There are six variants of the Coach Gun, all of which have walnut stocks and double triggers. Ours was the lowest-priced version. Our test gun came with no recoil pad and without the questionable hassle of screw-in chokes. It had fixed Improved Cylinder and Modified chokes. Other variants of the gun (www.stoegerindustries.com) have interchangeable choke tubes, matte or polished nickel finishes on the metal, different stock finishes, and several have recoil pads. One version that caught our eye had a straight-hand, English-type stock. None have ejectors. All versions but ours cost $469.
Workmanship was quite good, we thought. The metal polish and bluing were more than just decent. The tang safety moved appropriately and was checkered for good control. The forend showed some raw and slightly rough wood on its interior, but a quick rub with linseed oil fixed that. The checkering was not real sharp, more like flat-top English checkering, but it worked well enough. The forend was large and hand filling, and in the heat of Cowboy Action shooting, for which this gun was designed, that wood keeps your hands off the hot barrels.
The gun was a simple boxlock design. It opened easily with the top lever. The firing pins were bushed, a nice touch, we thought. This gun did not have ejectors, which makes it legal for Cowboy Action shooting. Ejectors could make it a better fighting shotgun in that they would speed reloading, but they’re not available. The top tang safety was automatic, and we feel that’s a mistake. Every time you open the gun the safety goes on. In the heat of any kind of battle, real or pseudo, you don’t want to have to fight that safety. You’ll always have time to put it on after the fight, but maybe not enough time to take it off every time you open and close the gun. We’d change that setup right now, if we owned this one.
While the gun is apart, another problem could be fixed. When we first tried the gun we thought the safety was on, because we could not make the gun fire. We eventually found it took a whopping 11 pounds to get the gun to go bang. It felt like less on the left barrel because of the added leverage. Eleven pounds is simply way too much trigger to fight, and that pull would get fixed while the gun is apart having the auto safety disengaged. No, altering the automatic safety is not a recommendation to defeat a safety feature of the gun. Instead, it’s a strongly suggested modification that might save your life some day. We presume the owner of the gun will fully understand and be familiar with the gun before he or she handles or loads this shotgun.
On the range we found the Stoeger SXS to be fast, simple, easy to use, and generally foolproof. Balance was excellent, and the gun shot where it looked. The front bead was well matched to the level, file-cut rib. It was easy to put two fast shots right where we wanted them. Reloading was not all that slow if we first elevated the barrels when opening the gun, so gravity would help get out the empties. The gun could be fired with two rounds held in reserve in the forward hand. For best results, that forward hand never leaves the forend. To get a new round, you reach forward with the firing hand, grab what you need, and—keeping your eyes on the target—dunk the fresh ammunition into the chamber. Practice this and four quick shots will come easily. An elastic cuff on the butt stock holding a few more rounds would make this a handy setup indeed.
The Coach Gun was relatively light at 6.5 pounds. Recoil was not bad with our light game loads and tolerable with the high-velocity game loads, but was simply ferocious with 3-inch 00 buckshot. Also, we found the Stoeger was difficult to open after firing two of the 3-inch buckshot or even high-velocity 1.25-ounce hunting loads. A 6.5-pound shotgun like this, and Ruger’s fine new SXS double is another example, does not need 3-inch chambers. We’re sure Stoeger and Ruger put 3-inch chambers in their guns to avoid problems when someone inadvertently touches off a long shell in a short chamber. But these light guns are at home with one-ounce loads and not much more. The Stoeger worked very well rapid fire with the 1-ounce game loads. Firing the first two of these was faster than two out of the 870, but the reload took lots of time. We were able to get off four rounds in about 10 seconds.
You’d have to plan your own home defense loads according to your individual setup, but in general, penetration of, say, No. 8 shot will be less than that of 00 buck, and just as effective inside 15 feet. If you must use the heavier loads, you may want to put on a recoil pad, either permanently or by means of a slip-on pad, if you can tolerate a bit more pull length. For what it’s worth, the Coach Gun’s right IC barrel made a great pattern about 6” in diameter at 15 feet with the rompin’, stompin’ buckshot load. The Remington’s pattern at that range was about 2 inches.
