.357 magnum autoloaders

[jojo200517]

I got a crazy hair that I may just want an auto loader in .357 magnum.

I have did some google searching and all I can find is the Desert Eagle and the Coonan 1911 modeled pistol.

Not being a fan of the Desert Eagle look to be honest, has anyone owned and or shot a .357 Coonan. They look pretty nice to me I'm just wondering if they are nice enough to command the prices they are going for ($1309 white dot adjustable sights). Also since they restarted production after the hiatus has the quality remained the same or improved?

For anyone that has shot them were they picky on ammo weight and power? I normally shoot full power 158 grain semi jacketed soft point.

Now normally I wouldn't include this but seriously I don't need a "but jojo your tryin to put revolver cartridges in an auto loader just get a revolver" because I already have a .357 revolver, or a "get a .357 sig its the same thing". In fact please don't mention the .357 sig in this thread, I have shot a couple of them and didn't like the extra snappy recoil as opposed to the big push of the .357 magnum. Also ammo was more expensive from what I seen at least.

 

[mr.trooper]

Back in those days, a LOT of companies were making goofy - huge automatics.

Quality varied a LOT, from one manufacturer to the other.

Wildey, AMP, and AMT were all making auto loaders with proprietary super-powerful ammunition.

Coonans pistol, and the LAR grizzly were both similar to the "auto mags", but used conventional revolver cartridges like the .357 magnum. Both were based on the 1911 platform.

They all had the same problems then, and they all have the same problems now. They were all expensive guns to begin with, so few people purchased them... thus they all went bankrupt leaving those who DID patronize them up a creek - Coonan hung in there for a while and continued to service weapons, but the rest of them didn't. This is also why your not likely to get much feed back, and why they command such high prices on the collectors market.

Sadly to say, the Deagle is the only viable 357mag auto loader on the market today.

Similar to that are the few 38 special chambered S&W 39 auto pistols... You can still find those on occasion, but they only chamber wad cutters.

I think this is one of those things where your just going to have to bite the bullet if you think its worth it.

 

[DenaliPark]

I'm familiar with the Coonan, I dated his daughter for a year. I remember how cool I thought it was to have that shooting range in their basement, though of course I never got to use it.

The Coonan .357 is an interesting pistol, it used to have a conversion unit so you could fire .38 spl +P through it. The gun was quite expensive, it had limited production, and parts were expensive. Now their non-existent as the company has long since gone out of business. If they are back in production I have not heard of it...

If you're lucky enough to find one, it'll cost you an arm & a leg because they are quite collectible...

 

[IdahoLT1]

The 10mm is the autoloader equivalent of the .357. They have comparable velocities in the same bullet weights. It might suck to have another cartridge to stock, buy or reload but it makes more sense to do that than to fork out $1300+ on a huge pistol.

 

[Sam Cade]

Sadly to say, the Deagle is the only viable 357mag auto loader on the market today.

Deagle? Team Fortress much?
lol

....and the Coonan is still around.
http://www.coonaninc.com/products.php/pistol/cPath,5

 

[Jed Carter]

My experience with the Coonan was short and with less than acceptable reliability. Looked, felt and worked like a Raven .25, which is not very good on all counts. A good .357 SIG or 10mm would be a better choice IMO. I actually wanted one, until I got to shoot one, I will stick with my GP100 .357 mag.

 

[DWFan]

The Coonan has been back in production for a while. The Desert Eagle is way heavy for the caliber and just as expensive and not everyone has hands big enough to hold it.

 

[brnmuenchow]

Aside from the Desert Eagle in .357mag. The 10mm's are the only one's I know of with roughly the same ballistic's.

 

[Maximumbob54]

News to me that Coonan is back in business and the designer himself is in charge. This being the year of the 1911 maybe this would make a good tribute purchase.

 

[IMTHDUKE]

Do a search....they are in business.

 

[classcpl]

A hot loaded 38 Super comes close....9x23 Winchester will match it...and 9x25 Dillon beats .357 magnum. There are a variety of 38 super factory loads but the other two are mostly a handloading proposition.

As a possible bonus, some shooters report using 9x23 ammunition in .38 Super chambered handguns with no problems. I have not tried it myself and do not endorse this practice. I just hear about fairly often.

 

[Ala Dan]

Those S&W model 39 [look-a-likes] that my friend mr. trooper spoke
of in his previous post where actually Smith & Wesson model 52's; which
did only fire .38 Special wadcutters~!

 

[jojo200517]

Shot a Desert Eagle in .44 mag before, just curious is the grip the same size on the .357 mag version? The one I show was HUGE in my hands and I always thought I had pretty good sized hands.

I do appreciate the alternative caliber suggestions, many of which could be even better with reloading. Perhaps I should just hold off until I get started loading pistol ammo and then get some dies for whatever I get.

As for the AMT that mr trooper mentioned I have only seen and fired one of there weapons. Totally agree with the goofy and huge look comment. It was the AMT AutoMag III, which oddly is chambered in .30 carbine.

The more I look at the Coonan the less I like it, besides it doesn't come in the correct color to match all my other black guns. That and the less than stellar comments on its function and feel along with the company's come and go history i'm feeling pretty turned off by it.

Maybe one day another company will make 1911's in .357 mag and make them reliable and at a reasonable price.

Maybe i'll do what I suggested no one say in my first post and just get another revolver if I wanna shoot more .357 mag.

 

[CZguy]

Maybe i'll do what I suggested no one say in my first post and just get another revolver if I wanna shoot more .357 mag.

Oh sure, get all logical on us.

 

[mr.trooper]

Deagle? Team Fortress much?
lol

No DE in Team fortress classic, or Team Fortress 2... you're probably thinking of Counter Strike.

(That's called trolling FAIL)

 

[tinygnat219]

Coonan's alive and kicking. Here are some pictures that should be able to work:

This is how the Coonan appears next to a 1911 and a Desert Eagle:



Magwell comparison between a Coonan, 1911, and a Desert Eagle:


grip to grip. Note the Coonan is a little larger in the grip, but not much more:


Another comparison:


Here's one:


Another magwell comparison between 1911, Coonan and double stack 1911

 

[Ala Dan]

Don't forget the original AutoMag, made in .357 magnum and .44
magnum; introduced by Lee Jurras sometime ago~! A bit pricey,
when you can find one~!

 

[WC145]

I have an original Coonan Model B that's NIB, still in it's original packing grease. The fit and finish are excellent and, as tinygnat219 illustrated, they aren't too much larger than a 1911. My understanding of the originals is that they were pretty much hand built and the new ones are being made in a similar fashion. Except for a small difference in the size of the magwell I beilieve the guns are the same. Mags are the most difficult thing to find but the new ones that are available from Coonan will work in some of the old guns, if they don't fit Coonan will machine your old frame for free so that you can use either the old or new mags. Like I said, my gun hasn't been shot but from what I've read they functioned reliably and were quite accurate.

Weren't the original Auto Mags chambered in proprietary .357 and .44 cartridges rather than standard .357mag and .44mag?

 

[Dain Bramage]

Jojo, I wouldn't let other people's opinions color what you want to buy.

a. A lot of them talk about Coonan in the past tense because thay don't know CA is back and running. As stated, the company will broach previous production magwells allowing use of the current magazines. This alleviates the biggest concern about legacy guns, and is pretty good support for such a niche weapon.

b. I only count one negative review on this post. While valid, it's the only one I've seen anywhere. And I have searched. Most owners love them.

c. $1300 is the two-mag, adjustable sight MSRP. A dealer might bring that price down. And I know, in the real world that is serious money. However in the semi-custom, and especially semi-custom niche 1911 market, it's a bargain.

I have nothing to do with the company. I'm just researching for my own purchase. Some of the new guns are starting to roll in, and I'm eagerly awaiting reviews.

 

[Molasses]

Don't forget the original AutoMag, made in .357 magnum and .44
magnum; introduced by Lee Jurras sometime ago~! A bit pricey,
when you can find one~!

That would be .357 & .44 AMP (stands for "Auto Mag Pistol"), which aren't even remotely close to being interchangeable with standard .357 and .44 magnum. The .44 AMP cartridge has the same external dimensions as the bottom 1.298" of a .30-06/.308-family rifle case, while the .357 AMP is a bottlenecked version of the same case (an awful lot of AMP brass has been made from cut down, inside reamed rifle cases and then fired out of pistols that chucked all that labor into the nearest clump of tall weeds :banghead. FWIW, there was a lot of experimenting/wildcatting with different calibers off the AMP back in the day; .22 and .30 versions come to mind and I'm certain there were others.
Starline makes an occasional run of .44 Auto Mag brass, making life a lot simpler. Just got a bag of it from Midway a couple of weeks ago that was on backorder since last July, IIRC.

 

[Molasses]

Regarding the Coonan: I liked the original Model B I had.

It ran well and wasn't a bad shooter. I got out of it primarily because I like my LAR Grizzly as much or better with the .357 magnum parts installed, secondarily because it was a "one trick pony" versus the caliber interchangability of the Grizzly and DE and thirdly, people were trying to get $200 apiece for spare magazines at that time and my crystal ball was too cloudy to see the company starting back up in the near future.

 

[LHRGunslinger]

What about a used LAR Grizzly in .357?

 

[Lucky Derby]

I have always wanted a Coonan. Good to know they are back in business.

 

[jojo200517]

Wow tinygnat I really appreciate those side by side pics.

Humm maybe there not a bad deal after all. Maybe its time for me to get a shiny gun instead of all the black ones. At least its more of a matte finish instead of the high gloss pimp gun look. I'll check around and see if I can find someone that has one I can shoot or at least hold in my hands before I go and buy it tho.

Looking at the used prices on gunbroker for the older models its not that much more just to buy a new one.

I gotta ask WC145, why ya never shoot it? I don't understand why people that buy guns to never shoot. Don't get me wrong they are pretty to look at but I enjoy pulling the trigger more than just looking at them.

 

[WC145]

I gotta ask WC145, why ya never shoot it? I don't understand why people that buy guns to never shoot. Don't get me wrong they are pretty to look at but I enjoy pulling the trigger more than just looking at them.

I have guns that that I shoot and/or carry on a regular basis and I have others that I keep just because I like them, not for shooting. Some are NIB, some are lightly used, they are mostly rare or odd pieces that I find interesting because of their history or the niche they were made to fill. The Coonan is one of those.