Quality of the King Cobra?

[ojh]

Greetings to all Highroaders from Finland!

I have recently bought my first revolver, a Colt King Cobra, 6" stainless, apparently shot very little, good timing, some minor external scratches. I considered the price fairly good -- 350 euros, which at the time of the purchase was roughly equal amounth of US dollars. There were other samples on sale for 500-550 euros, so I was quite happy about my deal. (When you compare the prices, please note that US-made firearms typically cost 30-50% more in Finland than in their homeland.)

Soon after that, in a Finnish guns & hunting website www.metsastys.net, there was a somewhat heated discussion about the quality and durability of various 357Mag revolvers, including the Colt King Cobra. During the discussion, local "experts" gave some quite harsh comments about the KC, which of course made me a little less happy.

The reason why I put "experts" in quotations is that Finland is a small country, and although a recent study shows that we have the World's third-highest ratio of legal guns per person (US and Norway are #1 and #2), there seems to be very few persons who know several brands of high-power revolvers well enough to be able to objectively compare their virtues. Hunting with handguns is not allowed here, so what is left are mostly metallic silhouette shooters. And for them, S&W seems to be the one and only. Also, it is difficult for me to fully trust some of the local gurus because of their commercial interests.

So now I am asking you:

* KC's frame: is it cast or forged? Is it considerably weaker than, say, S&W 686 or Ruger GP100? I've learnt that there are D-frames, I-frames, etc.: what type of frame KC has?

* Colt's cylinder lock: is it weaker, more prone to break, or does it develop slack more easily than S&W or Ruger?

* Does a KC go out of timing sooner than.. you know. At least at the moment the timing appears to be perfect, the gun does not "spit" a bit. The cylinder has no end-to end slack, but it does have some rotational play at full lock. Is this normal?

* KC's barrel and rifling: there was an allegation that some of the first KCs imported to Finland had much too shallow rifling. Is it true that such slipshod quality has occurred in KCs? I found an article about the Anaconda, which said that the first Anacondas did not shoot well, and the problem was the barrel. Knowing the close relationship of King Cobra and Anaconda, this gives me an uneasy feeling. Is there an easy way to find out, if the rifling of my gun is OK?

* Finally: I know that KC is not comparable with Python, but what do you think, is a KC ever going to gather collector value? I definitely bought the piece for shooting, and will shoot it, but when and if it starts to show signs of wear, should I just trade it, or save it?

 

[Wil Terry]

THE COLT KING COBRA 357MAG IS A FINE SIXGUN.

NO, it is not a PYTHON, but the three PYTHON's I have had were abysmal pains-in-the-neck.
I have heard very few complaints on the KING COBRA other than it's short cylinder which precludes using many of the heavy bullet loads. Other than that the COLT KING COBRA is typical COLT sixgun through and through, which is to say, one damn fine revolver.

 

[Boats]

I don't know if a KC is cast or forged, but I'd say this one issue is immaterial. Every Ruger is investment cast and the Smiths, AFIK, are forged with some MIM (a type of casting) internals. The Rugers are generally considered tougher than the Smiths of roughly equivalent size, though I am sure that some of that reputation is due to dimensional differences and the Ruger's double ended cylinder lock-up than differences in construction techniques or quality of materials.

I have a friend with a Colt Anaconda. Not the same thing, but it seems to be holding up just fine.

 

[Fiveshooter]

I Like the gun..

but the orange insert front sight plain sucks!!!

 

[10-Ring]

The one I have access to has never had a trigger worth the ammo it wastes. The owner (for whatever reason) refuses to improve it If it had a nicer trigger, the value of the gun would be much higher in my eyes

 

[Standing Wolf]

I've never owned a King Cobra, but the two I've shot were pretty good revolvers. They weren't Pythons, but seemed to be in the same class as the equivalent Smith & Wesson models.

 

[B27]

The previously mentioned orange front sight insert which is too light in color is the only complaint I have with my KC, which I have been shooting for 16 years now.
The action on mine has smoothed itself up so much with use that everybody who handles it assumes it has had action work, but it's stock...

 

[dfariswheel]

To answer your questions:

The King Cobra uses a very high-quality forged frame.

No less an authority than Master Gunsmith Jerry Kuhnhausen has the opinion that the King Cobra may well be the strongest mid-frame revolver ever made. He attributed this strength to Colt's Superior forged and heat treated frames and cylinders.

The KC has a Colt "AA" frame. This is somewhat more massive than either the Colt Python or the S&W 686 frames.

Colt's cylinder lock is very strong, but only locks at the rear. S&W uses a system that locks both front and rear, but their locking system uses much smaller locking parts, so I'd call them about equal in strength.

Many people claim the S&W timing system is better than the Colt Python, since the S&W system uses simpler, stronger, and more massive parts.
I find the the claims that the S&W system is stronger than the Colt King Cobra absolutely hilarious, since the KC uses simpler, stronger, more massive parts than the S&W.
Unless tampered with, the KC very rarely develops timing problems.
The Colt KC is built like a tank.

Colt has always been famous for their very high quality barrels, and the KC never had barrel problems. The Anaconda's early problems were an anomaly, and were confined to very early .44 Magnum models.
Although the KC usually won't shoot as well as a Python, it will shoot as well as a S&W, and will almost always outshoot a Ruger.

All Colt handguns will have eventual collector value. As recent a revolver as the Colt Trooper Mark III, is starting to appreciate in value and collector interest. The most collected and collectible handguns in the world are Colt's.
Although it may take a while to become truly collectible, a King Cobra will never loose value, if well cared for.

Should the KC develop signs of wear, it can be easily restored, so don't sell it.

 

[Peter Gun]

I had a King Cobra 6" SS as my first gun. It was very nice. I shot many high powered loads thru it and it held up fine. The best modification you can make is add some Pachmayer Decelerator grips. I still have the original grips as my gear shifter knob. I had to sell it to afford my Super Redhawk .44, but if I wanted another .357mag , I'd pick one up again.

 

[4v50 Gary]

The Python's action was based on a late 1890s design. It required skilled craftsmen to understand how the parts interacted and affected the timing of other parts. For instance, the rebound hammer controlled the bolt's timing, the hand (and with it, rotation of the cylinder). It was complicated and took a gunsmith probably 3-4x the amount of time to service as for the S&W action.

The Cobra is based on the newer Trooper action but built on a smaller frame. The Trooper action was very simplified in that it worked very much like the S&W. If you understand how the lockwork functions on the S&W, you can figure out the Trooper. Mind you, this doesn't mean that it's a cheaper gun. It only means that Colt designed an action that was less costly to assemble.

 

[makdaddy03]

I'm still Kicking Myself in the Arse for trading my Colt King Cobra.

 

[popeye]

I almost bought a 4" K.C. yesterday. After running through the revolver check out drill I found it was out of time. Slow cock, pull trigger, (holding hammer from falling) and cyl. fell short of lockup over all six holes. Probabley fixable, but I took a pass..

 

[4v50 Gary]

Sounds like the hand is engaging the ratchet too fast on that King Cobra. Slow it down (by shortening it) and the cylinder will rotate a bit slower, giving more time for the cylinder stop to pop up and the hammer to drop.

 

[JohnK]

No less an authority than Master Gunsmith Jerry Kuhnhausen has the opinion that the King Cobra may well be the strongest mid-frame revolver ever made. He attributed this strength to Colt's Superior forged and heat treated frames and cylinders.

I have a couple of Jerry Kuhnhausen's books, great stuff if you want to do some home gunsmithing he obviously knows his craft.

Do you know if he made that statement about the King Cobra being the stongest mid frame revolver before or after Ruger introduced the GP100? The reason I ask is it's been a while since I've seen anything new from him and was curious as to the age of that quote. If he includes the GP100 in that, I won't doubt him, just wondering.

 

[dfariswheel]

That quote was from "The Colt Double Action Revolvers, Vol Two" copy righted in 1988.

Kuhnhausen actually wrote the books some years before the publishing date.

 

[Ala Dan]

Hello there ojh- from central DixieZland, U.S.A.

I don't know too much about Colt's King Cobra .357
magnum; but about the time it was introduced, I did
own a Colt Trooper MK-V with Coltguard finish in .357
magnum. You talking about a beautiful weapon? My
friend, that was it! But, they didn't stay on the market
very long; less than 2 years, I think? Wish I had it back!


Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Litlman]

I have a 4 jnch modle. No complaints here. I will never sell it!!! B27, what kind of grips are those. They look good on your King Cobra.

 

[Mike Irwin]

The King Cobras I've seen have been of fairly good quality, fit, and finish.

Some I've seen have had issues, likely related to Colt's in again, out again ping ponging with bankruptcy protection.

$350 (or the equiv) isn't bad at all, really.

 

[B27]

Litlman-
Those are Hogue smooth pau ferro grips and sorry, but I don't believe Hogue makes them anymore.
But maybe I'm wrong!
www.getgrip.com

 

[B27]

I was wrong! They still produce them in a bunch of different woods....

I got lucky with that set. If I was ordering them now I'd get them in Coco Bolo wood.

 

[care-less]

ojh, I have a six inch stainless King Cobra; an excellent revolver! Frames are forged not cast, and of the finest steel. A lot of people complain about Colt quality control during the eighties; maybe so, but they didn't skimp on the KC!!!! Pythons have excellent actions; but are prone to going out of time. I have never seen or heard of a KC going out of time. The original Pachmyer grips which cover the backstrap make the trigger reach a hair long for me, so I switched to Hogue Fingergroove grips with the open backstrap. That did the trick. For three hundred and fifty dollars; you have one hell of a deal! The KC may well be the finest of the 357 mags from ANY maker. Glad to hear that Finland still allows firearms ownership without too much hassle. Hope they don't follow the lead of most of the European Union in severly restricting such ownership.

 

[ojh]

Thank you all!

Thank you all very much for your comments about the quality of the Colt King Cobra. You have convinced me strongly that it is a durable, high-quality gun, and that I've made a good bargain.

The orange insert front sight really is annoying. I don't like the white lining of the back sight that much either. Must try to paint the sights black. I'll use a washable felt-tip pen, so nothing irreversible will be done.

Still have not shot the gun very much -- some 150 rounds of 38 specials, and 50 rounds of 357 mags. The most difficult thing seems to be finding and keeping a good, consistent grip. The standard grip of the KC looks large, and my hands are by no means very big, but still the grip feels a tad too small for single-action shooting, which I do the most. My first gun is a .22 autoloader, and it has not taught me much about keeping the grip under recoil. The grip of the .22 also fits my hand perfectly, so maybe I'm a little spoiled here.

Last week, I shot the KC with very mild 38 LWCs, and for the first time the results were almost equal to what usually shoot with the 22. So I think I'm getting somewhere!

Yes, Finland does allow quite diverse firearm ownership for hunting, shooting sports, and some other purposes, but not for personal protection. Now and then, voices are heard that gun ownership should be restricted more, but I think that at least at the moment there is no real danger that this would happen. If you are interested, I can tell more about our situation in some other forum here at The High Road.