SX3 is a great shooter - for the finish on the barrel/receiver, meh.....
My son and I both own SX3's, his is the plastic stock, I went with the "field" wood stock/fore-end. Both have the same finish, that "stippled" coating that Browning/Winchester uses instead of a "real" blued barrel/receiver.
My son's shotgun gets abused pretty badly, banging around trees/brush if grouse hunting - or he'll unload and prop it against sharp rocks etc, if we take a rest break. Result - his shotgun still looks like new, not a mark on it.
On the other hand, I baby mine - I'm very careful when walking along a trail, I'd never lean it against anything like a rock - and I always use two hands to take rifles/shotguns out of the safe, to prevent "safe rash". But my SX3 scratches very easily, right down to bare metal on the barrel. I "touch it up" with a black paint to keep the rusties off, but the touch-ups are noticeable.
It seems that the finish quality varies considerably from one gun or lot number to another, IMO.
Great shootin' shotguns, fast 2nd/3rd shots, reliable actions/cycling. I would buy another for the function - but I don't know how I could check for finish quality, as the gunshop might get a tad upset if I tested the barrel to see if it scratched or marked easily.
OldNewGuy