Tag Archives: wheelgun

Looking for a Reliable Little 22 Wheelgun that won’t Break the Bank?

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For the past couple of weeks, I have been testing and evaluating Diamondback Firearm’s new .22 rimfire Sidekick revolver. It has a lot of curious things going on.

First, although it looks like a .22 Single Action Army, ala the Ruger Wrangler or Heritage Rough Rider, it is actually a double-action revolver with a swing-out cylinder. Further, it is 9-shot, rather than the more often seen six-shooters. Finally, it comes with both a .22 S/L/LR cylinder and a .22WMR cylinder that can be easily swapped out.

Nice.

Best yet, the price on it looks to be in the $299 area.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Talking Serpent: King Cobra

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In honor of the Colt’s 150th Anniversary in 1986 a new revolver hit the market, the .357 Magnum Colt King Cobra.

Based on the company’s Mark V system shared by the medium-frame Trooper series of double-action six-shooters, the King Cobra got its name as an ode to smaller Colt Cobra wheelguns which dated back to the 1950s but were only chambered in .22LR, .32 Colt and .38.

Borrowing the solid rib heavy barrel/full underlug profile of Colt’s Python series but coming in at a more affordable $400 smackers at the time, it was half the price of the iconic serpent.

This made it appealing to budding target shooters, law enforcement, and personal protection. Likewise, the price point made more competitive with other full-lug magnums of the time, namely Ruger’s then-new GP-100, S&W’s Model 586, and Dan Wesson’s 15HB.

This Colt King Cobra, a 4-inch model with a serial number that dates to 1988 production, is in what the company billed as “Ultimate Bright Stainless,” a finish that was only used on this model for four years.  

Today, this classic “snake gun” now is in at least its third generation, a transformation I cover more in my column at Guns.com. 

The G is still buying (a few) revolvers

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What can I say, everyone loves wheelguns, right? (And yes, that is my Colt Dick along with same-period Roscoe switchblade, thanks for noticing!)

The Government Accountability Office last week released a report on recent purchases of firearms, ammunition and tactical equipment by federal law enforcement agencies.

The 86-page report focused on the weapons acquired by 20 diverse federal agencies ranging from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General to the FBI. What it found were that the agencies reported spending at least $38.8 million on firearms, $325.9 million on ammunition, and $1.14 billion on tactical equipment in the past eight years.

Of interest to wheelgun lovers will be the fact that at least three of the agencies — NPPD, ICE, and U.S. Secret Service — reported buying small numbers of revolvers recently, although they accounted for less than 1 percent of total purchases across the review. Other revolvers appeared on the existing inventory of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services OIG, and the IRS, proving the old hog leg is not as dead as to be believed.

More insights into the report in my column at Guns.com.