Title: 2 Coonan 357 Magnum Pistols for Full-Size and Compact Carry – Ballistic Magazine
Headings: 2 Coonan 357 Magnum Pistols for Full-Size and Compact Carry
2 Coonan 357 Magnum Pistols for Full-Size and Compact Carry
David Bahde
Coonan the Conquerer
A Resurrection
Coonan 357 Magnum Shootout
Coonan Classic Testing
Coonan Compact Testing
Coonan 357 Magnum Mates
Coonan Classic Specs:
Coonan Compact Specs:
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Content: Coonan the Conquerer
Shooters new to the Coonan Classic are likely not aware that Dan Coonan actually started developing this pistol in the late 1970s. His Model A is essentially a product of arguments with his college roommates, and the pistol and its magazine ended up being part of Dan’s master’s thesis. Dan was already a skilled machinist at the time. In fact, he served as an apprentice in manufacturing gyrocopter parts as young as 15. Like many innovators in the firearms industry, he grew up making things by hand on a mill and lathe. Out of that interest and skill base came the Model A, which possessed a linked barrel. Rather than reinvent the wheel, and without the CNC machining utilized today, the rest of the pistol used mostly 1911 parts. Eventually the barrel used a welded lug before one was machined into it, making it “linkless.” The resulting pistols hit the market in 1981, with only a couple thousand made. Dan Coonan then sold his company to Bill Davis in the late 1980s and left it altogether in 1990.