Title: Coonan Arms Classic .357 Magnum 1911 Pistol - GunsAmerica Digest
Headings: Coonan Arms Classic .357 Magnum 1911 Pistol
Coonan Arms Classic .357 Magnum 1911 Pistol
Not Your First Pistol!

Content: I shot it with Hornady Critical defense, and though you will see a huge fireball on the Coonan Arms webpage, I didn’t note this at all in my tests of the gun. Critical Defense utilizes the same powder blending technology that you find in Hornady Superformance. The .357 Mag. Critical Defense is engineered to not produce a big fireball with even a 2″ Ruger LCR, and the Coonan Classic 5″ barrel is more than enough burn time to optimize the most velocity with the least muzzle flash. The 125 grain Critical Defense clocked at just over 1500 feet per second, and it shot easily into about an inch at ten yards. Some may find the romance of a huge kick and brilliant muzzle flash a great reason to buy a .357 Mag. pistol, but as a certifiable gun geek, I think this pistol stands on its own merits very well as a really functional and high quality pistol for a reasonable price. The only thing I didn’t find as promised in the Coonan Classic .357 was that it is supposed to be able to shoot .38 Special with a second spring that comes with the gun. I installed the spring and tried it with Hornady Critical Defense in both regular .38 Special and the +P loads, as well as some Fiocchi .38 Special I was out testing a cowboy gun with, and none of it cycled reliably even with the lighter spring. I don’t think that people buy a gun like this in hopes that they will be able to punch paper with the .38s, but each to his own.