Went to my local pawnshop today and sitting in the case was not a beretta 8000........but a stoger Cougar 8000........so a beretta 8000 haha.

I had to take it home for $333 because. Why not?

I dont know if anyone has had any experience with the Beretta, or almost Beretta Stoger 8000 but my god is this a cool little gun.

You see......I keep saying kinda beretta, and almost beretta, because it is really a beretta. You see Beretta owns Stoger. Just like they own benelli. and they instructed stoger to make the Cougar 8000 after they stopped production on their own........mainly due to cheaper labor in turkey than in Italy.....So......it really is a Beretta...made by beretta employees on beretta tooling at a beretta owned factory....unlike taurus who bought a factory beretta actually makes this one.......i've said beretta a lot......at least I cant tell any differences between the Stoger and my actual mid 90s 8000.

Anyway haha This gun is cool. It does not have a typical browning style tilting barrel.......but a really neat rotating barrel that not only reduces muzzle flip and recoil but gives a super nice recoil feel.

It has the same grip angle and controls of a 92fs/m9 but is much shorter. Due to the rotating barrel, which is shared with the PX4 storm series *its replacement when they finally stopped all production*......It actually has less recoil than the M9/92fs while being half the size.

The only downside is it does not share the M9 magazines and let me tell you, finding factory 15 rounders........haha Good luck.

However. I do have to say this almost kinda Beretta 8000 is every bit as great as my Beretta 8000 and 8045.

If you find one laying around at your LGS for cheaps. Pick it up. You wont be disappointed.

Ill post pics in a few days once my NICS Delay proceeds

I'm doomed to be delayed for life :-p

I've owned a Stoeger 8045 Cougar for many years. Wonderfully accurate for the type of pistol and an amazing recoil absorber in 45ACP with the turning bolt design. It's my truck/car gun when on the road.

Stu

Attached Images

IMG_2581.jpg (167.2 KB, 174 views)

I wanted one of these, but by the time that I was actually ready to buy one, Stoeger had discontinued them and nobody had them in stock anymore.

The design is really cool, but like most of Beretta's handguns aside from the 92 Series, it just didn't catch on all that well. It seems like for better or worse, the 92 has become so synonymous with Beretta that it's the first handgun that comes to mind when someone thinks of Beretta, so those who are looking to buy a handgun from Beretta are typically specifically looking for a 92. (Sort of like Colt with 1911s, only Beretta's departures from the 92 tend to be actually good designs.)

__________________
Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

As said above, the Beretta 8000 series was discontinued and machinery shipped to Stoeger for continuing manufacture of the 8000 series. The Beretta 8000 series was replaced by the PX4 Storm series, again continuing the use of the rotating barrel barrel design.
I have a Beretta 8040 (40S&W) and a Stoeger 8000 (9mm). Only difference between Beretta and Stoeger is the quality of the finish but has no effect on function. I watch for either at gun shows. But the 'grail' gun for me is the Beretta 8357 (357 Sig), Stoeger did not continue the manufacture of that model.

Yes id love to have a 8357 as well. I have a 8000, 8045 and now a stoger 8000 plus about 6 PX4 Inox's. All amazing guns. One of my inox's is a compact that i sent out to Ernie Langdon to have him work it over. One of the best shooting guns i own.

This was one of the first Cougars made by Beretta. Tad heavy but a nice sidearm all considered.

Attached Images

79B011CF-FA4A-413E-A9AB-540FC2893D9F.jpg (80.1 KB, 25 views)

That’s a good looking pistol, and a good price...

I bought a Beretta Mini Cougar brand new back around 2000. Beretta makes a very nice pistol, and the gun shot well. Never was enamored with it, though. A little too thick for carry, for me. There were so many other options that came along that were more practical and efficient in terms of size, weight, and magazine capacity, it seemed a little obsolete to me. So, I ended up selling it several years ago for about what I bought it for. It is a good home gun/truck gun, I suppose, but again, I found other options more practical for those purposes.

While the Mini Cougar was a nice gun, I don’t really miss it, and it went to a good home. I also sold a nice LNIB Inox model 96, as I didn’t like that caliber. I’ve kept my two Model 92s though (one is an Inox, the other a blued 92s), they are definitely keepers!

Have fun, and happy shooting!

__________________
NRA Life Member