Dan Coonan revolver pistol
"Kunen" .357 Magnum. Right view. Photo guns.com
“Put down the pistol after all,” suggested Vedin discontentedly. - Of course, this is a toy ... But quite dangerous. I don't know the statistics, but there are probably a little less accidental killings than deliberate ones. He moved the Colt closer to him. “Yes, that's what I'm saying,” he continued, returning to his former tone, “that, undoubtedly, some other solutions to this problem will be found in time. Designers will be able to figure out how to make the bolt move back only at the moment when the bullet leaves the bore, in some other new way ... Although in our time the gun is only a symbol of strength. And the present weapon, as you said, has a completely different look, and, perhaps, a different purpose ...
Vladimir Kiselyov, Thieves in the House
Vladimir Kiselyov, Thieves in the House
Weapon stories. We have already told more than once in this series about how often it happens that another person is suddenly seized by a passionate desire to create his own gun, and so strong that it is impossible to resist it. Something similar happened to a young American, Dan Koonan, who, while studying at college, offered a draft design of a pistol based on the 1911 Colt of the year, but chambered for the .357 Magnum revolver cartridge, as a graduation qualification work. Moreover, the task he set for himself was clearly not an easy one: to develop a pistol magazine for a revolving cartridge with a large rim, since the pistol in relation to this particular part of it was a secondary matter. If there wasn't a store, there wouldn't be this gun!
The pistol, as soon as it appeared, aroused great interest. He was featured in Gun Digest...
And in Gun World magazine
But ... despite the complexity of the task, he solved it, and back in 1977, after which he managed to start producing his own pistols a few years later, releasing the first one in 1983. The company, however, did not last long, until 1998, and then in 2009 it was transformed into a new company, Coonan Inc., but in the end it still ceased to exist in 2019.
And, of course, this gun immediately ended up in the hands of poorly dressed beauties. There is already a rule like this: the larger the caliber, the less clothes and the slenderer the shooter ...
Again, we have noticed many times that "the egg always precedes the chicken", that is, before another revolver or pistol appeared, the cartridge most often appeared first. So this time back in 1934, the designer F. Sharp created the .357 Magnum cartridge.
Cartridge .357 Magnum. Manufacturer: Sellier & Bello
The cartridge had a decent length (in metric designation - 9x32R) and a rim instead of a groove, that is, it was a purely revolving cartridge. And very high power. The mass of the bullet to it was 10,2 grams. The speed (depending on the length of the barrel) could be 330; and 365; and 410 m/s. That is, it was much more than Browning cartridges of the same caliber.
Cartridge .380 ACP Browning. Manufacturer: Sellier & Bello
It is clear that very powerful revolvers were soon created for a powerful revolver cartridge. However, the Colt 1911A1 was also very powerful due to its large caliber, although the cartridges it fired were much shorter than revolvers.
For comparison: at the top is a Colt-Pyton revolver, at the bottom is a Kunen .357 Magnum pistol. Photo womenandguns.com
Cartridges for comparison: for the Colt M1911 pistol (above) and the Koonen .357 Magnum Automatic pistol (this is its full name). Photo forgottenweapons
In fact, the Coonan pistol was the same 1911 Colt of the year, adapted to fire new cartridges. At the same time, many small changes were made to the design to improve its reliability, accuracy and manufacturability. For example, an external extractor was used, and the barrel in it was already lowered with the help of a beveled groove on its shank (like the High Power pistol). In total, about 10 copies of these pistols of three modifications were produced, and all of them still have a good reputation for their excellent accuracy and reliability. In terms of combat effectiveness, this pistol is superior to revolvers firing the same cartridge, and it surpasses the famous Colt with a larger magazine capacity (albeit only for one cartridge) and increased penetration. It is not surprising that civil self-defense and official use in the police were supposed to be the main market niche for this pistol. But the manufacturer can assume anything, but what the demonstration of the product on the market will show is always a step into the unknown. It's the same with this pistol. A revolver with six charges was more familiar, but a pistol, even if it had 000-7 rounds, was really much more expensive. The M8 Colt was also familiar (and relatively cheap!), Its bullet fell down perfectly, and as for the high armor penetration of the bullets of the new pistol, no one (especially in those years) needed it.
"Kunen" .357 Magnum. View from the left. Photo guns.com
As already noted, Dan Koonan began by creating a magazine capable of reliably feeding fairly long .357 Magnum revolver cartridges that also had a rimmed case, and in this he succeeded. Having a working magazine on hand, Kuhnen cut the frame and bolt and welded inserts into them in the area of the handle and the window for ejection of cartridges, and the barrel itself was made anew. In total, three samples were produced: "Model A", a slightly modified version of "Model B", and a compact pistol "Kunen Cadet", which had a shortened handle and a barrel with a bolt.
"Colt" M1911 - below, "Kunan" .357 Magnum - above. Photo forgottenweapons
The design itself differed slightly from the M1911. Traditional automation was used with a short stroke of the barrel and locking with a skew using a swinging earring. Pistols "Model B" and "Cadet" were distinguished by the fact that in the design of their locking unit, the swinging earring was excluded. The trigger mechanism used was a single-action trigger, with an automatic safety on the handle. Accordingly, the manual fuse was located on the frame on the left and assumed the possibility of carrying a weapon with the cocked trigger and the fuse turned on. At the same time, it had a wide shelf, so it was convenient to press it, and it worked with a distinct click. The bolt stop is pushed back for easier right thumb activation.
Koonan .357 Magnum in detail. Photo dailycaller.com
Single-row magazines were used for all samples, first for 7, and later for 8 rounds. "Cadet" had a magazine for 6 rounds. Sights were both unregulated and with adjustable rear sights and aiming at three points.
Patron in the store. Photo forgottenweapons
Coonan's firm also offered a special conversion kit, which included a weakened return spring and magazines with liners, which made it possible to convert pistols chambered for .357 Magnum cartridges to fire shorter (and cheaper!) .38 cartridges. In calibers other than .357 Mag / .38 Spl, Kunen pistols were not produced.
The difference is in the extraction holes of the sleeves. Photo forgottenweapons
The pistol was brought to market in a beautiful nylon foam lined bag along with paperwork and accessories. The pistol itself looked quite nice, had a stainless steel body with a monolithic type receiver. Initially, the Kunen Classic ("Model A") was supplied with walnut grip plates, but later they were made of plastic.
Holster for "Kunen"
The trigger was slightly different from the M1911, as it turns more when pressed than slides back. The trigger has a small effort, which makes shooting from this pistol comfortable and tireless, although its recoil is sharper than that of the Colt M1911A1 chambered in .45. However, it throws it up less than the base pistol and the Colt Python, which is due to the weight and mass of the shutter, which absorb the recoil momentum. But the muzzle flame escapes from it with a real fire torch or fireworks!
Aim devices. Photo forgottenweapons
The Cadet was also very good, which at the time of entering the market was the most powerful among compact pistols. With a 95 mm barrel length, the .357 Magnum cartridge provided a bullet weighing 10,2 g with a speed of 500 m / s, that is, we were talking about 1,275 kJ for a pistol of an almost “pocket” format!
Nevertheless, Koonan's firm eventually went bankrupt, since no one actively bought his pistols. It was an amateur weapon. Well, someone, for example, might especially like to shoot from it in semi-darkness and darkness ...
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