new Pythons

In the last month, I've bought four of the new stainless Pythons, 2.5", 3", 4.25", and 6". Hard to get a real idea about any gun using a sample of one.

I've probably fired no more than 125-150 rounds through any of them, so this is not a review (well, maybe a YouTube-type review where nothing is adequately or professionally covered). All my loads have been with my own cast bullets using primarily a 160 gr. SWC in both .38 Special and .357 Magnum.

I fired everything offhand, Bullseye style at 25 yards using single-action only. Trigger pulls approach or are right at 6 lbs. Concentrate on your shooting skills and you'll become accustomed to the trigger. I quickly found all the guns shot high, 6" or so with the rear sight at it's lowest setting, something I've found common if you shoot with one hand. Use two hands and it will bring the point-of-impact down considerably, maybe right where you want it.

To remedy the problem, I bought taller .230" Harrison front sights to replace the factory ramp sight. No problems at all with the often-maligned new Python rear sights. They work fine as is. Several thousand rounds should tell how durable these are, but I'm pretty sure few have really shot their Pythons enough to address rear sight durability.

I've just now gotten a rough zero with my guns; next step will be accuracy testing. These are heavy guns, even the 2.5" and 3" versions, but they are easily the most pleasant shooting revolvers I've encountered for use with .357 Magnum loads. I no longer do the concealed carry routine, but if I did, a snubnose Python wouldn't be my first pick. It can't compete with the handy and lightweight convenience of a .38 Special J-frame, even if the liitle guns are much harder to shoot well than the Python.

I can't comment on the Python's double-action trigger pull, but it appears many like it.

The new Python DA trigger pull is excellent.

So, you fired over 500 rounds in 4 new
Pythons and was not even curious to fire a cylinder's worth in DA ??

Malysh said:

So, you fired over 500 rounds in 4 new
Pythons and was not even curious to fire a cylinder's worth in DA ??

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No, never really gave it any thought, but maybe I will someday. I much prefer bullseye style shooting.

My new 6” python maybe 750-800 rounds is been almost double action, I didn’t like the rear sight and I replaced wit the Wilson Combat sight, very happy now.

dobegrant said:

My new 6” python maybe 750-800 rounds is been almost double action, I didn’t like the rear sight and I replaced wit the Wilson Combat sight, very happy now.

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What was wrong with the rear sight?

I thought the trigger pull was so horrendous on my 4.25" 2020 Python, I couldnt stand it... Its no longer in the safe. I'm personally NOT a fan of any current production COLT revolvers.

flyfishinjunkee said:

I thought the trigger pull was so horrendous on my 4.25" 2020 Python, I couldnt stand it... Its no longer in the safe. I'm personally NOT a fan of any current production COLT revolvers.

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Regrettably, sometimes you get a gun that may not be up to the standard of the product's majority. It's happened to many of us.

Not a fan of the action, SA (too heavy) nor DA (weak and indistinct return). Not a fan of the stocks (odd), nor backstrap shape/angle (not enough hump - it's not a SAA). Not a fan some small oversights for the money charged (eg. sharp edged frame cutout for the trigger).

They do look nice.

Model 15-4ever said:

Not a fan of the action, SA (too heavy) nor DA (weak and indistinct return). Not a fan of the stocks (odd), nor backstrap shape/angle (not enough hump - it's not a SAA). Not a fan some small oversights for the money charged (eg. sharp edged frame cutout for the trigger).

They do look nice.

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How did it shoot?

Model 15-4ever said:

Not a fan of the action, SA (too heavy) nor DA (weak and indistinct return). Not a fan of the stocks (odd), nor backstrap shape/angle (not enough hump - it's not a SAA). Not a fan some small oversights for the money charged (eg. sharp edged frame cutout for the trigger).

They do look nice.

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100% agree! How does it shoot? I can't shoot a pistol with a **** trigger very well so WHO KNOWS!

I bought mine when they were impossible to find and the choice was 6” stainless and nothing else. Sportsman’s Warehouse had one just sitting in the case and I grabbed it. Two people called to put it on layaway while I was filling out the forms. It was full retail - $1499, but I got 75 off for being an American heeeero and another 50 for opening a charge account I’ve never used, so $1374.

The interwebs said it would suck. Bad crown, light strikes, awful trigger pull, action wouldn’t advance, would make the climate change - you name it.

Its perfect. It shot exactly to the sights with 158 grain .357s so the rear sight is fine with me. The single action pull isn’t quite as good as my 1976 Python, but the DA pull is waaaaay better.

I love Smiths, but these new Colts are in a different (and much better) league.

Great Revolvers

Congratulations on your New Modernized CZ/Colt
Pythons. I like the CZ/Colt Pythons, they seem to
be in abundance in my favorite Gun Stores.

Every Python I have inspected has passed; fit, finish,
and mechanics have been great.

The only reason I have not bought one is I recently
acquired a factory fired late 90’s S&W 657 41Rem
Mag. I’m also waiting patiently for the New Anaconda
45Colt.

Looking at getting some CZ/Colts!

Anyone wanting to rid themselves of a junk 2.5 inch, cheap, ring me up so I can add it to my 3 and 4.2.

According to their adverts.......They re-designed the rear sight.

Mike said:

According to their adverts.......They re-designed the rear sight.

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Not the case…Colt has been advertising a redesigned rear sight as compared to the previous Accro sight. It’s been the same sight since the 2020 introduction.

The Colt rear sight isn't horrible but it's not up to snuff with the rest of the gun. I have the Wilson rear sight -



But had the Elliason been available at the time I'd have gone for that one. Excellent quality and about $30.00 less.

I've got three of them (one is technically my wife's, so it doesn't get shot a lot). "My" two are a 4.2" SS, from the first few months of 2020. The other is a Blue one, also 4.2" purchased a few weeks ago. My wife's (also 4.2) splits the difference.

My two have at least 500 rounds through each. The SS one has more, but no idea how many actually. Most of those are 38 wadcutter types, but there have been a smattering of various 357 loads thrown in for grins and giggles.

I don't know that I have ever fired either of them in SA. I probably have, but just didn't pay much attention to it. The S/A does run about 6-6.5 pounds on all three. I can't check the DA, my scale doesn't go that high, topping out at 8 pounds, but they are as good a DA pull as any revolver I've ever owned, right out of the box. They just beg to be fired in DA, and have caused me to start shooting all my DA revolvers in DA only. I would prefer a smooth face trigger, but it's not that big of a deal really.

The rear sights, I have never touched. They are just as they came out of the box from the factory. They seem to work with my wadcutters out to 25 yards as well as I can hold anyway, so why bother? I have always pretty much just treated adjustable sights as if they were fixed anyway.

No complaints with the grips. Maybe a little thin if I shot a lot of heavy magnums, but I don't so they're fine.

Fit and finish on all three is very good. The blue one maybe isn't as good as the old Royal Blue on the old Pythons, but it is at least as good as anything else in blue I've seen in years. I do wish the hammer/trigger were SS or chromed or whatever they used to be, but again, not worth getting my panties in a wad about. Same for the three vents on the blue guns rib. If I hadn't read about that on the internet, I don't know how long I might have gone before I paid any attention to it enough to notice it was different from the SS ones.

So I'm quite happy with all three of them. Are they better than a Smith and Wesson? Darned if I know. I don't claim to be knowledgeable or experienced enough to know that.

SnidelyWhiplash said:

Not the case…Colt has been advertising a redesigned rear sight as compared to the previous Accro sight. It’s been the same sight since the 2020 introduction.

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Well.......There goes an addition $200 that you have to spend for a workable rear sight.

Rock on Quarry!

Congratulations on having the means to buy 4 Colts! You have made a lot of wise decisions in your life.

I too have a taller Harrison front on my 4 inch Anaconda because I couldn’t get it zeroed. The elevation adjustment screw on that (4 inch Anaconda) rear sight is all the way down, snug. That gun shoots about an inch high at 25, which is perfect.

I can, not every time, but quite often put 5 shots from my 4.25 under 1.75 inches at 25 yards, single action from a rest; iron sights.

My 6 inch Anaconda with the aid of a Leupold Delta point Pro and a rest will put 5 Lyman 429421s right at .75 at 25, if I can hold it steady, off a rest. I love a gun that will shoot my home made cast bullets as well as an XTP.

Stocks/Grips are a subjective thing. Me, I like what they come with. In my opinion, they are a compromise between aesthetics and ergonomics.

I never did understand the huh-bub about the rear sight. When I am shooting, the rear sight is definitely not the limiting factor. If my rear sight had looseness that I didn’t like, I’d just put a penny’s worth of Loc-Tite on it, and call it a day. I love Bill Wilson, but his rear sight is not worth $200 more that Colt’s.

The single action trigger needs help. No doubt. They definitely have lawyer triggers. But on the bright side, there’s no hilary hole or warning in sight!
I put a bunch of my Colts in a box, and UPSed them to my Gunsmith. The triggers are all 3 pounds on the dot. They don’t move. You apply pressure and they go off. That cost me about $200 a piece when the smoke cleared. I don’t buy guns to save money. Get the trigger done, You’ll have a real prize.

I had an old Python in the 90s. Maybe it was a “Strike Gun” that was put together by management, maybe not. The single action trigger on that one was every bit of 5 pounds, measured, not guessed. It shot phenomenally. That one shot as good as the new one. But I’d take that thing out and it completely unscrewed itself. Every screw on that thing came loose. Even the barrel started unscrewing itself! Honest, I can’t make stuff like that up. Even tho the new ones are better, I should have kept the old one.