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Thread: Cobra magazines sent to me for testing by Virgil Tripp

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  1. #11
    Join Date
    1st June 2004
    Location
    Lexington, North Carolina...or
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    Bump to let everyone know that...bad weather or emergencies notwithstanding...the Commander/Cobra test will be on Monday morning, the 21st of April.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    1st June 2004
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    Lexington, North Carolina...or
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    El Commandante'! (With apologies to John)

    I shot the Commanders last Monday, but just got around to posting the results.
    Rough week...

    The pistols included 2 pre-Series 80 Colt Combat Commanders...An early Series 80 LW Commander...the 1918 Colt "Black Army Commander" as a control...and a frankengun that I built on an Essex slide and frame set 6 years ago, that was a little problematical in the beginning, but has been a good, solid beater over the years with 7-round Metalform "Wadcutter" magazines. Limited shooting with the USGI and 7-round "Hybrid" lipped magazines also proved good. No problems with hardball, LSWC, or LRN.

    One of the Combat Commanders was almost completely unproven, having had only 7 rounds fired through it since Colt delivered it. It ran fine with the magful of 230 PMC hardball that I shot through it for a function test prior to buying it...and the gun has laid idle since that day. All cursory function checks proved that the gun was in serviceable condition. The other Combat Commander and the LW Commander have proven reliable many times over, as has the 1918 Cobbled Commander. Only the Frankengun would be the suspected wild card...and it turned out to provide my first real glitch with the Cobras...all four of'em. The range-beater Essex/Colt/USGI/MGW/Wilson/Brown/God-only-knows what else...was a delinquent with all Cobra magazines when using the RCBS 201-grain LSWC. No one magazine was any better or any worse than the others.

    All guns performed flawlessly with the magazines, no matter what ammunition I used. In this test, I wrung'em long and hard...firing the highest number of rounds in any test to date. I lost count at 500. With 225 LRN and hardball, it was fine.

    The problem showed up early, with failures to go to and return to battery on about every other round...and every time from slidelock RTB...no matter which method was used to release the slide. In fairness to the magazines, it was partly gun and partly ammunition too...but it only proved to be a problem with the Cobras...and after careful evaluation, I've got a theory as to why.

    The barrel was taken from a late 60s LW Commander that had been parted out by the owner after an early frame crack went through the bottom of the slidestop pin hole on both sides of the frame. I'd had the barrel for 20 years, and finally used it for the build. Long story short, it had a very short leade ahead of the chamber, but it hadn't presented a problem thus far...so I left it alone.

    The problem showed up because the OAL of the ammunition left a bit too much exposed shoulder that stuck into the leade and stopped the slide just short of battery. This didn't occur with any of the 72 Metalform range mags or the CMI tapered-lip Hybrids.

    My theory on the issue is this:

    The late release point of the Cobras slowed the feed just enough to rob the slide of the momentum needed to force the lead shoulder into the abrupt leade. If the bullets had been seated .010 inch deeper, I likely would never have known unless I'd had occasion to clear the chamber of a live round. The earlier release of the Metalforms, and the gradual, nearly parallel rise and low feed angle of the CMIs didn't slow the slide so much...and the gun would go to battery...if only just.

    No stoppages were noted with any bullet shape, or any magazine...except with the Cobras and the LSWC ammo. This gun and ammo combination didn't like'em. The fix is to finish ream the chamber, and I'll probably do that and retest later in the week...with a followup report to come. Again...Weather and schedule permitting...and how well I'm dealin' with these flippin' steroids by mid-week. (12 more days. 12 more days.)

    Stand by...
    Last edited by 1911Tuner; 27th April 2008 at 13:11.


  3. #13
    Join Date
    1st June 2004
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    As a sidebar, Hunter has been using a Cobra and a CMI 8-round "Hybrid" magazine in a side-by-side test after having some problems with Shooting Stars. He called me earlier today from the range with good things to say. Here's a link to his post on the Q&A thread.

    http://forum.m1911.org/showpost.php?...7&postcount=24

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