Yesterday I picked up my new Stoeger Cougar 8045 from Bass Pro (probably won't do that again, but that's another story). I already have the 9mm version of the Cougar so I sort of knew what I was getting. Stripped it down last night and cleaned it, although there wasn't much to clean. This gun strikes me as being robust in construction and rather simple inside. It just seems a little less busy on the inside than a few other semis I've owned. I lubed it up and put it back together. A very simple operation.
I went to the range this afternoon to try it out. I like this pistol. I only fired 50 rounds, but I had no problems of any sort. It took me about a dozen rounds to get myself dialed in. This seems to happen with most of my handguns, even when I'm used to them. I only load six at a time in the magazine and it usually takes about two mags for me to settle down. After that I shot as well as I did with my 1911 and better than I did with my XD45. The gun felt good in my hand and the added weight over the XD made it comfortable to shoot. The rotating barrel may be helping some with recoil. And I like that it has a system that is different than most other semis.
This is a pretty cool gun in my opinion and well worth the money. I just wish I could find some fiber optics for my Cougars. Other than that, there is nothing I don't like about this new Cougar.
I went to the range this afternoon to try it out. I like this pistol. I only fired 50 rounds, but I had no problems of any sort. It took me about a dozen rounds to get myself dialed in. This seems to happen with most of my handguns, even when I'm used to them. I only load six at a time in the magazine and it usually takes about two mags for me to settle down. After that I shot as well as I did with my 1911 and better than I did with my XD45. The gun felt good in my hand and the added weight over the XD made it comfortable to shoot. The rotating barrel may be helping some with recoil. And I like that it has a system that is different than most other semis.
This is a pretty cool gun in my opinion and well worth the money. I just wish I could find some fiber optics for my Cougars. Other than that, there is nothing I don't like about this new Cougar.
