L/S/P/T-120 vs Stoeger Cougar

H

Herluf

New member
In the future I'd like to pick up a 9mm for home defense and range fun that my wife might enjoy shooting. Ideally, I'm looking for something DA/SA. Also, I'm leaning toward metal framed. I don't intend to carry the gun and a bit of weight would be nice to cut down on felt recoil and make it more comfortable for the wife. As for size reference, she has average sized hands. My pachmayr wrapped 84 feels a touch big for her, but she can still manipulate the trigger.

I've been drooling over the Stoeger Cougar (9mm full size model) and the Tristar/Canick 120 series CZ clones. Both are DA/SA, made in Turkey, and are a copy or built on the same tooling as solid preforming handguns. The price points are similar and neither gun (as far as I've seen) has much in the way of bad reviews. The Stoeger appeals to me as I've been extremely happy with my Beretta 84. The 120 appeals to my attraction to the CZ/HiPower style pistols. I've fired neither, but have held versions of both at local shops and neither felt uncomfortable or awkward.

So what do you folks think of these two? If you have another 9mm in the sub $400 range that meets my criteria, let me know.
 
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I don't consider the Stoeger Cougar a clone, It's a Beretta Cougar now made in Turkey. I have owned the 9MM full size & compact as well as the full sized .45.
They sell at my LGS for $379 for the nine. Still one of the best handgun values on the market today, I have shot 1000's of rds through them & have never had a single failure. It also has a very soft recoil, is very accurate & is quite easy to get back on target.
You will not be disappointed with a Beretta/Stoeger Cougar!
 
I recommended the Stoeger to my son and brother in law after reading the Rifleman's article on it. They have been great shooters for these guys. I'm not sure what the problem is with a slide mounted safety, works as advertised.
 
I love seeing threads speaking about canik/tristar. I love to scream from the rooftops about how downright amazing my tristar t100 has been. 6-7 maybe 8 thousand rounds now with not one single malfunction. ZERO!!!!!!! in 7 thousand rounds. I own a real CZ-75 compact and thoroughly enjoy it, but nothing beats my Tri-Star. the trigger is better, it's more accurate, it's lighter. THE SINGLE BEST GUN PURCHASE I HAVE MADE IN THE ENTIRETY OF MY LIFE!!!! not exaggerating. I paid 320 out the door from academy. get it, get it, get it. I have one complaint, my tristar t100 has the lightweight alloy frame, the "blue" they used on the frame barely sticks. I will preface that I have handled this gun very roughly, but the finish has not held up, I will be doing duracoat on it soon. that's the only complaint. the trigger is butter, and it's really lightweight

7000 rounds later.....


moral of the story is, if I could go back, I would get the "hard chrome" finish, or an all steel frame
 
I'm not sure what the problem is with a slide mounted safety, works as advertised.
Click to expand...

Apparently the Army is unhappy with the slide-mounted safety on the M9, because the safety is often inadvertently activated when clearing a malfunction -- not a plus during combat, but no big deal for a range toy.
 
My T-120 has been trouble free. Only about 700 rounds so far, not bad. I did get the satin hard chrome finish and its held up nicely. The only Downside is the D/A trigger, mine is around 20lbs :eek:
 
I love my Tristar T-120 BUT I would cation you to let your wife hold one first. The trigger reach is better for larger hands. There is a Cajun Gun Works fix for this but it adds to the cost.
 
Helped a friend pick out a Stoeger Cougar 8000F for his first pistol. Excellent quality. I own a proper Beretta Cougar 8040G and the Stoeger is its equal in all areas but finish (which is applied in a manner a bit inferior to the Beretta's, but still Bruniton). It's made on the Beretta equipment and Stoeger is owned by Beretta. It's only very sightly removed from being a Beretta and is thus a steal at the price.
 
I own the Canik Stingray and love the gun. HOWEVER, your wife may not like working with this weapon strictly due to it's weight. It's a steel frame, a proverbial brick. My wife works with a CZ 75 P01 and prefers it to the Stingray simply due to the weight differential. (she can nail center mass with either weapon) The Stingray is slightly smaller than the P01, a clone of the CZ compact. I did choose this gun for a variety of reasons and the weight did factor into the decision.


I do suggest that you visit the Canik web site and explore their offerings, specifically the weight of each gun. I also suggest that you visit your local range, one that rents and let your wife handle at least a dozen guns to determine her comfort zone with the feel of the gun as well as it's weight. Then, take the preferences to the range and test.

You will be hard pressed to find Canik at your local gun shop. I've only seen the gun retailed on-line, which usually means that a local gun shop isn't going to have this as part of their range repertoire (based on local experience only)


Good luck. Enjoy the shopping.
 
I have the compact 9mm Cougar. Soft recoil, accurate, and my 5'2" wife can grip it comfortably. Extra mags come from Beretta's web site. It is, in my mind, not lesser in any way to the SA or S&W pistols I also own...essentially the same size and weight as the XDm 3.8" 45. Also, very easy to disassemble.
 
academy sports and outdoors stocks the full-line of canik/Tri-Star products. so does adventure outdoors and other big-box stores. bought mine at academy for 329$ out the door....he forgot to add the tax!!
 
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