Stoeger is known for its shotguns, whether it’s sporting clays, hunting, you name it—it is an excellent firearm and really they’re very reasonable in price. Just recently they introduced the STR 9 as a 9mm polymer striker fired pistol—it was the first that Stoeger has introduced. This is a very budget friendly firearm, and yet it has a lot of quality. These are made in Turkey and honestly by the name, I thought they were made in Germany. There’s a lot of features to this one that mimic, a lot of times, the Glock or some of the early Smith & Wesson SVDs. So we’re going to take a look at the Stoeger STR 9C which is their compact version. They offer a number of different models, but this is one of their basic models and this would be an excellent concealed carry option. We really appreciate Stoeger for sending the STR 9C. Even though this is a very budget friendly firearm, it’s really getting a lot of rave reviews all over the gun community.
Stoeger introduced their first STR series pistols in 2019. They do have a number of different models. Again, this is the compact but they have a full size with a 15 round magazine, they have one that has a 17 round magazine, and then they have their tactical model, which has a 20 round magazine. Next, they have the subcompact, which is the STR 9SC which holds 10 rounds. This particular model holds 13 rounds. Now one of the big things about the Stoeger pistols is they start out retail, and this is Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail at $329—which is just really unheard of.
Now with those models, typically you’ll get one magazine and one back strap, but they have packages where you can get three magazines and night sights. Now the optics ready versions are $399, but this pistol is a $399 version, which market price again is going to bring it down. So they give you a lot of options.
Taking the STR 9C down to the range, I didn’t know what to expect, definitely a very budget firearm, and sometimes they can be a little finicky or maybe the quality is not quite there. But honestly, firearms coming out of Turkey have proven to be really exceptional and yet, they come in at a very decent price. Of course, the Canik has proved that, but with this pistol, it has a lot of features that the Glock has but it’s more ergonomic, it’s very well rounded off, and the slides very compact. One of the things I noticed right up front, is the texturing on the grip is very aggressive to the point to where you really feel like you’ve got a solid grip. It’s mainly the back strap, which just has this grip to your hand, but it does give you a good solid feel to it.
Really the way the Stoeger STR 9C shot was very flat, it just had a good feel to it which again surprised me because a lot of times with budget firearms you can just feel their budget. This is not necessarily that way. It has a really nice look to it. It’s got those wider serrations that make it really easy to grab and pull back on that slide. The sights were fine, they were three dot sights and of course they can be switched out if you want something different. They also have a number of different models, even night sight versions, on the Stoeger website where they’re offering a number of different choices. This is really their basic model. It’s one magazine, one back strap, and it’s just simple, but we really enjoyed shooting this little firearm. It’s very reliable, we didn’t have any malfunctions, and it was just a pleasure to shoot. Even though it is the compact size, it seemed to shoot pretty flat. While the trigger is not a competition trigger, it’s much better than the Glock. It has that take up, it has that nice crisp break to it, and so it really allows for good accuracy, and just great pointability and getting those second third follow up shots. Even though it’s a budget firearm, it really has all the quality and all the features of any other striker fired polymer frame pistol on the market.
Big thanks to Fiocchi USA for Supplying our ammunition!
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