New Colt King Cobra Target Doesn’t Work

[t4terrific]

Huh? You're gonna send a gun back to the factory without even shooting live ammo thru it? Did you clean it at least? Did you make sure the ejector rod is screwed on tight? Did you try dry cycling it at least a few times?



Please forgive me if I'm coming across as rude. How much experience do you have with revolvers?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Do you want a resume, or just a number? I’ve been shooting revolvers since 1982.

If a cylinder doesn’t turn without live ammunition, what is the point in shooting the revolver?

 

[t4terrific]

Which is not at all unusual. There are still companies in the world that do not run 24/7 365 and rotate staff so somebody is always working. Several gun makers almost literally shut down entirely shortly before Christmas and don't open back up until the new year.







I'm not trying to defend Colt, but there are some things to consider. First is, simply while we all want our gun fixed fast, and first, to the company we're just a name on a list. And what resources do the have doing repair work? A dozen skilled guys, who fight each other for the chance to do some work, or maybe two guys who are backlogged 2 months??



Each gun takes time to diagnose the actual cause and then do the proper fix. IF it were my shop (and its not) I'd say "do you want it done fast, or do you want it done RIGHT??"



And, consider that 8 weeks might be more than the average turn around time as well. Mr Scott always got the Enterprise fixed (or fixed enough) in about half the time he told the Captain it would take....



Not saying that's what Colt is doing, they probably aren't, but one can hope...

Comparing Colt’s service to Smith & Wesson’s is like comparing night to day. Colt is notorious for taking months to start working on a repair, not giving updates to callers asking about their firearm, and they don’t hide it. They explain it on the phone message. They practically try to warn you off over the phone, from trying to send something in for warranty work.

 

[Bottom Gun]

My experience with Colt repair service was terrible. I sent my Ace to them because the slide stop was deforming the hold-open notch in the slide to the point that it would no longer hold the slide open.
Colt kept my Ace over 3 months. They re-cut the notch.

It worked OK for a couple of weeks then it started deforming the notch again. I sent it back to Colt. Another three months went by before I got my pistol back.

It worked OK for another few weeks then the same problem started again. I sent it back to Colt again. Three months later, they returned it.

I took it out to shoot and within four magazines, I saw the notch deforming once again. Colt hadn’t fixed a thing after three attempts.

At that point, I gave up on Colt and sold the Ace for parts. I haven’t bought a Colt since and don’t intend to. Lots of better guns than Colt.

I hope your experience with Colt “service” is better than mine was.

 

[Carmady]

OP, have you considered asking the store to take it back for a refund? That's what I would do. If you haven't fired it and it doesn't work with dry firing the LGS might agree to a refund. That way you're done with it.

 

[bbqncigars]

What Carmady said. Also see if exchanging it for a different gun (same model) is possible. This all assumes that it is not the aforementioned ejector rod issue that could be fixed yourself.

 

[Dave T]

On another forum I've read the newly re-introduced Python will sell for $1499. After reading this thread I don't believe I would be willing to shell out $1500 on any newly manufactured Colt revolver. I had some bad experiences with their 3rd Gen SAAs.

After years of carrying Colt 1911s and owning 1st Gen SAAs, I don't think of myself as a Colt fan any more.

Dave

 

[Bart Noir]

I've only seen two of those new King Cobras. They were side by side on the shelf. And both of them had serious issues with opening the cylinder.

Basically, the cylinder release was frozen on both guns, most of the time. Only by "jiggling" (technical term) the release could I get it to move back at all.

I am not impressed.

Bart Noir

 

[t4terrific]

I'll take a crack at this, but my first advice is to take it to the shop where it was bought and see if they can diagnose it as a simple problem or something that needs to go back to Colt. Most stores have a no-returns policy on firearms, so you might expect they won't accept responsibility for the problem or to resolve it, but they may have a gunsmith on site who is knowledgeable. On the other hand, it may have been a big box store in which case it is still possible to find a person with knowledge, but more doubtful.



The way I understand the problem, the cylinder will rotate and the sear engage. Then the trigger is pulled and the hammer drops. After this, pulling the trigger will not rotate the cylinder and cocking the hammer is blocked.



If the hammer cocks but does not rotate the cylinder, then the hand is not rotating the cylinder and the problem is a broken hand or sheared notches on the ejector star.



Since the problem description includes the fact that fiddling with the cylinder release does result in cylinder rotation and function, I rather suspect the hammer does not cock or the cylinder rotate -- because the bolt is not retracted.



The bolt must be pushed back to give clearance to the hammer to cock. When the hammer cocks, the hand pushes the cylinder to rotate it. The most common reason for the bolt not retracting is the cylinder pin is not pushing on it due to the ejector rod having come partially unscrewed. It may be you just need to tighten this (normally a reverse thread, but not sure on new Colts). Credit to Tom Servo for mentioning this most likely fix.



Why does the mechanism work like this? The bolt blocks the hammer so the gun does not cock when the cylinder is open. Consequently, it also makes it so the trigger cannot be pulled when the cylinder is open. It also makes it so the cylinder cannot be opened when the gun is cocked or the trigger is pulled. Therefore, if the mechanism is misadjusted (or partially disassembled), it works as would be expected if the cylinder is actually open when it appears to be closed.

I took the King Cobra to a local smitty. He instantly determined the the spring behind the hand was either broken or missing.

When pointing upward, the hand that rotates the cylinder stays back in the frame (with the cylinder open while pulling the hammer spur back).

That’s why it wouldn’t rotate the cylinder when the revolver was pointing upward. No spring tension on the hand allowed it to stay back in the frame.

I’ll update when I get it back and report if the spring was broken or never installed.

 

[lunger]

OP, have you considered asking the store to take it back for a refund? That's what I would do. If you haven't fired it and it doesn't work with dry firing the LGS might agree to a refund. That way you're done with it.

I would try this also. I bought a 45 years ago that would not fire the first shot. I went back to the store just to let them know and they replaced it with another off the shelf. Going above and beyond like this caused me to buy at least a dozen other firearms off them.

Doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[buck460XVR]

I took the King Cobra to a local smitty. He instantly determined the the spring behind the hand was either broken or missing.

When pointing upward, the hand that rotates the cylinder stays back in the frame (with the cylinder open while pulling the hammer spur back).

That’s why it wouldn’t rotate the cylinder when the revolver was pointing upward. No spring tension on the hand allowed it to stay back in the frame.

I’ll update when I get it back and report if the spring was broken or never installed.

Thanks for the info, so now we all know what's really going on. Seems to me you went about this the correct way. Colt is the one that should make it right. Let us know how things turn out.

 

[t4terrific]

Thanks for the info, so now we all know what's really going on. Seems to me you went about this the correct way. Colt is the one that should make it right. Let us know how things turn out.

The smith said he can replace the spring, but he’s backed up, so it may be a week or two.

 

[stinkeypete]

I hope your wife used a credit card for this purchase. If so, call the credit card company and plan to put a "hold" on the payment. Then check with the retailer where it was purchased. The retailer should make it good immediately, if not- I would stop payment. The item is broken out of the box.

It's a terrible story because that is a very thoughtful gift from your wife!

 

[Eazyeach]

This makes me sad. That revolver looks so nice , it’s a shame Colt didn’t assemble it correctly. And I tried not to get excited about the new python, but I think I’ll wait a good while and let others test them out first.

 

[SPEMack618]

To be honest, as a counter jockey, we don't do a damn thing with Colt guns other than put them in the case.

So many of them get bought by "collectors" whom are really flippers and demand the gun to be factory perfect.

 

[JERRYS.]

Clearly Colt did not test fire this gun, so it should not have a spent shell casing that is required to go to the police in some states. this is just poor quality assurance. if you sent it back today, come St. Patrick's Day check for a tracking number back to you.

 

[L-2]

For Post_55, it's my understanding there are no longer any more states requiring a spent casing, which means it's not clear whether Colt test-fired the revolver or not.

 

[Carmady]

The smith said he can replace the spring, but he’s backed up, so it may be a week or two.

I hope having the 'smith work on it won't void the warranty. We're living in strange times.

 

[buck460XVR]

For Post_55, it's my understanding there are no longer any more states requiring a spent casing, which means it's not clear whether Colt test-fired the revolver or not.

Hard to believe, that a company that is so revered, would not test fire a revolver, that is deemed by so many, to be of such high quality, to be worth significantly more than competitors, that do test fire.

Could be the spring broke during the test fire. Could be the spring was broken by some interested customer dry firing it, before the wifey purchased it. Regardless, the fix should be on Colt's dime and should be done in a timely matter. Could very well be there is something else going on to be breaking the spring.

My two cents is, the OP's wife paid a premium price for a supposedly premium product and as such, should receive premium customer service. Colt also has to include this defect in their records for quality control. Send it in.

 

[44 AMP]

I’ll update when I get it back and report if the spring was broken or never installed.

The smith said he can replace the spring, but he’s backed up, so it may be a week or two.

OK, I'm a little confused. You took the gun to a local smith, and he determined (through a function check, not disassembly?) that the spring was either missing or broken. Right?

Is the gun going back to Colt for repair, or are you going to have the local guy do it?? I am unclear on this.

If it is "just" a broken spring having your local smith replace it will fix the gun, (and if its ONLY two weeks, faster than I expect Colt would) but it does nothing to fix the problem. And, as mentioned, could possibly violate the warranty, so that if (if anything else goes wrong) Colt may not have to fix it.

It is possible the spring broke /was missing during the test fire, some companies only test fire one round. Seems unlikely though that if it did, that it wasn't noticed...

Also possible Colt did NOT test fire the gun. Seems obvious they did not properly inspect the gun before shipment, so not test firing it might have been deliberate, or it might have been another screw up not caught by their QC. I don't know what Colt's standard is, today.

I'm told S&W fires every other chamber (once) as their test fire. I know at one time Ruger was said to fire all six, and not clean the gun before shipping. (proving the test fire was done) I do not know if they still do this today, or not.

Hard to believe, that a company that is so revered, would not test fire a revolver, that is deemed by so many, to be of such high quality, to be worth significantly more than competitors, that do test fire.

At one time, and for a long, long time, Colt's quality and the reverence of it was deserved. No more.

A Colt was the primary Army service pistol since before the Civil War until 1984. Yes, other guns were used, and in significant numbers (S&W, primarily) and all those GI 1911A1s not directly manufactured by Colt, but it was still considered a "Colt", even if it had another makers name on it.

Immense prestige, and deserved due to generations of good products and service. No more. Colt has been living off that reputation, and NOT the quality of their guns for the last 50 years or so. The exception being the Python, which was the top of the line showpiece gun.

The Colt of today is not the Colt of days long past. Nor, apparently are their products. The shining quality of the Colt name has been, and is being further tarnished every time they ship a defective gun.

Might be the Internet making things more visible, so problems seem larger than they actually are. I don't know about that. What I do know is Colt's reputation for being high quality and worth the price isn't what it once was.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

I hope your wife used a credit card for this purchase. If so, call the credit card company and plan to put a "hold" on the payment. Then check with the retailer where it was purchased. The retailer should make it good immediately, if not- I would stop payment. The item is broken out of the box.

I disagree. The OP's issue is with Colt, not the gun shop.

If you buy a new Ford Mustang and it has a problem, you don't get to stop payment unless the dealer gives you a different car. The car gets repaired under warranty. In the case of motor vehicles, the repairs are carried out at dealerships, but they are paid for by the manufacturer, not by the dealer. Why should a gun shop be held hostage because Colt shipped a defective firearm? I'm pretty certain that Colt's warranty calls for returning the firearm to Colt for repair, not screwing over the gun shop that sold it.