Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Dan Coonan’s dream of supercharging the 1911 with .357 Magnum firepower sparked a vision in the 1970s that evolved into innovative firearms company Coonan Arms. His first creation from scrap 1911 parts and a cleverly linked barrel stoked interest for further refinements. The commercial Model A hitting the market in 1981 optimized Coonan’s blueprint for a .357 Magnum semi-auto pistol ahead of its time. But short-lived success preceded financial troubles, with Coonan selling his namesake firm in the late 1980s only to see it dissolve completely by the mid 1990s. Yet the classic Model A’s meteoric rise and fall didn’t dull public intrigue in Coonan’s imaginative 1911 spin. Capitalizing on leftover parts and demand, Coonan resuscitated the company as Coonan Inc. in 2009 with shrewd improvements to the gun’s accuracy and smoothness. Flagship models like the Coonan Classic in multiple finishes and compact variants fill the void for discerning 1911 loyalists. While fortunes wavered over the decades, Coonan’s visionary 1911 wielding lumberjack .357 Magnum loads endures as a cult classic balancing power, prestige and unconventional innovation against all odds. The company would once again go the way of the Dodo in 2019.
“Introduced in 1983. This pistol features a three white dot blade front and an adjustable Novak style rear sights, serrated skeletonized hammer, extended slide catch and thumb safety and smooth grips with the Coonan logo. Complete with a manufacturer soft case, extra recoil spring, extra magazine, manual, two test casings, lubricant and earplugs.”
Lot 3: Coonan Classic .357 Magnum Automatic Semi-Automatic Pistol. (n.d.-a). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved January 7, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/3001/3/coonan-classic-357-magnum-automatic-semiautomatic-pistol.
