Prior to the Desert Eagle, their was the Coonan. But, the .357 Mag. semi-auto vanished from the ballistic landscape almost as soon as it arrived. Thankfully, the departure was short-lived. The company re-emerged to offer its 6-inch-barreled 1911 in 2010. This year, the company chose to unveil the the latest addition to the product line: the Coonan Compact .357 Magnum during the 143rd NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits.
Designed for concealed carry, the new Coonan Compact combines the same fight-stopping terminal performance that has endeared the hearts of American shooters since the cartridge first hit the scene in the 1930s, with a shortened frame, slide and 4-inch barrel. Yet, despite these truncates specs, the pistol maintains its linkless barrel, standard, recoil operation and its recognizable hinged trigger that breaks at a weight you'll swear is less than the factory-set weight of 4 pounds. Features include an extended slide stop and thumb safety, along with either fixed, three-dot sights, or night sights and two six-round magazines.