An excellent revolver with a low serial number and great provenance for the collector. Grips were checkered rosewood with a smooth backstrap and gold rampant Colt medallion inserts. Colt's Manufacturing Company - firearms, handguns, pistols, rifles, revolvers. If I had my druthers Id ask for a couple minor modifications: higher profile and/or adjustable sights, a wider trigger, and a friendlier ejector rod, in that order. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Incorporates a full length, snag free, ejector shroud and interchangeable front sight on the barrel. The same can be said of the BOA, now over 35 years out of production. The frame and action are that of a Trooper while the distinctive full-lug barrel is a Python trait. Honestly though, my exemplar seems to punch well above that weight class. And the Magnum Carry. A Note on Markings: The right side of the frame bears two markings that do not appear in photos here: the guns serial number and a QR code. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! In the case of the King Cobra, that pleases me greatly, as its an old sentimental favorite of mine (as I shall elaborate upon later). Approximately 3,000 were produced in the two years. #K]|tL^ @_[ For the record, Weller took his T&E gun out to the range and was not disappointed by its accuracy, printing 125-grain JHP .357 pills in 2.5-inch groups at 25 yards "with disgusting regularity." *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. In the case of the King Cobra, that pleases me greatly, as its an old sentimental favorite of mine (as I shall elaborate upon later). 0 Though reports were mixed on the new model Cobras, the King Cobra is truly a phenomenal fighting revolver. First introduced in 1986, the Colt King Cobra is a medium frame double-action revolver featuring a six round cylinder which was . (Photo: Guns.com), This 6-inch King Cobra has the more commonly-seen matte stainless finish. The weight of this revolver contributes to both factors, absorbing some recoil and helping one steady it at arms length. 38 Special, . Like all .357 Magnum revolvers, the Colt King Cobra can chamber and fire the shorter .38 Special cartridge.[3]. The Colt Cobra is a lightweight, aluminum-framed, double-action short-barrelled revolver, not to be confused with the Colt King Cobra. Original Reporting. {NL j$k(bM(GK%(Y6Z:^DJ"DVaXX\k:{:zv_Ovt>h?QjLMRVw5". x*"y}rR'GsD0b'n"C7bNt-j\^!m>BL!z.J Rh6$FP}H)IC#O=(}+}+g[= |v>is@Z9Zgd,U}Gwi1\wicN_nk|jQ_*=KW'KUV?nUuz,na~U.Tm{: s=)> \":Q{(. Can anyone tell me what year my Colt King Cobra 357 (serial #VK2229) was manufactured? COLT Derringers and Pocket Pistols Conversions Single Action Revolvers Double Action Revolvers Semi -Automatic Pistols Long Guns Colt Derringers and Pocket Pistols top Baby Dragoon Pocket Belt Model Paterson No. Serial number-EC2257. I managed to score a 48 out of a possible 50. Overall dimensions of the 3 model are 8x5x1.4, and, at 28 ozs., it is one of the lightest in the .357 Mag., six-shot class. The new Colt King Cobra Carry is a DAO .357 with a bobbed hammer and 6-shot cylinder (Photo: Colt). Regular readers here may remember back to only a couple of years ago when I lamented the absence of a meaningful, mid-sized, current production, carry revolver. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. BL Your email address will not be published. OH-58 Kiowa: The Forgotten U.S. Army Helicopter. Some of these were more popular and widespread, such as the Diamondback, which was made in both .22 LR and .38 Special, while some were less frequently encountered, such as the Anaconda, which was made in .44 Mag and .45 Colt. His marksmanship accomplishments include: the Air Force Small Arms Ribbon w/one device (for M16A2 rifle and M9 pistol); Pistol Expert Ratings from U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP); multiple medals and trophies via the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) and the Nevada Police & Fires Games (NPAF). By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. ), .38 six shot revolver. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "From Jack Ruby to Las Vegas: A gun's trajectory", The Colt Revolver in the American West Experimental Cobra Model, The Colt Revolver in the American West Aircrewman Model, guncollectorsclub.com on the .38 Special version. hVmk0+}`E %MX;hu`MN]lcFY;G2g:&pf . The 2020 Colt Python is a six-shot, stainless steel, double-action revolver chambered in .357 Magnum. My exemplar proved itself capable of extremely good accuracy within the confines of its sights, and it is pleasant with all but the heaviest Magnum ammo. Reply Quote. The new Colt King Cobra Carry is a DAO .357 with a bobbed hammer and 6-shot cylinder (Photo: Colt) Colt's new magnum-caliber snub weighs 26-ounces and features a stainless steel barrel. typically have the serial number stamped on the flat area in front of the trigger guard. I debated on what distance from which to test the accuracy of the Colt King Cobra. [1] In December 2016, it was announced that Colt would be producing a new run of the Colt Cobra with a steel frame and a fiber optic front sight. %%EOF Mr. Orr, They are distinguished by the Air Force medallion in the place of the Colt medallion on the checkered wooden grips, as well as a cylinder made of aluminum alloy. Within two years of issuance, reports of cylinder and/or frame failure began to plague the Aircrewman and its Smith & Wesson counterpart, the Smith & Wesson Model 12, despite issuing a dedicated low-pressure .38 Special military cartridge, the Caliber .38 Ball, M41 round. It was a mid-size wheelgun built upon Colt's so-called "V-frame," the company's answer to Smith & Wesson's "K-frame" medium-sized revolvers. We have heard some anecdotal reports of poor accuracy with this load, and will be conducting some further testing of the .38 Special HST in the future. By 1988, stainless versions in both a matte and bright finish were introduced as was a short-lived 2-inch model. Initially this explanation sounded good, but then I realized I havent had this problem with any of the other revolvers I shoot consistently, which include the GP100, 686, 640, and some others Im testing. The first time she dry fired the Colt King Cobra she locked the trigger up in this fashion. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. I was wont to arrest the triggers forward travel at this point and begin pulling it through its next cycle, only to find the trigger locked up. A throwback to the days of the classic 1980s .357 snake gun whose name it bears, the new Colt King Cobra runs a 3-inch barrel, which the vintage gun never did in its standard production. Capacity: 6 rds Overall Length: 8.25 in. It is a highly polished stainless steel double action revolver, six inch barrel with solid rib. The Cobra was chambered in . The King Cobra is an old sentimental favorite of mine, as it was both the first revolver of any kind and the first Magnum-caliber handgun I ever fired. The second minor problem is that the trigger is a bit too narrow. Colt now has a serial number look-up data base on their web site. M1892/1894/1895/1896/1901/1903/1905, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colt_Cobra&oldid=1121475437, Articles lacking in-text citations from June 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with dead external links from July 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Colt Aircrewman, Colt Courier, Colt Agent, Colt Viper, 2in (51mm), 3in (76mm), 4in (100mm), 5in (130mm), The Colt Cobra was the favourite weapon of, This page was last edited on 12 November 2022, at 13:45. I pulled of a 47 out of 50. With the power my two hands could muster (and all the punishment the heel of my right hand was willing to endure) I could not replicate this malfunction. Video: Ukraine Is Blowing Up Russian Tanks and Posting it on Twitter, America Needs to Support Ukraine to Stop World War III, Ron DeSantis Is Finally Striking Back Against Donald Trump. The Colt Python. As noted by John Zent, Editor Emeritus of NRA American Rifleman Magazine: The new King Cobra bears a close resemblance, with the notable exception of its elongated, rectangular trigger guard big enough for former boxers or shooters wearing gloves. The Colt King Cobra ships with an enlarged, pebbled rubber grip from Hogue. This revolver fills an important role in the RevolverGuys battery, somewhere between his full-sized shooting iron and his snubby. With an overall length of 9.25-inches, the six-shot full-lug target revolver is pitched for use by competitive shooters and those who just like to hit the range. soaking wet and with corresponding hand size, I found the guns recoil, muzzle rise, and muzzle blast and flash to be exhilarating rather than punishing or intimidating. The King Cobra is chambered for the powerful .357 Magnum cartridge, but like all .357 revolvers will also fire .38 Special ammunition. In short, BOAs, for Colt revolver fans especially, are the missing piece to many collections, which makes them, for many, the most charming of the snake guns. When at rest, less hammer is exposed than in the earlier design. Eschewing adding it to their catalog, Colt elected to just deliver the entire factory run of some 1,200 of these crossover revolvers to distributor Lew Horton of Southborough, Massachusetts, in 1985, with limited edition consecutive serial numbers running from BOA1 to BOA1200. On a steady path to expand their return to the wheel gun market, Colt resurrected the King Cobra series in early 2019 to offer a new version of the now-classic revolver after a two-decade hiatus. Mike later confirmed that two older Colts revolvers exhibited this same trait. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. [3], Colt also produced a total of six King Cobra's with three-inch barrels and fixed sights. While on the one hand, Ive read some good reviews of the newer King Cobra such as Mr. Zents previously cited article some of the clerks at my local gun shops in the DC/MD/NoVA have told me some less-than-stellar things about these newer models. We caught up with the new 3-inch King Cobra at the time and checked it out. The cylinder accepts the old Colt Detective Special pattern speedloaders. The .38 Special Cobra was available in 2, 3 and 4 inch barrel lengths. This is a feature that is sorely lacking in many modern defensive revolvers, and a vast improvement generally over integral front sights. The original Agent weighed 14 ounces and was available only in . The asking price from Horton at the time was $525, typically right at or just slightly under that of a new Python, making them attractive for buyers. If you intend to use the King Cobra for defense of life and limb, mastering its trigger should also mean mastering the triggers full reset cycle. Like the King Cobra and the King Cobra Target, the Python bears a recessed muzzle crown below an interchangeable front sight blade. They could accept the discomfort of carrying serious iron and opt for a large-framed revolver like S&Ws L-Frame line or the Ruger GP100. 1076 0 obj <>stream Colts new magnum-caliber snub weighs 26-ounces and features a stainless steel barrel and frame mated to Hogue over-molded grips. This particular gun dates to 1989. A slightly revised version of the Agent was released in 1973 with a shrouded ejector rod, with a weight of 16 ounces. Grips were a special walnut combat style rounded butt. Manufacturer: Colt Model: King Cobra Serial Number: C4945K Caliber Info: 357 Magnum Finish: Stainless . The Colt King Cobra slips easily between these two classes of firearms and even though Colts considers this a small frame I find it to shoot and carry much more like a medium frame gun. At the 2018 Shot Show, Colt debuted the Colt Night Cobra, which has a matte black finish and a front night sight. For exact location of these items, please see the King Cobra owners manual, page 36 [opens to .pdf]. The six-shooter has a replaceable brass front bead front and an MSRP of $899. Examples in good condition fetch unusually high prices. [1], Despite its outward similarity to the Colt Python,[2] the King Cobra design is based upon that of an earlier Colt model, the venerable Trooper MK V, improved with the addition of a heavier-duty barrel, full barrel length cylinder ejection rod protection shroud, and a thicker solid rib on top of the barrel. Whats more, the prestigious Python was the first in Colts Snake Gun line of double-action revolvers, which also included the, in .38 Special, the King Cobra in .357 Magnum, and the. Having never fired a Colts revolver, I was naturally curious about the storied Colts trigger. To those I would say the following: dont let sentimentality for a couple of words trick you into overlooking this fine defensive revolver. ID'ing the gun isn't possible by serial number unless someone just happens to have a gun in the same range, OR you can call the Colt factory during business hours . (DA), 3.75 lbs. Model/configuration - Model KING COBRA STAINLESS (OLDER MFG.) My specimen weighed in at 1 lbs, 12.2 ounces (just 0.2 ounces over an advertised 28). This sighting arrangement is doubtlessly familiar to revolver shooters. But it is a 6" Colt Cobra Stainless . By comparison I only managed to pull off a 44 at three yards the last time I shot my 640, a gun with which I have many times the rounds and hours on. [1] The Cobra's sighting system consists of a fixed iron red insert front sight and a fully adjustable iron white outline rear. I shot 82 rounds of this loading and all of them grouped surprisingly well, though this is only one I photographed. Standard Cobras were blued with round-butt grip frames. Dropped a second time in 1998, it was not reintroduced until 2019 as a .357 Magnum, three inch barrel variant of the 2017 Colt Cobra. This revolver is in great condition and comes with the original case. The Colt Agent was another model similar to the Cobra. M1 Garand Rifle Review: How Does This Old War Horse Hold Up Today? I know I dropped a point from the first Dot Torture session, but Im OK with that considering the increase in distance. Such an unforgettable day it was: my first day learning how to shoot, at the tender age of 14, back on October 28, 1989, at the Santa Anita Firing Range (sadly now defunct, it was where that memorable firing range scene from the original Lethal Weapon movie was filmed) in Monrovia, Calif. For sale is a Colt King Cobra double-action revolver in .357 Mag. Glock Delivers on Performance Trigger Upgrade. Such an unforgettable day it was: my first day learning how to shoot, at the tender age of 14, back on October 28, 1989, at the Santa Anita Firing Range (sadly now defunct, it was where that. Archived video footage of the Colt Cobra Revolver. For years individuals wishing to carry a revolver for defense have had to make the same miserable choice. The Cobra was chambered in .38 Special, .38 Colt New Police, .32 Colt New Police, and .22 LR. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Though I do have a disinclination toward grips with finger grooves I found the factory Hogue extremely pleasant. There weren't any custom shop guns that were later turned out in small batches. Having no opportunity to shoot the King Cobra while wearing gloves, I found this made no difference for me. The new Colt King Cobra sports a three-inch barrel that is dressed up with a pleasing full underlug. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". I failed.). Manufacturer: COLT Model: KING COBRA Serial Number: KU0212 Caliber Info: 357 MAG Chambers: 6 ROUNDS Barrels: 6 Action: DA Finish: MATTE STAINLESS STEEL Sights: RED FRT ADJ REAR WO Manufacture Date: 1998 Extras: DRILLED & TAPPED Case: YES NON SPECIFIC Item Location: NC . Dot Torture session two was also impressive. Excluding fliers that were almost certainly not the fault of the gun, the worst of the .357 Magnum groups were tighter than the best of the .38 Specials. cartridges. Jun 7, 2010. After '85, Colt only made three models of .357 Magnum revolves. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Chris has been an NRA Certified Basic Pistol Instructor since 2011. This wouldnt be an issue in a self-defense situation, but during long range and dry practice sessions it is. Always give the model for a Colt revolver. All Rights Reserved. A forum community dedicated to all firearm owners and enthusiasts. In fact, back in mid-2020, I did attempt to bid for a beautiful six-inch King Cobra on GunBroker.Com, but alas, my bidding attempt fell short at $800.00, so some other lucky well-heeled schmoe got the gun instead. Barrel lengths of 4, 6, and 8 inches also were available on models with the matte stainless finish from 1990 to 1992; they returned to the product lineup from 1994-1998. Insert your serial numbers by clicking them. The bottom line is that this is a damn fine revolver. While on the one hand, Ive read some good reviews of the newer King Cobra such as Mr. Zents previously cited article some of the clerks at my local gun shops in the DC/MD/NoVA have told me some less-than-stellar things about these newer models. All Cobras were available with a nickel finish at additional cost. 1.25 in (32 mm) (pre-1981) 1.4 in (36 mm) (post 2017). Technology. The soft rubber perhaps cushioned recoil somewhat, but more importantly prevented slipping of the hands under the forces of recoil. In 2019, the King Cobra was reintroduced with a three-inch barrel. None of the Cobra models are rated for 38 +P+ Spl cartridges. It is also perhaps thicker than it absolutely needs to be to accommodate the rear sight groove that runs its length. (Photo: Guns.com). Being new to shooting, I did all of my shooting at seven yards. Both of these have been edited out of the photos that appear here for my own privacy. Introduced in 1977 and only produced that year, the Viper did not sell as well as Colt expected and was discontinued. 1046 0 obj <> endobj It is capable of using either .38 Special or .357 Magnum loads. What is the difference between a Colt Cobra and a colt agent? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Its difficult to quantify that but it was on par with the smoothest revolvers Ive ever shot, and is the first time the word buttery has made any sense to me in regards to a trigger.
