My Kel-Tec P-11 has been my primary CCW for the past year and has done everything I have needed it to. It hides nicely in its Don Hume IWB holster, is comfortable, and to date has been 100% reliable with everything I have fed it. It does have its shortcomings though, namely in the accuracy department. I can keep it on the paper at 15 yards but I would hardly call the shotgun pattern displayed a grouping. However, this has not kept me from feeling very confident with it since most altercations occur at short distances where aiming isn't always possible. However, I am always on the market for something new and "better".
In comes the Cobra Patriot .45. The Cobra is similarly priced to the P-11 yet boasts the more powerful .45acp cartridge. It holds six flush with the grip though any 1911 magazine will work, and Cobra advertises 10 round factory mags for sale. First impressions of the gun are good. It appears to be well built, feels solid, and looks good as well. When shook the slide moves minimally side to side implying a tight fit between the slide and rails, once measure of "quality". The first thing I noticed was just how rounded off the slide was. This is an excellent feature for a carry gun, it also has an integral front site which should also aid in making it snag-free.
I read the manual for disassembly as I have very few striker-fired weapons but they all seem to have something different about them. It is very straight forward: remove magazine, pull bag slide enough to push out the take-down pin, remove pin, pull back slide, release forward, pull and hold trigger, pull slide off frame while releasing trigger.
Once I got it apard I marveled at the polymer rails and then wondered how long they would really last. Earlier in the year at the 2008 shot show I had spoken with Cobra's president Wilford Gentry who said they had one with 30,000 rounds through it that was still kicking. If only I had enough rounds to see if that would hold true.
I took the Patriot and a couple boxes of ammo and headed for the range. I set up at 7 yards to begin with and loaded a mag with 2 rounds. Both fired and ejected....definitely had more recoil than expected. I then began loading magazines to capacity. I had both the stock 6 rounder and a 7 round Chip McCormick. The CM protruded from the grip about 1/2" but locked up nicely and fell free from the gun, which the stock mag would not fall free. Both magazines fed reliably throughout the duration of the first range visit.
All in all I fired 50 rounds that day, about the most I'd want to shoot without a shooting glove. My right hand was red and had a nice print of the checkering from the rear of the grip, which may be just a bit too sharp for the amount of recoil the weapon provides.
Accuracy was better than expected. I fired from 7,10, and 15 yards and was able to keep it on a standard 25 yrd slowfire target. The trigger pull is heavy but was constant and smooth. Personally I feel safer with a heavy trigger pull on a carry gun, it does however require more practice to become accurate with the firearm.
The only problems I had with the weapon were:
1. Takedown pin fit loosely and appeared as if it could fall out(Cobra did send a tighter fitting pin after my range visit which fit nicely, has not been tested yet though)
2. Checkering is too sharp, hurts palm
3. OEM mag does not drop free
So far with 50 rounds through the weapon, I think it is a keeper. It has yet to earn a place in my waistband, but is likely to at least lighten the load the P-11 has by coming into the carry rotation. Only further range time will tell whether the weapon continues to prove reliable and accurate, but I'm pulling for the Cobra. Its exactly what a carry gun should be: compact, snag-free, reliable, and hard-hitting.
In comes the Cobra Patriot .45. The Cobra is similarly priced to the P-11 yet boasts the more powerful .45acp cartridge. It holds six flush with the grip though any 1911 magazine will work, and Cobra advertises 10 round factory mags for sale. First impressions of the gun are good. It appears to be well built, feels solid, and looks good as well. When shook the slide moves minimally side to side implying a tight fit between the slide and rails, once measure of "quality". The first thing I noticed was just how rounded off the slide was. This is an excellent feature for a carry gun, it also has an integral front site which should also aid in making it snag-free.
I read the manual for disassembly as I have very few striker-fired weapons but they all seem to have something different about them. It is very straight forward: remove magazine, pull bag slide enough to push out the take-down pin, remove pin, pull back slide, release forward, pull and hold trigger, pull slide off frame while releasing trigger.
Once I got it apard I marveled at the polymer rails and then wondered how long they would really last. Earlier in the year at the 2008 shot show I had spoken with Cobra's president Wilford Gentry who said they had one with 30,000 rounds through it that was still kicking. If only I had enough rounds to see if that would hold true.
I took the Patriot and a couple boxes of ammo and headed for the range. I set up at 7 yards to begin with and loaded a mag with 2 rounds. Both fired and ejected....definitely had more recoil than expected. I then began loading magazines to capacity. I had both the stock 6 rounder and a 7 round Chip McCormick. The CM protruded from the grip about 1/2" but locked up nicely and fell free from the gun, which the stock mag would not fall free. Both magazines fed reliably throughout the duration of the first range visit.
All in all I fired 50 rounds that day, about the most I'd want to shoot without a shooting glove. My right hand was red and had a nice print of the checkering from the rear of the grip, which may be just a bit too sharp for the amount of recoil the weapon provides.
Accuracy was better than expected. I fired from 7,10, and 15 yards and was able to keep it on a standard 25 yrd slowfire target. The trigger pull is heavy but was constant and smooth. Personally I feel safer with a heavy trigger pull on a carry gun, it does however require more practice to become accurate with the firearm.
The only problems I had with the weapon were:
1. Takedown pin fit loosely and appeared as if it could fall out(Cobra did send a tighter fitting pin after my range visit which fit nicely, has not been tested yet though)
2. Checkering is too sharp, hurts palm
3. OEM mag does not drop free
So far with 50 rounds through the weapon, I think it is a keeper. It has yet to earn a place in my waistband, but is likely to at least lighten the load the P-11 has by coming into the carry rotation. Only further range time will tell whether the weapon continues to prove reliable and accurate, but I'm pulling for the Cobra. Its exactly what a carry gun should be: compact, snag-free, reliable, and hard-hitting.
*Update*
As stated above, I had an issue with the takedown pin rotating and coming loose. I contacted Cobra and was given two options: Send the gun back, get a new takedown pin. I chose to receive a new pin, they said they had some that were slightly larger and should clear up my issue. Upon receiving it, I found that it did in fact clear up the problem. I headed to the range with a box of Winchester 185 grn flatpoints. My range has fixed targets and the entire line must move forward if a distance of less than 25 yards is to be used. I was stuck at 25 yards due to other shooters which ended up being a good test for the Patriot. I fired 3 shots and to my surprise, all three hit the target, an 8x11 sheet of paper. I was able to keep a relatively good grouping at this distance.
On top of the unexpected accuracy was continued reliability. I had 3 failures to fire on the first pul of the trigger but the rounds were all fired with a subsequent pull of the trigger. I did not have any during my previous visit so it is possible that the ammunition had a harder primer. Either way the gun is still being broken in, so I am satisfied with these results, I also have yet to clean it. I did not have any jams and used 3 different brands of 1911 magazines, including some very inexpensive mags from Sarco bought for $6. I wore a glove this time and the gun was much more controllable and even enjoyable to shoot. For practice, this seems like a good idea.
I plan to keep on shooting this Cobra at the range, but it is likely to end up on my holster soon. Once I work out the FTF issue, which could be operator error.
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