Switched At Birth
Who Put A Baby Python In The Colt King Cobra Target’s Crib?
With all that weight in the barrel, the King Cobra Target .22LR has a tendency to stay where you point it between shots.
I learned a lot about double-action revolver shooting from a .22 LR S&W Model 17, a K-Frame essentially identical to their standard medium frame .38 Special/.357 Magnum service guns. Present-day double-action revolver neophytes, take note; you’ll never regret buying a quality .22 LR double-action wheelgun. Ideally, buy the one that’s identical to the centerfire model you prefer, equipped with the same stocks, sights and barrel length. That way, the muscle memory you develop practicing your draw, hold and handling will work for you. You can use the same holsters too.
This is a beautifully made and finished revolver that looks
like it will last generations. You aren’t just paying a premium
for the pony.
The muzzle crown is recessed to protect it, and the fiber optic
front sight is removable with an ordinary Allen key if you want
to change it out.
Baby Python?
My first thought when I picked up the King Cobra Target .22 LR was, “Is this a mini-Python?” I had reason to wonder. In 2017, Colt got back in the revolver market in a big way reintroducing the popular .38 Special Cobra. However, the new Cobra was a completely new gun. It still had the lean proportions of the original, which was based on the old Police Positive Special’s compact medium D-Frame, and it was still a six-shot, but the old Cobra’s signature characteristic was its lighter aluminum frame. The new Cobra was stainless steel and, considerations of what constitutes “Cobra-ness” aside, it was a better, if heavier, gun.
In 2019, Colt reintroduced the .357 Magnum King Cobra, which was also built on their new Cobra frame. A good-looking gun, its solid rib, full underlug and barrel made it look like a miniature of the original King Cobra, which was built on the bigger medium V-Frame used for the old Trooper Mark V. In that caliber, I’d argue it was a somewhat less sturdy gun than the heftier original. Now Colt is making the new King Cobra Target in .22 LR on the same frame as the .357 Magnum but with a ventilated top rib, full underlug barrel and a 10-shot cylinder. Behold … a miniature Python! It is a delightful gun.
The ejector rod is long enough to throw even extra-long .22LR cases,
as found on Federal’s Punch 29 grain flat-point self-defense load,
clear of the cylinder.
It’s a 10-shooter, something of a rarity among .22LR revolvers.
Fit, Finish & Specs
The parts fit, and overall finish on this stainless-steel gun are very well executed. With the exception of the blued steel sights and satin matte-finished stainless trigger, hammer, cylinder latch and upper surfaces of the barrel and frame, the gun is highly polished. It’s shinier than most bright nickel-plated guns, but Colt calls it semi-bright. In a wilderness emergency, you could use the gun as a signal mirror.
The gun comes standard with a one-piece soft Hogue rubber overmold finger groove grip with Colt medallions inset. Its palm swell and dimpled surface aid in control of the gun in double-action shooting. My average-sized hands found it very comfortable, but people with big hands may find this grip too small. For them, take note that the larger wooden stocks available for new Cobra revolvers will fit this .22 LR too.
In testing, the gun functioned without flaw. The cylinder rotation is clockwise, and lock up was tight at the end of the trigger pull in the traditional Colt fashion. The timing appeared right on. Unlike old Colt revolvers, the new Cobras don’t mount the firing pin on the hammer. It’s in the frame, and a transfer bar system protects it from the hammer unless the trigger is pulled. In theory, that should make the pistol as drop-safe as it can be.
Some will doubtlessly criticize the new Colts for their use of MIM (Metal Injection Molded) parts (trigger and hammer, at least in this case), but it’s time to recognize this manufacturing method has matured considerably in the last few decades and no engineer worth his degree is going to use a process that doesn’t get the part to the required specifications. Making a MIM part is a substantial up-front investment compared to machining from billet. It’s not something a manufacturer is going to casually adopt to save a few pennies. If Colt and S&W engineers calculated that a MIM part will do the job, I’ll take them at their word absent evidence to the contrary.
In terms of cost, the King Cobra Target .22 LR is on the higher end of high-quality stainless-steel revolvers with a street price of around $1,070. The 10-shot, stainless steel S&W 617, with a standard 6″ barrel, retails for around $970, and their 8-shot, 3″-barrel Model 63 sells for around $850. The new King Cobra Target .22 LR is a smaller gun than the K-Frame S&W 617, and I think that makes it more practical in the sense that the whole family can shoot it, be they big or small-statured. The Colt appears to be a very well-made gun, and one gets the feeling its price could end up being amortized over a couple of generations. Quality is a good investment.
With its ventilated top rib and full underlug, the King Cobra Target
.22LR is suggestive of a miniature Python.
Range Report
I tested its inherent accuracy from a Caldwell Pistolero rest at 25 yards using a standard NRA slow-fire target and firing 5-shot strings in single-action mode. The trigger pull was a crisp 3.5 lbs. Velocity data was collected on a Competition Electronics Pro Chrono Digital chronograph set 15 feet from the muzzle. My conclusion after running six types of ammo through this gun is that there wasn’t anything it shot badly, and some loads shot impressively well for a 4″ barrel revolver. Four of the six loads, all 40-grain bullets with velocity averaging between 978 and 1,150 feet-per-second, had average groups under 2″. The most notable outlier was the self-defense-oriented Federal Punch, with its 29-grain flat-nosed bullet, which averaged groups just over 3″. That would be decent accuracy for any centerfire 4″-barrel revolver. When the ammunition manufacturer listed a velocity in their advertising, I found my test velocities were around 200 feet per second slower. That’s perfectly understandable since their testing was done in rifles.
In order of performance, starting with the best, Federal Lightning averaged 1,054 feet-per-second and 1.66″ groups. Winchester M22 averaged 989 feet-per-second and 1.82″ groups. Winchester Wildcat averaged 991 feet-per-second and 1.9″ groups. Winchester Super X Match averaged 978 feet-per-second and 1.93″ groups. Remington Thunderbolt High Velocity averaged only 898 feet-per-second and 2.38″ groups. Federal Punch averaged 1,236 feet-per-second and 3.17″ groups. While this isn’t Olympic competition accuracy, it is quite good for the short sight radius on a 4″ barrel gun and much better than average compared to most centerfire revolvers. Most target pistols have longer barrels and sight radiuses.
Shooting cans rapid-fire double-action was great practice
for Frank — and great fun.
Handling Observations
While the sights were well-sized to target work, I didn’t like the slight left-to-right wiggle the adjustable rear sight has in its milled slot. I have mixed feelings about the fiber optic insert in the front sight. It was very helpful shooting in the woods at tin cans against a confused background under mottled light, but I found it a distraction when target shooting. The colored dot seemed off-center. Close inspection showed the hole in the sight was properly centered, but the rounded tip of the plastic fiber optic rod wasn’t. I cut off the exposed tip with a razor blade to correct it, not particularly caring if it fell out. I did like that the top of the barrel and frame were matted to reduce reflections that would interfere with sighting.
The King Cobra Target’s double-action trigger-pull measured at 10 lbs., notably lighter than current S&W and older Colt revolvers. Noticeably absent was the stacking that complicated the double-action trigger-pull of pre-2017 Colts. When Colt modernized the Cobra lockwork for more efficient manufacturing, they genuinely improved the trigger-pull and made a good revolver even better. The pull now feels smooth and even.
The 33.6-oz. weight of this gun, which is somewhat more than the .38 Special/.357 models because of the added thickness of its .22 LR barrel walls, is further front-loaded by the full underlug. All this weight in the barrel really absorbs the rimfire’s minimal recoil. Combine that with the new, smoother, lighter trigger pull, and you have a pistol that can let you imagine you have a little Jerry Miculek in you. I found I could rip off 10 shots rapid fire into a tight group at 7 yards with absurd speed. Empty soup and spray paint cans tumbled under a hail of little bullets before my fast-squeezing trigger finger.
I had really forgotten how much fun a .22 double-action revolver can be. I decided I was going to keep this Colt, ostensibly to teach my daughter to shoot a double-action revolver, to keep in practice myself for a fraction of the cost of centerfire ammo, and to have around for my wife and me to use for self-defense if we should live long enough to become too frail to handle heavy calibers. All these are solid justifications, but really I just want to snipe at dollar store green plastic army men, kill pesky critters around the property, crack walnuts, and make empty cans dance along the ground.
For more info: Colt.com
