Gun Review: The New Colt Viper 4.25″

When Colt started re-releasing its “snake guns,” I hoped desperately for a Viper. In fact, my original review of the new Pythons in 2020 ended with a plea for just that. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, as revolver nerds clamored for what didn’t yet exist.

Colt has obliged, releasing the new Colt Viper, this one in .357 Magnum and built on the King Cobra frame. The new Colt revolvers are absolutely the best double action revolvers Colt has ever made, the new Colt Viper is no exception. Of all the snake guns, the new Viper lives up to its namesake…sneaky, fast, and deadly powerful.

There were seven snake guns in the Colt original lineup. Those include, in order to release, the Cobra, Python, Diamondback, Viper, Boa, King Cobra, and the biggest, the Anaconda. The Cobra, Python, King Cobra and Anaconda are well known, and it only made sense that Colt would make those models their priorities for their wildly popular re-release.

The original Viper wasn’t as well known, being produced for a total of one year, 1977. It was only listed in Colt’s 1977 and 1978 catalogs (it was only pictured in the ’78 book). The only snake gun more rare was the Boa, with only 1,200 made and all of them purchased by the Lew Horton Distributing Company.

I’m genuinely surprised Colt released the Viper. It’s just not what’s been popular, at least for a couple decades. It’s not an ultralight snubby 5-shot. It’s not a 3-inch Combat Magnum. It’s not a 6-inch target gun. What the Viper — both old and new — achieves is the middle ground. A not-too-lightweight revolver with enough barrel to get a good sight radius and good velocity from the .357 Magnum cartridge.

Making the new Colt Viper on the King Cobra frame is historically correct in a roundabout way. The original Viper was, itself, a modification of another Colt revolver already in wide use, the Police Positive. It was an alloy framed gun in .38 SPL only with a 4-inch low profile barrel and a half barrel length ejector rod shroud. It featured fixed sights, wraparound checkered walnut grips, and weighed just 20oz. Colt advertised it as “the ideal Colt for those who want a lightweight 4 3/8″ .38 Special revolver.” They were probably right.

Anything I liked or disliked about the King Cobra, I also like or dislike about the Viper. It’s the same trigger, same rear sight, same action, same cylinder…just about everything except for the front sight, the barrel, and the grip.

The front sight is a simple low profile serrated ramp. The rear sight is a channel groove with a squared U-notch at the rear. Colt has followed the same muzzle-end screw for the front sight, meaning that changing the height of the front sight for a higher version, say if you want to run particularly heavy/slow .357-inch bullets, is simple. If you want the squared bead front sight of the King Cobra, that’s an easy swap. As it is, most 158gr .357 magnum commercial ammunition landed within 2 inches of the point of aim, at 15 yards.

With a barrel that’s 1¼-inch longer, this Viper weighs almost exactly the same as the new 3-inch King Cobras. It feels lighter, and it handles very differently. Of course, a big part of that is the thinner barrel, half-length ejector shroud, and overall reduced mass on the front end. The gun points quickly, stopping and starting in motion very well. The other big difference in feel is the grip.

The fully checkered factory walnut gip is attractive and very similar to the old Viper’s grip. It probably works well for small to medium sized hands, but for folks with size-large hands or bigger, it’s kind of a middle ground of OK-ishness. With a high grip, middle finger fully smashed into the trigger and the web of my thumb meeting where the frame begins to descend into the back strap, I can get a very solid hold on the gun. A double-crush grip performed with both hands is absolutely doable and will ensure great control in fast strings of fire, but it’s not comfortable.

If you’ve got size-large hands or bigger, the rear of the trigger guard is going to bash into your middle finger pretty well. The other option is a 2-finger grip, with the pinky wrapping around the butt of the gun. That’s a fast grip to achieve when drawing from cover, and a comfortable one, too. Unfortunately, it’s also not the best for recoil management, as it necessitates a lower grip on the revolver. As the new Viper sits on the King Cobra frame, there are many aftermarket options.

In .38 SPL, the Viper really shines on the range. Fast draws, faster first shots, and easy target transitions (especially for a lightweight gun) make for a fun range experience. If I were to carry this revolver with something like Federal’s Personal Defense .38SPL +P round, I’d certainly not feel undergunned. That said, in terms of energy delivered, the new Viper is capable of much more.

At the bench, the Barnes 140gr Vor-TX XPB Solid produced the best groups of the rounds I tested, at 1.6″. This round has consistently produced exceptional groups in every .357 Magnum gun I shoot it in. It’s fairly mild for a .357 Magnum but still with a good amount of power, leaving the barrel at just over 1,100fps.

The old “Skeeter” Skelton .38 SPL load, home-rolled in .357 cases with 158gr SWCs at 1,200fps, produced the worst results of the ammunition tested, producing 3.3″ groups. Even as the worst, though, that’s still pretty good. If you’re a handloader and wanted an all-around load, that would be a hard recipe to improve upon. It provides adequate precision, plenty of energy, good mass for penetration, yet recoil isn’t so much as to slow follow-ups.

With heavy loads moving fast, like the Buffalo Bore Heavy Outdoorsman 180gr, recoil is quite stout. Buffalo Bore advertises that load at 1,400fps. At my home range, in 95-degree Texas heat, my Garmin chronograph tracked it as just a tad bit quicker.

That load is generating almost 800ft/lbs of energy and you’ve got six of them on-tap. Fast follow ups on 25-meter targets with that load are unlikely, but “Get off me, bear!” cylinder dumps are completely doable. That round produced 2.8-inch groups. All shooting for precision were five-round groups, untimed, in single action at 25 yards off bags on a fouled bore.

The new Viper performed perfectly reliably. No round failed to fire, no cases were stuck, the cylinder never failed to advance. Between the magnum and .38 SPL loads, I put 300 rounds through the gun. I lubed and cleaned the gun before the firing started, but not again until it was time to take photos. There were zero issues of any kind. I’d be concerned with bullet-crimp-jump with lighter bullets fired at very high velocity, but that’s not what I ever want in a .357 Magnum anyway.

Beyond its performance, the new Viper is just a cool gun. It’s the same stainless finish I’ve raved about in previous reviews, but it’s the grip and barrel shape that set it apart. The guts are thoroughly modern, but the look is a throwback to classics that haven’t been seen since the hard-boiled detective classics were on broadcast TV. I still can’t believe Colt made this gun, but man, I’m sure glad they did.

Specifications: Colt Viper .357 Revolver
Caliber: .357 Magnum
Capacity: 6 Rounds
Action: DA/SA
Barrel Length: 4.25 inches
Sights: Fixed
Weight: 28.4oz (4.25″ version as tested)
Frame: Stainless Steel
Barrel: Stainless Steel
MSRP: $1,149 (between $900 and $950 retail)