A Few questions for the Forum

[MButler1]

Well first off im new to the Forum. My names Mike, and live near Detroit MI. I recently purchased a colt cobra. Not 100 percent sure on the the year yet, it is shrouded but aside from that It has several scratches and what not. I was wondering if anyone could help me find with someone that can do rebluing and a great job near me. Also after rebluing how does the finish hold up? and Lastely im looking to get the hammer bobbed and checkered. Anyone know where i could find someone to do this work?

[Primer88]

First off welcome to the forum. There is a wealth of knowledgable experts with informative, interesting and exciting posts. In reference to your request I would consider checking with Colt Mfgr LLC. They have done some great work for me and can be reached @ 800-962-2658. Great customer service and normally not much of a wait time unless you are calling during their lunch hour.

[Malysh]

Hi Mike, welcome!

Congratulations on your "new" Cobra. They are one of my favorite guns. Here's a website you can click and visit that will help you find out what year your Cobra was manufactured: ProofHouse.com
If your gun was made after 1978 you won't find it on this website but there are members here who can advise you what year gun you have.

I will leave it to others to help advise you about refinishing if that's the route you choose.

As far as a professional hammer bob, you could contact our member Doc540. He has a few bobbed hammer Cobras and Agents that are super. I'm sure he will be happy to let you know who did the work.

[Colt-SL]

Welcome to the Forum. You will no doubt hear plenty of good choices on refinishing work. Also know you can use Colt's themselves. Colt's Manufacturing LLC
The Catalog tab will let you scroll down to pricing lists.

[A1A]

Welcome to the forum. The Cobra's alloy frame is not blued, it is anodized. The steel crane, cylinder and barrel are blued. In order to refinish the gun as originally finished requires removing the barrel as the two processes are not compatible. There is a strong recommendation against removing the barrel because of the chance of cracking the alloy frame. Colt won't do it. Ford's Refinishing apparently will do it, but I suspect it is at your risk. Some others faced with this situation have opted for a coating finish. There are some existing threads on that, but I'm sure you will also get some more direct answers.

[MButler1]

Thanks for all your help so far. Do you know anything about nickle Finish?

[A1A]

If your question is "Can a Cobra be nickel plated?", the answer is yes.

[MButler1]

Would you recommend it? And if so how does the Finish hold up?

[dfariswheel]

I'd contact Colt and discuss this with them.
They offer several finishes that will be compatible with the aluminum Cobra, including bright nickel and hard chrome.

Bright nickel is considerable more durable than bluing, but it's still a finish that is rather easily scratched, and it can crack, chip, and peel, especially if mistreated. Like almost all gun finishes, once damaged there is no repair short of a total re-finish.
The up side is, Colt's nickle is top of the line and will last reasonably well for a life time if cared for properly.

Colt also offers hard chrome. This is an industrial grade hard chrome usually in a matte gray or stainless steel look. It's absolutely not common "bumper chrome" and looks nothing like it.
It's one of the very few gun finishes that's really considered to be a true lifetime finish.
It's harder than a Swiss file and offers high end corrosion protection. It doesn't scratch easily and is the preferred gun finish of almost all custom pistol builders.
As I recall, Colt can hard chrome even aluminum, so for durability, hard chrome may be the best option.

The Colt Custom Shop will do just about anything you can pay for and bobbing and checkering hammers is something they've been doing since the 1920's.

Colt's Manufacturing LLC