Beretta PX4 vs Stoeger Cougar

H

HistoryJunky

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I have been looking at these two guns lately. The rotating barrel supposedly reducing recoil is a feature I would be interested in. They're both hammer fired, DA/SA autos.

Both seem to be friendly to lefties, which appeals greatly to me as a left handed shooter.

I have never seen either of these guns in person. What kind of experiences do my fellow TFL members have with either or both of these firearms?
 
I have a PX4 Compact in 9 mm in my gun safe. It actually belongs to my daughter, but she lives in a location that prohibits her from physically possessing it, and I promised her to keep it exercised while it lives with me.

It is a very soft shooting pistol, apparently at least in part because of the rotating barrel. Accuracy is very good, and the ergonomics of the grip are also excellent, at least for the shape and size of my hand, my daughter's, and my wife's. I really like the pistol.

I have not shot the Stoeger, so I am not able to give you a comparison. I have handled the Stoeger, though; it is noticeably heavier but appears to be well built. You may know that Stoeger is a Turkish subsidiary of Beretta; some say that the fit and finish is not as good, but the example I handled looked pretty good. Folks who own the Stoeger and talk about them on these forums are generally quite positive.

I consider the PX4 to be an under-recognized gem of a pistol. I saw the Stoeger recently at Academy for just $300, though, which would make it quite a value.
 
The extra weight and low cost of the Stoeger definitely appealed to me. That, combined with using the same general rotating barrel system, made me think it would make a nice, light recoiling gun.
 
You may want to take what I have to say with a grain of salt, as I'm fairly new to handguns, but I do own the Stoeger Cougar Compact in 9mm.

I really love the gun, and the fit and finish are well above what it typically sells for. I'll be honest, at first I thought the guns were a little on the awkward/ugly side, but after handling it in person it really is a nice looking pistol. I only just recently got it, so I can't personally comment on reliability, but having a tendency to go overboard with research, I don't expect that to be a problem. The Cougars are really just Berettas made in Turkey and stamped with a different name.

As far as differences go, the only truly major differences that I've heard between the two is that the PX4 has a polymer frame vs the alloy frame on the Cougar, and that the grip design on the PX4 is different than that of the Cougar.

I think the best thing to do would be to at least handle both of them to see which fits your hand better. However, the ~$150 price difference may be a deciding factor as well.
 
I don't have any experience with the Stoeger, so I can't help you there.

I have owned a PX4 in .40 S&W for almost four years now. To date, it's been the most reliable semi-auto I've ever owned. At one point I'd shot 2,800 rounds through it without maintenance of any kind except wiping down the exterior after each range session without incident. Your mileage may vary; I've heard some stories about reliability issues with the PX4, it just hasn't been my experience or the experiences of my three buddies who also have Storms.

When I first bought it, I found the gun a bit over sized, I thought the bore-axis was a little too high for me, and I thought the guns overall looks were a bit strange.

Then I started playing around with the modular grips. It comes with different size grip panels (don't know what else to call them), which at first I thought would be merely a gimmick. Turns out they actually can significantly change the ergonomics of the gun. I found the small set worked best for me, and the gun instantly felt better in my hand, pointed better for me, and that high bore-axis thing seemed to go away.

As to recoil and accuracy, whether it's the rotating barrel or not, it's my softest shooting .40 cal. And the gun is more than adequately accurate for defensive purposes.

The gun breaks down Glock-style, and general cleaning and maintenance are straightforward.

As much as I like the gun there are some drawbacks. There's not a lot of aftermarket stuff for it. That includes holsters; you have to do a bit of looking around. Also, the DA trigger pull is rather long and heavy and the trigger itself is set fairly far forward. If you have smaller hands this may be an issue, unless the smaller grip piece works out for you.

Hope some of that helps.

P.S. I should've added that the decocker/safety on the Storm is not ergonomic, at least for me. Multiple slingshot racking of the slide can be painful. Also, if you get sloppy with one you can actually flip the thing down, requiring the shooter to have to flip it back up into the 'Fire' position before you can get back to work. It's a relatively minor issue, but it does happen.
 
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I have three Cougars, 2 Berettas and a Stoeger. I have only handled Beretta PX4 Storms.

My two Beretta Cougars are "minis" which have the same size upper on a frame with a shorter grip and magazine well. They except full size magazines with grip extender sleeves, and with them they shoot pretty much like regular, full-size Cougars. One is a Beretta mini-Cougar 8000D 9x19mm which is a double action only model. The other is a Beretta mini-Cougar 8040F .40 S&W which is a traditional DA/SA model with the typical slide mounted safety/decocker lever.

My Stoeger Cougar 8045 is a full sized F model (DA/SA) chambered in .45 ACP. I would say that the Stoeger Cougar is functionally equivalent to my Beretta Cougars. The finish is perhaps slightly less glossy but not bad at all.

All the Cougars shoot very well and absorb recoil very well. The rotary barrel lockup mechanism likes to be run fairly "wet" but mine have been very reliable and accurate. I would expect the PX4 storm to be so as well.

The polymer grip on the PX4 is definitely shaped differently than the grip of the alloy frame Stoeger/Beretta Cougar. Both are comfortable in my hands. The levers of the PX4 safety/decocker levers stick out more than on the Cougar and are a bit sharp although several models of "stealth" levers are available from Beretta. The PX4 is obviously going to be a bit lighter than the Cougar.
 
I had one of each, in 9mm. I shot them a bunch, side by side, and then sold the Cougar.

One reason was that the Px4 has a better trigger in both DA and SA. It is smoother, lighter, and has a crisper reset. The differences are small and not really important, but I could not justify keeping both guns.

The Px4 also has the different sized backstraps and I find it fits my hand better than the Cougar. Again, not enough difference to be important but I found I like the PX4 Compact better.

I was shooting it Saturday and again felt that it is one of my favorite DA/SA hammer equipped pistols.

Only flaw I can see in the Px4 is that the safety lever is small and not easy to move from Safe to Fire. That is not a show stopper for me since I only use it to decock the hammer.

Bart Noir
 
Bart Noir said:
I had one of each, in 9mm. I shot them a bunch, side by side, and then sold the Cougar.

One reason was that the Px4 has a better trigger in both DA and SA. It is smoother, lighter, and has a crisper reset. The differences are small and not really important, but I could not justify keeping both guns.

The Px4 also has the different sized backstraps and I find it fits my hand better than the Cougar. Again, not enough difference to be important but I found I like the PX4 Compact better.

I was shooting it Saturday and again felt that it is one of my favorite DA/SA hammer equipped pistols.

Only flaw I can see in the Px4 is that the safety lever is small and not easy to move from Safe to Fire. That is not a show stopper for me since I only use it to decock the hammer.

Bart Noir
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That sounds like good enough reasoning to me. For me, having changeable back straps is necessary. I have small hands and the stock back straps on most guns are too big for me.
 
I have owned a Stoeger Cougar fullsize and now own a PX4 Compact. They are both very similar. The latter being a modern redesign of the same pistol. I like both of them and wish I wouldn't have sold my Stoeger, it was great. The Cougar is very manageable with small hands. It has a similar feel to a Springfield Armory XD.
 
I would echo the positive comments here about the PX4. I have the full size PX4 in 9mm, and it's a soft shooter, has a good DA trigger, a great SA trigger and the medium grip fits my hand perfectly. (I have average size hands.) It has been 100% reliable through about 500 rounds.

I haven't shot the Stoeger, but I held one at Cabelas the other day. It felt good, but the the reach to the trigger was longer (I think the grip was fatter) than my PX4. I don't know if the Stoeger comes with different backstops or not.

One thing to be aware of. The PX4 Compact is completely ambidextrous with the safety and slide stop lever on both sides (and the mag release can be switched). The PX4 Full Size has the ambidextrous safety but has the slide stop lever only on the left side. If I had realized that when I bought mine, I would have bought the Compact since I'm a lefty too.

One more thought. Another fully ambidextrous gun is the Bersa Thunder Pro in both the full size and the Ultra Compact versions. I have the Ultra Compact, and it's a great gun that is very comfortable too, but not as soft shooting as the PX4.
 
Thanks for the info. For me all I need is an ambi safety and mag release. I always slingshot the slide since there are very few guns I can reach the slide stop on without adjusting my grip.
 
Through the years I have owned a pair of Cougars, but got rid of them and now have a pair of PX4's; a full size "D" (DAO) and the subcompact is getting converted to a "G" (decock-only) model.

They are all excellent shooters, just a matter of weight difference and slightly different feel between the angles of the grip and backstrap arch. Allow me to make a suggestion if I may? Regardless if you get the Cougar or PX4, change out your mainspring to a "D" model spring, as it will lighten your double action pull slightly.

Good luck with your decision!
 
I own both, a full size PX4 Inox 9mm and a Stoeger Cougar 8000 F 9mm as well as a Stoeger Cougar 8045. All three are excellent guns, soft shooting, accurate and reliable. Even though the PX4 is sometimes referred to as a polymer version of the alloy framed Cougar and both have the rotating barrel, they really feel quite different in the hand. The Cougar's grip is excellent but is more upright than the PX4's. The polymer frame/grip of the PX4 has a slick feel to it so I put a Hogue slip on grip on it. The PX4's sights have bigger dots than the Cougar making them easier for me to pick up. I prefer the decocker/safety levers on the Cougar over the batwing levers on the PX4. I put a "D" spring in both Cougars which lessened the weight of the DA trigger pull slightly, but I feel the PX4 trigger pull is still better DA and SA. I regularly shoot IDPA matches and occasionally shoot the PX4 but not the Cougar because the PX4 points more naturally for me due to the grip angle. If money is an issue, the Cougar is hard to beat as it was about $150 cheaper than the PX4. I actually like both guns about equally but they have their differences.
 
Thanks for the info. For me all I need is an ambi safety and mag release. I always slingshot the slide since there are very few guns I can reach the slide stop on without adjusting my grip.
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Handle one in person before you buy.
 
Stoeger

I have had a Stoeger Compact for about 4 yrs. It is a very soft shooter, capable of good accuracy, and, for me, very reliable except for Federal ammo both FMJ and JHP in various weights. Burns through everything else with no problems.

Also a lefty, I reversed the mag release as otherwise it operates fine left handed. FWIW it fits in a Blackhawk Sherpa listed for SA XDm 9's and 40's.

Hard to find extra mags though. Beretta doesn't list them anymore and Stoeger always show 'out of stock.'
 
hubris said:
I have had a Stoeger Compact for about 4 yrs. It is a very soft shooter, capable of good accuracy, and, for me, very reliable except for Federal ammo both FMJ and JHP in various weights. Burns through everything else with no problems.

Also a lefty, I reversed the mag release as otherwise it operates fine left handed. FWIW it fits in a Blackhawk Sherpa listed for SA XDm 9's and 40's.

Hard to find extra mags though. Beretta doesn't list them anymore and Stoeger always show 'out of stock.'
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Thank you for listing the magazine finding issue. Definitely a consideration.
 
Grand Power does the rotating barrel thing better than anybody IMO. They are also fully ambi (not reversible, actually ambi), and have a frame mounted safety instead of the slide mounted mess on the Beretta. Obviously Beretta makes good stuff, but the Grand Power line will fit what you are looking for better most likely. They also have better triggers.
 
Both guns are extremely solid performers all around.

The PX4 really is a very underrated gun because it's just so damn ugly. But, it has an excellent firearm. The bore axis is very low for a hammer fired gun, trigger pull is excellent, recoil is almost nothing, and reliability of mine has been flawless.

PLUS -- it's super easy to make it a G model. Thing's a sleeper...
 
I've only experience with the PX4 and not the Stoeger, but here's my $0.02.

It's an outstanding shooter and an excellent value, but I just do not find the slide-mounted safety/decocker easy to use. I have wee baby hands, though, so you should definitely give it a try before discounting it. I'd also recommend switching it to decocker-only instead of the safety version.

That said, I'd also strongly recommend the FNX/FNS line of pistols if you need true ambi controls. I think the PX4 is a little more comfortable to grip, but the controls on the FN are easier to reach.
 
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