Colt Cobra (new production) thoughts?

[cathellsk]

I swear this isn’t because of Hunter Biden.🤣

What’s the general consensus on the new Colt Cobras? I’m not interested in the King Cobra in .357Mag. I’ve had about 3 of them but honestly didn’t keep them long enough to really run one to form a better opinion.

Lack of a wider trigger, boot grips, and an alloy frame are my biggest complaints. Other than those I really like them. Just debating getting another one but want some opinions first.

[FrankB]

I’ve owned SIX of the new Pythons, and sold them all, so I have you beat. 😁

The two King Cobras I bought were 2” and 3”. Junior now owns the 3”, and I sold the 2”. There wasn’t anything wrong with either, except the 2” was a bit heavy for 6 rounds. The Heritage Roscoe I just received shoots equally as well as the King Cobra, but I have no idea of its durability. Shooting .357 magnum out of the King Cobra was never fun, so I’d buy 2-3 less expensive small revolvers rather than the KC.

[Totem Polar]

I had 3 new cobras: the first original recipe version, the night cobra, and a 3” king. All were built well, had great triggers, and looked good. The OG cobra had knurling that could stick the ejector rod upon vigorous reloading, but not a deal-killer, as it came unstuck relatively easily. The King cobra has—to my eyes—a fatal quirk in that the rear sight is both unusually curved on the back side, and very shiny/polished, so various angles of overhead light could unexpectedly wash out the rear: not conducive to good accuracy. The night cobra was pretty cool. Ultimately, I seemed to shoot other snubs better on the clock, for no real apparent reason, so off it went in favor of the next flip of the month. Maybe a DW 1911? I don’t really recall what.

In all, good guns, with the above caveats and quirks that may or may not be noticed by other shooters.

[fatdog]

I did not like the 2" gun and only kept it a year.

The trigger stroke seemed long to me, but I never tried to measure it. The trigger return pressure seemed abnormally weak to me but that is subjective. Between those I ended up being able to short stroke the thing when trying to go fast. But that is a S&W guy complaining. If I did my part the gun worked fine. I simply was unwilling to put in the time to learn the differences in the new version Colt triggers.

Almost 25 oz. it seemed like a chunk for 6 rounds of .38 special. For two oz more I could get a (used) 2" M10 or M64 with grips and a trigger I can shoot much better (and I did). When I owned mine a few years ago, the holster and grips options in the market were far more limited than now.

Only speed loaders were the HKS variety, which is not my first preference, would rather have Safariland.

On the plus side, they did make it easy to change the front sight and the ejection stroke was much longer than a 2" bbl K frame offers.

[Corse]

I have been using a night cobra and I I really enjoy it. I would agree with a lot of what has already been said here.

I think of it more like a 2” modern k frame vs j. The extra weight makes it great to shoot so it doesn’t beat up my hands and the trigger is very smooth. In fact, I would like to get a second one. The king cobra and 357 doesn’t interest me in this size revolver.

[L-2]

I've no opinion on the current, new Colt Cobra. It looks to be a nice revolver if it works and is reliable. However, I wouldn't know how it well it might work or if it's reliable.

I don't quite understand POST 1's question and info.
The OP has already owned three of "them". What is "them" meaning new Colt Cobras or King Cobras.
The post mentioned "alloy" frames but the new, latest Colt Cobras have stainless steel frames.
No criticisms intended. I just don't understand Post 1.

Otherwise, I'm also interested to know what folks think of the latest Colt Cobra and I haven't seen much on Youtube or posts on several forums with anybody reviewing the Colt Cobra product line.

[cathellsk]

I've no opinion on the current, new Colt Cobra. It looks to be a nice revolver if it works and is reliable. However, I wouldn't know how it well it might work or if it's reliable.

I don't quite understand POST 1's question and info.
The OP has already owned three of "them". What is "them" meaning new Colt Cobras or King Cobras.
The post mentioned "alloy" frames but the new, latest Colt Cobras have stainless steel frames.
No criticisms intended. I just don't understand Post 1.

Otherwise, I'm also interested to know what folks think of the latest Colt Cobra and I haven't seen much on Youtube or posts on several forums with anybody reviewing the Colt Cobra product line.

To clarify, I’m thinking of getting one of the new Cobras (.38Spl), not interested in one of the King Cobras (.357Mag). I’ve had some of both previously but didn’t keep them long and just want to know what people think of them on here as I don’t see much said about them.
My complaints from previously owning them are the skinny trigger, lack of boot style grips available for it, and the fact that Colt still hasn’t come out with an alloy frame for it which I’d prefer over the all steel frame.

[Salamander]

I've owned only one 3-inch King Cobra, and still have it.

Mostly that's because its fills a specific niche for me. It's a compact and durable trail gun capable of firing moderate magnum loads, in a 28-oz package. Weight matters on the sometimes steep and remote trails in the coastal west, and it's a good balance of enough for a few rounds of magnum but not too much, and the factory rubber grips fit my hands well. I wish the sights were a little better, but after painting a matte white line around the rear sight they're good enough. The narrow trigger is fine as long as I'm not shooting hundreds of rounds. My Python or S&W Model 15 are more accurate for bullseye work, but again the KC is good enough for anything I'm likely to encounter locally.

But for a 2-inch 38, yeah I'd prefer something else. Alloy frame at a minimum, ideally with better sights. Maybe that's why there's a M&P 340 in my pocket right now, and if the 432 UC or 442 UC really make the CA roster soon as alleged, maybe one of those.

[rathos]

I had one. It was ok, accurate, good sights. However I bought it roughly the same time as the og Kimber K6 and that was a far superior revolver. They weighed roughly the same but the K6 had a much better trigger (in pull weight and comfort). The cobra has the small trigger that aggravated my finger after a short shooting session. The price was also pretty high for what you got. If they made an alloy version it might be worth it, but much like the older cobras it still has the smaller narrow trigger. With the new UC j frame being roughly the same price it is a much better deal.


To clarify, I’m thinking of getting one of the new Cobras (.38Spl), not interested in one of the King Cobras (.357Mag). I’ve had some of both previously but didn’t keep them long and just want to know what people think of them on here as I don’t see much said about them.
My complaints from previously owning them are the skinny trigger, lack of boot style grips available for it, and the fact that Colt still hasn’t come out with an alloy frame for it which I’d prefer over the all steel frame.

[UncleGabby]

I had a night cobra for a year or so and really enjoyed it. I did make the trigger lock up a few times in my first range trip by not letting the trigger all the way out to allow it to reset. This was a characteristic of this revolver that I was already aware of, probably from reading about it on this site. Once I had made it happen and knew what the problem was it didn’t happen again. Of course, that left me slightly nervous about what could happen in the stress of a defensive encounter, but I liked the revolver enough otherwise to live with it.

It seemed that it could also work for pocket carry, as without the big factory grips it went in and out of the pockets of my Duluth pants and shorts pretty easy. I was contemplating purchasing grips to modify for that purpose, but obviously a light weight version, aluminum or some other alloy, would be better for pocket carry. It’s a shame that Colt still hasn’t filled that niche in their line up.

I sold the Night Cobra and switched to Smith & Wesson J frames for my small revolver needs, as they have a more well rounded product line, since they have been making J frames so long and have produced almost every variant you can think of at one time or another.

[Beer brewer]

I absolutely love mine; it’s my favorite snubby. It’s heavy at 25 oz but that makes it fun to shoot. Mine has a super-smooth DA around 9 lbs and an SA pull of 3.5. Toe to toe it’s a much nicer gun than a new production S&W model 60.
119699

[defilade]

Reviving an old thread.

I recently purchased a used Colt Cobra with the matte finish. This morning I just installed some old service stocks that I purchased off of eBay. They were sold as short frame grips, they were not. So I added a walnut spacer and sanded them to fit. Now I have the old school look with a modern Colt. Eventually I will probably add a grip adapter but here they are for now.131368131367

[awp_101]

That's awesome!

131369

[Zeke38]

I have the new Cobra and I like it for it's build quality and that niche it fills between a K frame snub and a J frame! I enjoy having six rounds. Great action and good snub sight. It also shoots to poa with 125 grain and heavier bullets. Bought mine in 2018.