The Federal 38 Special HST micro in +P is great stuff!

I had a Night Cobra and it was.......ok. I just didn't like it as much as some other revolvers. I have a Kimber 6S that I really like, much more refined. I also have a S&W model 19 Carry Comp and S&W 640 Performance Center that I like a lot better than the Colt. I also like the option of using .357 if I have to or I want to.

Cant offer much on the Cobra but if its as good as my Python it will be a hit

They're not really a "Cobra". The original Cobra was a lightweight alloy version of Colt's Detective Special. The new version is a stainless steel version. I fondled one when they were fresh on the market and I thought the one I played with was rather rough. I ended up buying a S&W 442.

Recently I asked a buddy in the gun store how they're selling and he said he usually tries to steer anyone looking at the Colt toward the Kimber. Ine of these days I'm going to get my hands on both the Colt and the Kimber at once and look closely at both.

Well, here it finally is! My long lost feedback / review of my Colt Cobra. Sorry for the delay everyone, but some health/physical related issues occurred with a family member that completely threw things for a loop the last two weeks.

I was finally able to get it to the range yesterday for a nice workout of exactly 248 rounds of flawless function. The long and short of it is that my initial love affair with the Cobra continues!

The Cobra functioned well in every way. Trigger pull, hammer travel, and cylinder advance were smooth and consistent with all rounds firing on the first strike. Not having a trigger pull gauge to use at the moment, I can only offer that the double action is smooth and consistent all the way through the travel with no apparent stacking and lighter than typical on comparable revolvers (roughly 8 lbs. range), and the single action is crisp and light (roughly 3 lbs. range). The swing of the cylinder / crane in and out of the frame remains at the perfect friction level and the cylinder release was easy to get used to and actuate while needing only a reasonably light to moderate level of effort to push back with the thumb to release the cylinder. Extraction of empties varied from all coming out at the same time to one or two chambers tending to retain the almost fully extracted cases. Some ammo cases stuck in those instances more than others with a second rap of the extractor sometimes pushing the cases out the rest of the way, but otherwise quickly grasping the remaining cases with the fingertips all at once and quick tug popped them out simultaneously. Considering I did not give the gun a cleaning before taking it to the range, I'm certain that cleaning up the chambers thoroughly and some more range time will improve the extraction further.

The cylinder locks up solidly with every trigger pull and the alignment of the chambers appears perfect with the forcing cone of the barrel given the alignment of the burn patterns on the front of the chambers and the visible alignment of the chambers. Not being able to measure it with a feeler gauge yet, the cylinder gap looks uniform throughout the full rotation of cylinder and appears to be on the minimal side with very little visible light between the cylinder and the barrel as compared to some other revolvers I've handled.

The revolver was fired with the following ammunition:

PPU 130gr FMJ roundnose - 50 rounds
Winchester 110gr Silvertips - 30 rounds
Magtech 125gr FMC flat point - 24 rounds
Blazer 125gr +P FMJ-flat point - 24 rounds
Federal 130gr +P HST - 20 rounds
Federal Gold Medal Match - 148gr LWC 50 rounds
GECO 158gr FMJ flat point - 50 rounds

Except for the more "powder puff" Federal Gold Medal rounds, the recoil across the wide spectrum of ammo used was very comfortable and what I would even consider ideal and even enjoyable for this size and weight revolver. The GECO 158gr ammo, likely due to the velocity they are pushing these at, actually felt most like a +P round than a standard pressure round, but not in any way punishing or uncomfortable to shoot. Everything else fired very similarly recoil wise with only slight differences in "bark" and flash. The grip does an excellent job of giving you a solid, no slip hold on the gun while also providing a high level of recoil absorption and comfort. The other thing of note was the pleasantly surprising accuracy of ALL the rounds fired and the relative ease with which the gun produced these groups at up to an including 15 yards. The fiber optic front sight is very much to my liking and the the alignment of the sight and the rear sight channel yields very nice, well centered groups.

Here are some of the groups fired:

PPU 130gr FMJ round nose (the very first 12 rounds fired) @ 5 yards single action (the one down low was 100% me and not the gun or the sights)



Winchester 110gr STHP 18 rounds @ 7 yards single action



Federal 130gr +P HST single action (12 to the body @ 7 yards and one to the head @ 10 yards)



Federal 130gr +P HST single action @ 10 yards (wanted to prove the first head shot was not a fluke and took another well aimed shot at the right side bullseye)



GECO 158gr FMJ flat point (aka "The Thumper" ) 36 rounds @ 7 yards fired first half slow fire single action and then second half double action every one to two seconds.



Even dumping a full cylinder as fast as you could pull the trigger, I could still keep all the shots within the center of mass @ 7 yards with none of the shots falling outside the 8 ring on some other targets I fired. And at up to 15 yards, I could keep all shots from the top of the head to the neck area of the target when firing at the head bullseye with more vertical than horizontal spread. I didn't try longer distance as I was running short on time but will give it a go next time out to 25 yards.

There was a guy shooting in the stall to my right that looked over to see what I was shooting so I nodded and smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries. I then pointed to it and said that it was one of the new Colt Cobras and that it was my first time out with it. He then said "Yeah, I have one, but mine doesn't seem to shoot as good as yours." I just smiled and chuckled.


The bottom line, very happy with the Colt Cobra and can highly recommend it! Not only is it an overall great revolver that has rekindled my love of revolvers in general, as well as the .38 Special round, it will very likely get taken to the range on a frequent basis just because of the fact that it is such a fun and pleasant gun to shoot without having to worry about having a bunch of magazines for it, just some boxes of ammo. Looks like it is time to find a holster and some speed loaders for it too.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dtech,