Cobra Patriot 45

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gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Going to do a fluff and buff this weekend to smooth up the trigger and shorten the trigger pull. If it works as well as I have been informed that it will I will leave a report on Monday. I'm just about as excited to do this as I was to improve my P-64. ;D
G.R.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Spent part of the morning removing and taking apart the Cobra firing pin assembly, an easy task. The assembly is made up of six parts. The firing pin return spring, firing pin, striker rod assembly, block plunger spring, the rear cover plunger and the rear cover.
All very simple to separate and replacing them in the correct order is self evident and I did it all inside a plastic bag so no lost peaces. Thanks NORM ! I then rubber wheeled the block faces of the firing pin itself, thinning and reducing the height. Finished up with bobbing compound and chrome polish to a mirror finish on both faces, a simple task. I then replaced the firing pin return spring, dropped in the firing pin, striker rod assembly and the block plunger spring.
I then spent the next thirty minutes trying to replace the rear cover plunger and the rear cover, a very frustrating task but I eventually prevailed. Placed the barrel,and recoil spring into the slide and put the frame and slide back together and seated the retention pin. After all of that I was rewarded with a longer draw, lighter and shorter trigger pull with a clean crisp release with almost no stacking.
We are on to something here fellows, the pistol has gone from stock and reliable to fast and furious considering it is a double action only 45acp.. Next step is to order a whole new firing pin assembly to see what it will take to reduce the striker rod assembly spring weight which should reduce the the feeling of stacking.
I'll give a range report next Monday,
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on May 30th, 2008, 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Made it to the range this morning and was excited to see what the affects of the alterations would be. Two things were immediately obvious. #1 This pistol is now almost as fast as a single action semi auto. #2 The pistol is only igniting about 65% of the ammunition.
All this indicates to me that I have reduced to much of the bottom face of the firing pin. I will order a new firing pin from Cobra of Utah tomorrow morning and when it arrives I will simply Polish that portion to see what affect that will have.
I was very pleased to see the improvement in how the trigger felt just from a high Polish. Once I get the pistol up and running I will make further entries to keep those interested in the results of the ongoing saga of this fine little handgun.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on May 12th, 2008, 9:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

The parts arrived Friday, very fast service from the manufacturer. However, the person who took the order transposed two numbers and mailed me a recoil spring assembly rather than the striker rod assembly and the firing pin. An honest mistake and I will return the part tomorrow afternoon for the correct part and pay what ever difference is necessary. I just returned home from a two day continuing education course in Bend Oregon and have not had the time to replace the firing pin, I will do the polish tomorrow morning and replace it and head for the range in the PM. I'm still excited about the results and I will measure and record the amount of alteration and note what works and what doesn't work for those who are interested.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Compared the new firing pin to the original and it looked smaller than the original. Thought that was a little odd but I installed it anyway. Took it to the range and had several misfires in the first ten rounds then everything was fine, not a misfire after that. Shot 100 rounds total with only the two misfires, now I'm beginning to think there may have been something partially blocking the firing pin hole in the slide. I will replace the original firing pin to see if it still works, if it does it will be left there, I do like fast and furious. By the way, the sales person at Cobra of Utah said they would send the new striker rod assembly out today at no extra charge.
Very good people to work with, I will post about the firing pin after my next range session.
G.R.
anjdrifter
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by anjdrifter »

I always enjoy your cobra reports thanks.
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papabear
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by papabear »

gunneyrabbit,

Excellent posts on your Cobra Patriot .45, you throughly explained each point of your progress with the Cobra. I can relate to the size and abilities of this pistol as compared to the Taurus PT145 I have, they seem to be very similar, however, the Patriot is a tad smaller and lighter than the Taurus. Price wise I think they are in the same price range for NIB $300 - $350, my Taurus was $350 OTD. I believe the Cobra Patriot .45 also has a 10+1 capacity as does the Taurus PT145, with the Taurus being about 2-3 oz heavier and a 3.25" bbl compared to a 3" bbl for the Cobra and both with a over all length or 6", but the Cobra is 1/8" thinner, so they are very similar in my estimation.

Taurus PT145
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So I am very interested in your posts on your Cobra Patriot and look forward to your next post.


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gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Anjd and papa, thanks for the replies, at times it feels more like keeping a journal than giving reports. This is a fine pistol and I feel it is underrated by the general public because of past biases. I had the feeling that the pistol could be improved without very much smithing or investment. One of the reasons that I chose the pistol was the width, add the very light 20 oz. weight and the reports of accuracy from other owners I spoke with via the net, I could not stand it, I had to buy it. By the way papa, the Cobra uses a single stack mag available from six plus one, seven plus one and ten plus one from the manufacturer. My personal favorite is the six round mag with one in the chamber, the balance has to be felt to truly appreciate it. I still have high hopes for a lighter trigger and firing pin assembly and will keep all informed with my victories and failures.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on May 22nd, 2008, 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Just a short note about Cobra of Utah. Called Monday morning 05/19/08 to let the folks at Cobra know they had shipped the wrong part and the part arrived today, 05/22/08, at no charge. Very fast friendly service.
Gunney Rabbit. ;D
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by spudit »

Thanks for all the work GR. I'm swamped with other projects right now, no time to play with my Patriot.

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gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

OK, she shoots just fine with the original firing pin, must have been some grit in the firing pin hole. I think I will do a buff job only on the pin that I just purchased from the factory, I can see where the weapon could be dangerous with the trigger pull this light and a nervous shooter behind the gun. The next step is going to be lighter springs, I question the reliability of cartridge ignition but this is a fact finding mission. By the way the barrel is going to get a good going over to to see if I can get the slide to reliably take hollow points into battery. At some point the followers in the magazines are going to be repaired or replaced, the cobra mags feed just fine but they are a little bit hard to load because the follower are loose. One thing I like about the gun, never thought I would, there is no hold open device to lock the slide open after the last round. Lately I notice that I know how many rounds a left in the gun without thinking about it. So far this has been a really fun project, wish I had more spare time to spend on it.
G.R.

PS
I took my CZ 52 along today and the 9mm barrel is working just fine, had no failures to feed, the pistol is accurate and I really like the sights, I can actually see them and the target at the same time. It's a fun gun to shoot and with the fancy grips on it the fellows at the range stop to ogle it. Makes a father proud!
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on May 25th, 2008, 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

OOPS, WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!
After a particularly nasty and vicious shoot out with a half silhouette target I experienced one failure to feed. Clear the jam and one failure to feed. Clear the jam and what the heck is going on? A close look at what wasn't coming out of the chamber was one very short 45ACP round jammed behind one empty casing in the chamber. Drop the mag, cycle the slide and one empty casing still in the chamber. Hold back the slide, push the empty out, reinsert the mag and cycle the slide and bang, one empty casing in the chamber. Now I know that all of you guys would have caught on right away, but you have to hit me with a rock once or twice before the obvious will sink in. Drop the mag, remove the take down pin, ease off the slide and inspect what used to be an extractor or what is left of it. The entire catch was missing, busted off clean as a whistle. Oh by the way, the half silhouette won the gun fight, I was dead by default. This is something I did not expect, a first for me, I was especially surprised because I don't believe I have over two thousand rounds through the pistol. I will call the factory for a replacement tomorrow morning.
I'm sure glad that silhouette was shooting blanks!
G.R.
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by normsutton »

G.R.

what kind of ammo where you using

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papabear
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by papabear »

gunney,

Glad to hear your getting the Patriot lined out, sometimes we have to go through this nowadays, generally in the old days, when we didn't have a large choice and most handguns were made by hand we generally didn't hear about all these problems, but times have changed, profit is at the forefront of everything and quality is taking a back seat, not that I'm blaming the MIM parts or any one thing in particular and not just in the newer brands but all brands. I am hearing of Kimbers and Colts and several others having problems right out of the box too. I really appreciate your honest assessment of the Patriot and your problems to date with it. Its not a negative report on Cobra, but rather a honest report on a pistol that as you say has a bias against it because its a "Off Brand".

Glad to hear those fancy grips on your CZ52 turned some heads... ;D



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Last edited by papabear on May 28th, 2008, 7:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Norm and Papabear, thanks for the replys. I was using factory reloads from OMC that have never given me problems in the past. How ever, I had fired about two hundred rounds of Wolf ammo after I first bought the pistol, since then I've been shooting Sellier and Bellot range ammo through many of my other pistole's I'm thinking that is not the problem. The extractor has always chewed up the casing rims upon ejection, my guess is the M.I.M. casting is the culprit. You may remember that I mentioned the difference in the sizes of the firing pin faces and I noticed several very small voids in the replacement which indicated a poor casting to me. I haven't had time to talk to the folks at Cobra today, a non-stop morning. Will get back this afternoon.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on May 28th, 2008, 11:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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