Not the ordinary "only one handgun" thread...

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fightingbard

New member
Dear all,

Recently me and some of my friends were discussing a "well known":D subject"...
"If you could have just one handgun, which one would you choose..?" (Best all around gun)

Then in the middle of nowhere one of the guys in the group (who had just been introduced to us at the time) said, "I would choose a Coonan .357 magnum.."

Having read almost anything we could find about handguns for years (we knew about the gun-at least read about it), to most of us, his choice seemed absolutely ridiculous and made no sense...No spare parts, no magazine, not in production, hard to handle, large grip etc etc...

However he seemed confident in his choice...:D

I wonder what would you guys think..?


All the best
 
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The reason for the Coonan .357 Magnum to ever exist is the same reason the Sig 357 cartridge was developed. To give a semi-automatic handgun an easy to feed cartridge with similar performance to the .357 Magnum revolver round.

I'll take the peace of mind knowing that the .357 Sig will always feed and eject as required. Even if I have to give up a couple hundred FPS velocity.

If your friend just had to have a semi-automatic in .357 Magnum, why would he just not buy a Desert Eagle? At least you would have parts and service available. (And yes... These have feeding issues as well.)
 
I don't know, If I could have only one handgun, would I choose something unique or something completely ordinary?

Personally, I'd rather have a really good quality, yet more unique, gun - if I could only have one gun. A Glock may last forever and go bang 100% of the time reliably....but so do a number of other good quality guns which (IMHO) have more features that I want and simply "float my boat" more than the Glock.

I'm not bashing Glock by any means - just saying that it wouldn't be my pic if I could only have one gun....under most normal circumstances.
 
his choice seemed absolutely ridiculous and made no sense...No spare parts, no magazine, not in production, hard to handle, large grip etc etc...
Click to expand...
why I'd agree the reality of no support would make it a bad choice.Idealisticly I would say it's an exellent choice the versitility of the vaunted 357 mag in a semi-auto platform I get that.
Of course I think a 10mm makes a better choice simalar versitility and easier fit in a auto platform. My Smith 1076 would make good argument as having the capability to do most anything you would need to do with a handgun.It's small enough to CCW,accurate enough to hunt medium game and powerful enough to get the job done.A Glock 29 or DW CBOB would work as well.
 
Actually, I can see some logic to the choice

Maybe because I have a Coonan.

See, the thing about all the "if you could only have one" questions is that if you are going to only have one, why not have what you like? .357 power in a 1911 package. The Coonan is the smallest of the magnum autos, barely larger than a 1911, much smaller and lighter than the Desert Eagle.

As to no support, what do you really need? A couple of magazines, maybe a spring or two. See, if you are limited to one handgun, I don't think you are going to be using it much. Not taking weekly trips to the range and banging out a couple hundred rounds. You are going to be saving it, for the time when you might really need it. After all, you can only have one!

I have dozens of handguns, and dislike the whole "can only have one" question, because, since I already have many to choose from, why on earth would I limit myself to only one?

Are you envisioning a situation where a govt will force you to turn in all your pistols, except one? I seriously doubt that to be credible. If they take them, they will try to take all. It might come to pass that they would say you could only buy one. If that's the case, I suggest you get a few now.
Its all hypothetical, and if he wants a Coonan, or a Luger, or any other handgun, its his choice. And yours.
 
I had a Coonan standard Model B. It wasn't much larger than a 5" Government Colt, it was accurate as hell and fun to shoot. It was in no way as ugly as the Desert Eagles or LAR Grizzlies available in the .357 caliber. They were picky in the ammo department. You could shoot .38 specials with the right springs. Magazines are hard to come by, but Dan Coonan will still work on them if need be.
 
Dear all,

Recently me and some of my friends were discussing a "well known" subject"...
"If you could have just one handgun, which one would you choose..?" (Best all around gun)

Then in the middle of nowhere one of the guys in the group (who had just been introduced to us at the time) said, "I would choose a Coonan .357 magnum.."

Having read almost anything we could find about handguns for years (we knew about the gun-at least read about it), to most of us, his choice seemed absolutely ridiculous and made no sense...No spare parts, no magazine, not in production, hard to handle, large grip etc etc...

However he seemed confident in his choice...

I wonder what would you guys think..?
Click to expand...

I'd get the boringly reliable G19.
 
While wanting something that will deliver the ballistics of a magnum revolver in a semi-automatic package isn't a bad idea, I think a 10mm would be the more practical choice. It would probably be the most versatile choice as well as with no more than a barrel swap you can shoot four different cartridges (10mm, .40S&W, .357 Sig, and 9x25 Dillon).
 
I like my Glock 40 because i have carried it so much on duty. My department just changed their reg's and I am now required to carry 2 pistols wheather I am on duty or not. I carry one on my ankle and one one as my side arm, and right now I am trying to find one that I can use to conceal somewhere other than my ankle that is going to be light.
 
For me, these hypotheticals boil down to one question: is concealed carry legal?

If so, I want either a 4" .357 or (more likely) a 3" 1911.

If not, I want a 6" .357, or better yet, a 6" .41 Mag. Hell, maybe a 6" .44 Mag.

FWIW, if we are doing the esoteric thing, I like the Coonan, but I like a Pasadena Automag better...in .44, please. :) Had a chance to buy one for (well) under $1000 a few years back and I'm still kicking myself for not jumping at it..

In the real world, I have a 6" M-57 in .41 Mag that is causing my .357s to spend a lot of time in the safe...
 
You can't discount personal preference...

And then there's the fact that the .357Mag is an extremely versatile handgun chambering (though moreso from a revolver than from a semiauto).

On the other hand, the 10mm is a very close match to the .357Mag in virtually an performance parameter one could choose.

If I were going to choose a single revolver it would be a .357Mag. If I were going to chose a single semiauto the 10mm would be more likely to get the nod than the .357Mag.
 
On the other hand, it's possible he was setting you up, trying to get you all excited about the Coonan in order to sell you the one he has been trying to dump. Of course, it would actually be from a "friend who owned the gun.":D
 
I've got a friend with a LAR Grizzly in .357 Magnum.

It's quite an amazing gun. Extremely accurate, very reliable. Greater capacity than a 686, faster reloads, single action followup shots, and REAL .357 stopping power instead of the pretend parity of the .357 sig.

It's quite sensible if it's a "use it sparingly" gun. Then again, ANY gun in such a situation would be used sparingly.

AZRedhawkitwasthefirsttrulyaccurategunIevershot44
 
Thanks for all the comments...:)
I, myself have simply concluded that the situation was more likely as "Gyvel described". That he was trying to sell one...
Since it is a very scarce model around here, he just wanted to mention he has one; on a subject that is absolutely not related in anyway to this particular handgun...:)
Although I see much wisdom in all the comments , I still can not figure out a "very realistic" reason to choose a .357 mag caliber automatic handgun, as an all around handgun. (Personal preference is nothing to discuss of course) Plus spare parts is "absolutely impossible" to find around here. Everyone would know this. Plus there are many, years-battles proven models out there.


Thanks again
All the best
 
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