triplebike
New member
Hi all, newbie here. Back in the early 70's when I was a fairly young lad I purchased a S&W model 59. I owned that gun for about 2-3 years. My friends & I used to take it down to the sandpits & just fired & fired it. Being young & foolish, I mistreated it by never cleaning it ever. It never jammed, never FTF or FTE, never failed in any way whatsoever. I loved that gun but cars & girls got the best of me & I ended up selling it. I currently own three rifles & a shotgun, but in the last year or so I've gotten a hankering to start shooting a handgun again. So I went out & purchased a Browning Buckmark Camper (22 caliber) to get back into it. The BM is an absolute blast (no pun intended) to shoot & being a 22 it was cheap. About two months ago I decided to get a backup to the shotgun for HD. I ended up with a Ruger Security Six .357 revolver. I picked that gun because of it's simplicity figuring that my wife & still at home youngest son (18) would have an easier time dealing with it in case of an emergency. (it's loaded with .38 +p) I enjoy shooting the Ruger but need a lot more practice with the .357 so I am pretty much shooting .38 specials. My son shoots rings around me with it in both the .357 & .38. (oh to be to be 18 again). I still had a yearning for a 9MM so started to research as to which "9" to get. My budget was around $400 & I looked & handled just about everything in that price range. I also decided that I was not going to buy used. I finally decided to get a new "Stoeger Couger 8000". It was in my price range ($369), my research showed that owners had nothing but good things to say about it & I think in some small way it brought back my S&W days. I actually like the weight of it & I don't plan on it being my carry gun (the SS will have that role) I haven't had it at the range yet, but can't wait to put a few hundred rds through it next week. I don't think I'll be disappointed. I know I've been long winded but thats my story & I'm sticking to it. 