Coonan 357 Magnum

A shooting buddy told me that he just couldn't stand shooting his Coonan 357 Mag. Too much recoil; too much muzzle flip; too much muzzle blast for him. He offered it to me for a ridiculously low price and I couldn't resist, so I snapped it up. Original case and all the paperwork. Don't know exactly what the heck I'm going to do with it, but it is heavy enough that I could beat a hog to death with it in about two strokes.

Looks like fun. Is your friend a woman?

No, he's a man, ex-Marine Corps after 25 years of service, served in Korea and Vietnam. He's 87 years old and just doesn't like the beating the Coonan gives out. And you? Are you a woman?

Understandable.

No. I’m a man. I didn’t mean to upset anyone. It was just a question.

Nice-looking firearm! I always wondered what they were like to shoot. You could probably tame it with a porting job or a compensator if necessary.

I want one.

They are a handful to shoot, even though they're quite heavy. I would liken the recoil to that of a 460 Rowland. Not totally unpleasant, but you have brace yourself and understand that you're not going to get back on target too quickly because of the muzzle flip. Definitely not a piece you want to spend the day at the range shooting.

Tactical Cowboy, go here to get yourself one!!

http://www.coonaninc.com/product/357-magnum-classic/

As a handgun dummy, what makes them so hard to shoot?

Recoil....large hot load in a "small" firearm....

Can you shoot any type of bullets in those, or are you restricted to something like wadcutters only?

But it is a .357 Magnum, right? I think I want one...

I’ve handled them before but have never shot one.

Biggest revolver/pistol I've ever shot was a Ruger Blackhawk .30 carbine....that was 35 years ago when I was about 17.....it was about dusk and between the recoil....the fan of fire from between the cylinder and barrel, and the 50 ft long 20 ft wide flame out the end of the barrel I had all I wanted......

Largest pistol I've fired (or even desired to shoot) since was a .357 Mag in a 6" stainless Colt Trooper III, .45 ACP 1911, or .40 S&W......

Texas Til I Die, the dreaded owner's manual that comes with the Coonan recommends 125 grain and 158 grain bullet. "The Coonan pistols are factory sprung (22 pound recoil spring) to function with 125 grain and 158 grain JACKETED ammunition." It goes on to say that the use of mild loads or "cowboy" loads or any other low powered ammunition will not allow the pistol to function normally with the factory installed recoil spring. I've seen a lot of different weight bullets passed through this big baby before I acquired it, and they all performed quite well. I think Coonan is just saying that those two weights are optimum, based on their testing. Coonan includes a 10 pound recoil spring for use with .38 Special +P ammunition. They also recommend a break in protocol of 200-500 rounds of 357 Mag ammo.

12lb difference in recoil spring between .357 and 38 special??

Biggest problem with the Coonan is the shear size and weight plus it takes a pretty good size hand to comfortably get a grip (Long reach to the trigger). As far as recoil the weight and the action adsorbs allot of that.

Tactical Cowboy, that's what the manual says; I have no way to test it.

I don't get all the hype about recoil etc.....it's a .357 magnum. I think a lot of shooters think to much about the recoil of certain calibers instead of just shooting it like they would any other 1911. They stiffen up too much and that magnifies the felt recoil.

I saw this recently with my SIL shooting my 10mm 1911. I told him to just relax and shoot it like a 9mm. Let it recoil, don't fight it. Once he did that he was accurate and not intimidated before he got started shooting.

I might have to add one of theses to my 1911 collection. I currently have .22, 9mm, 45acp, and 10mm.

There are some of us out here who don't particularly care for the heavy recoiling calibers. I, for instance, am the president on NARAW (National Association of Recoil Avoiding Whimps), and all of the members of the Association have shot the Coonan and are in agreement that a long day of shooting this big feller is not a whole lot of fun. I do agree with you that tightening up/tensing up is not good and will certainly increase the "felt recoil" of whatever you're shooting. I, personally, am good for about 2 magazines (14 rounds) of 357 Mags out of Mr. Coonan's creation and am then eager to put it down and get on to the next firearm in the arsenal!

Anybody have any cheese to go with the "whine"?

I'd recommend a really sharp cheddar.

I would really like to have one of those. I kinda like recoil. I carry that real lite s&w 44 at the lease. I been known to own 500 s&w, 480 ruger, 460 Rowland, oh ya desert eagle 50 ae. Go ahead and say it - y’all think I’m compensating for something. Well might as well throw in the 338 lapua, 458 soccom and 50 Beowulf. Lol

I have a Redhawk .480 Ruger and have killed a couple of deer with it. It’s not bad at all, but it was promoted as punching way above its recoil.

I have never shot anything larger than that though in a handgun.

I say that if shooting the big hand cannons (and rifles!) makes you happy, do it! I have the 480 Ruger and the 460 Rowland and have always wanted to at least shoot a 50AE. My hardest kicking rifle is a very early Ruger #1 in 30/06. When I use my 220 grain round nose bullet hand loads, it delivers about all the punishment off the bench that I care to take.

Took the Coonan out this morning and did a side-by-side comparison of the "perceived recoil" between it and my Ruger GP 100 and S&S 686, both with 4 1/4 inch barrels. Used Winchester 110 grain and Fiocchi 147 grain ammo for the test. My conclusion is that, of the 3, the heavy Coonan (48 ounces, empty) was no more unpleasant to shoot than the revolvers. The Coonan was also more accurate, at the 15 yard range, than either revolver. It is also way more fun to shoot than the Rowland or the 480 Ruger!

Have you tried it with .38 special?

Not yet. It only became "mine" a few days ago. But I will be replacing the spring to allow me to use the .38 once I have more trigger time in the .357Mag configuration. These darned "honey-do" projects and work demands are interfering with my firearm playtime!

It's just a .357. Geez. My son and I have been known to take our .357's out and shoot 200 rounds apiece and have a big time doing it....I wish you hadn't posted this. I now want one too.

I've wanted one for a while to add to my .357 collection. I currently have multiple 357 revolvers and rifles, and this would compliment that collection oh so well! Just got to get past the $1600 price tag!

I'm a .357/.44 mag guy and I have always wanted the Coonan. I handled two at their booth at NRA on Saturday - both were compensated. It just cemented my desire to get one.......

Double post

I’ll buy it for what you paid +$100. It would go nicely with my .357 Magnum desert eagle.

Thanks for the offer, Precision_Shooter, but I want to play around with it for a while to see if I can find a place for it in my armory. The old gentleman that I bought it from told me that he always ran reloads in it at the "maximum safe" powder level. I mentioned to him that when I shot the Winchester 110's and Fiocchi 147's in it, the recoil and muzzle blast were not as severe as I recalled. He smiled and said, "those were whimp loads you were shooting in it; mine were Marine Corps loads."

I am forecasting that you will keep it! I know that I would