Coonan .45 Auto, available 2016

S

Sevens

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They are taking pre-orders starting NOW. $1,375 MSRP.

Now I've been an admirer of Coonan since the early 80's when they were new(ish) and I was a kid. I graduated to a happy owner in early 2012 and have been a card-carrying fan.

However, I can't imagine the thought process that brings us this pistol at this price. The value doesn't seem to be there. The market for a .45cal 1911-style pistol is FLOODED and very competitive. The .357 Coonan has genuine value at a similar price because nothing competes with it.

But $1,375 for this? I cannot see this being a success.
http://www.ammoland.com/2015/11/coo...&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork
 
I would agree. Not like they have a huge fan base either. They should stick with the niche market and looked at another rimmed cartridge. 41 or 44mag. Does the Coonan feed 38spl?
 
Hmmm, the very first thing I'd have to do with it, is change to curved mainspring housing. When they first started to make the .357 magnum, I couldn't buy one, because they had lots of problem with it. I called the company at that time.
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Editing. One side affect of getting old(er) is, one gets forgetful. It was the auto-mag who had lots of problem, not Coonan. When I was young, I was warned by somebody, "if you can help it, don't get old". But a Couldn't hep it.;)
 
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The only reason I bought my Coonan was the 357 mag chambering. Nothing else like it (that isn't cartoonishly big). For 45acp, I've got 1911's for that.
Does the Coonan feed 38spl?
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Mine came with a reduced power recoil spring for shooting 38's but I have yet to try it.

Jim
 
The Coonan 1911 .357 Magnum Auto raised the standards for 1911’s. The new.45 ACP Pistol raises the standards again by applying all of the “Coonan Difference” proven technologies from their 1911 .357 Magnum Auto to their new .45 ACP.

These “Coonan Difference” features, linkless barrel, pivoting trigger, and external extractor, are incorporated into every Coonan pistol. The linkless barrel is more reliable than linked barrels and offers increased accuracy while virtually eliminating feeding issues.
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Most 1911 people I know don't consider the Coonan to even be a 1911, precisely because those "Coonan Difference features" essentially take away anything that would make it a 1911. And that drivel about the pivoting trigger being an "improvement"? Who are they kidding? Most shooters consider the Browning-designed 1911 trigger to be the epitome of what a handgun trigger should be.

I don't know what this new offering is, but IMHO it's not a 1911, and I fail to see any prospective market for it.
 
I would far rather have my Sig Sauer P220's, and if .45 ACP is not enuff for your stuff you can go with the 10mm.

What is the Customer support like, the terms of the Warranty and the location of their factory repair facility? Do they pay shipping both ways on a warranty issue?
 
I love how people are always skeptical of niche products, but when someone manages to pull it off, we turn around and claim they can't make it in the proven (read: easier) areas.

TCB
 
1stmar said:
Austin behlert was putting pivoting triggers in 1911s and hi powers (if I recall ) decades ago. Nothing new there.
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Yeah. Look closely. What he did was chop back the shoe of a standard 1911 sliding trigger, then put a pivoting piece in front of it to act like a lever. Why use one piece when you can use three pieces to do the same thing?

Hi-Powers already have pivoting triggers. And they are not noted for being especially light or precise.
 
Without seeing the gun, in person, or a detailed review, I see only two possibilities.

#1) The gun is their .357 Magnum, chambered in .45acp. IF this is the case, it is possible conversion between the two calibers will be simple, but not necessarily cheap. This would make it one of the largest .45ACP guns around, being slightly larger than a Colt Govt Model.

#2) It is the same design as their .357, but scaled to the .45ACP round. If this is the case, then conversion to the .357Mag will not be practical, if even possible.

I'm fine with a .357 convertible to .45ACP. Not fine with a Coonan .45acp only.
 
If I cross my eyes and squint at the Coonan www catalog page of all models, the grip frame of the .45 looks narrower than the .357, about the width of a real 1911. Which would make magazine procurement simple.

The market for 1911 knockoffs seems bottomless. I bet Coonan will sell as many of their mutants as they can turn out.


I agree, a .327 auto would be interesting. It would shoot about like the "modern" 7.62 Tok that the surplus gunners keep wishing for.
 
Does the market place need yet another 1911?
Their continued popularity seems to be mostly from forum member enthusiasts, collectors and competition shooters.
And even those numbers seem to be drifting downwards as compared to all the other handguns owned.
Does anyone have access to how many new 1911s are sold each year as compared to the other stuff?
 
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Austin behlert was putting pivoting triggers in 1911s and hi powers (if I recall ) decades ago. Nothing new there.
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Mmmm. Star? Ballester-Molina?

If I cross my eyes and squint at the Coonan www catalog page of all models, the grip frame of the .45 looks narrower than the .357, about the width of a real 1911. Which would make magazine procurement simple.
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If they're proprietary magazines, Coonan can keep a handle on reliability. Have Mecgar make them, done.

If they use real 1911 magazines, their reliability will tank. Not because of the design, but because users (bless 'em) will be using all kinds of random 1911 magazines, picked up from here and there.
 
I predict the 1911 market will go for bust. The market has seen a huge influx of 1911 style pistols for the cost conscious buyer. I'm not just talking about the Philippian variety either. Remington and Ruger provide very competitively priced home built 1911 style pistols as well as some others I'm sure I'm not thinking about.

A move like this from Coonan could be risky for a couple reasons.

Cost: If this cost them a lion's share of their profits from their previous efforts in order to develop and produce and the market does go bust, they could go with it. They aren't a firearms giant like Ruger or Smith & Wesson, one misstep and they are under it.

Diversification: Coonan is specifically known for producing the .357 1911 style pistol. They've established themselves as such and they'll be remembered for that. They won't be remembered for a .45 acp 1911. They might risk ruining the pedigree of their brand by bringing into the mix.
 
I would guess that the chance this pistol is convertible between .357 & .45 to be somewhere under 1%. Coonan would certainly push that idea as a selling point if it were so. Also, the .357 magazine was developed in-house and it would be just short of completely ludicrous to try and develop a 1911 magazine in-house here in the year 2015 when so many have already perfected that task.

That they elect to make & offer a .45cal 1911 does not shock me -- that they want to play in the nearly $1,400 MSRP ring of .45cal 1911 pistols certainly does make me shake my head.
 
I had a Coonan .357 for a number of years before selling it for something else. I really liked the gun and it was a standout at the range. The Coonan compact .357 interested me but limited availability kept me from getting one.

Coonan would be better off concentrating on the .357/38 sp. cartridge instead of traipsing off to the land of .45.
 
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