Stoger Cougar problems.

Definitely your prerogative. The rotating action on the gun in unique and can require a little more time for the parts to mate properly. I use grease on the central block / barrel tooth interface. So far it has been 100% for me.
 
Cougar 8000

My carry gun is a cougar 8000 in 9mm. I have never had a problem of any kind with this weapon. My niece really liked it and her dad bought her one of her own. I haven't heard many problems with this gun and was the service weapon in 357 sig in the North Carolina highway patrol until a few years ago. I have shot this gun in 100 round blocks and cleaned it after. Very accurate. I recommend it for concealed carry with Gold Dot HP plus P.
 
If you grasp the gun by the grip and you grab the slide with your other hand the slide can be moved back and forth. Or another way of saying it the slide has alot of play when you move it left to right or vice versa.The gun will even rattle if you shake it. The only guns I've got that do that are high round count guns. The side to frame fit is not tight. I went back to the gun shop where I bought it from. All of them had loose slide to frame fit.
Usually new guns are very tight as far as slide to frame fit. Guy at the gunshop said maybe it has to be loose because of the rotating barrel. I don't know. It's working 100% now. Still wonder about a new gun rattling though. It's not a high end 1911 which are usually super tight. But a new gun so sloppy is rare. On a standard (as in non rotating barrel) handgun too much play can cause accuracy to suffer. The barrel lock up to the slide is usually one of the main factors that makes a gun accurate. Then again this guns barrel does not tilt it rotates. So it may be a whole different set of rules.
 
I liked the firearm, so maybe someday I'll try it again. I think my(our) next semi purchase is going to be a glock, but the glock, ruger, and cougar need to get in line behind the ruger super alaskan .454mag and the model 629 .44 and maybe the s&w .500
 
Well spoke too soon. I took it out today with a 100 rounds of Remington 115gr. FMJ. Somewhere around 70 rounds the gun failed to fire on a round. I removed the round and the gun had no primer hit. Put the mag back in and actuated the slide and had a failure to return to battery. And the gun was locked up solid. I was able to get the slide off so the trigger couldn't be actuated. I dropped the safety to put the firing pin block on. Like I said the barrel was locked up solid.
Took it to the gun store where I got it from. They were able to get the round out. Asked me if I wanted it back or wanted to ship it to it's maker. Told them to ship it back. It's record of FTF before plus no firing pin hit and locking the gun up are not inspiring confidence in it. Love the looks and the feel of the gun but I don't trust it. I'll let them try to fix it. If it still gives me problems when it comes back it's gone. One thing I can't abide is a gun that's not reliable.
 
Mine has no rattle or looseness whatsoever. Its tight fit and slick action are part of what makes me so impressed with it for the price.

It sounds to me like yours just might be an out-of-spec lemon.

Good luck--I hope they make it right for you.
 
The best thing is to take it apart, and slowly put it back together (not slap it together) but be sure all things are sliding back together smoothly. You can have it not quite right, where it will work but not properly.

Try again.
 
Mine shoots very reliable with a bit less than 400 rounds through it. I have had a few stovepipes but easily cleared and probably only happened a couple of times. I do find I shoot low with the Cougar and think maybe the rotating barrel has something to do with it.
 
The gun is not difficult to assemble or disassemble. It has had 2-300 rounds through it now. Several different types of ammo. Several different mags. It seemed to clear out for awhile. Then this. I clean my guns after every range session. I uses Tetra Grease on the rotatation mechanism and anywhere that was metal to metal. As someone said I think the gun is just a lemon. It does rattle like a kids toy. When I first got it I called Stoeger and shook it for them on the phone.
The person that answered said "Oh that doesn't sound right". She went and spoke to someone and came back and said send it back in. We'll see if it's "in spec". From what I've read on line several people have had front sights the were not even seated properly in the slide dovetail. And they were told it was "in spec". One guy even had the front sight move in the dovetail while shooting it. It was "in spec". I think after all I've read I probably did get a lemon. But getting Beretta/Stoeger to do anything from what I've read does not inspire confidence. It's a damn shame because I really like the gun. I'll see what happens when I get it back. If it's not 100% it gets traded. I'll probably take a soaking on it but oh well. No one can afford an unreliable gun.
 
Live and learn I guess. I'll just trade it if it doesn't come back any better. Probably lose a ton on it. Lesson learned. Shame really. All my other Beretta's have been rock solid. After reading some things on the net I don't know if Stoeger/Beretta customer service is very good.
 
the stoeger cougar is not foolproof in reassembly.(this is not an insult,just a general term)

it is possible to install the guide rod in backwards,..but it only should go one way.

i forget now if it's even possible to reassemble with the central block in backwards.there is an arrow pointing forward on it to help you but i forget if it's possible to get it in backwards,..maybe not.

...but you can install the guide rod in backwards.


the px4 solved all of these problems,as it's next to impossible to get it wrong,plus,with the px4,the whole slide assembly(barrel/slide/block/guide rod) all stays together making assembly very easy.with the cougar it's different.it can all fall apart.most people use gravity as their friend but there's still a certain amount of things to pay attention to and a certain amount of adjustments may be necessary depending on the experience of the person,especially if your not using gravity.


also,a certain amount of play between the slide and frame can be normal on many designs.some of the most reliable pistols out there have this.however,this is subjective("play" can have different meanings to different people).the lady on the phone may have simply been impressed that you made it sound like a maraca.also,sometimes rounds can make noise in some mags of different makes/models if you shake them.

...but i don't know,i suppose it is possible that yours actually has too much play or that your cougar was indeed a lemon as a whole,but to be honest,i doubt it.it's certainly possible though.
 
The gun was put back together right. It's actually not very hard to get back together. The gun didn't lock up till round number 75. If it was improperly installed it would not have fired or jammed on the first shot. It is damn near impossible to put the recoil assembly in wrong. The spring/rod setup will not go in backwards properly. It catches on the hole in the recoil assembly and won't go all the way in. And when I played shook the gun on the telephone it had no rounds in it. The guns a lemon plain and simple.
 
Same problem with Beretta Cougar 8000

I bought a Beretta Cougar 8000 used from a pawn shop. Yesterday I had the opportunity to shoot it for the first time at a local range but experienced multiple failures. I experienced several failure types. One was that the pistol would successfully eject a shell but not load the next one. I would pull the trigger, it would click and nothing would happen. Another issue was that it wouldn't eject the shell but acted like it had and was ready to fire. Another failure type was that the next round would get jammed crooked between the camber and magazine. Still another failure was that it would get stove pipes, (partially ejected shells that get caught by the returning slide.)

I thought at first it was the magazine, but used two different magazine and experienced the same thing. So then I assumed it was the ammo, so I tried tree rounds of one ammo brand on top of three rounds of another brand in the same magazine but both brands experienced failures.

I then thought perhaps the problem was me so I asked the range officer for help. He shot it a few times and had the same problem.

I came home and did some research and several websites suggested it was a cleaning issue, and a youtube video suggested that I needed to disassemble the ejector itself and clean it thoroughly. I followed the videos instructions and did, in fact, find that my ejector was very dirty. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMho4CiElIM So I cleaned it up last night but haven't yet been back to the range. I am hoping that this will solve the issues. However, I believe I was experienced three distinct failure types which were not each caused by the ejector being dirty. Yes, I believe the ejector was causing a failure to eject, but I don't think it was causing jammed rounds or a failure to load subsequent rounds. Perhaps a through cleaning will fix all the problems. We will see.

I will add that when I first arrived at the range I shot about 20 or 30 rounds with no problems and then failures became more and more frequent. This furthers my belief that it is a cleaning issue.
 
Follow up and beretta cougar 8000 problem

This is a follow up from a previous post in which I was having problems with a used Beretta cougar 8000 bought from a pawn shop. I believe the issue was mainly a breaking-in period. Despite the gun having been bought as used, I think the previous owner hardly ever shot it. After a thorough cleaning and putting 300 or 400 rounds through it, it now seems to operate fine. Especially with 124 grain Winchester ammo. It does sometimes still offer up a jam or two after shooting 200 or 300 rounds but for the most part I am very happy with it now.
 
Florida, I'm glad to hear that you got your pistol working right. It has been a long 2 years, with lots of sleepless nights filled with anxiety about your problem. :D

I never had problems with my 9mm Stoeger Cougar, but did replace it with the Px4 Compact. That gun just fits my hand so much better.

You probably have figured out by now that it was not the ejector you cleaned up, but the extractor. The ejectors are typically about as simple as you can get, just a bent metal prong that pushes the case off the extractor.

Bart Noir
 
I've had my Cougar 9mm for about 2 and a half years. My only problems have come from Federal ammo. Blazer, Monarch, Gold Dot, Hornady no problem. But, Federal 124, 147 JHP, or 115 FMJ will FTE at least once every fifty rounds. Quit buying it.
 
I have the Beretta cougar and I have had failures with the slide not locking back but its only with non Beretta magazines.
Push down on the follower and let it up slowly and see if it sticks at the top.
 
Hmmm. I put 2400 rounds (thereabouts) through the 9mm Compact Stoeger Cougar I had a few years ago.....with ZERO failures of any kind. Slick as glass from the first shot fired, it was.

Sold it only because it was a bit heavy for everyday carry.
 
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