ARCHIVE - ISSUE FOUR - OCT 2013                            TRAINING   -  COVER  -   FEATURED PICTORIAL  -  LIFESTYLE              ARCHIVE - ISSUE FOUR - OCT 2013 

The Coonan .357 Magnum Automatic Review

Picture
Sure Shot Nicole handles the Coonan like a pro.
"Looking for your first Pistol? 
This isn't it." -- Or so says Coonan's ad campaign, and it intrigued me enough that I contacted Coonan and asked them to send me one for me and the ladies of the Sure Shots to try out, and they happily did. 

The Coonan .357 Magnum is a 1911-style stainless steel semiautomatic (Coonan calls it an "automatic" vs. "semiautomatic"; my best guess is they do this to stress that it is NOT a revolver). When I received it and took it out of the case, my first thought upon seeing it was that it looked and felt heavy and clunky, at least in comparison to the guns I am used to shooting. Also, I felt the walnut grip was very nice, but wondered how it would feel while shooting. Speaking of grip, since the caliber of this pistol is .357 Magnum, the magazine must be wide to accommodate for the longer round, and thus the grip must be wide to hold that magazine. So, I was skeptical. 

However, once I got it out on the range it was a whole different story. The wide grip actually provided a lot of "real estate" for both hands to make a lot of good, solid contact, and get a proper and comfortable grip. The weight of the gun truly mitigated the recoil, and this is what surprised me the most, especially since Coonan's ad campaign made it sound like the pistol may be a hand-cannon (and the giant ball of fire in the ad's photo didn't say otherwise!). In fact, the shots I fired felt smooth, and the trigger had the perfect weight for an easy—but not too easy—press. I shot accurately from the very first shot, and from 10 yards, all my shots were within the 9-ring.
Soon after, I took fellow Sure Shot Nicole out to the range to try it out. I was interested in what her experience would be, because at 5'1", Nicole is definitely petite. I thought for sure she'd find that grip impossible to manage, but as soon as I handed it to her, she wrapped her hand around it and said it felt comfortable, and I had to agree it certainly looked so. She took some shots and although the pistol looked giant compared to her small frame, she shot it like it was any other gun she was used to shooting. We were shooting steel that day, and soon she began to ring the steel every time!  
The only issue both Nicole and I found was that both of us couldn't reach the mag release button without changing our grip. It didn't surprise me so much with Nicole, since she's so small, but I have long fingers and still couldn't reach it without turning my shooting hand clockwise to try to get to it. I find that this happens with other pistols, so it isn't just the Coonan. It's just an adjustment I'd need to make if I planned on using the Coonan as one of my primary guns.

Then it was time to take it to a few Sure Shots practices, to see what the ladies thought of it. I had been promoting the opportunity to demo the Coonan in our online group, and the interest was high. But once they saw it out on the counter, ready to go, some got a bit intimidated. I promised them they'd be pleasantly surprised, and of the eight Sure Shots who tried it, every single one LOVED shooting it! Not one was even ambivalent about it. Everyone had a smile once they realized it was actually comfortable to shoot such a big gun. Some of the ladies called it smooth, while others marveled that there wasn't the recoil they were expecting
I'm really glad at the outcome of this demo. Coonan has been a huge supporter of the Sure Shots, and of women shooters in general, and I'm happy to see that they can be successful in expanding their demographic to include us women as fans of this extremely unique gun! 

reviewed by Niki Jones

Femme Fatale Corset Holster 
in Black Lace Review

How it works: The corset goes around your midsection and your gun sits in the holster pocket. The tension of the corset around your body holds the gun tight in place, with no movement or shifting around.

Looks and features: black lace over nude material is pretty hot! Looks like normal lingerie. Vast improvement over the plain, medical-looking white or tan elastic belly band holster.
It has 8 bra-type hooks to close, and there are 3 rows to chose from for a perfect fit. No itchy velcro!

The material is a thick and very sturdy nude-colored elastic covered with black lace (there are several other colors). 

There is a very roomy pocket that will fit a large variety of pistols. 

Fit and comfort: I LOVE how it fits. You measure your waist before ordering, and then the adjustable hook closure really gets it perfect. The elastic is not very stretchy, so measuring is very important for the right fit.

Compared to other waistband holsters, this is #1 in comfort for me. The stiffness and wider 6in width keep it from scrunching or rolling like the belly band does when I bend down. Also: I have a not-rock-hard midsection, and this thing does NOT cut in and create a terrible muffin top like the belly band holster does, but it still feels just snug enough and very secure. You can wear it up high right under your bust, down low around your hips, or anywhere in the middle. The postion of the pocket can be rotated anywhere around your body as well. I wear mine up high with my grip right in between the girls like the Flashbang, except my grip in this is almost vertical. On the downside, when I sit down, the width makes it uncomfortable if it's down lower. Really good posture will be crucial when sitting with this holster on. 

Picture
Printing and gun fit: The pocket is really awesome. Because it's large and the fabric is so sturdy, there is no printing. It sort of blends the edges and smoothes everything out. 

My grip sticks out a tiny bit, but postioned up high right underneath and in between the girls, it does not show. I wear roomy dolman type shirts a lot with no trouble, but I can also wear regular-fitting tshirts with no printing and almost zero bulk.

Accommodates a wide variety of pistols. A smaller one like my Sig 238 or 938 totally disappear inside the pocket. My officer 1911 even fits well, however it requires a roomier shirt due to bulk. I most often carry a Glock 27 and it's totally concealed. I love that I can choose any of my guns and use the same holster! 

Give this holster a good look, especially if you need an on-body option that is versatile and comforable under a variety of clothing and holds a ton of different guns. 

reviewed by Kellie Grimes

Ruger LC9 Review

Picture
My sister recommended the Ruger LC9 to me about a year and a half ago… as a woman with small hands, she was appreciative of a gun that she could shoot comfortably after years in the Coast Guard packing a .45 sidearm around which she struggled to fit her hands. I checked it out at her house in my home state of WI and at several gun stores before I ordered mine, but couldn’t find one to take to the range here in TX. I don’t have small hands, but I still loved the feel of it, and with it’s slim design and rounded edges, it really looks sexy and pretty easy to conceal. “Perfect!” I thought, “I train regularly, so even if it’s difficult to shoot I should be able to figure it out.” 

After waiting for over 6 months for my LC9 to come in at my local gun store, I was so excited to get onto the range and shoot it! With the key provided in the box, I stripped it pretty easily to Froglube it up, and it was easy to reassemble too. Good sign! The very next Sure Shots practice, I brought my trusty Glock 19 along side the LC9. These guns are VERY different from each other, so I chose to shoot my familiar Glock first and get off the line for awhile before going back in to work with the LC9. 

Having watched and read tons of reviews on the Ruger, I was aware of the thumb safety, the long trigger press, and the recoil of a shorter-barreled compact “pocket pistol”. It was easy to rack, the magazine was easy to load and insert into the well and gives your fingers some extra space on the grip. The 3-dot sight was clear and easy to see and align, and it was nice and light as I held it up in shooting stance for awhile just to get to know it a bit. 

And then I pressed….. and pressed….. and pressed…. And just when I was about to check and see if something was wrong, it finally went BANG. Long trigger press, check. Whoa. Like, REALLY long.  When I heard the reset click, I went to press again, but couldn’t. Oh yeah, double action. But to get all the way to the 2nd reset, you have to let the trigger ALL the way back out. Annoying, and slow. I took some more shots and unloaded the magazine, then looked up at my target. Ugh. No accuracy! I reloaded the mag, took a few minutes to shake the sting from my hands, and went back at it for a couple more magazines worth of shots. My groupings didn’t even look like groupings, though I did manage to keep them all on the body of the target.

I’ve put the recommended 200+ rounds through it to break it in, and I still can’t get over the insanely long trigger press, the trigger reset of the double action only, or the painful recoil. Obviously I’m not going to care about the sting in my hands and wrists if I’m defending the life of a loved one, but it sure puts a damper on my training time!

I SO badly want to love this gun. It’s sexy! It’s concealable in my skinny jeans, for God’s sake! But the truth is, I don’t like shooting it, and my confidence when I shoot it is not what I need for the gun I carry for protection. My accuracy is better and I continue to train with it, but only because I’m a disciplined perfectionist. Much to my disappointment, this little beauty is just not for me.
        
reviewed by Sarah H.