You can look at them and tell the difference without mic'ing them. They don't feed the second shell into the mag tube without some trouble.

2. Winchester Super X3 components are made in Belgium. The shotgun is fitted and assembled in Portugal. That is a huge difference from the Belgium Auto 5 my Grandfather used.

3. There is a noticable difference in fit and finish from the SX3's that were made and assembled in Belgium.

4. I am installing a Surecycle magazine upgrade kit. I think the issue is the cheap plastic follower plug in the magazine tube.

5. I am putting a Surecycle return recoil assembly in it as well.

BTW, if you read my second post to explain the issue, you will discover that I took both shotguns down to the screws and found nothing bent or corroded or dirty. Again, i believe the magazine spring is sub par an
d weak and i believe follower plug is flimsy and is tiltling when there one shell already in the mag.

I have a Browning Silver Hunter and it eats everything its feed, it handles beautifully Points easy! If It was not the Browning Id get Winchester SX3, something in a camo pattern maybe!

Shell diameter? Follower plug?

Shell Diameter - the circumference of the leading edge of the shell.

Follower plug - the now usually plastic cup you see when you push the the leading edge of the first shell into the magazine.

Both shotguns worked fine with all shells through the first 300 rounds then it started.

It's real and this is not a troll. I have sympathy for you if you cannot comprehend. I deal with tolerances, warpage, wear and pressure loss every minute of every working day. Stuff happens.

I would seriously look at the follower. Sounds like its getting tilted and/or binding. Spring has nothing to do with it if other larger diameter shells will feed.

You would think that the smaller diameter, the EASIER the shells would feed into the mag. Unless you are putting uneven pressure on the follower and its binding.

FNH typically does not put out garbage. I dont care if the parts are belgian and assembled elsewhere.

Obviously its not your Grandpas Auto 5.

Old Auto 5's are long anction recoil operated.

The FNH guns are Gas guns.

The new A5 and Benellis are short action spring guns with fancy monikers like "inertia driven" or " Kinematic drive".




Other than handloads, my SX3's get fed nothing but the cheap Federal Speed Shoks. My kids shoot them and they are far from being babied. Speed Shoks deliver the best factory patterns in my guns, albiet they are very dirty burning shells.

I am not alone in my findings. Google speed shoks and patterns, they come out right on top for a good many folks.

Lots of folks put a lot of faith in the sure cycle systems. I don't believe this will help your problem one bit, since they are installed in the butt of the gun.

I've had to re-spring one of the benellis. Used Wolff springs without issue.

Good luck

Thanks Pato. Love the shotguns and most importantly, I can hit with it. Called Surecycle today. I am going to put their follower plug in once Mack's PW ships it to me. FN products fit me better. Always have. Not trying to be a smart [censored].

Talked with 2 people at Browning today. The newer versions of the SX3 commonly have issues with loading 3.5" shells in the mag tube. The fix is a $50 Surecycle mag upgrade kit. The aluminum follower s deidgned not to tilt. Case closed.

Did they say how new of the sx3 that has the issues? Mine is about 6. And I've shot just about all the shells you mention with zero......zero.... Problems! They must have changed something. I've actually had good luck shooting the 1 oz target loads with very little problems at the range, despite the recommendation by Winchester to use at least 1 1/8 oz loads.

[/quote]

its amazing to me that people still buy Stoegers, do a quick search for reviews and get back with me about it being the same as a benelli. [/quote]

No where did I say it was the SAME as a Benelli. Equals does not mean the SAME! Some parts are very similar and some are different. At the end of the day you're still getting a good shotgun OWNED and made by very reputable companies. You would have understood my statement if you were not so fast to leave your smart@$$ comment.

I shoot Benelli and Stoeger.

No where did I say it was the SAME as a Benelli. Equals does not mean the SAME! Some parts are very similar and some are different. At the end of the day you're still getting a good shotgun OWNED and made by very reputable companies. You would have understood my statement if you were not so fast to leave your smart@$$ comment.

I shoot Benelli and Stoeger. [/quote]

your comparing a Chevy Malibu to a Cadillac, owned by the same parent company, but not the same. You like your stoeger, and that's great, but you cant assume that all the negative reviews were made by idiots that just cant operate a gun...where there is smoke there is fire.

maybe they fixed those problems that they had? either way they cant be compared to a benelli just like the Malibu cant be compared to a Caddy even though they both run on gas engines and owned by the same folks.

No where did I say it was the SAME as a Benelli. Equals does not mean the SAME! Some parts are very similar and some are different. At the end of the day you're still getting a good shotgun OWNED and made by very reputable companies. You would have understood my statement if you were not so fast to leave your smart@$$ comment.

I shoot Benelli and Stoeger. [/quote]

your comparing a Chevy Malibu to a Cadillac, owned by the same parent company, but not the same. You like your stoeger, and that's great, but you cant assume that all the negative reviews were made by idiots that just cant operate a gun...where there is smoke there is fire.

maybe they fixed those problems that they had? either way they cant be compared to a benelli just like the Malibu cant be compared to a Caddy even though they both run on gas engines and owned by the same folks. [/quote]

^^^This

Just like the SX3, Browning Silver, and Maxus.

All guts are made by FNH and are basically the same. Browning/winchester adds different bells and whistles to each and brands them what they like. A bunch of the parts are even interchangable on these models. You can bet that some models are cheaper NOT because of Name only. They cut corners to make different brands cheaper. Leave out mag cut offs, etc.

I have no clue about differences between Benelli and stoger as I've never handled a Stoger.

I'd bet a dollar to a donut that costs were cut somewhere.

Shoot what you like. My Sx3's have been totally reliable within the limits that I use them...save one blown/ringed barrel that Browning/Winchester sold to me at dealer cost after my sob story about my son ruining the gun because of subsequent firing after a squib.

The MOSGB SX3 will not consistently cycle 3.5" Federal Blue Box #4 or Kent Fasteel #4 3.5". It jams sporadically after the first shot. My son is a 6'-2", 190LB Texas High School Dual Threat Quarterback that has been hunting for 7 years since age 9. I don't think it's him.

I am running Dry Lok 3" 4's with a full carlsons super steel non ported extended choke in my black shadow SX3 and have fallen in love after raising the comb and lowering the drop. It inhales the 3" Dry Loks.

We will keep looking for a 3.5 #4 the SX3 likes. The thing is we love the way these things shoot and handle. Shooting 3" 12 gauge is like shooting 20 gauge shells recoil wise. I have had phenomenal luck with Dry Lok 2 and 4 shot over the years with a full choke for steel at all ranges up to 45 or 50 yards. My window is narrow but when I am on, wings get broken and stuff drops.

I dont think they make Dry Lok in 3.5 4 shot or we would have some.

Be careful with that combo.

Use a Carlson's super steel full extended non ported not the factory full.