Just bought the Stoeger M2000 last month at Sportsman's for $439, which wasn't the cheapest, it turns out. Did all the recommended things: put a Limbsaver on it, put blue loctite on the little screw on the left, cleaned it up real well, and worked the heck out of the action before it ever fired a shell.
Took it out last weekend and did two rounds of sporting clays, without a single problem. After reading all the issues on the forums, I had fired 10 shots through it before going to do the clays, just to make sure it wouldn't embarrass me. I'm happy with it, and it seems to shoot better than I do.
I'm going to put a cheek pad on the stock, since my cheek is now a little tender. When the action locks open it kicks a bit, right in the cheek. My buddy had the same issue with his O/U.