Originally Posted by
Dave T
After something like 47 pages of this I finally stopped by a local gun shop and wouldn't you know they had one of the frosted stainless 3" versions of the 856 with the Americal (sp?) front sight, and it was used so the price was pretty reasonable.
I asked the guy behind the counter if I could look at it and he said sure. When he handed it to me (cylinder closed - grumble, snarl) I checked that it was clear, then asked if I could dry fire it. Again he said sure. First try aimed at the floor went click. Second try went click. Third try went...well there's the rub. It didn't click until multiple tries. The hammer was stucking about half way back. It finally snapped so I tried again (#4) and it went click. Fifth try was another lock up. After multiple attempts at pulling then releasing the trigger it finally went snap. The final chamber did in fact go snap on the first attempt.
I set the gun back on the counter and asked if the failures to function might have something to do with it being in the used case. The talkative young man with the name tag just shrugged his shoulders. I thanked him for his time, thinking the 856 wasn't going to solve any problems for me. Besides the trigger was way too skinny and close for my hand size, even with the rubber stocks that covered the back strap.
Guess if I want a D-frame sized 38+P I'd have to buy the Colt at three times the asking price of that 856. The Cobra doesn't come with a 3" barrel (my preference) but the two I looked at before went "click" with every pull of the trigger. Such is life!
Dave