Beretta 8045 mini cougar

[Sox]

Thanks to George Hill I now have a mini cougar in .45 and lemme just say I love this thing! I had never bothered looking these things over let alone owning one. I tend to stick to more slim weapons, subcompacts and the like. He is spot on in his report. The recoil in this thing is really mild. I don't know if that's a benefit from the fairly heavy recoil spring or the rotating barrel. Nonetheless, the end result is great. It is even controllable with one hand. So, go buy one because this is a sleeper. P.S. does anyone know if the front sight dovetail is the same as the 92's or other models?

 

[George Hill]

Welcome to the very small and elite Cougar Club!


I'm not sure about the front sight's dovetail, but I would think so. Many other parts are interchangeable.

I'm about to make a set of wood grips for my cat. I'm going to practice on some cheap wood and then make a set from something exotic like bloodwood or the like. A deep dark red.
I'm going to drop the gun-slut mode of selling and trading since I have found a gun that totally works for me here. Everthing I love about the 92FS, but in .45, and compact and carriable. It's virtually ideal.
Other than the cosmetic only desire to have pretty wood grips I'm planning on some work:
1. LTT level II trigger job.
2. Night sights.
3. No... that's about it... just #1 and #2. Doesn't need anymore.


In case you missed the review:
http://www.madogre.com/Interviews/Beretta_Mini_Cougar.htm

 

[Croyance]

The charcoal grips that came with the full sized 8045 Cat-Pak look great also.
I think that part of the light recoil of all Beretta's is their sheer weight. Writers seem to attribute the light recoil to the rotating barrel.

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

It sounds like a great gun. I've been shopping for a .45 but hadn't considered the Beretta because I'd read a lot of bad things about the company's customer service.

I wasn't surprised to read that. I am in the motorcycle industry and have had to work with Italian manufacturers in the past. I try to avoid doing this whenever possible. No matter how low my expectations for professionalism, the Italians never cease to amaze me by how far below those expectations is their performance. It's amazing. If anyone ever thought socialism was a workable political system, they should do business with the Italians sometime. They could go into the experience a card-carrying Communist and come out the most rabid free marketeer on the planet. Their incompetence and laziness is like nothing I have ever experienced.

Italian design is exquisite. When their motorcycles work, they are the finest motorcycles on the planet. Unfortunately their motorcycles seem to leave their factories only partially assembled. It is not uncommon for them to arrive from Italy with the wrong fuel injection computer installed. Smart buyers take them straight to a skilled Ducati mechanic right out of the box and have them built correctly, adding about $3000-$5000 to the price of a $15,000 motorcycle. Smart people know better than to trust the factory to fix the bikes if they don't work properly because if the factory had the competence to fix the bikes, they wouldn't have shipped broken in the first place.

If a person is foolish enough to go to the company for repairs, he or she is likely to have his or her motorcycle in the shop for months and months, waiting for the utterly inept Italians to ship some spring or bracket that should have been installed on the bike in the first place. Customer service at the factory level is the worst in the industry. From what I've heard about Beretta, the situation is much the same.

 

[Island Beretta]

The cougar is a great gun and I have always wondered why it never caught on.. it has one of the most ergonomic grips on any gun out there..that said I tried to get the L which is lighter and flatter but to no avail. In the end I went with the 92 L compact esp. given its longer barrel..

 

[George Hill]

My father in law has a Moto Guzzi G5. He is an infrequent rider and I can ride it whenever I like. I love Moto Guzzi bikes... I always have. I know what you are talking about with the Italian bikes. Every time I actually dropped my own coin on one - it's been a Honda. I love the Interceptor and Magnas. And these new super cruisers they are making... dang... love those!

"Writers seem to attribute the light recoil to the rotating barrel."

This one does too. What I said:

Most handguns use a modified Browning action, where the barrel tilts as the slide moves back to unlock. In the Cougar, as the slide moves back from recoil, the barrel rotates to unlock. This system has been used in the past, and the only other gun that I know of in current production is the Mauser M2 pistol. Now, I can’t put my finger on it, but it feels like this twisting action absorbs more recoil energy than a simple straight tilt, thus giving the pistol a slightly “softer†feel. What ever it is, this twisted little gun is a very pleasurable pistol to shoot.

The weight of course plays a factor as does spring weights... but I do think the action also plays a factor.

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

I love Guzzis and Ducatis too. That's why I get so danged mad at the Italian companies for not getting their poop together.

I also like that Cougar. I just looked at one over lunch. What a nice gun, like every other Beretta I've held. The trouble was that it cost $200 more than the used Glock 21 I think I just bought (if it is still there after work).

 

[George Hill]

200 bucks more is a steep hurdle. I got mine used and priced right (read trade). I don't know if I could have picked up new one. MSRP is almost 800 stinking bucks... that's insane.
Auction Arms didn't have any Minis... but grudgingly I offer this:
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=17169947
Not bad on the price at all.