(Cross posted for maximum exposure)
I was bitten by the Coonan 357 bug some years ago when my brother mentioned that he wanted one....Well, after waiting a few years to be able to afford one the progression from "wanting" to in my grubby little hands has moved rapidly. I ordered the Coonan Classic from Buds on Sunday and had it in my possession on Wednesday. I hit the range last night and today because I wasn't about to wait to shoot this incredible handgun. Here are my impressions of it and a little background on my other 1911 also....
Since purchasing my Kimber Eclipse Custom II I've held all 1911's that I've encountered to that standard. The Eclipse is simply a wonderful gun in its own right. Beautiful and refined with a trigger that is to die for from a factory pistol. I have never experienced any of the negativity that others have complained about online with Kimber's.....All of their 1911 have been excellent pistols from what I've gathered.....and that's been more than a few. But the Eclipse was the lone 1911 survivor in my collection....mostly due to other "wants" that got the others traded or sold off.
So how did the Coonan perform? 150 rounds of my hot 140 grain JHP 357 reloads have gone through the gun without a hiccup.....That's with me shooting it and 2 other fellas at the range that wanted to give it a go too.
The pivoting trigger, although different from the standard 1911's straight pull, is quite nice....very little take up, a nice clean break and a minute amount of over travel. It certainly is right up there with some of the best factory handgun triggers that I've ever encountered. The sights are nice and bright of the 3 dot variety. They are fixed but shot my handloads perfectly to point of aim from 7-25 yards.
The grips along with the front and back straps are smooth. I thought that might be a problem but it didn't affect my ability to hold on to the pistol during recoil one bit. It actually feels quite good in the hand. Plain as they might be the grip panels work well for this application.
As expected the muzzle blast and flash are impressive. Everyone knows when you pull the trigger by the flash that goes about 5 feet out from the muzzle and the concussion. But the bark is much worse than the bite. Recoil is not much more than my Kimber 45's. Really it's very controllable....even for a novice shooter (one of the other guys who shot it was very new to handgun shooting and had no problems).
The controls are well engineered just like any other 1911. I'm a lefty and have been shooting handguns for many years without a problem........I've just learned to overcome the right handed world that we live in....especially with guns.
Here are a few pictures to give you guys some idea of the size differences of these very different but similar handguns.....(and yeah, their dirty, I just shot the heck out of them both!)
I was a little worried that the pistol would be too large for my average sized hands because I had never even held one before and online reviews mentioned that it was bigger than the standard 1911.....So the purchase was in good faith that it would be fine.....It turned out that the size differences in the grips are minimal. Yes it's thicker by about 1/4" front to back but it certainly isn't much thicker....barely even noticeable really.
The fit and finish of the Coonan is top notch all the way. No shortcuts taken here. After a good douching with oil the gun is very smooth and I expect it to get even better with time. The gun is entirely made in America...which is a great selling point in my opinion. I suspect that their customer service would also be great if I ever needed it.
I've been shooting for almost 35 years and am no stranger to a handgun.....but I'm no expert that for sure so take this review for what it's worth.....one man's experience with a gun I never thought that I would ever be able to afford!
I was bitten by the Coonan 357 bug some years ago when my brother mentioned that he wanted one....Well, after waiting a few years to be able to afford one the progression from "wanting" to in my grubby little hands has moved rapidly. I ordered the Coonan Classic from Buds on Sunday and had it in my possession on Wednesday. I hit the range last night and today because I wasn't about to wait to shoot this incredible handgun. Here are my impressions of it and a little background on my other 1911 also....
Since purchasing my Kimber Eclipse Custom II I've held all 1911's that I've encountered to that standard. The Eclipse is simply a wonderful gun in its own right. Beautiful and refined with a trigger that is to die for from a factory pistol. I have never experienced any of the negativity that others have complained about online with Kimber's.....All of their 1911 have been excellent pistols from what I've gathered.....and that's been more than a few. But the Eclipse was the lone 1911 survivor in my collection....mostly due to other "wants" that got the others traded or sold off.
So how did the Coonan perform? 150 rounds of my hot 140 grain JHP 357 reloads have gone through the gun without a hiccup.....That's with me shooting it and 2 other fellas at the range that wanted to give it a go too.
The pivoting trigger, although different from the standard 1911's straight pull, is quite nice....very little take up, a nice clean break and a minute amount of over travel. It certainly is right up there with some of the best factory handgun triggers that I've ever encountered. The sights are nice and bright of the 3 dot variety. They are fixed but shot my handloads perfectly to point of aim from 7-25 yards.
The grips along with the front and back straps are smooth. I thought that might be a problem but it didn't affect my ability to hold on to the pistol during recoil one bit. It actually feels quite good in the hand. Plain as they might be the grip panels work well for this application.
As expected the muzzle blast and flash are impressive. Everyone knows when you pull the trigger by the flash that goes about 5 feet out from the muzzle and the concussion. But the bark is much worse than the bite. Recoil is not much more than my Kimber 45's. Really it's very controllable....even for a novice shooter (one of the other guys who shot it was very new to handgun shooting and had no problems).
The controls are well engineered just like any other 1911. I'm a lefty and have been shooting handguns for many years without a problem........I've just learned to overcome the right handed world that we live in....especially with guns.
Here are a few pictures to give you guys some idea of the size differences of these very different but similar handguns.....(and yeah, their dirty, I just shot the heck out of them both!)
I was a little worried that the pistol would be too large for my average sized hands because I had never even held one before and online reviews mentioned that it was bigger than the standard 1911.....So the purchase was in good faith that it would be fine.....It turned out that the size differences in the grips are minimal. Yes it's thicker by about 1/4" front to back but it certainly isn't much thicker....barely even noticeable really.
The fit and finish of the Coonan is top notch all the way. No shortcuts taken here. After a good douching with oil the gun is very smooth and I expect it to get even better with time. The gun is entirely made in America...which is a great selling point in my opinion. I suspect that their customer service would also be great if I ever needed it.
I've been shooting for almost 35 years and am no stranger to a handgun.....but I'm no expert that for sure so take this review for what it's worth.....one man's experience with a gun I never thought that I would ever be able to afford!