POTD: Prototype Colt Cobra RA0000002 – Colt’s Revolver Comeback
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a very modern prototype, but one that marks a big moment for Colt. This is a prototype of the new Colt Cobra, a 2 inch 38 Special snub with the serial number RA0000002.
Colt had been out of the double action revolver game for a long time. When the new Cobra was unveiled at the 2017 SHOT Show, it was Colt’s first new double action revolver in decades. The old Cobra name ran from 1950 to 1981 on a lightweight aluminum-frame snub. The new one went the other direction: a stainless steel six-shooter built off the SF-VI platform with a stretched frame, more steel to soak up recoil, a redesigned grip that lines your finger up better with the trigger, and a longer, straighter trigger blade for a lighter double action pull.
This one came before all that. According to its factory letter, the hammer, trigger, and hand were machined from bar stock, the transfer bar was a rapid prototype part, and the mainspring was a prototype too, all on a matte stainless gun with a fiber optic front. My guess is those machined and rapid prototype parts were there because production tooling wasn’t finished yet. Colt ran it through testing, and it also sat in the booth display when the new Cobra was introduced at the 2017 SHOT Show. In March 2017 it was sent to Colt’s Paul Spitale, who went on to become the company’s Senior Vice President of Commercial Business.
It’s barely nine years old, and it’s already a real slice of Colt history.
Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!
“Prototype Colt Cobra Serial Number ‘RA0000002’ with Case.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5034/751/prototype-colt-cobra-serial-number-ra0000002-with-case. Accessed 29 Sept. 2026.
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