Cobra Pistols

Based on the guns I often see sold at gun shows, inexpensive pistols are fairly common and you’ll likely have a customer bring you one. Here’s how to work on several from Cobra Firearms. Cobra CA The Cobra CA series are compact, light carry pistol models. The following instructions will work for the CA32 and CA380 chambered in .32 ACP and .380 ACP, respectively. This gun resembles the Jimenez JA32, a beefier and heavier version of this type of pistol. To field strip, don safety glasses and unload.

The safety is also a magazine safety and must be on to release the magazine. Switch the safety to "S", remove the magazine, then place on "F" and rack the slide back to confirm empty. This gun 32 ACP and .380 ACP. has to be uncocked in order to remove the slide. The recoil spring is under tension and can fly out if not controlled. Point in a safe direction and pull the trigger to decock. On the back of the slide is a takedown button where the cocked gun indicator comes through.

Push on this with a punch or similar tool. It will go in about a 1/8". While keeping this pushed in, lift up on the back of the slide. On a few of these guns, I have had to use a screwdriver between the frame and slide in the back to get it to release. Slightly pull backwards and the slide will clear the frame, moving forward and off. Control the takedown button so it doesn’t launch across the room.

When the slide is completely removed from the pistol, pull the takedown button, recoil spring, and firing pin out of the back of the slide. The recoil spring slides off the barrel to the front. The barrel is pinned to the frame and is not normally removed. For full disassembly, start with the slide. The only thing that can be done is drift out the extractor pin to the left. Keep a thumb on top of the extractor to control the extractor spring. For the frame, push down on the sear and unhook the cam from the frame.

Allow the sear to come up and remove the sear, sear spring, and cam. Remove the grips with a 1/16" hex wrench. The safety comes off the frame to the left. Push out the magazine catch pin; this is a loose fit. Take the magazine catch and spring out the bottom. Drift the trigger pin out to the left. There is a spring on the top of the trigger. When removing the trigger from the frame, remove the trigger spring and rotate the trigger assembly counter clockwise 90 degrees.

Remove the bumper pin to the left and pull the bumper and spring out. Reassembly is in reverse order. The buffer spring has to be rotated until the hole can be seen through before driving in the pin. The angle on the sear goes to the front. If you have problems getting the slide to drop down on the frame, check that the cam is seated properly. I put the slide on the frame before adding the firing pin, spring, and retainer in place.

1 Slide 2 Firing Pin 3 Firing Pin Spring 4 Retainer 5 Extractor Pin 6 Extractor 7 Extractor Spring Cobra Derringer After the 9mm conceal carry guns, this is the most popular handgun sold at our local gun shows. Cobra makes derringers in cartridges ranging from .22LR to .45 Long Colt, 38 Special.

Hard to tell the difference. 15 Magazine 16 Frame 17 Magazine Catch Spring 18 Magazine Release 19 Left Grip 20 Right Grip 21 Grip Screws 8 Bumper Pin 9 Trigger Pin 10 Sear 11 Cam 12 Sear Spring 13 Safety 14 Magazine Catch Pin though the 9mm and .38 Special are most popular, with the 9mm version outselling the .38 primarily due to most buyers already having a 9mm firearm and not needing another type of ammunition.

Cobra CA (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 22 Trigger Assembly 23 Trigger Spring 24 Bumper/Bumper Spring 25 Recoil Spring I have had a few of these derringers come into my shop. Most of the complaints are of the too-hard trigger pull.

Quoting the user manual, "The trigger pull weight on our Cobra Derringers is higher than on most firearms due to the fact there is no trigger guard and a stiffer trigger pull provided an additional level of safety." Note, the trigger has a downward pull instead of the backwards that everyone is used to. If the customer still insists, I will polish the trigger and hammer engagement but do not lighten the mainspring as it can allow the gun to go off if dropped.

There isn’t much to field strip beyond breaking the barrel to load or clean. Don glasses, flip the locking lever over and break the action open, removing any rounds. For detailed disassembly, the barrel is held on by a screw on the left side. This is blue thread locked in place and should be stiff to remove. The extractor is held in place with a hex head screw. Remove it with a 0.060" hex key. I have found these loose on a few guns and would recommend to thread lock it back in place.

On the right side, unscrew the screw holding the locking lever to the lock and lift up the lever off the

9 Trigger Spring 10 Trigger 11 Trigger Pin 12 Lock Screw 13 Locking Lever 14 Firing Pin Spring 15 Extractor Screw 16 Extractor 1 Left Grip 2 Right Grip 3 Grip Screws 4 Safety Ball 5 Safety spring 6 Safety 7 Safety Pin 8 Cam Spring lock. Slowly push the lock out the right side using your thumb. Just as the lock is flush with the frame, listen for the locking ball snap up.

Put 17 Firing Pin Plate 18 Firing Pin Plate Screws 19 Firing Pins 20 Lock 21 Hinge Screw 22 Lock Spring 23 Lock Ball 24 Hammer Pivot Pin a finger inside the frame and finish pushing the lock out. This should keep the 3/32" ball from escaping. If you need a replacement, Brownells has them in the detent ball kit and this is cheaper and quicker than getting from Cobra. Remove the grips from the frame using the 0.060" hex key. Keeping the frame pointing up, remove the firing pin plate.

There are two hex screws holding it in place. The firing pin springs and firing pins can be removed with the plate out of the way. Now the fun part. Using a small punch, Notice the cam and how the wings are on it. Cobra Derringer (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 25 Cam 26 Selector 27 Selector Spring 28 Hammer 29 Guide Pin 30 Mainspring push the hammer pivot pin out. This should release most of the spring tension.

This will make it easier to control the hammer, selector, and cam when removing from the frame. The mainspring and guide pin will now come out the top. Push the trigger pin out to the left. The trigger comes out to the front. The trigger spring has a tight fit into the hole in the trigger and should stay in place while removing it. To get the cam spring out, use a pair of needle nose pliers and pull it away from the frame and lift it up. Once high enough, take the spring out through the side.

The safety has a pin that is staked in the frame to keep it in the frame. I normally do not mess with this because the only way to get it out is to drill out the stake and then try to pull the pin back. Otherwise, drill the pin completely out and then push out the safety to the right. There is a detent ball and spring to watch for when the safety comes out. Reassembly is basically reverse of disassembly. When putting the hammer back in, place the selector and cam in place before inserting into the frame.

Make sure the cam is in the correct orientation or the selector will not work. Put the hammer assembly in place and use a 1/16" punch to hold everything in position. Use a padded clamp across the frame and the back of the hammer to get it down so the hammer pivot pin can be inserted. You will have to push the cam spring out of the way to get the hammer to come all the way down. Blue thread lock the firing pin plate screws, hinge screw, locking lever screw, and the extractor screw.

When putting in the ball for the lock, use a jeweler’s screwdriver to hold the ball down as the lock is pushed into place. It helps to push down on the lock from inside the frame. Test fire two rounds to make sure the selector is working. AG