Beretta 8000 Cougar

The Beretta 8000 Cougar series pistols were manufacted by Beretta of Italy. They first appeared on the market in 1994 as a more compact alternative to the full-sized Beretta 92 service pistol in order to offer a compromise between concealability, ease of carry, accuracy and firepower.

It was originally developed for the .40 S&W cartridge, which was a new cartridge at the time. It was later also manufactured chambered for 9x19mm Parabellum, .357 SIG and .45 ACP. European models were also offered in 9x21mm IMI and .41 AE to comply with local laws prohibiting the use of military cartridges by civilians.

Beretta Cougar 8000 series pistols are recoil operated, locked breech semi-automatic pistols. These pistols use a relatively rare rotating barrel locking system, in which the barrel rotates on recoil to unlock itself from the slide. The rotating motion of the barrel is controlled by the stud on its bottom, which follows the cam track in the steel frame insert.

The frame is made from lightweight aluminum alloy. The basic version of the Cougar pistol is the F model, with a double-action/single-action (DA/SA) trigger, exposed hammer, and ambidextrous safety/decocker levers located on the slide. The G configuration is also a DA/SA design, but with a decocker-only lever instead of the combined manual safety/decocker lever. The D configuration is double-action only (DAO) with a spurless hammer and no safety/decocker levers. Cougar pistols use double-stack magazines in the 9x19mm Parabellum, .357 SIG and .40 S&W models, and single-stack magazines in the .45 ACP models.

Marketing and distribution of the Cougar has been transferred to Stoeger Industries, a subsidiary of Beretta. The firearms are made in Turkey, using Beretta factory tooling. Stoeger now produces Cougars in 9x19mm Parabellum, .45 ACP, and .40 S&W.

The Beretta 8000 Cougar has earned the following ratings for concealability, firepower, and overall suitability for concealed carry by persons with a valid CCW permit. For more information on how these numbers are calculated, please visit the Concealed Carry Factors™ information page.

Note: Concealability Factor™ and CCW Factor™ require information on a firearm's overall length, width, height, and weight in order to be calculated. Because one or more of these specifications are currently not available for this firearm, only its Firepower Factor™ can be displayed.