I see on the Web some talk about a Reintroduction of the
Colt Python 357Magnum.

A lot of Speculation, but no proof.

What have you heard?

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Shoot often, Share your Sport

One of the first pictures just got leaked:



The standard model will not have a ribbed barrel. Gun has a polished SS frame and barrel. Laminated grips. MSRP of $2399. A ribbed barrel exclusive Colt’s Collectors run is set to be released with an MSRP of $2799. The run will be limited to 500 guns.

Again Colt has priced themselves out of the market of the common man. That kind of $$ will buy you 3 L frames.

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S&W Accumulator

I don't believe these would be marketed to the average 686 buyer. I am sure if Colt wanted, they could produce a "Python" on the current DS frame, call it a Python, and ask, say $1000.

That's not what prospective Python buyers want, they want a gun with the features and hand made quality of the original. Hard to say from the poor pics / limited info, but if that is the case, then the asking price might justify the handwork / quality. That's a big "if" though.

Larry

I am a bit confused but maybe I have misunderstood what I have read over the years on this forum about pythons. I thought every python passed through Colt’s custom shop for hand-fitting/finishing. And most of those old-time craftsman had retired or died off. In fact, I though I had read on here multiple times that it is hard to find people any more that can even work on a python, adjust timing, etc and one should be super careful with their revolvers.

I would guess if they are re-issuing the gun that they have sufficient staff to do all the hand-fitting and there are indeed people who know how to work on these guns.

But again, I may have misunderstood or misconstrued various post I have read.

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RIP Mike and Dan M.

If true, I wonder if this will be another gun with "the name changed to protect the innocent."

Referring to the so called new Cobra they have out. Its not like the real older Cobra I have. Its not a light weight and does not have a alloy cylinder. If anything the that new gun is a Detective Special with a Nom de plume.

I would like one of the Pythons from years past, but not at the price there going for. If I do buy a Python I at least want a real one not some misnamed attention getter!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

I hope its true. I think with modern CNC machines a great Python could be produced without a cadre of old guys in green eyeshades and sleeve garters to do hand-fitting. Its not the Hubble telescope - its a relatively simple handheld machine with few moving parts.

I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a gussied up version of the revolver they are currently making.

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That's Mr Fudd to you, sonny.

By golly, sure glad Colt may again make the
Python.

But the company is cheapning itself if it plans
a MSRP of around $2,500.

It should target the Korth market and go for
a $6,000 MSRP or a bit more.

If it pleases me, I'll buy 3 at least.

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Ubi Est Mea

No vent rib? Hell that's one of the defining features of a Python. I sure won't look right and the Colt purists will have a fit.
While they may be able to produce an excellent revolver, I doubt they will be near the quality of the original. Mass produced on CNC machines will never equal hand fitting by a skilled craftsman.
And that price! Really? I'll pass.
I think that just like the Cobra, Colt is trying to cash in on a name and history with a lesser product. Probably going to be a good gun, but it won't be a Python.
BTW: the last real Pythons, which were only produced by the Custom Shop, weren't very good. A friend of mine bought one. Three trips back to Colt and it still wasn't right. He got pissed and sold it at a loss just to be rid of it.

Good info but one picture does not expand at all and one expands to only another thumbnail ...

The (non-expanding) picture JayFramer posted appears to be of a King Cobra Target model...

If Colt does re-introduce the Python, I am thinking it will look like a Python on the outside but have different internals. Whoever designed the Python action made it way too complicated for what it needs to do.

A Python without the vent rib is just a garter snake.

Rob

That's funny!

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S&W Accumulator

The craftsmen who produced the Python are long gone and Colt doesn’t have the ability to pick-up where they left off.

Whatever they release with same name, it won’t be the same. I’ll bet dollars to donuts they won’t have a clue how to service older versions.

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"I also cook."

Then it wouldn't be a Python, more like a Trooper. Lame..

That’s no longer s really great bet. Bought a box of donuts lately?

Shazaam - what a bunch of negativity in this thread! I don't have a Python, but I have a truly mint Det Spec and one of the new Cobra's. The Cobra is a lot heavier, and has a bunch of (probably) CNC-related machining shortcuts on it - but the action is tight and both DA and SA are very good on it. You would think - from some of the comments above - that Colt was introducing a Nancy Pelosi commemorative Python. Just cut them some slack - whoever doesn't want to buy one is more than welcome to not buy one. I won't - but only because I don't have $2000+ to throw at any firearm. But, I'm not going to condemn Colt for trying to bring back some reasonable re-make of a long-discontinued revolver. And, I am very happy with my new Cobra.

GeoJelly: I don't believe anybody here thinks it won't be a fine gun. I'm sure it will be. Its just that no matter what they want to call it, it won't be a Python.

or 586/686

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FBINA 213

The new Cobra and King Cobra is an updated SF-VI and Carry Magnum.

My impression of the new Cobra was not very good, nothing to do with the bygone Colts at all.

But modern CNC with some fitting can produce astonishingly beautifully finished and high accurate guns that are a joy to hold such and Dan Wesson 1911s and the new Korth (don't have one but every time I see one I need to have it). The new Python could not be in that category judging by the new Cobra.

I have a smattering of Colt Wheel Guns. Pythons, Agents, Cobras, Detective Specials, Troopers, and even a SF-VI, etc.... I also have a new current Cobra. It is a updated version of the SF-VI, which was a D-Frame with an entire new series of lockwork. The new Cobras took that design and modernized it for CNC manufacturing. It is a decent gun for the current era and beats the pants off a current made S&W. No stupid lawyer lock. The King Cobra and King Cobra Target are again, better offerings than what S&W is currently making. I will eventually snag two of those.

I had heard they were coming out. I still think the Smith's offer a more "bang" for your buck. Lol.

At those prices I would rather get another 686, and with the savings I will invest in bullets, powder and primers.

At those prices I'll grab an old one

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Just one more!

What ever happened to the Italian made Python clone that was supposed to be priced under a grand ?

I have three 6 inch Pythons. Last one I got last year for $600.

I don't Think. I know they do.......Having owned a python from the custom shop for nearly 40 years.

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S&W Accumulator

Well a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 351 and a 1973 Mustang II are both Ford Mustangs. I think this is gonna be kinda like that.

If they do produce a new Python at least it won't have an internal lock...

Yes,the Colt Forum, former manager at Colt,confirmed its release to dealers Jan 2,2020.
Distributors have them.

I'll be watching closely...I have several of the older snake guns

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

At $2k + per copy I am going to be REAL, REAL SLOW to shell out.

I’ll be visiting the Colt booth at SHOT. Problem is it keeps getting smaller and smaller, making it harder and harder to find. To avoid a “bashing” infraction, I’ll just leave and that.

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FBINA 213

+1. I bought my first firearm, a S&W M-36 (to back-up the M-28 my Dad gave me when I left the Army) in 1976 and IME S&W’s have always been affordable. I gave $123 for that M-36 and the following year $289.50 for my M-29. M-10’s were in abundance and were priced a $119 (I wish I would have bought a few).

Way to miss the mark, Colt! A bunch of fancy King Cobras for the hoi polloi, and a handful of "real" guns for collectors with deep pockets that will promptly lock the gun down with a zip tie and sock it away in the back of the safe. Just like they do with the new production SAAs.

We wanted a Python that looked and felt like the originals for somewhere between $1000-$1500 (let's be realistic here...they weren't going to be $400) that we could shoot the snot out of knowing there were thousands more just like it, and Colt completely whiffed.

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Psalm 27:2

They're testing the market. They know diehards will snub the gun since it won't ever pass a purist's test. They already experienced that with the current production Cobras. But they're pricing them just enough to see if the name will sell them at the higher price. And honestly, $2.5k is cheaper tha a used similar condition original Python.

If the guns don't move, they'll either lower the price, or drop them altogether. If every one of them is snatched up by a collector. They don't give a damn. They sold them and made their return on initial investment.

S&W does the same with their Classic Line. A bunch of knock off fraud clones of legit guns. They sell very well and people pay the prices they ask.

WOW! 6 beans... I'm looking in the wrong places.

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Just one more!

This is the Python without the vented rib. It's a model 357 from 1954. This model was the immediate predecessor of the Python with the same hand fitting and finishing. Much rarer than than a Python, this particular one is a very early production model with the rounded sight leaf, duo-tone finish, and polished, un-blued muzzle. 15k made from 1954-61 vs. about 600k Pythons.

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So, program the CNC machine to cut some slots in the barrel rib, stone some surfaces on the inside and polish the outside. Put on appropriate grips, change the rollmark from King Cobra to Python, and voila, a $1000 gun becomes a $2300 gun.

I'll step up and call a BIG BS on that one! That's not even a good try!

Much prefer the S&W action..... I'd spend 1/3 the $$$s and find a really nice early 586.

IMHO they look just as good .............. and probably a lot less of them were ever made.

Credit to Colt for a new line of revolvers. Good business sense to use the name recognition afforded by legendary products. They will sell as many as they can produce. I bought a 4" Python for $600 two years ago, it is no creampuff but that's what I paid. As to a new one, I collect S&Ws and try to confine myself to that brand.

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Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

Estate Sales

I have no problem rifling through a dead man's pockets for a deal.

Can you post a larger image? That thing is tiny.

The whole Colt factory is but a tiny grain of sand compared to the old Colt. There is a video of the history and current Colt out there on the Web. I am to lazy to try and find it. It actually is pretty amazing. The whole original Colt factory is crumbling. One of those, the whole town survived due to the company, heck they had housing for workers. Made everything in house!


Oh heck I found part I

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It'll be an interesting show to watch, the way people have been salivating for a new Python. The exception being guys who own old Pythons and see their demand, (and value), possibly go in the tank. There were many who roundly mocked those of us who purchased new model Cobras and Kings for buying overpriced, not nearly as good copies of classics. We'll see if the new Python's considered reasonable.

You're giving Colt a lot of business acumen credit that they haven't earned. Sure, they're not going to do a Ruger and pack every gun store with their product from Day 1. The age of the big revolver as every man's go-to handgun is long gone. They already have established their playbook with the SAAs. Just enough to satisfy demand. It wouldn't do to have bunches of Pythons in the CDNN catalog for $999 because they made too many.

I guess it's another matter of opinion, but to me the Classics are sort of like the new Dodge Challenger. All the look of an old one but with a warranty and you can buy new. Doesn't make them desirable to me...for many of the same reasons I don't want a new Challenger.

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Psalm 27:2

I was watching a youtube video from the Yankee Marshall and he let it slip that they were re-releasing the Python.


Sort of aligns with the recent Colt comments regarding discontinuation of sales of AR's so they could work on some other things. YMMV