Bought a King Cobra today (Got a few Questions)

Thanks for the warm welcomes! I have been siting here cleaning the gun. Like to kick the original owner in the ass! As with any gun cleaning it gets you familiar with it.
The more I wipe the Hoppe's and oil the more it cleans the gun. The more I am digging it!


Anyone got a list of Serial# dates for these?


Thanks



Eddie

Your questions in order:

All later Colt's had a totally different action design then the older actions as used on the Python, Detective Special etc.
All these later actions will have slight cylinder rotational movement BY DESIGN.
That slight movement is to allow the bullet passing into the bore to force the chamber into alignment.

The slight difference in depth of the stamping is not unusual.
Usually the later stainless models like the King Cobra had deeper stamps, by not always.

To remove the spots on the frame, use Scotchbrite synthetic polishing pads. These are similar to the green pot scrubber pads sold in grocery stores. Auto supply houses sell them for use in car painting, and they sell them in different "grits".
You can use the grocery store green ones but they may be a little to coarse.
These Scotchbrite pads are also used to remove light scratches from stainless guns and restore the grained finish.
You can use them dry or with oil, makes no real difference.
NEVER use steel wool on stainless. It will embed tiny particles of steel into the stainless and it will rust later, damaging the surface.

To clean the gun, just use any good bore solvent. Outside you can even use paint thinner, lacquer thinner, or a kitchen liquid cleaner to remove surface dirt.
For carbon or powder fouling bore solvent is best.
To remove build up on the face of the cylinder, buy a "lead-away" cloth from a gun store or from Brownell's or Midway.
These heavy cloths literally wipe leading, carbon, and copper fouling off.
WARNING, they also wipe bluing right off, so NEVER use on a blued gun.

Congrats on the King Cobra - they are good revolvers.

On the King Cobra's, it is probably more important to know the 3 variations of KC than the year of manufacture - Early, Enhanced (E model), or EDT (Enhanced, Drilled & Tapped).

Early KC's had a flat muzzle with a python sized cylinder release. These came with the rubber grips and gold medallions. Those that have their original grips and a 150 in the medallion were produced during the 150th Anniversary and should have the corresponding 150th Anniversary box. Those KC's would have been produced during the first year of the KC production, 1986. On these early KC's, the Rampant Colt was under the rear portion of the cylinder release.

The Enhanced model came mid production where Colt made a few changes to the KC and the trigger system. The easiest visible change to recognize is the crowned and recessed barrel. The Enhanced model will also have the larger Anaconda-sized cylinder release, nickel (silver) medallions, and the Rampant Colt will be fartheer aft of the cylinder release.

The final variation was the EDT (Enhanced, Drilled and Tapped) which basically came during the last 2 years of production (1996-1998). On these, the top strap was drilled and tapped for scope mounts and the KC's were advertised as having a factory trigger job. The grips would have the nickel (silver) medallions of the Enhanced KC's plus a Colt banner'd logo on them as well.

tacticalhillbilly said:

Hey is there any aftermarket or OEM front sight blades out there?

Click to expand...

As for replacing the front sight, I don't know whether your front sight is buggered or if you are wanting a different type sight. I do caution you that if drilling a new sight blade, drill it part way in from both sides. This will alleviate any over bored holes in you KC that happened from wobbling or angling the drill bit off center.

If your front sight is buggered and the red insert is the issue, you may be able to replace the insert by using a resin kit.
Gunsmithing - Installing a Red Ramp Front Sight on S&W Revolvers - YouTube

On the other hand, if you are looking for an inexpensive and non-intrusive fiber optic sight, here is an idea that works on Pythons and Anacondas without altering the KC.
http://www.coltforum.com/forums/colt-revolvers/55690-python-fiber-optic-sight.html