Colt Cobra-good revolver or not?

CAJUNLAWYER

CAJUNLAWYER

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seeing a lot about these recently and am wondering if these are any good.
Might have a chance to buy an early one that doesn't appear to be shot much if at all. Has a few dings on it, like someone threw it into a dumpster but other than that appears to be in good shape. Serial # is RA551363 which indicates an early manufacture. I missed out on Jack Ruby's old Colt Cobra, but I'd like to pick this one up as it seems to have an interesting provenance.
Thoughts???
 
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Decent guns. Avoid plus p or use it sparingly. The finish Colt used on the alloy guns doesn't hold up well, finding a pristine Cobra can be a challenge. Colt lockwork is a different creature. Switching between Colt and Smith can flummox some people. I own multiples of both. The closest thing to a Cobra I have is a third gen Agent with the rough parkerized finish. I like it, nice and light, surprisingly accurate.
 
I've had Agents and a Cobra, all earlier guns with exposed ejector rods. These are alloy frame guns as you know. One of my Agents suffered a crack in the usual place, the frame right under where the barrel screws in. Notice how thin the alloy frame is in this area.

I bought the gun used. It was tight and worked properly but I did not know the gun's history. Many may shoot +P ammo in these guns which is fine for them and I won't argue the point. However, I would never use anything but standard pressure ammo in older alloy-framed Colts and S&Ws.
 
rockquarry said:
I've had Agents and a Cobra, all earlier guns with exposed ejector rods. These are alloy frame guns as you know. One of my Agents suffered a crack in the usual place, the frame right under where the barrel screws in. Notice how thin the alloy frame is in this area.

I bought the gun used. It was tight and worked properly but I did not know the gun's history. Many may shoot +P ammo in these guns which is fine for them and I won't argue the point. However, I would never use anything but standard pressure ammo in older alloy-framed Colts and S&Ws.
Click to expand...

^^^^This^^^^

The Cobras (alloy D-frames) suffer from frame cracking with some frequency. I saw this several times before +P ammo appeared on the market, so in my opinion this indicates a critical design weakness rather than a problem purely associated with ammunition.

Of course, most ammo manufacturers were offering "high velocity" and "super speed" ammo long before +P came along.
 
I've had a later model Cobra, like 1972 or so, for several years now. Has the shrouded ejector rod, which I like better than the early models with no shroud. It shoots good, fairly accurate for a 2" revolver, sights are dead on. I'd buy another if they weren't asking crazy money like most folks do for "Snake Guns"....

 
Be sure and check the timing and endshake. Despite some saying they have shot thousands and thousands of rounds thru earlier Cobras and Pythons without any timing problems, I don't believe it. I agree with the frame cracking problem with them also. Good luck.
 
swagmeister said:
Be sure and check the timing and endshake. Despite some saying they have shot thousands and thousands of rounds thru earlier Cobras and Pythons without any timing problems, I don't believe it. I agree with the frame cracking problem with them also. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I'm in agreement on the "thousands and thousands of rounds". Possible but quite unlikely. Extremely few shooter know how many rounds have been fired through their guns. Vague guesses are about the best most of us can do and they're probably grossly overestimated much of the time.
 
Some like them and some don't. I carried a Cobra for a couple of months as a duty weapon. Got rid of it ASAP and went to a model 10, 2" and later a model 15, 2". Most that liked them liked them because of the reduced weight, not because of their performance.

Al
 
I believe the OP is talking about a new model from 2017 since the serial number starts with RA.

I have one and really love it. Absolutely no issues. It’s all stainless, not alloy, and should take +P with no problem. It’s the same size as my vintage Cobra but heavier. Great smooth action that is every bit as good as my Pythons.

I’m not sure why Colt didn’t call it a Detective Special. The Cobra, Detective and the new Cobra are the same size and since the new Co ra is all stainless I think Detective Special would have been more appropriate. But I guess they were trying to keep with the snake names.

It’s actually one of my favorite carry guns.

By the way, here’s my 1953 Cobra. Picked it up in Dallas and the story goes it was only fired once and belonged to a nightclub owner who went to prison😁
 

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LoboGunLeather said:
^^^^This^^^^

The Cobras (alloy D-frames) suffer from frame cracking with some frequency. I saw this several times before +P ammo appeared on the market, so in my opinion this indicates a critical design weakness rather than a problem purely associated with ammunition.

Of course, most ammo manufacturers were offering "high velocity" and "super speed" ammo long before +P came along.
Click to expand...

+1 on frame cracking… I blew the top strap off a Cobra with Speer factory ammo. No surprise that neither Colt or Speer offered any compensation.
 
Beware the reported carry up problem. My old Dick Special(same lock work) has marginal carry up. It will fire out of index by slowly single action cocking. I believe they do this by wearing down internal camming surfaces that push the hand up. Solution is to lengthen hand by peening. I ignore the problem as mine is a range toy.
 
Colt Cobra is a fine revolver. The biggest reason I will not make it anything other than a "safe queen" is because of the lack of revolversmiths who know how to work on Colt revolvers and the lack of spare parts. If those two issues do not bother you, then go for it!
 
Interesting how quickly folks are ready to comment without thoroughly reading the original post and knowing much about Colts.

The specific gun he’s asking about is an RAxxxxxx serial number which indicates it is a CURRENT MODEL made of stainless and is NOT the original alloy model most of you are referencing. The only similarities with the current model and the original is in caliber and appearance. The RAxxxxxx number is from the 2017 series of guns, not the 1950 series. The metallurgy is different as is the action.

First image is an original 1953 and the second is a current stainless production with RAxxxxxx serial number.
 

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