Am I crazy to sell off 27-2 and 29-2 for a Python?

I have nothing against buying any gun you want to be happy.

However, the one Python I tried did not have as nice of a double action trigger as my N-frames. It had a slight "bump" or two, and built up somewhat strangely in force. Maybe just vs what I'm used to?

One thing to consider:

When Colt comes through their current, and most recent bankruptcy, what happens to values if the new leaders decide to put the Python back into production?
If they reintroduce the Python, it would be the same as Smith's classics series. No one in their right mind looks at a 2014 model 22 and thinks it's the same thing as a pre-war model 22. The skill needed to make a true Python is long retired, and will never come back again. If Colt wanted to make them today for the labor at today's cost, they'd have to sell for around $3-4000. Ain't gonna happen. Any new Python will be a pale imitation. Even the ones Colt made in the 1990s are said to be inferior to what they built in the early 60s. And tend to be priced accordingly.
 
Hang on to your current revolvers if you like them.

While I do have a Python that my father gave me, I like the Colt "357" and the original Trooper just as much. Both can be had for a lot less than a Python and will give you the same action.
 
If they reintroduce the Python, it would be the same as Smith's classics series. No one in their right mind looks at a 2014 model 22 and thinks it's the same thing as a pre-war model 22. The skill needed to make a true Python is long retired, and will never come back again. If Colt wanted to make them today for the labor at today's cost, they'd have to sell for around $3-4000. Ain't gonna happen. Any new Python will be a pale imitation. Even the ones Colt made in the 1990s are said to be inferior to what they built in the early 60s. And tend to be priced accordingly.

I agree. The old Pythons would be worth more than any possible new ones.

But would they drop in price to be closer to comparable vintage Smiths, whereas now they are much more than similar Smiths?
 
Say you sell the two Smiths and get a Python.
You mentioned replacing the Smith 29-2 & 27-2.
Say in a year you come across your replacement Smith's.
Low end:
29-2.......$850.00
27-2.......$850.00

$1700.00 back out of the wallet.
Keep the Smith's and save your Peso's..
 
I also prefer the S&W trigger with the staging/indexing capability. The Colt Pythons are smooth sewing machine actions. Beautiful firearms. Go for it if that is what you want. Both S&W and Colt revolvers are quality firearms. Practice, practice, practice.
 
I have been wanting a Python for a long time but the crazy money they are getting for the really collectable and desirable ones puts them just outside the reach of my cash flow. So I am looking at a more run of the mill Python in 6 inch with Pachy grips with a T series serial number.....puts it around the mid 80s. So I am thinking of selling off a couple of my nicer guns.....am I nuts or should I just keep squirreling the money away until I can outright acquire the Python? My fear is that even the entry Pythons will out pace my rate of squirreling away the $$$$. I figure if I sell I can always buy back into the 27 and 29 a bit later and one at a time to make it easier on the finances. And the rate of increase on the 27 and 29 are no where near the Pythons. So should I sell off or? Thanks for the feedback.

If that's what you want to do, go ahead. I wouldn't, because I don't get the Python thing, but knock your socks off.
 
OMG, there are so many opinions in here it makes my head spin like Linda Blare in the Exorcist.....MORALEM, I was in the same predicament. I didn't want to sell anything but I needed the Python. I found a guy that wanted an AR that had a beautiful 6". I traded at the right time just after Newtown. Always keep in mind the art of trading and keep sight that someday you will be a proud owner of a Blued (not stainless) Python to adorn your safe that you can look at and pass down in the family. BTW, I sold my 29 20 yaers ago and I am still trying to get another to replace it. I to have no direction but to collect what I love with emotion.
 
Indeed......many opinions and all so well said. To sell will require effort on my part so I am less inclined to go that route. I will keep squirreling away and wait till I am financially prepared to outright acquire the Python. And I do have a Trooper MK III to hold me over.
 
Colt Pythons are beautiful guns, yes, but they are rather fragile. I've seen Pythons made in the 1980s which are already out of timing. Yet, I've seen Smiths made in the 1940s which are still in perfect timing. If you want a "pretty" safe queen, get a Python. If you want a gun to use, get a Smith.





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All of the tests I've seen indicate that the Python has much lower muzzle velocity than the Smiths with the same factory loads. That sort of tells me something about Pythons, and I don't want one. Sort of like the poster above that said his just shook apart after being shot a good bit. I've never had a Smith loosen up, and I did a lot of shooting with them when I was younger. All my life there's always been something about the Colt snake guns that indicated they just weren't that good. I've only owned a Diamondback, hated it, and don't want another snake gun.
 
I just don't get it...

If you want a Python because you think they're neat and just want to have one, then don't let us dissuade you. Go for it. But keep the Smiths. Unless of course you aren't really a shooter but more of a collector.

But, if you want a Python because it's supposed to be the most accurate revolver out there (as some would have you believe), there is a much better approach. Buy a Model 16 with a 6" barrel, have the cylinder rechambered to 38 Special using a tight match chamber, and have the barrel bored and rifled to .356" with a 1 in 14" twist. I did this Bullseye shooting and the results were outstanding. Using WW White Box 38 Special 148 grain Wadcutter, the gun shoots less than an inch at 25 yards and less than 1.5" at 50 yards, and all 6 chambers shoot to group. Hamilton Bowen did the work. Cost of the complete project is just about what a nice Python will set you back, but will provide you the durability and smooth action all of us Smith and Wesson shooter love and cherish so much. To quote from an old Bogey movie, "Pythons? We don't need no stinkin Pythons!"



Looks just like a Model 14 doesn't it?

Keith
 
Always sorta wanted one, always j u s t out of reach.
Been holding out for a really rare Python variation....
the 'beater Python'.
 
Been holding out for a really rare Python variation....the 'beater Python'.

Here ya go. Seriously, I have shot many (everybody is proud of theirs) over the last 30 years and I turned one down (6" blue) 25 years ago for $300. I turned one down (6" nickel)at Nordic Trading (at the end of the Fla turnpike, known for not giving deals) for $600 about a dozen years ago. I have no problem leaving them alone for $3K. Keep the N frames. Joe
 
I have both. Keep the 27-2 and the 29-2. The Python, while excellent, is overpriced at the moment. At least in my opinion. Its a good revolver but it is NOT better then both a 27 and a 29. Also the pricing on the 27 and 29, especially the pinned and recessed are only going up.
 
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Lay down, take some aspirin, wait for the notion to leave you. I have had and shot four Pythons over the years, owned at the same time older Smiths (19s, 27s, 29s, 57s). Just never could feel the Python was better; in fact, I always returned to the Smiths and the Pythons went down the road.

Wish I had kept a couple of the Pythons, just as investment, but still can't feel the love from a shooting point of view.

The Model 27-2 and earlier is the absolute queen of revolvers, IMO. My five inch is the last gun that will go if times turn VERY hard.
 
I started my career (1962) with a Colt Trooper 4" .38 Spl (Used). Cylinder out of time. Years later I went through a Firearms School using a 6" Colt Trooper .357. It was a "Tack Driver", however half way though the school, it started mis-fires without warning (try obtaining a new mainspring quickly). I finished using a S&W Model 15 (used) with negative problems. One Agency I began with (1989) issued me a 6" Colt Python (Blued) and a Nickeled Colt Cobra 2" .38 Spl. These two I wish I still had.
 
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