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Old March 28, 2013, 09:33 AM   #1
dbldune
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Stoeger Pistols

I considering a Stoeger Cougar. Does anyone own one or have any experience with them.

Thanks for your feed back,

R
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Old March 28, 2013, 09:46 AM   #2
salvadore
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The Rifleman gave them a very nice write up a few years ago. Brother in law and son own one, 40 and 9 and are very happy with them.
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Old March 28, 2013, 11:10 AM   #3
CUBAN REDNECK
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I have the Stoeger Cougar in .45 caliber. Nice pistol, accurate. It feels good in my hands. Some folks don't like that it comes with an eight round mag. Magazines can be expensive, around $40-$45 before the current price increases. The rotating barrel is unique and works well. Weighs about 32 oz, so it can be a little heavy. Excellent for the price, I paid $419 out the door a few years back, may be more now.
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Old March 28, 2013, 11:51 AM   #4
BarryLee
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Forgive me if you already know this information, but just in case the Stoeger Cougar is the former Berretta Cougar. They are now made in Turkey by a subsidiary of Beretta utilizing Beretta’s tooling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_8000
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Old March 28, 2013, 01:21 PM   #5
richard597
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I own and shoot both the Stoeger Cougar and the Beretta Cougar. Both are very good quality. No problems with either. I sure like the much lower price of the Stoeger version.
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Old March 28, 2013, 01:25 PM   #6
temmi
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I don't have one but would get one...

Snake
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Old March 28, 2013, 01:45 PM   #7
ShootingNut
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Attachment 88402One of the best pistols for the money you can buy in my opinion. I have owned two of these, do have some regrets selling my last cougar (pic attached). I now own a Beretta PX4 compact, which operates also with the rotating barrel design. The Stoeger Cougar is a pleasure to shoot, and in my experience never failed to feed, and was a very accurate reliable pistol.

Last edited by ShootingNut; February 5, 2014 at 08:00 PM.
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Old March 28, 2013, 01:48 PM   #8
DMBAMA
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I have the Stoeger Cougar in 9 mm and love the way it looks and feels.It is a very soft shooting gun and fairly accurate.I also want to get its replacement the px4 storm .
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Old March 28, 2013, 04:28 PM   #9
wpsdlrg
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I'll chime in, too. I have a Stoeger Cougar 8000 L (the 9mm compact version) and I love it. Terrific pistol. I have something like 1200 - 1300 rounds through mine now, with not one malfunction of any kind. It is very accurate and will eat any loads I feed it. I hand load my 9mm ammo and I've recently switched to using only cast bullets. Still, no problems and I've found it easy to work up loads that the Stoeger likes.

The Cougar is a soft-shooter. That is, recoil is not bad at all. This is partly due to the weight of the pistol and partly due to the rotating barrel system of operation. Muzzle rise is almost nonexistant - so getting back on target for fast followup shots is easy.

Yes, the cougar is a bit on the heavy side (32.6 oz empty for the full-size version and 32.0 oz for the compact)...but I've never found this to be a problem. A good holster will make that a non-issue.

Maintenance is straightforward and easy. I don't know why, but my Cougar just doesn't seem to get as dirty inside as many other pistols I've seen. The barrel is hard chrome lined (which pays real dividends in terms of barrel life). Field stripping the Cougar is about as easy as any other pistol and much easier than many.

For the money, I'll say that the Cougar is one of the true bargains available now.


Gee, did I mention that the Cougar is my favorite hand gun....and that I REALLY like mine.....?
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Old March 28, 2013, 07:45 PM   #10
hubris
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I bought a Compact 9 in early January and have been very pleased.Everything posted above mimics my experience with one exception-I fired Federal ammo for the first time Monday and had one FTE each with 115 FMJ and 147 JHP(50 rounds of each weight).By contrast, the Speer GD 124 JHP was,as before, ejecting past my right shoulder, and I'm left handed.Otherwise,no problems and no complaints at about 600+ rounds so far.
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Old March 29, 2013, 08:28 AM   #11
wbw
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I've got the 9mm version and the .45. Both are excellent pistols for the money, in my opinion. No problems with either. Stoeger Cougars are a real value. Here's my 9mm with Beretta grips:

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Old March 29, 2013, 11:48 AM   #12
bbqbob51
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I have a 9mm model 8000 and it is a great pistol. I have not read a bad review of the Stoeger Cougar. It is manufactured from the same tooling as the Beretta Cougar so you get the fantastic Beretta engineering, just made in Turkey instead of Italy. My understanding is when they produced it with the Beretta badge it had a problem finding a market at the price they had to charge when made in Italy so they dropped it from the Beretta line. Some time later they moved the tooling and machinery to Turkey and it was resurrected in the Stoeger line at about half the price and has been pretty successful since then.
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Old March 29, 2013, 01:29 PM   #13
Stringfellow
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I doubt you will find anything really bad about the pistol. Most negatives can be chalked up to subjectivity (preference, comparison, etc).

The finish on my slide was a lot more orange-peeled than I would have liked. But some 2000 grit sandpaper took care of that.

I still haven't learned to shoot it accurately. The recoil feels very different, and somehow that keeps my accuracy down. But other friends have shot it very accurately--so it is me, not the pistol. I am the kind that likes to bring half a dozen pistols to the range at once, but in this case I just need to bring this one and focus on it.

We were discussing the reliability of its rotating barrel design on the Beretta Forum a few months back. One member then put his Cougar through a torture test with no lubrication, and he reported no trouble at all.

At the end of the day, it has the best grip configuration I have ever felt. And it has one of the slickest actions I have ever felt. It is a bit heavy for its original intended use (carry), but if your uses are range fun and home protection, its weight is a non-factor. Snag one if you can.
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Old April 1, 2013, 10:20 AM   #14
Smug Monkey
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I picked up a Stoeger Cougar 9mm from the LGS a few years back for $329 NIB. It is a super gun for the price and fits my hand like no other pistol I have! Shoots wonderfully and the rotating barrel design is a great idea that keeps muzzle flip to a minimum.
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Old April 2, 2013, 10:35 AM   #15
Fox84
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I have a 9,40 and 45. love them.
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Old April 2, 2013, 11:26 AM   #16
Skitter
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I have the Cougar 8040F and I love it! Accurate as hell and very light recoil. Snaps less than my wifes 9mm PX4
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