Coonan 357 mag auto pistol

[Brownie]

A blast from the past, the Coonan 357 auotloader was produced by Dan Coonan until their bankruptcy in 93. All stainless steel and built like a tank, they were not known as "junk" but well made guns.

Coonan still services the pistols and makes FAL receivers according to their website here: http://www.dancoonan.com/coonan_357.html under the business name DCI, Inc.

An officer I knew a few towns over from where I worked had one and would bring it to the range quite often back in the early 90's. It was a blast to shoot with lots of horsepower on tap [ two different mags would hold either 7 and 8 rounders depending on when they were made ].

Anyone ever see or get to shoot one of these pieces?

[Brownie]

Here's what they look like.

[DocH]

There was a black undercover officer in the department that carried one of those and a .44 Auto Mag. He liked to be different.:)
I shot both and both were a blast to shoot,but never owned one.Havn't seen one in a looong time. We used to call him "John Shaft." He liked that.:)

[Dave James]

Knew a deputy that carried one,it was the 4" version,, only trouble he had with it was the magazines,,was a nice piece tho

[Brownie]

I picked up the B model yesterday at the shop for half of what it is worth on the open market. I've secured 4 mags at 150.00 each today from a guy in Texas, and the correct front sight and replacement recoil springs are ordered this morning as well right from Coonan himself in Minnesota.:cool:

Now I have to find a factory set of grips for it. The gun came with elkhorn stag grips, nice, but not original. I'm planning on putting this one back to completely original condition, and keep it as an investment, though my nephew may just end up getting it one day like the rest in the collection.

[DocH]

The "rest" in the collection? Wish I was your nephew.:D
Thats a good one to preserve for posterity,alright. Knowing me tho,I'd get itchy fingers and have to shoot it. Nice catch,Brownie.:)
The one I saw and shot was a nice gun.It's been a long time but I don't recall ever hearing any bad stuff about them.

[Brownie]

Yes Doc, the error of my ways:rolleyes: -- has left me with no kids to hand things down to at the end, so both sons of my sister and brother will be getting the lions share of the "put aways" as well as the shooters.

When I moved out here to the desert a few years ago, I sold off a lot of the collectables and shooters [ some 30 odd pieces ] so I did not have to transport the safes and all the goodies. I'm just replenshing the stock at this point but I miss those damned ww1 and ww2 original 1911's the most of the collectables I once had.

edited to add:

I should have mentioned that the Coonans were all about precision and very well made, all stainless guns. Like DJ mentioned, the mags were usually the weak link where reliability was concerned.

[DocH]

Ditto that, boss.I never sold a gun that I didn't regret later. I'm to the point now that I'm trying to pick up some of the oldies that were always my favorites in the day. As you mention ,the old veteran 1911's fall in there somewhere,too. :)

[RTBRANE]

Yeah, I thought the Coonan models made much more sense than the Des Eagle .357 did. Never stumbled over one I could afford. Like the left handed Randals, they always seemed to be rare and expensive. I always wondered how they would perform with some hot loads, and how wide a performance spread they could handle without changing springs, or other mods.

Will

[Brownie]

Standard recoil spring weights range from 22, to the more accepted 24# which was factory standard.

The gun was specifically deigned around two cartridges. The 125 and 158 grain loadings for that era. Either weight could be shot without changing springs.

Yes, they are getting quite collectable lately. This one came through the shop, it's number was run on the hot sheet [ clean ] and then to myself. It needs a stock front sight and grips as I mentioned before, but those items are not expensive and can be found if you look [ the sight has been located, the grips will take longer ].

What's expensive are the mags.:( I've located several to put away with this one. I don't bite the bullet now on these, they'll be harder to find and much more expensive. NO ONE is making aftermarkets for this one. Too rare.

[shaman]

Man, too cool. I thought the Deagle was the only 357 mag pistol.

It would be really cool to have one of those as a carry piece. I like the 357 round a lot.

What's fair market value on one of these?

[Brownie]

Coonan model "B" 357's like I aquired are worth 1200 or so, depending on condition. Mine is being refurbed back to original by the original armorer for Coonan right now out of Minnesota.

[jem375]

I owned 2 at one time and they were really nice shooting handguns and like an idiot got rid of them............

[Brownie]

I got the Coonan back from the man who refurbs them and was the primary builder for Dan Coonan when they were in business.

Here's a couple of shots of the Model B now in the safe. I'm told by the gunsmith who worked on this one that it's one of the finer examples he's seen, clean, taken care of and not shot a whole lot.

shaman: This one is now worth about $1800.00-2000.00 with the 4 mags that I've got for it. Mags are about 200.00 each if you can find them.

[Brownie]

Just located a firing pin spring and recoil spring set thats original "new in wrapper" for the Coonan as spare parts.

The search continues-----------------------------------I have a line on two more mags as well.