I may be traveling to the warm and welcoming community of New Orleans next fall. I dont really want to risk the airlines losing one of my $$$ guns or God forbid, I use it / lose it in NOLA. So I have been looking at the many cheaper Glock clones currently being sold. After falling down the YouTube rabbit hole, I narrowed it down to these options:
Police turn in or used Glock 17 19, 23, or 22.
A Canik in any number of types.
A Taurus GX4. ()
I then ran across this gun: Stoeger STR9C. More or less a G19. Local Dunhams had it for $299. Researching it further showed an online rebate from Stoeger for $50, making the gun even cheaper. I checked the reviews and they were favorable. Stoeger offers an optic ready model, too. So I bought one! Here is my experience thus far:
Fit and finish are on par with the more expensive guns.
Excellent grip with high undercut. Better in my hand than the Glock.
Steel sights. Magazines are steel and appear to be MecGar.
Size wise, it is just a bit smaller in all dimensions than the G19.
Trigger is very good. Maybe better than my G4 Glocks.
Pic rail equipped.
I just ran 250 rounds of mixed HP (Gold Dots) and ball practice ammo through it. No malfunctions. I did not do any real accuracy testing since it was 25 degrees and the range was snow covered. But its performance on full size pepper poppers was good.
Whines:
It fits some of my G19 holsters but not all of them. Magazine capacity is 13 but getting the 13th round out was no go.
Extraction was vigorous but a little erratic. May improve with use. Extractor system is non Glock.
Doesnt take Glock mags. Makes for a smaller grip though and I found mags online for $35. 4 are inbound. Only comes with one. Slide Release is smaller than Glock and even harder to use.
Options for night or improved sights seem iffy. Stoeger offers a set for $120 but that seems in Trijicon territory, so pass.
No lifetime warranty. 5 years only.
Durability and long term reliability remain to be seen. I plan to shoot the crap out of it before my trip and if it fails, I will update this.
I felt fairly comfortable going with a Stoeger, since I have read about other members who had good experiences with Stoeger Cougars.
So far, it looks like a good buy. Time will tell!

Hopefully it's better and more consistently reliable than their shotguns. We wound up doing our local Benelli rep a favor and ordered a small assortment of them. First impression once in hand I wasn't put off by any of them, but I wasn't particularly wowed by any of them either. Only clear, decent positive is the low price points; anything else is a wait 'n' see, I think.

I suppose we could hope that they used their compatriot gunmaker Canik as their guide to market; those guys DO know how to build a proper pistol.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Doesnt take Glock mags. Makes for a smaller grip though and I found mags online for $35. 4 are inbound. Only comes with one.

I was once interested in an STR9, but the price & availability of mags are largely what killed it for me. A $199 gun looks like less of a deal when you have to spend $45-50 shipped for a second mag, and up until earlier this year, the mags were largely unavailable.

By contrast, for $199, you can get a Taurus G3, and it'll come w/ three mags, and it's compatible w/ P226 mags that I already own.

These days it's hard for me to rationalize a $200 price-point gun when you can do so much better for $300. Sure, you it's a 50% increase, but fortunately, I'm not so strapped that $100 will break my discretionary budget. For $300, I can buy or build a straight-up Glock clone that will work w/ all Gen 3-4 parts as well as mags & holsters.

I came across a LNIB Girsan Regard MC in the used case at my LGS last week. I handled it and thought it was a damn fine M9A1 clone for only $300. Academy Sports also had a one-day Black Friday deal for a Canik TP9SF One Series (One means it only comes w/ one mag) for $250.

The Canik was the top choice for me for quite a bit but the selection locally was not great and it is actually too "nice" for my intended purpose. I looked for a used Glock too but I knew I would start spending $$$ on it for a better trigger, sights, etc so it would wind up being too "nice"
too. I hope to run another 250 through the STR next week and see how it does.

Okay, somebodies got to say it and so it might as well be me...

Life is too short to carry cheap guns.....

I've flown with guns for the last 15+ years and it's never been a problem....

Assuming once you get to NO the gun is going to be strapped to your side... ... what ever way you "lose it', then...you got a lot more to worry about than the cost of the gun.

But then every body has a price point and I have to admit the price of a standard Glock is at my lower limit.

How much is your life worth???? Why in the world are you wanting to come to New Orleans???? New Orleans is now considered the murder capitol of the US.....Your worry about losing your gun is the least of you worries. And valid because the popo do not care about legitamate legal carry options.. and if they take it you will be lucky to ever get it back...... There a major parts of the city as well as the suronding areas that at one time consiered safe but now not so.... Some parts of the city the police refuse to respond to calls for help or they take forever to respond even if they do. The police dept is so understaffed they cannot respond.... This even happens for major calls (rape, etc) and not just neighbor disputes.. I am sure there will be some that will dispute this post then so be it.... I refuse to go anywhere in the New Orleans area for safety reasons even though I can and would defend myself . ............................................ drill sgt.

Well... My kid lives in the warm and welcoming community of NOLA. On Palmetto St. Near carjack Costco. So if I want see him, I have to go there. Which is why I was seeking a gun I could lose without major depression setting in.

Why buy a $300 gun to secure yourself against the unlikely loss of a $500 gun? Will your homeowner's insurance cover the loss of a firearm while traveling?

Hmmm.... I will have to check with my insurance on that.

quote:

Originally posted by drill sgt:
How much is your life worth???? Why in the world are you wanting to come to New Orleans???? New Orleans is now considered the murder capitol of the US.....Your worry about losing your gun is the least of you worries. And valid because the popo do not care about legitamate legal carry options.. and if they take it you will be lucky to ever get it back...... There a major parts of the city as well as the suronding areas that at one time consiered safe but now not so.... Some parts of the city the police refuse to respond to calls for help or they take forever to respond even if they do. The police dept is so understaffed they cannot respond.... This even happens for major calls (rape, etc) and not just neighbor disputes.. I am sure there will be some that will dispute this post then so be it.... I refuse to go anywhere in the New Orleans area for safety reasons even though I can and would defend myself . ............................................ drill sgt.

I agree Keith. You know we told the company we would NOT go back to NOLA to deliver meds about 4 years ago.
The few dollars we made didn't pay for us getting killed or carjacked.
And the crime has gotten worse since then.
It's crazy down there. 5 shot on Bourbon last night.