The 3” King Cobra was undoubtedly my favorite carry gun. Carried it daily and I do mean daily. I absolutely loved that gun. Bought several of them in fact, to include two of the 2” DAO King Cobras. Then the hammer’s stirrup hook broke. I was beside myself.
(See first image)

This is a known defect. One that since 2018 Colt has been quite well aware of with their current production D frames. The Cobra, King Cora and Viper all have this same flawed MIM hammer. Colt in its infinite wisdom and generosity toward their customer decided that a 1 year from the date of sale warranty is more than adequate for an $800 or more revolver. In point of fact, whether you buy a King Cobra for $800, a Python or Anaconda for $1500. Colt only offers a limited 1 year from date of sale warranty. The customer appreciation can be felt all the way from Hartford Connecticut, right?

Like any customer in the predicament of a catastrophic failure. I contacted Colt. Where I was promptly asked for the serial number and date of purchase. Within a few finger clacks of a keyboard I was informed my warranty had expired. I had been carrying the King Cobra for just over two years. A 1 year warranty had certainly expired. However, surely such a catastrophic failure of a key component was still covered wasn’t it?

It wasn’t.

I was told a RMA could be issued, however, the cost of shipping both ways was coming out of my pocket. There would also be a $160 charge just to put it on the bench and see what repairs were required. None of that $160 covers the time and parts for the repair itself mind you. I reluctantly agreed. In the meanwhile, I’ll roll one of my other King Cobras into carry duty. So you can imagine when my other King Cobra had its hammer’s break. I was beyond furious. No way I was going to incur the heavy cost of having two guns repaired. No, instead I’ll pull the hammer from my long and all but forgotten Colt Cobra. It’s just a lighter 38 only version of the King Cobra.

The Cobra’s hammer was quickly sacrificed to get my backup 3” King Cobra operational again. After a couple of range trips, if the revived backup King Cobra proved its reliability I’d don it for daily duty. It never made it to the second range trip. The Cobra’s hammer had broken the same as the two King Cobra hammers had. Now, I was beyond livid. My confidence in the King Cobra, in Colt was completely blown. Some investigation revealed this issue was unsettlingly common with other King Cobra owners. Although it was not the only recurring issue with their new D frames. Threads on the hammer problem were started.

Oh, did I mention Colt does not sell spare parts? If there is an issue, sending your gun into Colt is pretty much your only remedy. The kicker? In the end you can spend all that money for the repairs simply to have Colt install another of the same flawed hammer. Which by the way, have been known to break within days of the customer getting their gun back. One such individual reported within a week of getting their gun back, on their first range trip. Their hammer broke. Another stated with snap caps within 5 trigger pulls their hammer had experienced the exact same catastrophic failure that it had just went in for. There are more than a couple reports of this on the Colt forums and Reddit. Fun, right?

But as much as the King Cobra had turned into a miserable disaster. It remained one of my favorite revolvers for carry. So me being me. I decided to do what I could. I reached out to several shops. None were interested in fabricating a hammer. Apparently Colt does a lot to discourage aftermarket support for their revolvers. Oh how the plot thickens, yes?

So then I started looking at legacy parts. Maybe something can work? Or made to work? Well, it seems the older Colt D frame hammers from the Agent, Cobra, Diamondback and Detective Special can be modified to work.
(See second image: broken OEM King Cobra hammer on the left, modified D frame Detective Special hammer center, unmodified D frame Detective Special hammer on the right)

I prefer DAO so I opted to bob and convert the modified Colt D frame Detective Special hammer. Instead of trying to fabricate a stirrup to work with the current V spring. Or have a new modified V spring made. I decided to go with the same split end V spring from the Detective Special. Although the V spring will not work as is. It requires some modification. (See third image: modified Detective Special hammer and V spring connected)

Unfortunately, health issues has me home bound. But I was able to test everything with six empty but primed 38 Special cases. CCI 550 primers were selected as they have a harder primer cup. All six ignited with the new, old modified hammer and V spring. So at this point there are no questions of whether the gun will reliably ignite the primers. Hopefully I will be able to get out to the range with it.
(See fourth image)