Stoeger Cougar .45 acp

[Eddiesketti]

I have been looking at these and am interested if anyone has one. I am under the impression that these are the same as the Berettas and are made on the same machines. I would like to hear members thoughts on this pistol and if it is worth purchasing.

[John_Wayne777]

One of our moderators was issued Beretta Cougars by his department....and the problems they had with the guns were so severe that they had no interest in any Beretta products anymore. According to one of our IP's who worked for Beretta, the Cougar line of guns that made it into police holsters had lots of reliability issues.

Beretta owns Stoeger, so it wouldn't really be a surprise that they are made on the same machines as the Beretta branded guns.

My advice would be to skip the Cougar guns altogether...as well as any other rotary-barreled handgun anybody makes...and buy something else.

[Eddiesketti]

Thanks for the input. I was thinking that the rotary barrel would be problems. Too many moving parts.

[loupav]

Mind me asking what was wrong with them? Parts breakage? Feeding issues? It just seems to be surprising to me, I thought Beretta had an excellent reputation. But that's probably based on the 92 series.

A friend of mine really wanted one for a long while.

Thanks,
Louis

[rathos]

If you really want a rotary barrel gun I would suggest the PX4 series. Why settle for old technology when the pX4 is the updated version that supposedly worked out the kinks.

[ShipWreck]

Yes, it is basically the same gun as the Beretta - Beretta owns Stoeger, and they transferred the equipment to make the guns to Turkey.

I kind of want a 45 Cougar when they get released soon myself. I owned a 9mm in the 1990s when they first came out, and now I wish I had kept it.

I have never really heard of any reliability problems - I saw the post above about the police issued ones - however, I have seen dozens of similar stories about all sorts of gun brands and police depts who have had issues - even Glocks. So, one can't always go by that in making a decision.

[Longhorn]

If you really want a rotary barrel gun I would suggest the PX4 series. Why settle for old technology when the pX4 is the updated version that supposedly worked out the kinks.

Naw, do some more reading on the PX4 and you'll find the problems are far from fixed.

[PaulL]

My dad picked one up from a customer of ours a couple of years ago and we finally shot the thing about two weeks ago. I thought it was a pretty decent-shooting gun - controllable and accurate. I can't speak for reliability other than it cycled 100 rounds of 230gr WWB with no trouble. I've noticed that holsters and magazines are few and far between, though. If it were me, I'd be looking at one of the more proven handguns out there if it's for SD use.