Colt Cobra

[phonejack]

Went into a pawn shop and there at the back of the bottom shelf was a revolver. Whazzat I asked ?
Hmm, except for a little bluing missing from the inside of the backstrap at the bottom ---
No dings, scratches, rust. I'd say 95%. We dickered, I bought.

[Guesser]

Nice, very nice. Is it in 38 Special or 38 S&W or ....?

[Outpost75]

Cobra is a D-frame .38 Special. They also made these in .32 Colt NP and a 3" barrel version in .22 LR.

In Exc.+ condition they are highly valued as collector's items, about $1000 with box and paperwork, about $200-250 less without it, depending upon where you are.

DON'T use +P in one of these if you want it to last, but great carry gun.

[rintinglen]

I'd have bought that in a heart beat--it would pair great with my late fifties vintage Agent. The advice on staying away from +P ammo is well taken. You stick with Standard velocity or mid range 38's and life will be better. Colt used to recommend overhauling their D-frames every 3000 rounds, 1000 rounds if +P ammo was used, and that was for the later, under lugged barrel versions207215. Lousy photo of my old Colt.

[Lefty Red]

Great pistol!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Outpost75]

FWIW, the most effective load for a light alloy frame snubby which can't handle +P is the Winchester 110-grain Silvertip NON+P JHP load. This load is optimized for 2-inch barrels and expands reliably at the 850-870 fps velocity obtained. It is not hard on the guns and is accurate.

If your revolver fixed sights were regulated at the factory for the old 158-grain LRN load, then use wadcutters
http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2014/01/federal-gold-medal-match-38-special.html which have mild recoil, shoot close to the sights, give good crush and decent penetration.

207216

[phonejack]

38 special

[Artful]

Nice - love them 6 shot colt D frame pocket guns.

[Pistolero49]

Sweet!

[FergusonTO35]

I bet your Cobra would really like a 148 grain wadcutter over 3.1 grains Bullseye. Easy to shoot, super accurate, and the sedate wadcutter has comparable (sometimes even more) penetration than +P hollowpoints. This is all I feed my S&W 637.

[phonejack]

3.1 of Bullseye is my favorite charge for swc's. Thanks

[FergusonTO35]

Bullseye and .38 Special just have a certain magic, don't they?

[9.3X62AL]

A late-series DetSpec is one of my Grail Guns. 6-shot form, +P capable (within reason, the FBI 158 LSWC/HP would get the nod) and the OEM grip set actually fits my hand--as do Pachmayr Compacs. The single-best 2" 38 revolver ever developed in this country, AFAIC.

[FergusonTO35]

Agree with you 100%, 9.3. If Ruger added a sixth round to the SP-101 we might just have the ultimate evolution of the Dick Special. It wouldn't be hard as the SP is already quite big for a five shooter. It would be an instant buy for me. I do have a kind of low-rent DS, a Rossi 461. It is a 6 shot .357 very close in size to the former two, in fact it uses the same holsters. Mine has a 3" tube and is a good shooter. It is currently on a trip back to Miami to have excess barrel to cylinder gap corrected.

[rintinglen]

+1 to what they said^^^, though it would still be a bit on the heavy side.
I have a Detective Special 3rd issue, and a Cobra , as well as the above depicted Agent.
207351 My Cobra with the huge over-size mustang Grips in the upper left.

[Bzcraig]

Had a series 3 and really enjoyed the revolver. Long story that I don't still have it and really miss it.

[FergusonTO35]

I gotta be honest, I am sorely tempted to try out the Armscor revolver that is loosely based on the Colt design. They are only $200.00 new.

[Dan Cash]

Always the new Colt Cobra and the Kimber. Bothe nice but not THE Classic.

[Petrol & Powder]

I've had a few Colt "D" frame snub nose revolvers, Detective Special, Cobra & Agent. They are unique in the snubnose world.
6 rounds, nice grip frame and a little smaller than a 2" S&W K-frame. It was a good concept.
In terms of size and weight, they fit between the S&W J-frame and 2" K-frame.

The feel of the Colt DA pull is different from a S&W (fair amount of "stacking" with the Colt) but they can be quite accurate.

I still have my 3rd edition Detective Special and wish I had held onto one of my old Cobra's or Agent's.

[smkummer]

You have the later short grip frame cobra so you have several options with stocks (grips). For d-frames like yours, I usually add a pachmayr grip adapter which uses the original stocks. You have the option of using the 1972 and later wraparound stocks that was a feature with the later shrouded barrel. Plus some choices of compac, gripper and even target rubber grips from pachmayr.

[Shawlerbrook]

I have one made in the 50’s that I had for almost 30 years. Great little belly gun and the same type pistol that Jack Ruby used to kill Oswald.

[c1skout]

I've got one of the Armscor copies, it's a good shooter!

[FergusonTO35]

I've got one of the Armscor copies, it's a good shooter!

I've long been tempted to get one of those. Does it have a steel or aluminum frame? What's the barrel to cylinder gap like? What boolit weight does it like?

[Airman Basic]

Heresy, I know, but I swapped my Cobra carry gun for a Ruger LCR in .38. Don't get hammer scratches from it and the Ruger has a better trigger pull. Don't everybody hate on me at once. I know the LCR is ugly.
208005

[c1skout]

I've long been tempted to get one of those. Does it have a steel or aluminum frame? What's the barrel to cylinder gap like? What boolit weight does it like?

All steel gun. I had never checked the gap before, so I just did. The largest feeler gauge I could fit was .013". It shoots to the sights with standard pressure 158 and slightly heavier boolits, mine really likes the old Ideal 358-432! I replaced the wood stocks with a Pachmayr compact made for a Colt.

[Outpost75]

...The largest feeler gauge I could fit was .013"

That is a bit "large." Enough so that I would be cautious firing jacketed bullets for fear of sticking one in the barrel. Lubricated lead bullets should be OK, but you can expect significant velocity loss, about 10 fps for each 0.001" larger gap beyond Mean Assembly Tolerance, normally pass 0.004/hold 0.006 for a new gun before proofing. After proofing it is normal for both dimensions to increase 0.001," with end play not to exceed 0.002", which is the difference when measuring with and without rear [head clearance] gage in place.

Max. gap for new a .38 Special build is generally 0.008." Back in the day police contract orders would usually be built to 0.003 pass/0.005 hold. Is recommended practice that when gap exceeds 0.010" that the barrel be set back a thread, existing cylinder end shake be fixed, usually by stretching the crane arbor and refitting, and the gap re-set to new factory normal production specs of pass 0.004"/ hold 0.006"

While it is fairly common to find old black powder-era guns with gaps over 0.012", such as Colt New service, Single-Action Armys and British Webley's, Speer and others in their reload manuals do not recommend that revolvers over 0.012" cylinder gap be fired at all, because they are worried about "bullet-in-bore" malfunctions.

[missionary5155]

208294

Good morning
The "cylinder gap" info is interesting. Makes one wonder what Colt did with all the rejects ? Surely they would not pass them onto unsuspecting civilians.
This is one that has been with us down here in the Southern confines of Peru for near 15 years. Has a Hip Grip ... But alas is really just a Police Positive Special with the barrel cut back to 1 7/8. But works just as well and cost 3/4 less than what a Cobra might.
Mike in Peru

[c1skout]

Uh-oh, I'd better re measure and proceed from there!

[Outpost75]

Uh-oh, I'd better re measure and proceed from there!

Correct way to check cylinder gap is not to see how thick a gage you can shove in the gap.

The "pass" dimension is the thickness of feeler gage you can insert completely through the barrel-cylinder gap, so that the gage protrudes through the frame window, and the trigger can be cycled DA to rotate the cylinder through a complete revolution without resistance.

The "hold" dimension is the thickness of a gage which causes resistance to cylinder rotation, such that with the gage inserted, the cylinder cannot be cycled through a full revolution by DA trigger pull.

[c1skout]

Thanks for the lesson!

My "pass" reading is .007, .008 starts to drag.
My "hold" reading is .010, .011 won't let the cyl turn completely.

I'm happier now...... At least I know how to measure the gap.

[Outpost75]

Thanks for the lesson!

My "pass" reading is .007, .008 starts to drag.
My "hold" reading is .010, .011 won't let the cyl turn completely.

I'm happier now...... At least I know how to measure the gap.

Repeat the measurement again with sized, empty brass in the chambers. It sounds like you are pushing the empty cylinder back when forcing in the 0.010 gage. Up to 0.002 cylinder end play is "acceptable." I expect that your true "hold" dimension with the equivalent of "rear gage" in place is really 0.008" and the extra 0.002 you get checking an empty gun is cylinder end play. In a Colt that the gap will tighten when the hammer is down and the trigger is held back, because of differences in how Colts lock up. Try the "pass" gage in DA and try to pull it out when holding the trigger back and see if the cylinder pinches the gage and then releases it again when you let the trigger rebound. Another check for end play, with and without empty brass substituting for "rear gage".

[MT Gianni]

In so I can find it again, Thanks Outpost.