stoeger Cougar 8000 - opinions

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bender

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These are pretty nice looking pistols, and the "rotating" barrel is supposed to be a "good thing"... I never heard of this gun until I read a recent article in a gun rag about them.

They seem to be pretty inexpensive. I'm interested in the 40S&W.

Piece of crap or great deal ?
 
A search of this forum will get you the answer you need- I think, glocktalk has plenty about this. That stated, the Beretta cougars are great pistols, clean,pretty,NICE. Turkish/India/3rd world lador always leaves something to be desired, whether it be pistols or airplanes IMHO. I despise spending more than $1.00 on something when quality control can actually affect my Life.:cuss:
 
No experience with Stoeger, but I do have a Beretta Cougar 8000. It's a pretty nice pistol, and I got a good deal on it. The rotating barrel isn't anything special, I've heard it's supposed to lighten up the recoil. I don't know if it does all that, for me it just seems like it pushes the gun a tad to the right when I fire, instead of straight back. It's basically been "adopted" by my girlfriend, but every once in a while I still get to shoot it. Never had a failure of any kind, with any ammo, in a little over 2,000 rounds. It's definitely a keeper.

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I had a 9mm Beretta Cougar when they very first came out - had a nice blue steel slide.

It was a nice gun - no problems. I just don't shoot as well with sub 4" barrels. And, w/ the fullsize grip, yet short slide, I didn't shoot it as well as other guns that were the same size. So, I sold it.

I never noticed any benefit from the rotating design, personally.

But, the SToeger Cougars are a great deal for the money - good gun. I think it is one of the best guns in 9mm in that price range. I would probably prefer one to a Ruger semi auto. U can get a D spring like the Beretta 92s, and lower the DA pull weight a little.
 
A search of this forum will get you the answer you need
Click to expand...
I did search this forum first, I just found a thread dated 2003 so I didn't bother reading it. I searched "titles only".

I want a 40 caliber, and I like the Glock, but I don't like the fact that since I reload my own ammo, I would need to buy an aftermarket barrel for the glock... is that right or am I crazy? That raises the total cost of a glock by $100 or so.
 
I'm planning on picking on up in 40S&W.

I have done a touch and feel with them. You can tell they are quality made and feel good in your hands. :cool:
 
stoeger cougar 8000 opinion

I like the looks of the stoeger cougar 8000 myself and think i could possibly getting one sometime but like all guns if your going to use it for a shooter you might want to wait and see if there's any problems with them first and wait for them to fix them then get one.
 
Yah, I read a review (in American Rifleman I believe) on them, and I really like the looks of them (the review spoke very highly of them too, but I put little to no stock in gun magazine reviews anymore, as I've NEVER read a bad review, and think that advertising $$ lends to too much potential bias).I was honestly SHOCKED (pleasantly) when I saw the MSRP on it!I would have guessed they'd be asking for twice as much, easily.If they shoot anywhere near as good as they look, I will have to SERIOUSLY think about picking one up.
 
I purchased one a couple of weeks ago. The finish is NOT as good as the Beretta Cougar IMO. The metal work is also not as good. The differences are subtle, but they ARE noticeable.

The buttery smooth finish on the Beretta Cougar slide now has a very subtle porous or irregular look to it. You will only notice if you examine the gun closely.

Also, where the Beretta's slide had very smooth curves I noticed that there are striations noticeable to close inspection in the Stoeger. This was particularly evident on the upper half of the slide on the back where you grip the slide to rack it.

These differences were very suble, but they were there on the ONE gun I examined closely. I believe that this is not entirely surprising in light of the fact that the gun is no longer produced in Italy under the close eye of the Beretta inspectors. We are talking very subtle finishing steps that not surprisingly are sacrificed to bring the gun in under $350.

Perhaps I got a bad copy. Perhaps this will improve IF Stoeger is committed to an equivalent product. Perhaps most people won't notice or care. I did.
 
thanks, ohen, I missed that thread on my search for some reason. I searched on cougar 8000, and that earlier thread did not come up in the results. I should have also tried searching on stoeger cougar.

I'm interested in one of these in .40, so I'll check with my favorite dealer if he can get them, or maybe check the local Sportsman's Warehouse.

I'd like to handle one first, rather than just ordering one sight unseen.
 
Assuming I can't find any locally (and I can't), where is the best place to order one of these?
 
Beretta Cougar owner

I have owned a Cougar for about 8 years now as a gift from my father. Never had a single problem with it and it is fun to shoot. I personally like the feel of the Cougar better, but I shoot better with my Glock 17. My wife loves the Cougar, so she has claimed it as her own. It is a little heavy and bulky for CCW, IMHO. If Stoeger keeps up the quality, excellent buy for that price range.
 
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