Colt Python

[Termite54]

I hope I don't get anyone angry. I know you guys have alot of revolver knowledge, so I hope I will be allowed to ask some questions here. I have a chance to buy a 6"Royal Blue python in the old colt orginal brown box for $1400.00. It is supposed to be unfired, how can you tell? Is these guns worth that much money?

Thanks,
Bubby

 

[Termite54]

I hope I don't get anyone angry. I know you guys have alot of revolver knowledge, so I hope I will be allowed to ask some questions here. I have a chance to buy a 6"Royal Blue python in the old colt orginal brown box for $1400.00. It is supposed to be unfired, how can you tell? Is these guns worth that much money?

Thanks,
Bubby

 

[diamonback68]

Sounds on the high side to me. In my world it would be in the $1000 to $1200 range depending on inspection.

 

[gunnut44]

Sounds a little high to me, unless ya really want it. Look at the front of the cylinders, the top strap, and the recoil shield for markings as if it were fired, it should be 100% mint for the 1400

 

[BLASKET]

I moaned and groaned about the price of a gun once to an old-timer and he told me it was ok to cry if you over paid for a gun, but you could only do it once. Then, move on and enjoy the gun. We get to hung up on the dollar value of guns. The Colt Python is a great gun. I know, I passed up on one in mint condition a few years back because I felt it was (you guessed it) overpriced and of course, I have regretted it ever since. Have fun with your gun and post some pics.

 

[epj]

Suggest you ask the same question here: http://coltforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=17

These folks are real Python hounds and can easily answer all your questions. Of course, some of the same individuals post here, so you may getyour answer on this board as well.

If your Python is truely unfired with original box, it will easily bring $1400. I recently listed a stainless Python (used, but in "nice" condition) on Gunbroker for $1300. It didn't last the first hour.

 

[JudgeColt]

That price may be a bargain if the Python is an old one. It is not a bad price for any "unfired" Python. What is the serial number range of the revolver?

"Original brown box" sounds like a Pre-1970s box. Assuming the box has a telescoping lid, is the box bottom wood grain or black? The gun's serial number should be on the bottom of the box. Are the papers and target with the box? If so, the package is probably priced right, since the box and papers can be a $100-$150 plus item.

What is the style of stocks? Are they walnut full-checkered, partially checkered in a pattern that wraps about half way around the medallion or checkered in a pattern that ends in a straight line below the medallion? The medallions should be gold. Python stocks alone sell for $100 and up, way up for the full-checkered.

You cannot tell if a gun has been fired a few times, but you can tell when it has been fired a lot. Look at the recoil shield. Do you see spots of wear caused by the shell case heads? If not, a low round count is likely, unless the gun has been refinished. Also, look for gas cutting in the top strap, indicating high round count.

Pythons are rapidly appreciating so it might be best to buy now, even if you think you are paying a little too much. The time you are enjoying the gun that would have been spent looking for one a little less expensive has value too.

Remember, you cannot pay too much. You can only buy too soon.

 

[Duke426]

They aren't making these guns any more so if it is what you want and it is really that nice, go for it.

 

[kennyb]

if the gun is in the condition as stated....go for it

 

[Termite54]

Thanks for all the info. I got to see the gun this morning, way short of what was told. It was in the wrong box, no paperwork, no target. It was shot,bluing was stained or dis-colored. Sad thing is this guy really didn't know these things. All wasn't lost however, he had a NIB 66-2 6" that I got for $450.00. It is a real nice gun.

Bubby

 

[tops]

I bought a 6 inch Python for $125. plus tax in 1965. That was 2 weeks pay for me but I thought the gun was worth it. I still carry it and have wore most of the blueing off. I have a 17, 19, 27, 28, 29, and 34, but I think the Phyton is the finest pistol ever been by anybody. Larry

 

[bountyhunter]

Originally posted by Termite54:
I hope I don't get anyone angry. I know you guys have alot of revolver knowledge, so I hope I will be allowed to ask some questions here. I have a chance to buy a 6"Royal Blue python in the old colt orginal brown box for $1400.00. It is supposed to be unfired, how can you tell? Is these guns worth that much money?
Thanks,
Bubby

In Kali, it would easily price at $2000 or higher. The crappiest beat up Pythons sell for $1k out here.

 

[Philblack]

Originally posted by Termite54:
I hope I don't get anyone angry. I know you guys have alot of revolver knowledge, so I hope I will be allowed to ask some questions here. I have a chance to buy a 6"Royal Blue python in the old colt orginal brown box for $1400.00. It is supposed to be unfired, how can you tell? Is these guns worth that much money?

Thanks,
Bubby

Here in France, we find lots of those for much less than that. I guess in its country, it would be easier and cheaper...

 

[Andy Taylor]

In Kali, it would easily price at $2000 or higher. The crappiest beat up Pythons sell for $1k out here.

No kidding. I recently sold a reblued 4" Python for $1400. It looked nice, was a good shooter, and that is the going rate around here. I like my Trooper better anyway.

 

[windypoint]

I agree, if it is an older serial number in unfired condition, go for it.

 

[armybass]

A few months ago I paid a grand for a minty 1974 4" Blued Python in amazing condition. It was a steal and I think that a Python is a fantastic gun and mine will be one of the last to go from my collection.

 

[pistolero]

after owning four to six pythons in the last twenty five years, i honestly feel that its beauty is only skin deep. true, pythons do have beautiful profiles, but once that appeal may begin to diminish after the initial thrill, one can't help but wonder if the action is appropriate to the otherwise cosmetic appeal, being an outdated mechanism, to say the least, even when the python was a new colt marketing. the python lockwork is easily thrown out of time, and trigger work is very difficult and tricky as opposed to the ingenious smith and wesson lockwork, which begs to be slicked up and responds well, IF, it needs any work at all. i have felt some very crudely tuned pythons, with one that i had where the hammer could be felt catching a rough machining as it fell to the resting position. virtually every smith that i have ever owned( there have been a whole lot) had a fine trigger out of the box, and i have felt tuned smiths that were unbelievably smooth, almost indescribable. but the one thing that bothers me the most about pythons is the one-point rear lock up only, a very serious shortcoming for this gun. it is imperative that there be a lockup in front , in my estimation. so for the outrageous money paid for almost any high condition python these days, you could enjoy a great deal of superior smith and wesson happiness..02

 

[epj]

for the outrageous money paid for almost any high condition python these days, you could enjoy a great deal of superior smith and wesson happiness..02

Exactly why I no longer own a Python!

 

[JudgeColt]

pistolero, you state the stereotypical short-comings of a Colt with the classic mechanism introduced with the New Serivce in 1898, and found on all Colt double action revolvers until the Mark III mechanism was introduced in 1969.

The mention of a rough Python is not typical, and probably reflects the "great" work of the UAW during the 1970s and 1980s that helped ruin Colt. (Think Lear Siegler with Smith.)

I disagree that the mechanism is "easily thrown out of time." The way the Colt mechanism works is that the "second hand" holds the cylinder absolutely tight when the trigger is pulled, eliminating all play as ignition takes place. That contributes to the genereally superior accuracy of Colt revolvers. It also is a feature that causes wear on the hand, eventually getting to the point where the gun is "out of time."

That condition is exhibited when the gun is slowly cocked and the cylinder does not turn far enough for the cylinder stop to engage the stop notch on the cylinder. However, pulling the trigger always completes the cylinder rotation, which again locks the cylinder tight, and no harm is done.

When my Smith friends talk about Colts going out of time, my standard response is that, while Colts do go out of time with age, Smiths are always out of time. Every Smith I have has some play in the cylinder when the trigger is pulled, except for my Triple Lock, which is probably the finest fitted firearm I have ever seen. No Colt has any play when the trigger is pulled.

Being "out of time" does not really affect these old Colts at all, since cocking a loaded cylinder usually imparts enough inertia to the cylinder to send it into lockup, or pulling the trigger does the same. The condition can be fixed by merely replacing the hand, or stretching it. It is part of the maintenance of a high round count Colt.

The fact that a Colt has only the rear cylinder lock up is not a weakness, since the cylinder rotation is clockwise, and the hand tends to push the cylinder tighter into the cylinder window as it rotates the cylinder, whereas, on a Smith, the counter-colckwise cylinder rotation tends to push the cylinder out of the cylinder window, hence the need for the front lockup. A Colt cylinder will be tight in the cylinder window when the trigger is pulled even if the rear lockup lug is gone.

I do not want to start a pointless Colt versus Smith debate, but I had to add some counter information on the "out of time" issue. It exists but does not make Colts worthless. If the high prices Colts are bringing now are not worth it, do not buy a Colt. That will help lower demand and thereby lower the price for the rest of us. You pays your money, and you takes your choice. If someone wants two Smiths for what a Python would cost, so be it.

Personally, I think every "gun person" should have at least one Python, just as that person should have a Smith .44 Magnum, Winchester lever action, Luger, Colt SAA, Colt Government Model/1911, etc. (all of the icons of the gun world), but that is the individual's choice and the subject of another thread.

I'm going to bed.

 

[bountyhunter]

Originally posted by pistolero:
after owning four to six pythons in the last twenty five years, i honestly feel that its beauty is only skin deep. true, pythons do have beautiful profiles, but once that appeal may begin to diminish after the initial thrill, one can't help but wonder if the action is appropriate to the otherwise cosmetic appeal, being an outdated mechanism, to say the least, even when the python was a new colt marketing. the python lockwork is easily thrown out of time, and trigger work is very difficult and tricky as opposed to the ingenious smith and wesson lockwork, which begs to be slicked up and responds well, IF, it needs any work at all.

That's basically true but I have found insulting pythons elicits much the same response as insulting Ronald Reagan..... regardless of historical fact, it will surely start a flamefest. I think if most people had access to the gunsmith manuals I own which detail the insides of a Python, they would pass..... the Python innards are ridiculously complicated compared to a SW. But, in fairness to Colt, the SW model 29 is also known for being thrown out of time with little more than standard service firing magnum loads. But, atleast with SW, they are easy to fix.

 

[kennyb]

i too think the python is a fine forearm..is it the best revolver?dunno...i have it and the anaconda...and they are beautiful shooting guns

 

[kennyb]

Originally posted by armybass:
A few months ago I paid a grand for a minty 1974 4" Blued Python in amazing condition. It was a steal and I think that a Python is a fantastic gun and mine will be one of the last to go from my collection.

i must agree

 

[Lionhound]

I like Smiths and I like Colts, and I really enjoy my Python. Get it if you want it-I don't think you will regret it. If you are concerned about timing, get a Ruger. Here's what Grant Cunningham has to say about Colt lockwork:http://www.grantcunningham.com...python_delicate.html

 

[bountyhunter]

Interesting article, but he is absolutely WRONG in one of his claims:

There's another measurement to consider: at rest, a Colt cylinder should move front-to-back no more than .003" (that's 3/1,000 of an inch.) This is - in the absolute worst case - about half of the allowable S&W movement!

His claim that any SW revo "allows" a front -to - back cylinder play (end shake) of .006" is absurd. I've never even seen one that bad. The nominal spec is .000 - .001". And, the reason they make end shake shims in size of .002" is (say it with me) because when it gets to .002" end shake it is out of spec and needs a shim.

As for:

Now, let's say a S&W owner, used to their looser standards of cylinder lockup, buys a Colt. He goes and shoots it a bit, and the hand (which probably has a bit of wear already, as he bought it used) is approaching the normal replacement interval. He checks his gun, and finds that the cylinder has just the slightest amount of movement when the trigger is back, and half of his S&W's longitudinal travel. Heck, he thinks, it's still a lot tighter than his Smith so it must be fine to keep shooting it.

WRONG! It's at this point that he should stop shooting, and take it to an experienced Colt gunsmith to have the action adjusted. Of course, he doesn't do this - he keeps shooting. The cylinder beats harder against the frame, compresses the ratchet (ejector), causing the hand to wear even faster, and the combination of the two leads to a worn bolt. If left unchecked, the worn bolt can do damage to the rebound lever. When it finally starts spitting lead and misfiring, he takes it in and finds to his astonishment that he's facing a $400 (or more!) repair bill, and perhaps a 6 month wait to find a new ratchet.

He said it.