I have a Bravo 3 with around 350 hours and it has always been a little hard to shift. The other drive shifts smoothly. Last year I serviced the drives and changed gimble bearings, boots, SHIFT CABLE, etc. I figured it would fix my problem as the cables were old and worn.

I checked the cable for binding before re installing the drive it was smooth as butter from both ends. Drive on and damn it still shifts the same..

What inside of the drive would cause the hard shifting. I see on the mercruiser parts diagram a shifting mechanism kit. Its the long plastic looking piece that bites the shifter cable and pins to the metal shift fork inside the drive.
Do these cause problems? Someone else said it could be a cone clutch.

Any ideas what I should try next?

Thanks for looking

Scott,
Most likely problem could be the detent ball in the back cap. It is spring loaded and puts pressure on the shift linkage to hold it in gear or neutral.
Do a search for shifting.. should bring up some threads about it all.
I would pull the back cap, first drain some oil out, and check the detent ball and spring. There should be plenty of Merc 101 grease on all of it.. springs, detent ball case and linkage where it rides..
If nothing looks good there, then the shift shaft can be bent or galled. Let us know what you find with the cap off..
Hope that helps.
Dick

How easy is it to move the shifter not connected to the converter? The cable may be tired or even have to sharp a bend in it.

I would also say that you should check the detent ball. Had this problem on a previous boat. Shifting was much easier after repairing the detent ball issue.

Here is an easy check - make sure the cables from the shifter to the shift bracket on the motor are not wire tied, must be loose and able to freely move - also check for any tight bends and relax the cables some. This will make a world of difference.