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Posted: 1/16/2021 8:59:16 PM EDT
Was a factory blemish when I bought it.
8 days.... lots of hours in each day spent hand polishing this new style Colt King Cobra 3”. Started with wet sand paper and mother’s mag polish. Trigger job turned out great with a smooth double action and rolling break single action. I spent a full morning just on trigger/hammer sear and action parts. A few days to grind down and re-polish hammer, trigger, cylinder release. Left the top strap bead blasted, and top grip frame a little more muted polish. Re-profiled and radius the trigger face more like an vintage colt or S&W pad. This should steer some of you towards the new Colts.        
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:03:21 PM EDT
[#1]
Original picture, the ugly as f... factory casting circle in the trigger and the blemish on frame is why I tackled this mirror polish. Wanted to bob the hammer but son suggested he likes the spur for single action shooting so I kept it for now.
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:13:44 PM EDT
[#2]
Beautiful! What's your method to polish?
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:15:15 PM EDT
[#3]
Wow, that looks great.
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:15:53 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Original picture, the ugly as f... factory casting circle in the trigger and the blemish on frame is why I tackled this mirror polish. Wanted to bob the hammer but son suggested he likes the spur for single action shooting so I kept it for now. https://i.imgur.com/a3gpTiO.jpg That is an ejector pin mark from the MiM process! |
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:26:41 PM EDT
[#5]
Wet sand 2000-2500 on flats and cylinder to knock down the semi polished bead blast finish. Then hand polish for days with mother mag polish as not to roll any edges or knock logos down.
The trigger, hammer, and cylinder release I used fine stone on die grinder and knocked all the rough down. Then fine sanding drum. Then wet sand at 220, 320, 400, 600, 1500, 2000, then hand polish for hours. Scribed off and only polished the spots that showed through the frame. The internals were all stoned and inside frame stoned. Knock all high spots down so parts glide across each other. Trigger job, years of practice but quick tip I used on this. Take permanent marker and color everything on sear engagements and parts rubbing. Then install, dry fire, check all interference where marker rubbed off. Stone high spots and debur very lightly. Put a slight radius on single action part of sear to keep neutral engagement and allow a slight rolling break. I’ll give average of ten trigger pulls weight once I get friends Lyman digital gauge. Single action feels around 3lbs nice and safe since this is my CCW. |
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:28:50 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: That is an ejector pin mark from the MiM process! I know I hated looking at it lol. Very first day I brought it home I took it to my dads to show him. First thing I’m doing is going to radius the trigger face and file that circle out. He just shakes his head at me! |
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:32:07 PM EDT
[#7]
Great job. That thing is screaming for some wood grips.
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:39:19 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I know I hated looking at it lol. Very first day I brought it home I took it to my dads to show him. First thing I’m doing is going to radius the trigger face and file that circle out. He just shakes his head at me! Looks great! |
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:46:18 PM EDT
[#9]
 Absolutely fantastic. I could stand to see some more pictures. |
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Posted: 1/16/2021 9:59:20 PM EDT
[#10]
Very cool.
I need a holster for mine. |
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Posted: 1/16/2021 10:16:37 PM EDT
[#11]
Probably go checkered G10 grips in grey/black but I agree a nice dark red wood set would look great also.
Top strap bead blasted.   Back strap of frame and trigger guard a muted polish, not quite a mirror so I won’t get blinded!   Side flats are like a mirror. Sonic cleaned it all after final metal polish then used this quick spray wax to keep finger prints off. Waxing is a must after that smooth or it’s a finger print magnet. Just oil right over the wax when you need to maintain it.  This has been 100% carry gun and I will continue carrying it concealed and tossing it in the glove box, drawer, etc. |
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Posted: 1/16/2021 11:56:13 PM EDT
[#12]
That looks amazing.
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Posted: 1/17/2021 12:22:12 AM EDT
[#13]
Wow. Labor of love.
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Posted: 1/17/2021 1:05:49 AM EDT
[#14]
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Posted: 1/17/2021 3:16:07 AM EDT
[#15]
It looks much better now.
I wanted one of the .38 caliber Cobras really bad when they rereleased them a few years back, until I saw the boner killing pock mark on the trigger. That ruined my want for the gun, and I never did get one. |
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Posted: 1/17/2021 3:23:41 AM EDT
[#16]
Wow that's amazing.
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Posted: 1/17/2021 10:42:49 AM EDT
[#17]
Very nice.
Be careful bobbing colt hammers. They sometimes need all the weight they can get for reliability |
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Posted: 1/17/2021 11:07:59 AM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Very nice. Be careful bobbing colt hammers. They sometimes need all the weight they can get for reliability Thanks! I’ll keep this in mind, but I always thought lighter hammer for more speed velocity makes up for it. This has that big leaf style v-spring instead of traditional compressed spring and hammer strut. I have some thoughts on how to decrease the tension or create more leverage but will wait until I can get spares to ruin. One thing I did learn is Colt does not have any spare parts to buy for these new guns. I pulled my crane lock screw assembly out and reinstalled it in frame while I worked on it. Detent and spring must have fell out of hole in frame where crane slides in. Was an oh doh learning moment and gone forever! Colt did mail me the spring and detent so I’m still waiting patiently for them. They however would not sell me a spare of any part. Thought it would be nice to purchase the factory bobbed hammer from the snub nose version of the King Cobra they make. Still a very well built gun internally and mine has held up to a bunch of 357mag so far when it was easy to find. |
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Posted: 1/18/2021 9:12:46 PM EDT
[#19]
Good job. It's great you got rid of the MIM spot on the trigger. I always wondered why Colt didn't remove it. I always thought it looked cheesy for a gun in it's price range.
What would it take for them to do it? Less than a minute on a belt sander |
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Posted: 1/18/2021 9:56:21 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Good job. It's great you got rid of the MIM spot on the trigger. I always wondered why Colt didn't remove it. I always thought it looked cheesy for a gun in it's price range. What would it take for them to do it? Less than a minute on a belt sander I used a stone grinding wheel at first to knock the heavy down. Then went to 220-320 grit across a piece of glass to keep it flat. That knocked it down but was still noticeable. What took forever was blending it down but keeping the thickness of the trigger inside the frame close to factory so I wouldn’t have to shim it. Scribed off where it shows out of frame and worked that down thinner. After getting it close then I put a nice radius on the trigger face and blended everything. Took me about 2-3hrs to get it to that shape and polish. Still have a very small spot if you look close at it but I just turned my perfectionism off and deal with it 
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Posted: 1/18/2021 10:02:37 PM EDT
[#21]
I’m about 50/50 thinking of having sides of hammer and trigger jeweled by SSK industries. They did a couple 10/22 bolts for me and I also had them jeweled, turned out great.
What do you guys think having sides engine turned/jeweled? I’m thinking have the first circle start where there’s still a trace of the dimple. But I also love the clean all polished look. |
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Posted: 1/19/2021 10:42:48 AM EDT
[#22]
That is a beautiful job.
You posses levels of patience I could only dream of. |
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Posted: 1/19/2021 12:46:10 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I’m about 50/50 thinking of having sides of hammer and trigger jeweled by SSK industries. They did a couple 10/22 bolts for me and I also had them jeweled, turned out great. What do you guys think having sides engine turned/jeweled? I’m thinking have the first circle start where there’s still a trace of the dimple. But I also love the clean all polished look. I vote no but I hate how that looks on everything. If you love it then go for it. |
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Posted: 1/23/2021 9:08:09 AM EDT
[#24]
I'm not really into fully polished guns but I have to admit, that does look really good
Still not going to do it to my cobra though 
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Posted: 1/23/2021 10:22:59 AM EDT
[#25]
Need address to send in a revolver for work. I'll toss in $50 for your time and effort. Ha ha ha
Seriously, VERY nice!! |
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Posted: 1/25/2021 9:00:57 AM EDT
[#26]
The high polish mirror stainless isn’t my cup of tea, but OP did a fantastic job. That is a very nice result of lots of painstaking work.
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Posted: 1/25/2021 10:59:07 AM EDT
[#27]
Seems a shame that the level of pride at Colt is so low on a high priced gun.
OP is a nut but does crazy nice work |
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Posted: 1/25/2021 11:11:19 AM EDT
[#28]
Looks fantastic!
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Posted: 1/25/2021 11:20:09 AM EDT
[#29]
I'll add, that looks good!
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Posted: 1/25/2021 11:41:12 AM EDT
[#30]
It does look very nice. I once worked with some Jordanian Police that thought the King Cobra was the greatest firearm ever built. I think the King of Jordan would carry your gun with pride.
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Posted: 1/26/2021 1:43:57 AM EDT
[#31]
I've seen loads of "home polished" stainless revolvers overs the years and they have all looked like crap. Except yours, you did a really great job and it came out beautifully. You obviously spent of time of time and did it right.
I would stop now though, don't jewel anything, it's perfect just the way it is. Just go shoot the crap out of it now! |
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Posted: 1/26/2021 10:59:42 AM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I've seen loads of "home polished" stainless revolvers overs the years and they have all looked like crap. Except yours, you did a really great job and it came out beautifully. You obviously spent of time of time and did it right. 
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Posted: 1/26/2021 11:15:03 AM EDT
[#33]
Now have it engraved with scales
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Posted: 1/26/2021 5:07:17 PM EDT
[#34]
Update:
DA 8lbs 1oz SA 4lbs 2oz 10 pull average on the Lyman digital trigger gauge. Didn’t have a baseline before trigger job but I’m very pleased with the double action. The single action I will try to get closer to 3lbs-3.5lbs but it’s definitely better than when I started. Im leaving finish as is and already have been shooting it like crazy. Benefit to the polish job is I have been able to just wipe the fouling off with a cotton shirt. I will not have anything jeweled as it’s sitting pretty as is. 
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Posted: 1/27/2021 6:00:36 AM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Great job. That thing is screaming for some wood grips. What a transfiguration from before to after... And Patw, I was thinking the same thing about needing some wood grips. Preferably in a combat style and of the goncalo alves species... |
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Posted: 1/28/2021 1:43:41 AM EDT
[#36]
Very nice job. I too am of the I'd love to do that, but won't because I know I'd fuck it up camp. I agree with the wood grips idea too. That beautiful gun deserves grips that suit it and rubber's not even close.
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