The 2024 Colt Viper Part-I

Picture Courtesy of Colt MFG LLC

In October of this year DB and I traveled to the excellent RangeReady facility and training range in Robert, Louisiana on a mission to teach for Colt in a joint endeavor with Range Ready called “The Colt Python Experience”.  The event was two days of immersive training on the new Colt Python.  Stay tuned for an article from our pal Mike Wood at Revolverguy.com for an in depth debrief on the event. While on site Colt’s marketing team wisely displayed several other offerings from the revolver line for the students to handle and ask questions about with their team standing by to answer questions about the guns.  The one that immediately caught my eye was the Viper.

The Viper was a originally only made in 1977 and only 4,000 units were produced.  It featured an alloy frame and was effectively a colt cobra with a 4″ barrel chambered in 38 Special although there were some 6″ units produced that command unbelievable premiums in the used/collector market.  The gun in 1977 was available in nickel and blue finishes.  Colt has been very in tune to the resurgence of revolver popularity and has masterfully capitalized on their older guns now being so collectible that they have effectively become too expensive to shoot.  Colt is currently providing market alternatives that are not only a noteworthy homage to the previous models but reliable, robust and modernized versions of their predecessors.

After the Python Experience I requested a T&E Viper from Colt to get a little more educated on the platform and do an overall evaluation.  The gun in its current form is a full stainless 6 shot .357 Magnum and is featured in 3″ and 4″ configurations.  I opted for the 3″ gun as I have an affinity for mid size 3″ fixed sight 6 shot revolvers, as I am sure most of our readers and subscribers do as well.  My collection of 3″ S&W’s spans several Model 10-8’s, 10-5’s, 13-4 and 65-3’s but these guns are all coming into an age where I don’t care to shoot them for fear of damaging their collectibility.  I maintain a few workhorses for teaching and training and look at the others.  My interest in this gun as a possible replacement in the training stable started growing at SHOT Show 2024 at the release of the modern Viper.

On the day the gun arrived I started with some comparisons to my other 3″ revolvers and used my favorite 3″ in my personal stable the Nickel 10-8 that was once owned by DB and came to me in a horse trade.  It is outfitted with some gorgeous Craig Spegel boot stocks.  First I took a look at the comparative size of the gun.

T-B 10-8/Viper/Mdl 60

As the picture indicates the Viper falls closer in dimensions to the Model 60 at the bottom than it does the Model 10.  A bit of an in between but visually more in line with the size of the J Frame/Mdl60.

10-8  unloaded weight- 31.8oz

Colt Viper unloaded weight- 27.2oz

Model 60 unloaded weight- 21.3oz

Again the viper is the in between in many comparative aspects of the guns used for comparison.  Colt’s Viper has one extra round on board over the Model 60, weights 4.6oz less than the 10-8 and is currently in production.

Moving on to the aesthetics the Viper has all the classic Colt D-Frame lines we all have grown fond of.  Colt also closely replicated the original Viper stocks.  The wood stocks are growing on me in the looks department although maybe not the optimum choice in the shooting department.  After my first range session I ordered a set of Hogue over molded rubber stocks.  Now you might be thinking this was because the factory stocks were uncomfortable and that was not the issue at all!  Under recoil they were just a touch to slick and rolled in my hand.  The shape almost reminds me of shooting a Single Action Army style gun.  I did not test the gun with full magnum ammo, mainly 38 Special and some spicy 38 Special at that but stay tuned for the range report in part II.

The trigger face is smooth and the double action press breaks clean with approximate weight of 9lbs.  I rarely shoot single action but it broke at just over 3 pounds.  Colt has done a 180 degree turn with their triggers as they are now more well regarded in the double action pull than the single action break.   Measuring DA revolver triggers is also somewhat subjective as depending on where the shooters trigger finger engages the trigger face, the perception of poundage can vary pretty drastically.  There is some minor ‘stacking’ in the stroke of the trigger but not nearly to the degree that the vintage models suffered.  This I attribute to the U-Shaped main spring.  Many of the action components of service style revolvers are holdover technology from single actions of the 19th century and as the adage goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.  But improving it was a solid decision by Colt’s engineering team.

Colt is doing some outstanding work designing these modern revolvers and continues to impress me with their manufacturing processes of blending vintage and modern. Team AFR is looking forward to heading to the range with this one.  If you are coming to the Pat Rogers Memorial Revolver Round-Up at Gunsite stop by BrYan’s bay on Monday and try the gun out for a few rounds.

Stay Tuned For Part II- Range Time