Any Coonan owners among us?

[Damon555]

It appears that the major players in the gun industry have been focused on pumping out cheap, inexpensive products these days...From the Ruger American line of guns to the Remington pocket pistols we are seeing cheaper and cheaper versions of our classic firearms.

In an effort to buck this trend I have decided that I will save my pennies a little longer and try to purchase more firearms at the upper end of my comfortable price range....of course with fewer guns in my collection as a result. What I would like to do is maximize the value of my small(ish) collection of guns.

Which brings me to the Coonan......Ever since their reintroduction I have been interested in them. Can anyone with first hand experience comment on the current "Classic" model 357? Everything I see about them online makes me want one.....I need something interesting to have in a holster when I'm pulling the trigger on my Tommy gun....not something you see every day....Are they worth it?

[CockNBama]

You just had to stir that pot, didn't you? I'd gotten over my infatuation, I thought...

[JMag1]

I don't own one, but should. Methinks their 10mm is out now, as well.


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[Damon555]

I just kissed a large chunk of money goodbye! I can't wait to get my hands on it!....I'll let you guys know how it shoots.

[rock185]

I don't own one, but have shot the Coonan. I shot it with factory 158 and 110 grain .357. Performance was flawless with the 158, but had stovepipes, etc. with the 110 grain. Recoil seemed lighter and more linear than other semi-autos of comparable power I've shot, 10MM, etc. I admit I was impressed.

[44 AMP]

I wish I could give personal comments on the new Coonan.

I have a Coonan Model A, one of the 1500 first made, and its pretty good, and even better with pachmayr type rubber grips.

I would expect the new gun to be an improvement, and so the few first hand reports I've read on TFL indicate. (there are some, search should find them)

One thing I do love about the Coonan ad I saw a while back, was the statement..

"if you're looking for your first handgun, this isn't it!"
(or something very much like that, anyway..)

[Sevens]

I am a big fan of the Coonan pistol and have tracked 3,760 rounds through my particular Coonan Classic. I didn't track my ammo split, I would say that I've shot likely a 2 to 1 ratio of full-nuts .357 Magnum (with the OEM 22-lb spring) to hot .38 Special (with the accessory 10-lb spring) and my reason for the .38 through my Coonan is that my gun club doesn't allow "magnum loads" on the steel plates.

I obviously love my pistol, but if I had to make one genuine observation of a change I would make or an upgrade I would seek, it would have to be any kind of checkering on the MSH and front strap of the pistol. While I have personally never enjoyed hardcore "chesse grater" type checkering on most pistols, the Coonan is a handful with full-spec .357 Magnum. This is not to say that it is hard to shoot or an uncomfortable experience (far from it!) but I am saying that there is a lot of physical energy moving this pistol in your hands and checkering in these two places would make a tremendous difference, in my opinion.

It would certainly drive the price ever higher, understood. I have been using 3M "skateboard" type grip tape and it helps, but it also doesn't stay on the gun. It seems that every strip I stick to it is temporary.

I have had great success with this pistol, it feeds extremely well and is very reliable in my hands. However, I can say with confidence that this varies on occasion depending on the shooter... I have handed the pistol over to some folks that simply cannot get through a magazine without a feed bobble, but this simply never happens when I am shooting it.

In my crew of friends and shooting buddies, we've put a -LOT- of rounds across four different Coonan Classic pistols. Across all four, I have experienced the only mechanical failure -- my magazine catch snapped at what must have been a manufactured casting flaw. That was at about 3,200 rounds and it happened to be at the range on the last magazine I was shooting that day. I didn't even notice there was an issue until I got home.

I called Coonan and the guy told me that there would likely be no problem sending one out to me, but he did ask that I specifically sent an e-mail with pictures to their service tech, basically just so Coonan could keep notes of the failure themselves, seemingly to keep tabs on an issue if it were to be occurring across the board. I sent pictures and e-mail and wasn't asked to mail them any broken parts and within 5 days I had the new parts in my mailbox. Pistol has been good to go since.

I have a Coonan Model A, one of the 1500 first made, and its pretty good, and even better with pachmayr type rubber grips.

Makes me curious... are you referencing a set of rubber that you have? And where did you source these, as I have never seen nor heard of them and would certainly be interested. In Coonan grips that I am aware of, we have the original wood panels, the current wood panels (these have a Coonan logo on them), two kinds of black aluminum grip panels and then exotics made by Sarge, an early buyer of a pair of the newest Coonan Classic pistols. I have the etched logo black aluminum grips on mine -- they almost look like black plastic, but when you unscrew them and take one off, you know right away that these sure aren't plastic!

[Damon555]

Thank you very much for the input guys! Very informative. The pistol is shipping today so I'll have to suffer through a few days of work before I can pick it up.

As far as grips are concerned I agree about the panels and checkering. When I shoot my powerful handguns I wear mechanics gloves....My hands sweat quite a bit so the gloves come in very handy and make for a much more comfortable range session.

[pgdion]

Late to the party, but I think you're going to like it. We have one at the range and it's been a good solid performer. I've only shot it a couple times (don't know why since I get free rentals), but it is a lot of fun to shoot. I have it on my short list.

[Sevens]

Oh, this reminds me of the biggest -COMPLAINT- that I have with my Coonan Classic. (it's been my experience when trying to research other folks' experience with things I wish to buy... be it motorcycles or guns or accessories... you can learn a lot by finding the biggest complaints from the folks who LOVE and use the item a lot. This often details things to look for, be aware of and plan to deal with, almost none are ever a "deal breaker" when you consider your source are the folks who love the item and can still detail what they don't like about it...

Anyway, my Coonan sends ejected brass in every possible direction, and some directions that Magellan hasn't yet discovered. They travel quite a distance, with a lot of energy and you couldn't possibly predict where the next one will go. If you watch quality super-slo-mo videos of a Coonan in action, you will often see how the brass ejects and then dings the slide upon exit, mine has brass markings from exactly this, and this deflection offers a very "random" variable in brass ejection.

When you shoot outdoors, your search area is often large and in every possible direction. When you shoot indoors, the brass leaves with enough energy that watching them hit the floor, the wall and the ceiling is like watching a full-speed pinball in action.

This is just something I live with, certainly doesn't keep me from shooting a pistol that I love, but it is certainly an annoyance.

[pgdion]

Sevens is right, they do do that. :-)

[Model12Win]

Interesting guns to be sure, especially with the recoil spring that lets you shoot .38 specials.

I've always put off getting one as I'm not a handgun hunter and a 10mm well, anything (Glock, Ruger, etc.) just seemed more efficient and probably more reliable, with the ability to fire heavier bullets at nearly the same energy levels or in many cases (depending on the load of course) even more powerfully.

But they are very cool and distinct guns, and I've yet to hear a bad report on the new ones, they're well thought of and all things considered not too expensive last time I checked.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

I've only shot one Coonan. It belongs to a friend of mine. Looked like it was fitted by a blind special needs kid. Probably the poorest fit of any 1911 I've seen regardless of price. And it shot like it too. Now that is a sample size of ONE so take it for what it's worth. But it was not impressive.

[Sevens]

A Coonan -HAS- to be fit somewhat loose due to the torquing of the slide under fire. This was explained in detail years back by a frequent poster who was back on the original Coonan team. They could and even tried to make the slide fit more tightly on the frame and doing it induced failures.

I can understand your ignorance on the pistol itself but your descriptive word choice... sucks.

[libiglou]

I've had mine for a few months havent shot it as much as I would like. Its a great gun. Very accurate. Feed it with hot ammo and you wont have a problem. Havent tried the 38 spec option yet but will do when it gets broken in. Gets a lot attention at the range. You will not regret your decision.

[libiglou]

Looked like it was fitted by a blind special needs kid.

jayhawkhuntclub

I would choose better words. My son is a special ed kid who cannot fit a coonan but will run circles around most people on a soccer field.

PS; He's a pretty good shooter too....

[Damon555]

Picked up the Coonan today at my FFL.....She's a beauty! I'll give a range report when I get the chance to shoot it.....

[44 AMP]

I have a Coonan Model A, one of the 1500 first made, and its pretty good, and even better with pachmayr type rubber grips.

Makes me curious... are you referencing a set of rubber that you have? And where did you source these, as I have never seen nor heard of them and would certainly be interested.

Sorry, Sevens, I have no idea where they came from, they came with (but not on) the gun when I got it. When, after a while, I got around to putting them on the gun, I noticed a significant improvement in the feel of the grip (for me).

Never seen any others like them, next time I have the Coonan out, I will look for identifying marks, but I don't remember any.

Don't know why Coonan uses smooth wood, perhaps to save a few bucks, I don't know, but I do know that rubber grips make a big difference for me.

[Siggy-06]

Very pretty piece Damon, I love the smooth sides of the slide.

[Damon555]

Thanks Siggy.....Tonight she goes on her maiden voyage....I plan on shooting the snot out of it! I've got plenty of 357's loaded up!

[Damon555]

The Coonan functioned perfectly.....It might possibly be the coolest handgun that I have ever shot! The recoil is no worse than my 45 ACP 1911 even when shooting full house 357 loads.....but the muzzle blast is a sight (and sound) to behold.....just incredible! Everyone at the range just had to see what all the racket was about.

If you have the means and are even remotely interested in this type of gun I highly recommend you get one while the gettin's good.....

[libiglou]

def worth adding to any collection. They are a whole lotta fun shooting at steel plates

[bbqncigars]

I love mine. Go through 100 rounds every time at the range. For some damned reason most other people at the range don't want to try it. Its bark is WAY more worse than its bite (at least on the shooter's end).

[Damon555]

Months later and I still love the pistol. It is extremely accurate.....from top end 38 special loads to stout 357 loads this thing shoots like a dream. I've got a cast 140 grain TC bullet load pushed by H110 worked up that is accurate in both the Coonan and my GP100.....power and accuracy across different platforms.....what's not to love?

I revived this older post to let you guys know that the pistol has been very reliable. The quality of the materials used to build the gun are also excellent. It cleans up easily and still looks brand new after a thousand rounds or so. The Coonan 357 truly is a classic that is worth a look if you have some extra cash and want something to pull out of the case that very few people have ever laid eyes on.

[Deja vu]

I have a Coonan Classic with a 6 inch barrel and a Coonan Compact with a 4ish inch barrel.

I love mine, They run really well. For holsters I had to go to a custom dealer but they made it for me and it looks good.

I think if you are looking for cheaper I would go with a 10mm. Same power and they tend to have much higher capacity.

If you want it for the cool factor I think the Coonan is hard to beat.

You do gain a fair amount of velocity compared to the same barrel length of revolver (At least at 6 inches). My Coonan tends to gain about 80-120FPS (depending on bullet weight) over my 6 inch 686.