Cobra pocket pistols... Any info?

[Cousin Mike]

Hello, good people of THR!

The day before yesterday I acquired a new revolver - a Taurus 608. She's a beauty - an 8-shot .357 Magnum with a 4" ported barrel, and a lovely matte stainless steel finish.

Yesterday, when I went to pick up some hot .357 ammo to shoot, my girlfriend noticed these little pocket pistols they had for sale at around $130 NIB. She asked me if I had ever seen anything like it before, and without giving them a good look I told her they were old Colt pocket auto's, probably chambered in .25ACP or .32ACP -

She says "They don't look so old to me..."

I take another look, and sure enough, they look brand new, and a little closer inspection of the box leads me to conclude that they are, in fact, brand new .25 and .32 auto pocket pistols manufactured by Cobra Arms, IIRC. They look to be nearly-exact replica's of the old Colt .32's, and for $130 it's kind of hard to see where you could go wrong with a cute little something to play with at the range.

Has anyone heard anything about these? Does anyone own one? I'd like to hear more about them. My girl said that she thinks "they're cute," (and I agree, in some ways ) which loosely translates into, "I want one of these within the next couple of weeks," - so any information or opinions I could find on these would be greatly appreciated. Are they reliable? Are they accurate? Will they blow apart in my hand? Does anyone trust their life to one? Anyone have one for a plinker?

Let me know something.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Whirlwind06]

Most people group the Cobras in with the Davis's and raven autos. I don't own one. but looking at them they look like they use a simple striker firing pin set up. They look a lot like the Raven .25 I used to have.

They also have a DAO models in 9mm and .45 that look like Kel-Tec knock-offs.

 

[Lou22]

I own a Cobra Patriot .45. Only problem with is it only likes only 230gr ammo. I've heard (mostly on bulletin boards) that the other Cobra smaller caliber guns are based on cheap designs like Davis. I think Cobra was at one time Davis. In contrast the .45 was designed by a renowned Israeli gun designer who I heard works now for Kimber (not sure on the last point). The .45 was made by the defunct Republic Arms, where Cobra bought the tooling.

I would be very wary of buying one of the smaller calibers.

Lou

 

[ugaarguy]

If you want a 380 get an actual Kel-Tec. If you want a cheap range toy I'd get a Hi-Point in 9mm for cheap shooting.

 

[Cousin Mike]

Now that Kel-Tec might be worth a look...

Hmmm. I'll have to look into that Cobra .45... my girl likes .45's

As for buying a Hi-Point, I don't think so. I had one some odd years ago, the .380 model - and that thing couldn't shoot 3 rounds off without jamming. I was so disgusted with it I just sold it to a pawn shop for $90 and got my money back - you know it's bad when you don't even want the company to honor their warranty and fix it for free.

Also, this isn't for me, this is something my girlfriend is looking at, and you know how the ladies can be about their guns. They like pretty stuff. Whatever else you may describe a Hi-Point as, 'pretty' ain't a fitting description.

Besides, she still laughs at me for owning one when we met.

She's got her little compact 9's (this girl should own stock in Beretta), but recently I've been bitten by a revolver bug, and my girlfriend seems to have been bitten right along with me. She's also taken an interest in small caliber, old pocket pistols, so this would be for her almost strictly.

 

[MCgunner]

Hmm, shoulda kept that RG .25. She might like it...

 

[Lou22]

Cousin Mike:

Patriot .45s are very compact and lightweight. Other than it's preference for 230gr ammo, I think for the price it is a very good little auto (I think I paid around $250 plus shipping for mine). Check your gun store and see if they can order one. If not, check Gun Broker or Auction Arms.

Lou

 

[jahwarrior]

i just bought the .380 with the 2.8" barrel the other day; it's not a target gun, but it's fun to shoot. i plan to use it as my BUG to my SW9VE. it might not be the best pocket pistol out there, but it beats a brick.

or two Hi-points.

 

[abloy]

If she likes older small caliber pocket pistols, I'd be looking for a 1903/1908 colt or maybe a makarov. Cobra IMHO is yet more "Ring of Fire" crap.