The Gun That Killed Lee Harvey Oswald: .38 Colt Cobra
- Colt Cobra Serial Number Lookup
- Colt Cobra Serial Number Location
- Colt Cobra Serial Number 219818
- Colt Cobra Serial Number Range
- Colt Cobra Serial Number Lookup
In October 1999, Colt Manufacturing Co. Announced that it was ceasing production of Python revolvers. In a 2000 follow-up letter to distributors, the company cited changing market conditions and the costs of defending lawsuits as the reasons for the discontinuation of the Python line, as well as a number of other models. 9 The Colt Custom Gun Shop continued making a limited number of Pythons. The serial number of Ruby's Colt was 2744LW (note the LW stands for Light-Weight). The Jack Ruby Colt Cobra was returned to his estate many years later and was sold at auction. An anonymous New Jersey gun collector paid $220,000 for it. Colt Cobra: Nickel plated alloy (15 oz.).38 six shot revolver.
On the 24th November America’s most important prisoner was being transferred to Dallas County jail. Two days earlier 24-year old Lee Harvey Oswald had shot and killed President John F. Kennedy with a scoped Carcano carbine from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, Texas. Oswald had been picked up just hours after the shooting and had been in custody since. After two days of interrogation and continual denial of the crime despite apparent evidence he was to be transferred from the Dallas Police Department Headquarters to the County jail.
Colt Cobra Serial Number Lookup
Since the President’s assassination Dallas and Oswald had become the focus of the world media’s attention. Hundreds of journalists from across the globe flocked to gather stories about the assassination. On the morning of the 24th many of these journalists gathered in the Basement of the Dallas Police headquarters to get a glimpse and maybe a comment from the President’s assassin. Stood among the press was Jack Ruby.
Ruby was a Dallas nightclub owner, originally from Chicago he had a criminal past and numerous links to the mob. At 11:21 am Ruby stepped out of the crowd of reporters and fired his .38 special Colt Cobra (see image #3) into Oswald’s abdomen damaging several organs including his stomach and several arteries. The wound was fatal and despite being rushed to the same hospital Kennedy had been rushed to two days earlier Oswald died at 1.07 pm.
The Colt Cobra was initially designed to be a lightweight carry or back-up gun for off duty police officers. Lighter than the already popular all-steel Colt Detective Special, the Cobra was made from an aluminium alloy weighing just 430g. It quickly became popular within the civilian market as well. Predominantly chambered in .38 special the Cobra held six rounds and came in varied barrel lengths with 2 inches being the most popular. Ruby’s Cobra comes with an aftermarket hammer shroud, offered by Colt, which enabled fast drawing from concealed holsters but also enabled single action firing. The pistol also has a number of etchings on the receiver and frame, these were made by officers who handled the pistol and investigated the case. The initials (including MJ and LM) and dates of carving are clearly visible for a number of officers.
Ruby’s Dallas Police mugshot
Moments after shooting Oswald, Ruby was wrestled to the ground by Dallas police. Photographers and press present on the day have described how the crowd that had gathered were in no way checked and no security arrangements appear to have been in place. Ruby gave his motive as wanting to spare Kennedy’s widow the ordeal of a trial and having to face her husband’s killer. Convicted on the 14th March 1964 Ruby was sentenced to death for the malicious murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby appealed and was granted a fresh trial however on the 3rd January 1967 died from a pulmonary embolism, a complication of the lung cancer he was suffering from.
Jack Ruby’s gun was returned to his brother Earl Ruby after Ruby’s conviction and death. Earl sold the revolver through Herman Darvick Autograph Auctions on 26th December 1991, for $220,000. Oswald’s murder only added to the conspiracy theories that surround the assassination of John F. Kennedy but regardless of conspiracy Oswald’s death robbed the country of any closure on the assassination that Oswald’s trial may have given.
For an account of JFK’s assassination click here. For more on the 50th anniversary of the assassination click here.
Sources:
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| Type | Revolver |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Colt's Manufacturing Co. |
| Produced | 1986 –1992 1994 –1998 2019 – present |
| Specifications | |
| Barrel length | 2 inch (50.8 mm) 2.5 inch (63.5 mm) 4 inch (102 mm) 6 inch (153 mm) 8 inch (203 mm) |
| Cartridge | |
| Action | Double-action |
| Feed system | Six round cylinder |
| Sights | Iron, adjustable rear |
First introduced in 1986, the Colt King Cobra is a medium framedouble-actionrevolver featuring a six roundcylinder which was designed and produced by the Colt's Manufacturing Company and marketed to law enforcement agencies and civilian firearms enthusiasts. Available in blued and stainless steel finishes in a variety of barrel lengths and chambered for centerfire.357 Magnumammunition.[1]
Development and history[edit]
Despite its outward similarity to the Colt Python,[2] the King Cobra design is based upon that of an earlier Colt model, the venerable Trooper MK V, improved with the addition of a heavier-duty barrel, full barrel length cylinder ejection rod protection shroud, and a thicker solid rib on top of the barrel. The King Cobra was introduced in 1986, discontinued in 1992, and returned to Colt's product line in 1994. Dropped a second time in 1998, it was not reintroduced until 2019 as a .357 Magnum, three inch barrel variant of the 2017 Colt Cobra.[3][4]
Features[edit]
Built on Colt's medium-size ‘V’ frame from 1986-1992, the King Cobra was offered in very hi-gradecarbon steel with Colt's signature bright and highly-polisheddeep royal blued finish. From 1987-1992 and 1994-1998 matte stainless steel was offered, and from 1988-1992 the option of polished stainless steel became available as well. King Cobras are equipped with either oversized Walnuttarget-style or hard rubber black finger-grooved combat-stylegrips, and an enlarged targethammer.[1] The Cobra's sighting system consists of a fixed iron red insert front sight and a fully adjustable iron white outline rear.[1] Various barrel lengths were offered over time according to the finish option chosen.[1]
Colt Cobra Serial Number Location
In blued steel models, 4 and 6 inch barrels were available from 1986 until the blued guns were dropped from production in 1992, also a 2.5 inch length was offered with the blued finish from 1990-1992. In matte stainless, a 2.5 inch length was cataloged from 1987-1992, 2 inch barrels were offered from 1988 until King Cobra production ceased in 1992 and then again from 1994-1998. Barrel lengths of 4, 6, and 8 inches also were available on models with the matte stainless finish from 1990 to 1992; they returned to the product lineup from 1994-1998. In the mirror bright stainless finish, 4 and 6 inch lengths were offered from 1988-1992, a 2.5 inch was available from 1990-1992, and the 8 inch length was offered from 1989-1992. The King Cobra is chambered for the powerful .357 Magnum cartridge, but like all .357 revolvers will also fire .38 Special ammunition.[1]
In 1998 the top strap was drilled and tapped for the mounting of scope rings.[3]
Colt also produced a total of six King Cobra's with three-inch barrels and fixed sights. These were made for the Montreal Police Department, which had expressed an interest in such a model for plain-clothes officers. The revolver was never adopted and the six samples were returned to the distributor. One surfaced in North Carolina in 2006, was lettered by Colt Archives, listed on Gunbroker, and is now in the hands of a private collector. The fate of the other five is unknown.[citation needed]
In 2019, the King Cobra was reintroduced with a three-inch barrel. The gun debuted at SHOT Show 2019.
Like all .357 Magnum revolvers, the Colt King Cobra could chamber and fire the shorter but otherwise dimensionally similar .38 Special cartridge.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ abcde“Colt King Cobra”Archived 2007-04-28 at the Wayback Machine, Kitsune Reference Web site. Accessed November 18, 2008.
- ^Fjestad, S.P. (August 18, 2015). 'Colt's Snake Guns'. American Rifleman.
- ^ abcTarr, James (18 November 2013). Standard Catalog of Colt Firearms. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. pp. 124–125. ISBN978-1-4402-3747-8.
- ^'New for 2019: Colt King Cobra'. shootingillustrated.com. Shooting Illustrated. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
Colt Cobra Serial Number 219818
External links[edit]
Colt Cobra Serial Number Range
- Colt's Manufacturing Cobra and Trooper official Safety and Instruction Manual(.pdf)