Rugerismisticness

I was in the local shop today and sitting in the case was a nice little 9mm for 350$!! It has that rotating barrel, SA/DA, 4inch barrel, 15rnd mags, the barrel is cold hammer forged and chrome lined, and it has a decocker. It was made tightly and seemed like even better quality than my springfield 1911. It kinda looks awkward though, like it needs a 5inch barrel and a longer slide.

BoBDoG2o02

Cool little gun, Looks like its the only handgun Stoeger Manufactures.

Hilborne

This started out as a Beretta 8000 Cougar. A couple of years ago Beretta moved the tooling to Steoger in Turkey and were able to bring the price down on it. Beretta owns Steoger. Do a Google search and you will find lots of info on it, mostly positive.

Andy

BoBDoG2o02

Good to know. Stoeger = Beretta

That explains all the shotguns on the stoeger page.

Rugerismisticness

Has anyone shot one? It looks like it has a high bore axis. When the guy in the Steoger video shot it, he made it look like a .44magnum or something ridiculous instead of the .40S&W it was. I have shot the rotating barreled PX4 storm 9mm. It was accurate and had lower recoil, more like a .380.

vonfatman

I had a Beretta 8045. I got burned when Beretta hauled all the tooling to Turkey and started pooping out "Steoger Berettas"...the value of my gun dropped like a rock. I'll never buy another Beretta again (unless used @ a price I can turn a buck or two)...

The Stoeger is NOT a Beretta equivalent. It is rougher and less refined. Not a bad value for the money...because every dealer I have found who has stocked them end up sitting on them and then in a few months fire-sale them out the door...never to be re-stocked. If I were on the hunt for one, I'd take my time and watch a few dealers who have them...drop by and see what kind of "deal" they will make in a couple months...if they don't deal, wait a couple more months, they will.

So, what did l like about my 8045...it fit my hand great! It was reasonably accurate AFTER I sent it off to Ernest Langdon for a trigger job (the Beretta's I've owned have had extremely long pull triggers with plenty of creep/grit)....E. Langdon is very good at removing the later...the long pull is the nature of the beast.

The design is different. But after a couple strip-downs for cleaning, that "problem" goes away. The worst problem I found...the sights suck. There are no decent replacements, thus I sold off my Cougar and re-invested in another firearm.

You should be able to get one below $350

Good luck.

Bob

Ian-NH

I had one of those, great little guns. Mine was absolutely reliable, and felt great in my hand. Previous posters are correct, it's a Beretta at a discount.

stantheman86

These are popular sellers at my local Gander Mt., I had thought about getting one in 9mm, but it happened to be the one day I was ready to buy one, all they had in stock was a .40 Cougar. I could have told them to order me one but I had already bought a EAA Zastava M-88, a 9mm "compact Tokarev" so I wasn't in immediate need for another shooter grade 9mm.

Also, for the $350 you could put into a Cougar, I see Ruger P89 9mm's used all over gun shows for $250-300. These were "entry level" police guns for the small local PD's around me where academy cadets have to buy their own handguns for the academy and most just bought Rugers, back in the early 2000's since they are $100 or so less than a Glock.

The main attraction for me was the chrome lined barrel and I like the look of them. I have plenty of nine's but I am always looking for "shooters". If I happen to see one I might give it a look. Again, for the money I would rather get a used P85 or P89. I think it would be more gun for the price.

liberalsmakemepuke

I think I handled the Stoeger Cougar one night after way too many drinks at a Ground Round attached to a Best Western. Performed fine the first go around, but got some blowby out of the lower chamber the next day. I traded her to a buddy for a couple pieces of cold pizza. I think he still has her.

stantheman86

I have learned my lesson buying "budget" or off brand guns. Only once has it paid off, and I love my $300 Zastava M88. Of course, Zastava has been making good guns for the Yugo military for a while now.

I have been burned by an Armscor .38, and an older Taurus M80 .38. Both were guns that were a "deal" and turned out marginal at best.


So, at this point in my gun buying life, where I have 3 times more guns than any "normal" shooter would ever need in a lifetime, I pick my buys more carefully now. I like Ruger, and I know they work. If I get the itch for another 9mm to add to my auto collection, I will look at an SR9 or a used P89. I'm not sure if I would get a Cougar, and have another overseas made "clone" 9mm that will go to the range once and sit in it's case for the rest of eternity. The price would have to be right for me to try a "Turkish Beretta".

I do have Indian Enfields and that worked out pretty well, it all depends on how well the Italian staff of Beretta has supervised and refined the production of the Stoegers in Turkey.

SR9c

Amen Brother, the M88 is a neat little 3/4 scale of the Tok...It's a fine little bargin gun and mine has always been flawless in it's function.

KKBMTGG/go army

stantheman86

I like the M88 so much I have been thinking of picking up a 2nd one, and using one as a "shooter" and the other as just a backup carry gun.

My gunshop gyped me and "forgot" to give me the 2nd mag in the box, maybe that's why it was only $280 or so. I need to get around to getting a few more mags for it. I had thought about tapping out the mag well block and allowing it to use standard Tok mags but I don't want to risk reliability and feeding issues. I already have 4 Tok mags, and they are far easier to find than the $30 each M88 mags, when I can find them. I then also have "mag commonality" with my Norinco Tok and any surplus Toks I plan to buy, have always wanted a Polish and a Romanian.

I can't find the M88's in .40 anywhere, either they don't sell or they stopped making them.

I am so impressed with the quality vs. price point of the M88 I had also thought about getting the EZ9, as just a high volume shooter to take over for my Glock and CZ-85. The Zastava EZ-9 looks like a decent Sig-Sauer "inspired" pistol.

xl_target

I've got to call BS on that. The guns are made on the same machinery. I have also handled both the Stoeger Cougar and the Beretta Cougar and haven't seen any real differences in fit and finish that I can point to.

I've shot both the .40 version and the .45 version and the recoil was not real noteworty. I wouldn't have said that it displayed an excessive amount of recoil or muzzle flip.

For the price, the Stoeger Cougar is a great deal.

gunguru

They seem well made, but I did not like the Cougar to begin with.

vonfatman

xl target,
You can call bs if you want, but I've owned a 8045 Cougar for many years and when the Stoeger look-a-likes came out, the dealer I bought the Beretta from pulled one out of the case and we field stripped it on the counter. He's a gunsmith and I'm an owner who strips and cleans his guns and the facts are the the Turkish gun is less refined.

Bob

Iowegan

FYI, Stoeger was purchased by SAKO then SAKO was bought out by Beretta. Stoeger is now structured under Benelli USA (also owned by Beretta) and is the importer for several Beretta products to include the Cougar. Cougers are available in the "Beretta" brand and are the higher end products, however the Stoeger Cougar is the same identical design with a slightly lower quality.
See: Stoeger: A History of Affordable Quality Firearms

Rugerismisticness

Iowagon killed it, thanks for all the replies. I got around to shooting one last weekend in 9mm. The recoil was extremely low, it easily grouped the S&B into 2-3inches at 20yards (my P345 beat it). The build quality was excellent, better than taurus or ruger IMHO. There were no machine marks, the slide was well fitted and smooth, there was no rattle, and the only thing I didn't like was the finish. The trigger was purty good too. I really like that the barrels are cold hammer forged AND chrome lined.

gunguru

However, the Beretta Cougar was priced at the high end also, and was not a big seller, at least not in the shop I spent many years in, and that was what motivated them (Beretta) to move all the production facility equipment to Turkey. Turn out a mid level quality item at a price that will sell...

bigweatherby

I have had a 9mm Stoeger Cougar for a few years now and have had zero malfunctions with it. It is very accurate (specially with Hornady 124 XTPs) and it feels good in my hand. Pair that with the price and you have a real winner.