As I mentioned, the Colt King Cobra, Kimber K6s DASA and Ruger LCRx are all medium-frame DA/SA revolvers. They’re designed for personal defense and can chamber either .357 Magnum rounds or softer-shooting .38 Specials. The Colt and Kimber both have six-round cylinders, while the Ruger has a capacity of five rounds. We ran all three revolvers hard during this test, too, with each digesting over 200 full-power .357 Magnum rounds. Despite that, there were no malfunctions or breakages during the evaluation.
First up was the standard Colt King Cobra, a .357 Magnum version of the earlier Cobra. This six-shot revolver weighs in at 28 ounces unloaded. It has an attractive stainless finish, and our test model didn’t have any sharp edges to snag on skin or clothing. The action was also smooth, but in typical Colt fashion, the trigger started to stack toward the end of its travel. That said, the trigger is polished with nicely rounded edges.
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The rear sight notch is machined into the topstrap, and the front sight is pinned from the front and features a brass bead insert. The mechanics are traditional Colt; the cylinder rotates clockwise and the cylinder release is pushed rearward. The triggerguard on the King Cobra is also oddly shaped, but the design allows for a straighter trigger design. Finally, the Hogue rubber grips fill the hand and do a great job absorbing the hotter .357 Magnum loads.
Shooters liked the overall finish, the classic Colt lines and the overall design. The grips received high marks for absorbing the felt recoil. Two weaknesses were noted. The rear notch was shallow and could be difficult to index. The King Cobra also uses the same ejector rod that is on the 2-inch-barreled model. This limits the ejection stroke, especially when you’re shooting .357 Magnum rounds. However, every evaluation liked the King Cobra. The gun shot a few inches high with .357 Magnum loads, but overall, the revolver scored a 39.93 out of 45 possible points.
