Gun Of The Week: Colt King Cobra Target .22 LR

Welcome to another American Rifleman Gun Of The Week video, and in this episode, we’re looking at a Colt King Cobra Target revolver. But this King Cobra is chambered for the affordable, easy-to-shoot .22 Long Rifle cartridge. Watch our video above to see this latest King Cobra Target in use on the range.

Colt reintroduced its “Snake Guns” starting with the Cobra in 2017, followed by the King Cobra in 2019 and, of course, the iconic Python in 2020. It wasn’t until 2022 that a rimfire model joined the lineup. Instead of bringing back its rimfire Diamondback, though, Colt elected to expand its King Cobra line into several .22 LR offerings. Despite the King Cobra name, though, these rimfire revolvers do share a similar size and profile to the old rimfire Diamondback.

Colt offers its King Cobra .22 Target revolver with either a 6” or a 4.25” barrel, and we have an example of the latter on the range today. Both guns are outfitted with 10-shot, swing-out cylinders, which is a nice improvement over the six-round capacity of Colt’s previous Diamondback rimfire. In terms of size and weight, the King Cobra .22 Target is about the same as its centerfire sibling, making it an ideal training revolver that shoots much more affordable rounds.

This .22 revolver is equipped with an overmolded, rubber monogrip complete with finger grooves for a comfortable hold. On the .357 Mag. model, the grip softens the blow from recoil, but here, it serves as a training stand-in for the centerfire model, ensuring that grip, hand positioning and trigger reach are all the same. The exposed hammer spur allows for single-action shooting as well as double-action. Control-wise, the cylinder-release latch on the left side of the frame is the same as it is for all Colts; simply pull back to release the cylinder. A firm push on the ejector rod allows the sizeable extractor to pull all spent rounds out of their respective chambers. If you get tired of filling the 10-round cylinder by hand, there are 10-round rimfire speedloaders available on the aftermarket.

Given its “Target” moniker, of course, the King Cobra .22 is equipped with a nice set of target sights. The all-black rear sight, fully adjustable for windage and elevation, stands in stark contrast to the bright-red, fiber-optic front sight, which naturally drew our eye on the range. Of course, the front sight sits atop a ventilated rib that gives this rimfire revolver classic looks harkening back to the Snake Guns of old.

Shooting the Colt King Cobra .22 Target revolver was an absolute joy on the range, thanks to the upgraded cylinder capacity, crisp single-action trigger and smooth double-action trigger. Given the size and weight of this particular revolver, it’s a great training aid not just for revolver shooters generally but even first-timers, as the mild recoil makes it a great platform to ease folks into revolver shooting. This model ran without issue on the range, but once nice thing about revolvers is if you find a dud .22 round, all you have to do is pull the trigger again. No tapping or racking required.

Colt King Cobra Specifications
Action Type: double-action rimfire revolver
Chambering: .22 Long Rifle
Barrel: 4.25" stainless steel
Frame: stainless steel
Cylinder: 10-round capacity
Sights: fully adjustable rear, fiber-optic ramped post front
Stock: rubber overmold
Overall Length: 9.25"
Weight: 33.8 ozs.
MSRP: $999