Colt Python 38 Target- I went to the dark side
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Lonestar57
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The Dark Side can be bright sometimes as exampled by this.
I remember when those appeared in the early 1980s.
As a Bullseye shooter, the Colt Python Target in 38 Special never made any sense to me.
A S&W K38 with long 8.375" barrel is pretty awkward, but this thing is ridiculous.
While I've seen a couple 6" Pythons on the line, I have never once seen one of the "Target" Pythons used in a pistol match.
Why a heavy 8" barrel with a vent rib?
By the way, is this one Magnaported??
For 38 Special??
Really?
Sorry for being so negative. Maybe someone can explain this particular setup....
As a Bullseye shooter, the Colt Python Target in 38 Special never made any sense to me.
A S&W K38 with long 8.375" barrel is pretty awkward, but this thing is ridiculous.
While I've seen a couple 6" Pythons on the line, I have never once seen one of the "Target" Pythons used in a pistol match.
Why a heavy 8" barrel with a vent rib?
By the way, is this one Magnaported??
For 38 Special??
Really?
Sorry for being so negative. Maybe someone can explain this particular setup....
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daddio202
Member
Very nice gun!! If the price was right I would have bought it too. I will never have many Colts because of the rediculous pricing on them. I admit I am in the process of buying a 38 special Colt right now too. It is, I am sure, a bullseye destroying machine and will post here when she gets home. A different model than yours and signicantly older but is as close to a Colt shooting master I will ever get. I think all the Colts that are no longer still being made are going to appreciate in value in the future so buying them in tip top condition just as the older S&W's is a winning purchase. Are you going to shoot yours? I would but just occasionally and being very careful with it. Give us a range report if you do. Enjoy!
I hear ya, its an odd duck for sure. But condition and rarity won out, an unfired 1 of 251 was just a no brainer for me. And of those 251, some unknown number were later cut down to 3" combats....As to the magna porting, that is odd as well I totally agree. He had 6 guns on consignment. 2 Desert Eagles, an Anaconda, a King Cobra, and a 6 inch 357 Python. The only one that wasn't magna ported was the Anaconda. I have the factory letter coming, maybe that will shed some light on the magna porting but I doubt it. Regardless, it was too good to pass on, at least to me.
That’s one to buy if only if to polish occasionally with a soft cloth on a rainy Sunday afternoon by the fire! Beautiful revolver!
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Thank you! As to shooting this one, I highly doubt it since best I can tell it is unfired outside of the factory test shots. But then again, as time passes the itch might just get the better of me, who knows.
Prices on Colts, yeah I hear you there. This one was priced out of my comfort zone for sure. More than reasonable enough compared to recent sales though, so I felt comfortable enough to take it home. How long I'll be sleeping on the couch is still an unknown but oh well
The only one that wasn't Magnaported was the Anaconda?
Now, that's funny!
Colt coulda had a winner with the Python Target in 38 Special IF they had used the Officers Model Match barrel with the Python style rib but no underlug.
That would have been a winner!
But, depending on the situation (ie: safe clearing/fire sale by some uninformed relative) yours sounds like it was a fun day at the LGS!
Maybe the best way to look at it is say "leave the brain out of it. It's a pretty gun!"
Enjoy!
Jim
Now, that's funny!
Colt coulda had a winner with the Python Target in 38 Special IF they had used the Officers Model Match barrel with the Python style rib but no underlug.
That would have been a winner!
But, depending on the situation (ie: safe clearing/fire sale by some uninformed relative) yours sounds like it was a fun day at the LGS!
Maybe the best way to look at it is say "leave the brain out of it. It's a pretty gun!"
Enjoy!
Jim
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I love the pythons as well...major congrats!
pittpa
Member
"Why a heavy 8" barrel with a vent rib?"
For one thing, it stays steady during double action shooting, and recoil is nil with a 148 HBWC.
I snatched s NIB one up in 1995 specifically for Bullseye, and have been using it since then. Up to then I'd shot Bullseye only with a semi auto 22, and was accustomed to seeing 1911 and model 52 shooters calling alibis and looking for brass on the ground.
it weighs 4# with a mount and red dot.
For one thing, it stays steady during double action shooting, and recoil is nil with a 148 HBWC.
I snatched s NIB one up in 1995 specifically for Bullseye, and have been using it since then. Up to then I'd shot Bullseye only with a semi auto 22, and was accustomed to seeing 1911 and model 52 shooters calling alibis and looking for brass on the ground.
it weighs 4# with a mount and red dot.
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Bakebfr480
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Very nice pistola!
Very nice Python, but I don't recall Mag-Na-Porting being a factory option, so I'd say it's been modified and why I have no idea. I remember seeing plenty of 8 inch Pythons, mostly blued, in 38 special in the 1980's and into the early 1990's. They never seemed popular and why Colt, other than cost, decided to keep the full underlug barrel on what might have been a nice bullseye revolver is beyond me.
When I start looking for a Python to replace the 6 inch one that I traded, I ended up buying an 8 inch blued Python, but at least it was chambered in 357 Magnum.
Yours is a nice specimen, treat it nicely and even though it has been Mag-Na-Ported, it will continue to increase in value.
When I start looking for a Python to replace the 6 inch one that I traded, I ended up buying an 8 inch blued Python, but at least it was chambered in 357 Magnum.
Yours is a nice specimen, treat it nicely and even though it has been Mag-Na-Ported, it will continue to increase in value.
steveno
Member
back in the early 1980's there was a guy that came to the IHMSA matches in Colorado. he would always show with an odd gun to shoot in the standing class. he shot the 38 Python with 200 grain cast rifle bullets. the Colt had a faster twist than any other revolver and it would stabilize the heavy bullets. he was a fairly good shot and the bullets would take down the rams without much problem.
ontargetagain
Member
I imagine they got a pretty good return on their investment if there were several guns from that safe like this one! It's a beauty!
I hope you are going to shoot it? And heck if you don't end up liking the length of the bbl you can always cut it down LOL Yikes!!
Enjoy it, I like the Diamondback model in 38spl
Karl
I hope you are going to shoot it? And heck if you don't end up liking the length of the bbl you can always cut it down LOL Yikes!!
Enjoy it, I like the Diamondback model in 38spl
Karl
Pretty gun! I bought a 6” Python Elite in 2002 or so for $1K, ran a few boxes through it, and sold it for over $4K in 2014 or 15. I was sellling off most of my collection then, including several pre and postwar OMTs, an OMS and a Shooting Master.
I did okay, selling the other classic Colts, coming out a bit ahead, but nothing like the profit on the Python.
What flabbergasts me is that the older target Colts are such better deals, so less expensive, than the Pythons. I have not looked recently, but at the time you could buy a pristine Shooting Master for less than a Python! No way these older Colts are inferior in quality. Some would assert, with reason, I think, that the older Colts are superior.
While the analogy is not original to me, Pythons are like Rolexes: They are very good, have a great reputation, are gorgeous to look at, and everybody wants one. (Me, too!) But, there are a lot of equally good, perhaps better, guns/watches out there at better prices for a collector who knows his stuff.
That said, you have a beautiful, unique Python there. Congrats!
(And the muzzle brake looks sexy. That is the sole point! Just like the signature vented rib! What is the point in looking sexy, you say? Well, if ya don’t get it, I sure can’t explain it to ya!
)
I did okay, selling the other classic Colts, coming out a bit ahead, but nothing like the profit on the Python.
What flabbergasts me is that the older target Colts are such better deals, so less expensive, than the Pythons. I have not looked recently, but at the time you could buy a pristine Shooting Master for less than a Python! No way these older Colts are inferior in quality. Some would assert, with reason, I think, that the older Colts are superior.
While the analogy is not original to me, Pythons are like Rolexes: They are very good, have a great reputation, are gorgeous to look at, and everybody wants one. (Me, too!) But, there are a lot of equally good, perhaps better, guns/watches out there at better prices for a collector who knows his stuff.
That said, you have a beautiful, unique Python there. Congrats!
(And the muzzle brake looks sexy. That is the sole point! Just like the signature vented rib! What is the point in looking sexy, you say? Well, if ya don’t get it, I sure can’t explain it to ya!
)The letter on your colt may be real interesting,,I thought that for a short while,the factory would Magna-port them?????
gman51
Member
Some just got to hate. To each their own.
That's one fine looking Colt Python. I bet you paid a bunch for it and the only one that needs feel justified is you. What good is money if you don't use it to get what you want?
Don't need shoot ammo just poke the barrel into the paper. That's funny.
That's one fine looking Colt Python. I bet you paid a bunch for it and the only one that needs feel justified is you. What good is money if you don't use it to get what you want?
Don't need shoot ammo just poke the barrel into the paper. That's funny.
The price was right...I didn't steal it but I also didn't win an auction so to speak.
No worries from me about opinions. I figured the magna porting would be a sore spot for some, and I'm ok with that. I'm fairly sure its not factory (will confirm with the letter in a couple months), but between the condition and the rarity I couldn't walk away, I was never going to touch another one.
I highly doubt a quality/period correct modification like that would turn every buyer away if I or my next of kin ever go to sell it, which is the only time it might matter to me anyway.
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