Cobra Patriot 45

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gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Some of you may remember that several months ago I asked if anyone owned a Republic or Cobra Patriot 45 and what they thought of it. Well I ordered one and it finally arrived. My first impressions are that it is a fairly well made item. Trigger pull is lighter than I expected, certainly lighter than any of the several Kel-Tec products that I have owned but really gritty feeling. Lock up between the slide and barrel is very good, fit of the slide to rail is a huge improvement over the P40 Kel-Tec that I sold earlier this year with far fewer areas for anything to get past the dust cover to gum up the works. Internally the pistol is well made with all parts demonstrating good quality of construction. Barrel is a link less cam design that is nicely milled with a highly polished feed ramp. Here is something that I did not expect, the pistol arrived from the factory bone dry with instructions from the manual that the pistol should be well oiled prior to shooting. Take down was a tough the first time I tried to get it apart, you have to use the weak hand racking method to line up the slide hole with the take down pin, then you need a pointed tool of some sort to push the slide take down pin out the left hand side of the pistol. The mag release is slightly recessed to keep the pistol snag free. The mag feeds very nicely and the item takes any 1911 magazine as near as I can tell. I did a field strip and oiled and greased the appropriate areas and the trigger smoothed right out, it's not a P-64 but all guns can't be perfect, I expect that the trigger will get better as time goes on. Trigger pull is long but I don't think it is as long as many double action triggers I have felt and an improvement over the Kel-Tec products I have owned. The sights are rudimentary and there are no safety's, the pistol will fire with the mag removed. The rear sight is adjustable with an Allan screw for fixed retention and is going to get replaced, enough said, my eyes are not that good any more.
I spent a lot of time talking to people on the net asking questions from owners and got very few negative feed backs, mostly about the trigger on the Republic models. The pistol weighs 20 oz. with the mag in place per the manufacturer, it came with one six round magazine with seven and ten round mags available from the manufacturer. Cobra of Utah suggests that ball ammo is the only variety that should be used, stating that hollow points may cause problems with feed. Cobra Of Utah states that they currently have a pistol in action with 10,000 rounds through it without a failure to function or feed, only time will tell.
I am going to the range this afternoon to see how it shoots and I will give a range report this evening. I don't expect it will be a tack driver, but if it will give me four to five inch groups at 55 feet I will be very pleased with my investment.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on November 11th, 2007, 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

The fates were not on my side today, one task after another kept me from the range. I have a C.E. course to attend tomorrow morning and should be done by 1:00. I have plans to meet up with my range partner, " Fairly Honest Ed ", to see how the pistol wrings out at the range, sorry it did not happen today as planed.
G.R. :-[
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on November 14th, 2007, 12:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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papabear
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by papabear »

gunney,

Everything I know about the Republic or Cobra Patriot 45's is from what you have explained here, these pistols are new to me, but I appreciate your thoughts and descriptions of your new Cobra Patriot 45. I would have replied to your earlier post about it, but not knowing of them, well, better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. I will be interested to hear about your experience with your new Cobra Patriot 45 at the range. The 45acp is my favorite round so any pistol using that round is of interest to me.

papabear
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gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

The pistol is accurate, of that there is no doubt. I had several five shot groups that would have been two by four inches had I not gotten the yips and flinched before the rounds ignited. The sights are a lot better than I thought at first, In the hands of some one who has more experience shooting a double action trigger the pistol would stand up for itself. The trigger is, as I said, gritty feeling but not at all hard to shoot and I felt that it had smoothed some by the end of the day. Fifty rounds of 45acp out of a 20oz. semi auto with a three inch barrel is a great big plenty for one day, especially one with a double action trigger. With more practice I could see where this could become a favorite winter carry gun, as it is it spent two days being carried in the med bag that I take every where with me and no one was the wiser.
All in all I'm very pleased with my investment and would recommend it over any of the Kel-Tec products I have owned. The reason that I keep coming back to Kel-Tec as a comparison is that there is nothing else that I'm aware of that is similar in price.
G.R.
carguy
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by carguy »

GR is the Patriot DA/SA or DA only?
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

The pistol is double action only, has no safety's or hold open device. As near as I can tell, the reason this gun is so inexpensive is do to the lack of parts, not poor construction or inferior parts. That being said, I only have fifty rounds through it and would not advise anyone else to invest unless you are as insanely curious as I am about things. I will give the item a good cleaning and some synthetic silicon grease in the appropriate areas and keep you informed.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on November 14th, 2007, 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Found myself alone at the range the other day so I brought the targets up to between 21 to 30 feet and practiced double and triple taps with what I thought was very good results for such a small pistol. There is no way that I can fire this pistol as fast as the P-64, much more kick and it takes a fraction of a second longer to get the front sight back on the target. That being said I was very surprised how fast the pistol is to get back on target, much quicker than my Storm 1911 and not near the kick. The more I shoot this pistol the more I like it.
Gunney Rabbit.

P.S.
By the way I was in error when I said that there was no safety on the pistol. It has a hammer drop safety that does not disengage unless the trigger is pulled. To my way of thinking that makes the pistol safe to carry with a round in the chamber when carried in a good quality holster.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on December 2nd, 2007, 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Another fifty rounds through the pistol and it still is shooting just fine. I have found that you can't limp wrist the pistol and expect it to function properly, it fails to return to battery. I was able to repeat the exercise at will, so no problems there. The trigger is definitely smoother than when I first bought the gun. Were I a competent gun smith I would take the item apart to see where the rough parts are and smooth them out, still it gets better each time I go to the range. Take down is much easier at this point, no instrument needed to pull the slide retention pin. The only two complaints that I have to date are the front sight, it is the same stainless steal color as the slide and is hard to pick up when I train doing double taps in the light or low light conditions, a little instant bluing will take care of that problem. The other is that I can carry it in my coat vest pocket but the pistol is still heavy fully loaded and it is going to take a good quality holster to carry it comfortably and concealed. Sorry for repeating myself but I like this pistol more each time I shoot it.
G.R.

P.S.
It will never out shoot the P-64 for speed or accuracy.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on November 24th, 2007, 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Found the range unpopulated today and was able to do a lot of training up close, mid range and at fifty feet. Shot from the floor kneeling and shooting from my right and left sides. Shot up close drills with the pistol held close to the chest. Put another 100 rounds through Cobra Patriot 45 pistol without a failure to feed or ignite a round. The trigger is smoothing out very nicely and I was able to do strings of taps out to about twenty-four feet with acceptable accuracy. My first problem to date was the rear sight retention screw loosened and I had no allen wrench so I shot it without a rear sight for a while, actually not to bad. While going for more ammo I found a tube of red fast set adhesive so I lined up the sight and went back to work. Two things that I found out today, I can't shoot the pistol very well left handed with a two hand hold and I can't shoot it single handed with a left hand hold at all at any distance. It's going to take a lot of practice to get slow but proficient with my left hand. Bought a seven round mag that is going to go back to the factory, no matter how hard I try I can't get the mag to seat with the full seven rounds in the mag, it will not engage the mag catch/release device. Will post again next week.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on December 17th, 2007, 11:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Made it to the range today, isn't vacation great, spent some time shooting my Kahr 9mm with Wolf ammo that I picked up at one of the local gun shops for $6.99 per box and the pistol shot very well, nice tight groups at 21 to 24 foot. I wish they made a hollow point round. Shot another 100 rounds with the Cobra, I find that is about my limit for a days practice. The trigger is nice at this point, very little of the gravely feel left. Groups keep tightening up as the trigger improves, four inch groups at 21 feet as fast as I can shoot and keep the sights on target. The pistol is still slow to get back on target, I feel that this is not a problem with the pistol, more my lack of arm strength and lack of practice shooting a 45ACP. I had to go to the hard ware store to get a new allen wrench set to tighten up the rear sight, I may counter sink the spot to correct the issue. I'll post again next week to keep every one informed, the more I fire this pistol the more comfortable I get with it and the more I like it.
G.R.
himmel
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by himmel »

Thanks for all the info GR-- there's a Patriot at one of the two shops I frequent here, priced $270--been there a long time, I don't think some folks know what they're missing out on-- if only I had $300 and nothing more pressing to spend it on...
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Himmel,
Thanks for the reply, I only have four or five hundred rounds through the pistol and would personally feel comfortable carrying it. The trigger is still the issue with the pistol, reliability is not a problem and the gun is accurate. Though I have never tried it the company advises that JHP ammo may have problems with feed. I am of the camp that feels a half inch hole is large enough and no need for mushrooming is necessary. As you know others do not agree and that would end the conversation for them and I accept their preferences.
The pistol will never be as fast as any single action auto pistol or customized revolver with out a change of springs in the firing pin assembly. I know this can be done because Khar pistole's are of similar design and triggers are much lighter and quicker. Though I can not prove it I think that the trigger pull length is less than Khar also. This may be an issue of size, every thing about the Khar is smaller accept the trigger and the trigger guard, the weight of the trigger return springs feel similar.
One huge advantage the Cobra has over the Khar is double strike capabilities, Khar composite pistole's do not have that capacity.
Thanks for the interest.
G.R.
himmel
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by himmel »

You're welcome--could you explain the "double strike" biz? Cobra makes a big point of that--I don't understand how any DA pistol would not have "second strike" capability...
donnerwetter58
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by donnerwetter58 »

himmel,
The term "double action" is used pretty loosely these days.
In reference to the Kahr pistols as well as the Glocks, they are striker fired guns. The strikers are partially (mostly) cocked by the action of the slide. Pulling the trigger completes the cocking of the striker before releasing it. The trigger mechanism in itself can't recock the striker. The only way to recock the striker is cycling the slide. This provides a shorter, lighter trigger pull in comparison to say an early Taurus Millennium series auto that utilized trigger action to completely cock and release the striker.
There is a similar situation with the hammer fired Kel-tec autos. The cycling of the slide partially recocks the hammer. The trigger movement completes the cocking sequence before releasing the hammer. Once the hammer is down, trigger action alone will not recock the hammer.
All in all, be glad you have a P-64. It is a true double action that doesn't have any of these newfangled oddities.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by donnerwetter58 on January 2nd, 2008, 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunneyrabbit
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Cobra Patriot 45

Post by gunneyrabbit »

Just shot 50 rounds today, the improvement of the trigger keeps getting better and better, almost monotonous. I'm going to keep the numbers of 45ACP rounds I shoot down to a minimum, getting a little hard on the pocket book. Spent the rest of the day shooting my PM9 Kahr with the 9mm Wolf ammo I bought earlier in the week. The pistol really likes the ammunition, very nice groups, it would be nice if they made a brass cased JHP. Shot up 100 rounds of Silver Bear 9x18 through the P64, nothing I own can match it for accuracy for the price.
Gunney Rabbit. :)

P.S.
Himmels comments are right on accurate. The design and construction of the Cobra is different in one respect, the action of the trigger on the draw bar pulls the firing pin Assembly to the rear until it is released moving foreword creating ignition which cycles the slide and chambering another round. The act of pulling trigger again causes the same affect no need to cycle the slide by hand if there is need for a second strike, a simple and affective design.
G.R.
Last edited by gunneyrabbit on January 15th, 2008, 12:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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