OT: Colt Pythons

[Streetstar]

I had been saving cash for other long gun purchases (and related reloading equipment) when in walks an 8" blue Python. I couldn't help myself. I thought about it for maybe 30 seconds before deciding it was a go project.

I dont wish to divulge pricing, but it was roughly what a person would reasonably expect for such a piece.

I would post pics, but this was thru a dealer and i was "Brady delayed" so now i am waiting. It got me to thinking.

I have always wanted a Python, and i really wanted an 8" barrel , my first choice would have been a later stainless model, but hey, who's complaining. I also love wheel guns. That said, i'm a perfect sucker

Scenario was this --- i was perusing the selection trying to make up my mind about a firearm to take my CCW class with. I need to take the class with a semi handgun for logistical reasons, so i was looking at 1911 variants and even some Ruger .22's --- and this Python reared its head and bit me in the caboose.

Question is this --- the Python is obviously a well respected wheel gun in the industry, but why does it have more mystique than say, a high end Kimber , Gold Cup, or Springfield 1911, which rivals it in price? Is it just marketing?

Maybe its just me, but i pass by rows of $1500- $2000 1911's with very limited interest, but the lone Python i come across had me spellbound enough to hit the GO button, (when i was looking at budget 1911's at the time)

will post pics when i pick it up ----- and my CCW semi auto budget is ruined for the time being -- i may have to rent a pistol to take the class (oh well )

[Gun Smith]

When I was gunsmithing, back when the earth was cooling, I was the handgun specialist in the shop. I always told myself, if I was ever able to swing it, that a Colt Python would find it's way into my hands. It took 45 years, but it now a 6' blue rests in my safe. I my time it was the finest revolver in the world, (I think it still is), and was the standard all other handguns tried to achieve. S&W K's tried, but never came close. I know there will be S&W fans out there swearing, but I repaired 50 S&W's for every Python. The achillies heel to most all Colt revolvers is dropping it hard on the toe of the grip. This bumps the hand out of time, but the fix is a firm blow to the heel with a non metallic hammer and it goes right back into time.
If you state requires you to test for your CWP, with the type of gun you would carry, I would use a pistol over a revolver. There is a much larger range of models out there for concealed carry and it makes a better choice because of capacity. Carrying a $1000-1200 Python around all day against your sweaty body would not be my choice.
A small frame design 1911 clone in 9MM, 40 cal., (or 45 ACP) would be my choice. Enjoy the Python, and shoot it often, that's what they do best!

[Bronco]

Howdy,
A python was the first firearm I bought with my own money, late sixties and with my dads signature. Love the thing and will never part. Shoot it often with 38 spcl. loads and save the 357 hot stuff for special occasions. Use to practice drawing and shooting, slowed enough to not shoot my darn foot off. Got quite proficient enough with it to win a beer or two off of friends when they said I couldn't do that again. Blued 6' model, love it.

John

[BlueStateSaint]

A Python was my first handgun. My father bought it, then transferred it to me under New York's convoluted laws. I love that handgun. It's a tad unwieldy to carry while hunting, though. 6" barrel, blued.

[txpete]

I bought my first python for 400.00 otd.which was "BIG" bucks back then for a ssg E-6 pay.my friends thought I was nuts spending that kind of money .I have only shot 148 gr WC out of this snake.



last year a good friend that is getting older and has quit shooting asked me to come over as I had first shot at his colts.
I came home with these.


pete

[Rusty]

I had a 4" blue back in about 1975. I went through the academy with it and shot master in my class. I know they are fine guns but a S&W "N" frame just fits my hand better. to me the Colt grip is long and narrow. I have seen a pair of rubber Pachmyer grips put on one that spruced it right up though. Made it feel like my hand could use it.

Thinking about what Gun smith said now also clears something up. I was out hunting one time while wearing the Python. I bailed out of the Jeep to injun up on a little spike buck. When I came around the side of the hammock I drew the Python and started take a shot. When I did the gun didn't want to work. I never knew why until right now. I'll bet that was it.

Thanks Gun Smith.

[kimwcook]

I've only owned one Python, a blued 4". I bought it for the wife. She carried it for a while in her purse and then it sat on the counter. To heavy. I sold it. The action was probably the slickest DA I've ever shot.

I think the mystic of the Python at it's beginning was there wasn't anything else like it in looks, general accuracy and smoothness of action. Now, I think the mystic is they're some what rare and currently unavailable, I think. I some what recall Colt was going to produce some current ones, but don't know if that ever got off the ground.

[BwanaDave]

I sold a 6" blue Python in the late 80s and I regret it to this day. Sometimes I think about buying another just so I will stop beating myself up over my stupidity. That gun was perfection, it all came together in one package. I feel the same way about a Kimber Gold Match II that I currently have and will never let go.

Dave

[dkmlever]

I own a 4" 1964 blued Python that is still unfired, NIB. Box, all the papers that came with it, including the test target and a small round screwdriver with the colt emblem. The blue on it is amazing. I HATE owning a gun I don't shoot but this one is so nice, the cylinder has never been turned. I may offer this one up at our annual collectors show to sell it.

[Mike Hunter]

I picked up a Colt Ultimate Stainless Python about 15 years ago, my wife fired it once; looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and clearly made it know that the Python was hers.

The workmanship is an example of the best that Colt produced. The action feels like a Swiss watch, the two hand locking system that Colt uses locks that cylinder up tighter than a vault when you pull the trigger.

It’s well balanced, extremely accurate, and downright sexy…. What more can you ask for in a pistol.

In my mind one of the biggest mistakes Colt made was dropping the Python line,

so if anyone here has a decent one for sale let me know.

Mike

[Streetstar]

If you state requires you to test for your CWP, with the type of gun you would carry, I would use a pistol over a revolver. There is a much larger range of models out there for concealed carry and it makes a better choice because of capacity. Carrying a $1000-1200 Python around all day against your sweaty body would not be my choice.
A small frame design 1911 clone in 9MM, 40 cal., (or 45 ACP) would be my choice. Enjoy the Python, and shoot it often, that's what they do best!

thx 4 the input ---- i am not intending to carry this one -- 8" barrel, blue finish, etc etc. My state's (OK) laws require me to test with the type i will carry to an extent. If i test with a revolver, i can only carry a revolver, if i test with a semi-auto, i can carry either.

Many people test with .22 autoloader pistols. From what i understand, you are not locked into the same gun -- and can carry a different one for every day of the week if thats your choice, so long as the test is taken with an auto loader.
Just another "rule" that amazes me. Proficiency with a Ruger Mark 2 pistol means nothing in the carry world, but i think the reasoning is not to demonstrate proficiency, but safety.

But ------- gotta get off the computer --- shop called and my Brady delay is over, so will post pics tonight

[2ndovc]

Pete Those are Sweet!


I had a 4" for a short time. Great shooter but I had bought it cheap and then need the cash.
Wish I still had it!


jb

[Streetstar]

Just got it home --- not a lot of wear showing --- i'm not even sure i want to shoot it now --- looks like it has just been sitting on a shelf since 1980.

The double action trigger pull when i dry fire is unbelievable though

sorry about the glare --- too much flash (no pun intended)






This one wasn't on the shelf when i was buying the Python yesterday and i was told it was just put out this morning. --- What the heck --- i can always make more money and my relentless debating and whining about whether i should buy one of these to take my CCW class with is now over.
Roughly $50 bucks more than the Rock Island 1911 (which is pretty comparable), but all they had in the RIA's was compact models and i needed full size baby Plan to practice my double taps and mozambique drills tomorrow --- i am more enthusiastic about shooting the heck out of this thing than i am the Python (there may be a lesson here --- dont buy something so nice that you are afraid to use it)

[txpete]

you will like that springfield .good shooters we think alike

[Charles]

I have had three or four Pythons over the years, but have never managed to keep one for long. They are good sixguns, but not as good as the mystique about them. They coninued with the old Colt lockwork long after it was droped in other DA sixguns by Colt and that caused the skyrocket in cost due to the handwork involved. The the Python is no better than an old Officer's Model Match, 357 or OM Trooper for that matter. Other fine old Colts can be had for a fraction of the cost of a Python.

[FWiedner]

Compared to my 4" Python, squeezing the trigger on any of my other revolvers is like grindin' beans.

It's wonderfully accurate, but my NMB is pretty darned accurate too.

I like the Python. It's a pretty gun and feels good in the hand. My only problem is that it seems to be a "soft" gun. By that I mean that it doesn't seem "up" to hard use.

It spends most of it's time in the safe.

[J Miller]

I owned one Colt Python. A 4" Blued model. Bought it new in the late 70s early 80s.
I was totally amazed at the action. There is no other brand of double action that has that feel. It feels soft, but that's not an indication of weakness. Just of being hand fitted and polished.

I shot mine double action 99% of the time, with full power .357 Mag ammo. The only times I shot 38s out of it was for the company shoot. I loved the feel of that gun.

But ~ there's always a but ~ I shot it loose within 3500 rounds. At that point it rattled like an old S&W. I didn't keep it much longer after that. I didn't want a gun that wouldn't hold up to being used a lot.

Joe

[MikeS.]

2 guns I don't understand why I don't own. 1 is an all original Luger and 2 is a Python. As much money as I have spent on gun stuff over the years I should have nice specimens of both of these. Some day...

Nice find on both the Python and the SA.

[txpete]

2 guns I don't understand why I don't own. 1 is an all original Luger and 2 is a Python. As much money as I have spent on gun stuff over the years I should have nice specimens of both of these. Some day...

Nice find on both the Python and the SA.

last weekend I sold off my lugers .a very nice DWM and a american eagle.they just sat in the safe as they were matching pistols.the DWM had the orginal holster with it.no loss but the pyhtons will never leave .I don't shoot hot loads in my pythons thats why I have rugers .I have shot loads in my security six that would turn a smith to junk and it keeps on going just like a timex.
pete

[crs]

TX Pete;
Today we shot my son's SA .45 that looks much like yours, and it is a fine piece, but just never learned to shoot a 1911 worth a stuff! Barely on the paper at 25 yards.
However, it was a different story with my M19 .357 which I have shot for over 30 years - It still shoots better than I can hold it. I grew up shooting Smiths and they just seem to work best for me.
My M39 is the only auto that I have ever been able to shoot well, and my Texas concealed carry test looks much like the target that you posted - a ragged hole with one flyer. That flyer ruined my perfect score and my wife out shot me (third time in a row on that test! ) It opens up some at 25 yards, but still stays on a paper plate (cheap targets).

[txpete]

uncle suger handed me my first 1911 back in 73 wahoo free ammo .I shoot more 45 acp than any other round with 45 colt coming in 2nd and 357 would be next.there is just something about a 1911...
pete

I am the good looking guy on the left

[crs]

I thought you looked familiar!

[awp101]

The Python is probably the better combat arm, but once you run out of bullets nothing screams "pistol whip" like an N-frame.

[Streetstar]

The Python is probably the better combat arm, but once you run out of bullets nothing screams "pistol whip" like an N-frame.

How about the little J frame Ray Liotta used in "Goodfellas" ? awesome pistol whip scene , although he used it more like one would use a pair of brass knucks.

6" Harry Callahan style N frame is on my long list of things i "need", but it is kind of down the list a ways

[awp101]

How about the little J frame Ray Liotta used in "Goodfellas" ? awesome pistol whip scene , although he used it more like one would use a pair of brass knucks.

Yeah, but that's about the only way you can pistol whip with a J Frame!

homerpistolwhipkw9.jpg

Funny? Funny how? Like a clown? I'm here for your amusement?

[stretch]

I have a neighbor who was out looking for a revolver one day. He isn't relly that into guns,
although he like splinkin' every now and again.

"What and I do for you sir?", asks the gun store clerk.

"I like tht one," he says.

And out he walks with a 4" Python. He loves it.

(Is it considered sinful to covet nother man' Python?!
WHOA!! THAT didn't sound right...........
Is it sinful to covet another man's Colt revolver?)

[jazman]

I flat love my Python. Like pulling your finger through a cube of soft butter. Found it from a guy in Ohio who had never fired it and I was happy to take care of that little problem. I shoot it now every chance I get, it is a tack driver to boot. Swapped out the goodyear stocks with these, they fit my hand right.


'81 E-Nickel 4 inch

[Streetstar]

I have a neighbor who was out looking for a revolver one day. He isn't relly that into guns,
although he like splinkin' every now and again.

"What and I do for you sir?", asks the gun store clerk.

"I like tht one," he says.

And out he walks with a 4" Python. He loves it.

(Is it considered sinful to covet nother man' Python?!
WHOA!! THAT didn't sound right...........
Is it sinful to covet another man's Colt revolver?)

Thats a serious purchase for somebody who's not that into guns. Thats the purchase price equivalent of 2 Smith 686's or 3 pretty good Taurus's

Its hard to go back when you feel that trigger though. One of my other revolvers is a 4" Colt Lawman (a Trooper with fixed sights basically) that has had a little trigger work done to it to smooth it out some. It feels like it is full of sand compared to the box stock Python trigger

[OJ]

Back in 1968 there was a real threat of "race riots" and, as a surgeon, I knew if they broke out, I would be needed in hospitals and operating rooms. I refused to be intimidated into staying at home and went to our local gun shop where my good friend sold me this Python (made in 19557 but in "good as new" condition.

Are you ready for this ?? He sold it to me for $99.00 !! I also bought a holster and belt and took my prizes home. Thinking about shooting it the next day, I realized we forgot one important item - I forgot (and he did too) to buy ammo - which I did the next day.

It was after firing it - particularly single action - I realized what a prize I had!!!



Finding it too big to carry in the hospital, I carried it in the car and this in my hip pocket or jacket in the hospital -



As we all know, being prepared makes such things not occur and, fortunately, I never had to use either one except for fun at the range.

[Birdman]

I've had two. A 4 inch blue E that was dang near perfect. I sold it because I wanted a 4 inch SS that really caught my eye. The first thing I had to do was send it back to Colt because it was out of time and wouldn't fire DA. They fixed it and paid shipping both ways. I went to shoot some mag loads in it and the stocks were so sharp it cut the webb of my hand. After I did some smoothing and reshaping they became comfortable and I now have me a fine shooting and beautiful Python. I under stand why Colt is on the ropes though. To let something out the door with those kind of troubles, not to mention at that price is darn shameful. I suppose I will keep it unless someone comes along and makes a good offer. I shoot it from time to time, but I usually shoot my 8 shot S-W 627.

[desertcop204]

For years and years I wanted one, even before feeling how sweet the actions are. Then, out of the blue one night I was on gunbroker and after having had a few Bombay Sapphire martinis bid on, and quite unexpectedly won not one but two of them. This one was the first one, made in '82, bright nickel finish. It's blued twin came in the mail about a week later. Both of mine are unfired and I'm having a terrible time bringing myself to dirty 'em up.

[colo native]

Untill a fell named George Ellison tought me to time a colt revolver I had never seen a Python that was in time, double action, sence then I have done dozens of them, and even a few diamond backs... most had thread choke in the tube just at the forcing cone, but didnt hurt the acc... it could only be detected with a tite range rod...

[Streetstar]

For years and years I wanted one, even before feeling how sweet the actions are. Then, out of the blue one night I was on gunbroker and after having had a few Bombay Sapphire martinis bid on, and quite unexpectedly won not one but two of them. This one was the first one, made in '82, bright nickel finish. It's blued twin came in the mail about a week later. Both of mine are unfired and I'm having a terrible time bringing myself to dirty 'em up.

sounds like an expensive bottle of Bombay

I have the 8" model, now i need a 4 and a 6 (will it ever stop?)

I was disappointed with the way mine grouped at the range a few days ago, but i was feeding it some really hot loads. I will have to go back with a better variety of cartridges to see what it likes best

[Larsen E. Whipsnade]

I guess I have to be the odd man out, because my experience with the Python was negative. I had one in the early 80's that was tuned by the Colt custom shop. Shooting DA it would misfire 1-2 times a cylinder. The timing was also off & it spit lead so badly I had to shoot on the end of the line because it peppered the shooters on either side of me. I sent it back to Colt twice but they never resolved that problem. I also thought the sight picture was inferior to an adjustable sighted S&W, but maybe that's just me.