I Didn’t Expect This From Colt: King Cobra Target .22 Review

This review of the Smith & Wesson 617 Mountain Gun, a Lipsey's exclusive variant, highlights its features and performance. The firearm boasts a 4-inch half-lug tapered barrel, a 10-round capacity in .22 LR, and exceptional accuracy, achieving 1-inch groups at 25 yards. The reviewer, Chris Baker, provides an expert assessment, noting improvements like the yoke lockup and cleaner engraving, while also offering minor critiques on grip ergonomics and sight notch depth. He emphasizes the importance of quality control checks on new S&W revolvers.

This expert review from Lucky Gunner Ammo's 'Project Rimfire' meticulously tests five medium-frame double-action .22 LR revolvers: S&W 617, Colt King Cobra Target, Ruger GP100, Taurus 992 Tracker, and Spohr 283 Carry. The analysis covers cost justification, purpose, and detailed performance metrics including reliability, speed, and accuracy. The S&W 617 Mountain Gun emerged as the top performer, praised for its exceptional accuracy and smooth trigger.

This review of the Third Bay Ounce .22 LR pistol highlights its unique folding bullpup design, intended for enhanced concealability. While innovative, the review points out significant drawbacks including a complex loading and chambering procedure, difficult malfunction clearing, and a slow deployment time compared to conventional handguns. Despite its engineering, its practical self-defense utility is questioned.

This comprehensive review covers 12 top .22LR revolvers for 2025, highlighting models suitable for various applications from farm work and backcountry packing to range drills and self-defense training. The expert analysis details each firearm's unique strengths, including accuracy, weight, capacity, and price point, offering insights for both new and experienced shooters.

This review of the Beretta 20X Bobcat, part two of Project Rimfire, details significant improvements over its predecessor, the 21A. Key upgrades include vastly improved sights, a redesigned magazine release and magazine, a more usable safety, and an overhauled action for a lighter trigger pull. While not a life-trusting carry gun, it excels as a suppressed .22 LR platform for plinking and pest control, though its reliability is sensitive to fouling, requiring frequent cleaning.

Project Rimfire aims to provide standardized, comparative data for .22 LR handguns, addressing a gap in fragmented reviews. The series categorizes handguns and employs a consistent testing methodology including speed-focused stages, practical accuracy tests, and mechanical accuracy evaluations. This approach helps consumers make informed purchasing decisions for training, pest control, or recreational shooting.

Chris Baker of Lucky Gunner Ammo explains the 'Cruiser Ready' method for storing a home defense shotgun, balancing safety and accessibility. This technique involves a loaded magazine tube but an empty chamber, with the safety off and action unlocked. This allows for rapid deployment by simply racking the slide. Baker also advises loading the magazine one round shy of capacity to preserve magazine spring longevity and prevent potential failures.

The FBI's brief adoption of the 10mm Auto in 1989, primarily with the Smith & Wesson Model 1076, proved disastrous due to mechanical issues and complexity. This led to the development of the '10mm Lite' and ultimately the .40 S&W cartridge, which was quickly adopted by Glock and dominated law enforcement for decades. The 10mm Auto's potential was recognized, but its practical implementation by the FBI failed.

The Ruger Mini-14 has maintained popularity for nearly 50 years by filling a market gap for an affordable, practical semi-automatic rifle, drawing inspiration from the M14. Despite early accuracy criticisms and political controversies, design updates and competitive pricing have kept it relevant, though the rise of affordable AR-15s presents new challenges.

This review of the Chiappa 1892 Alaskan Takedown lever-action rifle highlights its unique takedown feature, making it highly packable. Chris Baker of Lucky Gunner Ammo details its design evolution, caliber options (.44 Mag, .357 Mag), and compares it to other takedown lever actions. While praising its smooth action and crisp trigger, Baker notes some cosmetic quality control issues and suggests ergonomic modifications for improved handling. The rifle demonstrated 100% reliability over 300 rounds with good accuracy from premium loads.