Dilemma regarding Colt Cobra target.

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Brutus

New member
Bought a Colt Cobra Target last week and have discovered a problem.
After shooting a box a Remington 38 specials and 24 federal magnums I switched to my favorite target handloads.
These were Missouri bullet company 158gr. semi-wadcutters loaded in magnum cases with 5.3gr. of universal clays.
Bullets would not seat all the way down in the cylinder.

Cylinder length is 1.560 same as my Python, Dan Wesson is 1.634.
Bullets seat fine in both my DW and the Python. Got it home and started taking measurements, turns out the chambers are bored short.
SWC bullets are hitting the throats preventing them from seating all the way down. All other bullets, with a rounded ogive, seem to work fine.

Anyone else discovered this or is it just my revolver? :confused:
 
Hmmm. I own a Cobra and have a King Cobra on it's way. As far as my Cobra, I've not had any issues with it at all.

I know Colt has had some issues with the side plates on the Python and some light hammer strikes due to the leaf spring. They've been pretty up front with those issues and want to know if people are having any problems with those guns.

Just realized that these are handloads that you are having issues with. Did you fire any other factory .357 loads and did they work fine?
 
I have an old Python that has occasionally had the problem similar to what you are seeing. The problem seemed to be a few cases that had just the slightest wrinkle (for lack of a better word). That was causing the problem, and seemed to be caused by the crimp. I started using that Lee FCD, and it ironed out the wrinkle. No longer a problem.

The moment this die comes up in conversation, somebody will say that if your crimp was done right in the first place, you wouldn’t have the problem. Well, that logic does not account for minor variations in case length, where a longer case would get more of a crimp, and perhaps get that barely noticeable wrinkle around the case. That was my observation and my solution.

My 686 doesn’t seem to have the same problem, so perhaps the cylinder chambers are cut a bit looser. Since you have the Target model, I’m guessing you might have tight chambers.

Anyway, the Lee die fixed the problem for me.
 
I had the same problem with the 158 grain Missouri Bullet SWCs in my Freedom Arms Model 97. The MB bullets are sized to .358 and the throats on the Model 97 are a tad less than .357. The MB .358 just won't quite fit.

You can drive a bullet through the chamber and then check it with a micrometer. If it's .357 or less, you've likely found your problem.

My solution was to get some .357 bullets for the FA and use the MB bullets in my Smith & Wessons, where they work just fine.
 
JayCee nailed it. The Missouri check .358 and the Lazer cast check ,359.
Bought some Miester bullets at .357 and they work fine.
 
I noticed my Python has "tight" chambers. Some of my reloads won't fit the Python, but will drop right into my Smith and Wesson revolvers.
 
But realistically, the tighter chambers do nothing for accuracy. No?
Click to expand...
My understanding is the tighter chambers do help in accuracy and this was the reason some target shooters melded a Python barrel to a SW action. Most of us would probably never notice the difference.
 
They put the Python barrel on the Smith because Pythons have a 1 in 14” twist which is more accurate for target Bullets than the 1 in 10” Smith uses. It was cheaper to buy and install a Python barrel on a Smith than just buying a Python. Tight chambers can actually hurt accuracy if it ends up making the bullet too small and not engage the rifling of the barrel, especially when shooting lead bullets. You want the throat to be a hair larger than the barrel diameter.
 
When you fire 38 Specials in a .357 mag cylinder the shorter round leaves a residue ring that gets in the way of the .357 mag length-I will bet if you clean your cylinder with a good brass brush the .357 mag will then chamber.
 
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