So far so good. I’ve only had a chance to shoot it once but I got about 84 rounds through it with no issues. 12 of those rounds were .357.

Edit for Double post

Just a quick update as I haven’t posted in this thread in awhile. I’ve put about about 400 additional rounds through the king cobra and so far no other issues. Rounds were various .38 and .357. Everything seems to be ok for now, I’ll keep shooting and see what happens. Still not confident with it to carry which was why I got it in the first place.

Geez.  And you even sent it back another time since the last time I checked this thread.

And I had high hopes for the King Cobra, too

The old Colts were nice guns. I’ve handled a few of the new ones and was not impressed at all.  It’s sad. They had a good product. I have two Smith and Wessons in the shop now though so they may not be much better. A 357 revolver worth a damn should last indefinitely with 38 loads. You may need springs but it shouldn’t ever wear out.

Was talking about the king cobra in another post and got me wanting to shoot it so I went out this evening. I have probably put close to 500 rounds through it since colt fixed it the second time and I was starting to get comfortable with it. Fired one shot and the action locked up. I can hear something rattling around inside the gun so I’m pretty sure the hammer broke again. Unloaded it, wiped it down and I’ll be calling Colt tomorrow. After they fix it this time it’s gone.

Yeah....

Confidence in mine continues to drop.

Looking at a Kimber K6 as a possible replacement. Anyone have any negatives about those?  Also looking at a S&W 640 pro. Don’t want a lock. I would look for a nice older smith locally but they have all dried up. I won’t buy a used gun without inspecting it first.

Well, my old lightweight first model 3'' barrelled Cobra is still ticking along.

And unlike the new ones, it's really easily concealed.

Yeah, just .38 spl but it's not broken yet either.

I'm STILL not a fan of certain parts in MIM and I never will be.

Damn. I was looking for a snub nose 38 a few months ago for carry. Came down to the Colt Cobra or a S&W J Frame. On top of the fact that I'm more used to the S&W design as far as the cylinder release and stuff, this was my main reason for going with the S&W in the end. They may let some turds out of the factory, but if you get one that works, or have S&W fix your turd, it will at least generally stay fixed and working.

Colt seems to just replace one faulty part that broke with another faulty part that will in all likelihood break the exact same way soon enough. This isn't a manufacturing or assembly defect, this is a design defect. Colt CS can't do much about design defects. So until Colt designs a new hammer for them the Cobra and King Cobra are basically dead in the water as far as I'm concerned. Shame too, those Cobras are nice looking pistols. The assembly line guys certainly put the effort in to put the thing together well. But there's only so much they can do when they're given substandard parts to work with. In short, it's a nicely polished turd.

Ironically enough though my new J-Frame has been at S&W's warranty department for about a month now. But I think it's safe to say I most likely broke that one through my own stupidity and no fault of the gun.

The Cobra I bought in 2019 hasn't broken anything in about 1200 rounds. I'm wondering if the hammer axis on OP's gun was located improperly or something to cause it to keep breaking like that.

I asked Colt CS about this the second time it went back. They said they would check, obviously they thought it was good, or they just don’t want to replace a gun.

I have a 640 pro and its a sweetheart

Im actually carrying it now

Just ensure you look over a Smith pretty good

I sent mine back after buying it for some ugly throats in the cylinder on a few chambers. I think a tool broke during manufacturing honestly.

Anyways its great and they fixed it up no questions asked

Ive got several that have the disdained lock and most of them have been 100% perfect

The 640 pro was what I was going to buy first but decided to go with the king cobra. I own several smiths, one with a lock, and they have never given me any issues. Some of mine date back to the 1970’s and I shoot them as much as I can. What holster are you using for the 640?  I have several for my two 642’s but I don’t think the 640 will fit due to the barrel length.

Update on the King Cobra. Called Colt CS and they were super nice and apologetic. They were making a note indicating this was its third trip back to Colt and sent the rma which I have already received. I will ship it out tomorrow and see what happens.

Revolvers are NOT the same as modern semi autos and actually take some skill to build and assemble and time properly.

Both Colt and S&W are finding this to be true in a modern manufacturing production facility that is likely designed to shit out as many completed firearms as possible. Employees that aren't really ''skilled'' as ''skilled'' employees used to be is the other issue.

I agree. My Python, king cobra and one of S&W 642’s are the only revolvers I have made after 2000. The rest are from the mid 90’s or earlier and they have all been perfect. My 686 probably has 30,000 rounds or more through it and I have never had an issue that wasn’t ammo related.

I have a Galco pocket holster that fits my 640 and 642

I mostly carry it in a phlster enigma express these days since its a little heavy for the pocket

Really disappears in that setup

Thanks!

Check out Mika Pocket Holsters as well. I've owned this one for many years for my S&W 442. No complaints, period.

https://mikaspocketholsters.com/product/pocket-holster/