Going back to the 1950s again...
I remember magazine ads for the Colt Detective Special that touted "that all important sixth shot". They were citing an advantage over the contemporary Smith and Wesson Chief's Special, and they characterized it as a 20% increase in capacity.
That sounded right to me at the time. And it was--on that hypothetical occasion on which every shot hit something critical.
Statistics are funny things. Throw some misses and bad hits into the mix, and the advantage of six shots over five becomes much greater. That's just the way things work out.
That's for another discussion, but thanks to JohnKSa for the education on that subject.
Back to 2020....
A former St. Louis police officer whom I know still carries his old Colt Detective Special.
The new Cobra is essentially an improved, more durable, and more maintainable reincarnation of the Detective Special.
It has not only a six shot capacity, but also a better double action trigger pull than the ubiquitous .38 J-Frames.
The King Cobra is a strengthened Cobra with .357 chambers and a three inch barrel. I would not use magnum loads in it, but I do like a three inch barrel.
I almost always carry a light 9MM, but from time to time, my left elbow strength has become impaired by complications with a bone spur.
When that happens, a DA revolver really fits the bill.
And my wife is more comfortable with revolvers.
One more journey back in time, just for fun...
I remember watching Dragnet years ago. In one episode, Sgt. Joe Friday was expecting a package. He refused to tell his partner Frank Smith what was in it.
When it arrived, the episode became a veritable Colt commercial.
The package contained a new Colt Cobra. That Cobra was a light alloy version of the DS.
Jack Webb mentioned the light weight and the power, and maybe the six shots, several times.
As a grade school gun guy, I really paid attention--not thinking about how one day, tendonitis, arthritis, and nerve damage would make me prefer the steel version,