I think all new guns ,well the O/U's and SXS have that stiffness issue and alot folks seem to panic or take it to serious.A friend of mine had all the ga's of Stoger and since he rarely used them they were stiff as a board,you'd swear sometimes it would take 2 men to open the breach.So far I'm still interested.Nothing I havent experienced with other guns.Thanks for the feedback and keep it coming.Take care,Paul..