New Anaconda first impressions

[muddocktor]

Hey all, been a while since I posted here and much longer than that on buying a new revolver. Anyway, I finally got off my rear end and satisfied my curiosity and bought a new model Anaconda off Grab-A-Gun. I bought the 6 inch barrel version. I picked it up from the LGS today and brought it home. Here are some of my first impressions on it:

1. General fit and finish is excellent and it is a very nice looking firearm.

2. The rubber grip it comes with feels a bit skinny, especially as compared to the Culina stocks I have on my 3 S&W 44s. I definitely foresee a set of Culina Python stocks in the very near future. I don't know how well the stock rubber grips handle recoil yet as I plan to go to the range tomorrow and shoot it against my 6 1/2" 629-3 Classic and I might also bring my 6 1/2" barrel 29-2 too.

3. The double action trigger feels pretty darn spiffy for a new gun; feels smooth and has about a 12 lb pull according to my Timney gauge. The double action feels very controllable.

4. Now to the slight disappointment, the single action trigger pull. While it doesn't feel funky or gritty, it is pretty heavy. When I first pulled it out of the box, it had about a 6 - 6 1/2 lb trigger in single action according to my Timney. It breaks clean and doesn't have any creep or slop, but heavy. I decided to look inside and after watching a video on YouTube, I pulled the side plate off and lubricated some things. BTW, it did come from the factory with some oil inside the lockworks. After putting things back together, it seems to have helped a bit as I am now seeing 5 1/2 - 5 3/4 lbs on the Timney now. I guess I will be doing some dry fire sessions while watching tv in the future and see if it lightens up. It's not bad, but my 3 Smiths just smoke it in single action trigger feel right now.

5. One thing I noticed on the gun is the cylinder length. It looks to be 1/8" - 3/16" longer than my 629 cylinder. So this gun shouldn't have any problem handling very heavy bullets such as Buffalo Bore uses in those atomic 44 loads that they sell that will blow up a Smith. Not that I would shoot that ammo, but it should make life easier for the people who cast big old chunks of lead to throw out their 44s. And it also got me wondering if you could possibly load the Hornady 225 grain FTX bullets without having to trim your brass for this gun.

6. Weight: It's a little heavier than my 629 Classic, which is probably the closest I have to it to compare too. But it's not much heavier and doesn't seem to be any problem.

BTW, does anyone know what kind of speedloader this gun uses? Same as the Smith 44's?

 

[Stirling]

Congratulations on your new Colt. I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts after some shooting against your Smiths. I have a 4" Model 28 that my wife used to out shoot two 6" Pythons at 15m. The one Python was the range Captain's and looked to have custom sights. She was smoking hot that day out shooting all the boys. Of course you know we need to see your pics too.

 

[stansdds]

The big selling point of the old Python was its buttery smooth and relatively light double action pull. The new Python, King Cobra, and Anaconda retain this attribute, but the single action is typically crisp, but quite heavy. This is likely to prevent accidental discharge in single action, which is a legal liability issue, and helps the revolver to pass a drop test, making it acceptable for sale in states that require such a test. I expect there are or will be some enterprising gunsmiths who will make good money by giving these new Colt revolvers a more palatable single action pull.

 

[Mike0251]

Congrats! Your going to enjoy that. I replaced the sights on mine with the Wilson ones. Got her dialed in quickly at 10 yards.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

It should use the same speed loader as the old Anaconda and Smith M29.

The information about the drop test and single-action pull is true. There are two nationally known gunsmiths who can work on that and lessen the pull. One has a year plus backlog to catch up on…Heffron Engineering…not sure about the other…Frank Glenn Customs.

The Anaconda actually is considered to be smoother than the Python…same action scaled up for the bigger frame. It has to do with mechanical advantage.

A tidbit…the Anaconda cylinder is deliberately designed to be long enough to chamber the .454. It’s hoped that the gun will eventually be made available in that chambering.

 

[muddocktor]

Stirling, those N frame 357s are some accurate beasts too. My first pistol was a 5" model 27 and I still have it. I had a buddy that had a Python with a 6" barrel if I remember right, and regularly outshot him with my 27.

And for pics, I took a couple last night of the big snake along with my 629 Classic for reference. The 629 is wearing a pair of Italian Olive Culina stocks.

Left side


Right side

 

[muddocktor]

@ SnidelyWhiplash, that's interesting about the cylinder length and a good explanation on the reason for it's length. And I dug up my speedloaders for the Smiths and they do work fine on the Anaconda.

@ Mike0251, I'm about to flash off to the range and shoot some 44's, so I will see what I think of the stock sights. I looked at the Wilson Combat rear sight on Midway and they don't look too different than the stock ones at a casual glance. What do you find to be different and better? Also, I really like the gold bead patridge front sights I put on my N frames that allow easy sight changing and really prefer that style over the red ramp sights. Does anyone make a gold bead patridge style sight for the Python and Anaconda that you know of?

@ stansdds, interesting info about the heavier single action pull on my Colt. Makes sense too, as I would be kind of leery of the lightened single action on my N frames if I was duty carrying. Most of my N frames have around a 2 lb single action pull. I'll give my Colt some time to break in before considering having some action work done. The trigger pull itself feels good but just heavy.

BTW, this is my first Colt revolver. I've shot a Python in the past and I've shot my brother's Lawman, but never owned one until now.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

You said your Anaconda has about a 12lb pull...actually that's heavy compared to what most report. They seem to be running around 8-10lb trigger pulls from what I've seen reported. I don't know what Colt's trigger pull specs are but would suspect yours is within factory tolerances. Some dry firing and shooting may bring that down some.

I do hope Colt bring it out in .454 as it was designed for it...but Colt is selling all the Anacondas and Pythons they can make now so it must not be an economic necessity at the moment. When you're running at full capacity to keep up with sales orders you really don't want to interrupt it for a change unless it's absolutely necessary.

If and when a .454 Anaconda comes out I'll get one and probably sell my Freedom Arms .454.

 

[muddocktor]

I had read about that myself, SnidelyWhiplash. And I imagine it is Colt's specs too. The double action actually wasn't a problem for me.

I just got back from the range with it. I also brought my 629 Classic and my 29-2 with it to compare it to, since both of those have 6 1/2" barrels. I brought 150 rounds, 100 loaded with MBC 240 grain smashers sitting over 7.0 grains of Unique. Those were a pure pleasure to shoot out of all 3 guns. The other 50 were some 180 grain Hornady XTP bullets I got a heck of a deal on a few years ago, loaded over 24.3 grains of 2400. Those were kind of spicy, but with the light bullet they didn't punish you.

Shooting the 3 guns, I found that the Colt felt much like the 629 Classic in handling recoil. The 29-2 had more muzzle flip with the hot rounds, as I figured since it's a lighter barrel than those underlug guns. I found the Anaconda to be very controllable in double action and I grouped decently. I did find the single action trigger to be harder to control though, as I am not used to a pistol having that high a trigger pull. I found that I had to consciously think on squeezing progressively until the hammer dropped. The rubber grip served me adequately and didn't beat me up unduly with the hot stuff. But I found them a bit narrow for my taste and the palm swell felt funny. I only shot at 15 yards, but it seems to be as accurate as my Smiths as long as you don't let the heavy trigger bother you. BTW, the speedloaders I have for my Smiths worked real well actually might have been easier to use with the rubber grip than on my Classic with the Culina footballs.

Of course, I had to take a pic of the dirty boys after playing at the range.

 

[Mike0251]

@ Muddocktor
I replaced the sights because the factory ones are difficult to adjust and the screw tends to loosen and disappear. The Wilson rear sight is what Colt should have done.

As for a Gold bead front Wilson has that too! It's out of stock but you can sign up for a notification. Their python/anaconda sights sell out quick every time they get them in.

FRONT SIGHT, COLT PYTHON/ANACONDA, SNAG FREE, WHITE GOLD BEAD, .180"

 

[muddocktor]

Thanks for the info, Mike. And a big thank you for the link to the front sight too. I did notice that the stock rear sight seems to have a little slop in it; I can feel it wiggle just a tad from side to side if you grab it and try to move it. I guess I will be putting out some bucks to Wilson Combat in the future. First off though is getting John and Jennifer to make me some nice looking and feeling wood stocks for my Anaconda.

 

[muddocktor]

I've been dry firing off and on since I cleaned it up last night and the trigger is improving a bit. Double action pull is down to 10.5-10.75 pounds and the single action is down to around 5.5 pounds. I'll just keep dry firing it with snap caps in for a while longer and see if things improve more.

 

[stansdds]

I've been dry firing off and on since I cleaned it up last night and the trigger is improving a bit. Double action pull is down to 10.5-10.75 pounds and the single action is down to around 5.5 pounds. I'll just keep dry firing it with snap caps in for a while longer and see if things improve more.

That's a good break-in practice. The contacting surfaces will wear in, smoothing little rough areas in the process.

 

[muddocktor]

That's a good break-in practice. The contacting surfaces will wear in, smoothing little rough areas in the process.

Yeah, I figured it wouldn't hurt to do it. I did much the same with my wife's model 60 when she first got it. It was kind of rough feeling in both single and double action but broke in nicely.

 

[DirtyHairy]

Looking forward to seeing some of your targets from your first range trip!

 

[muddocktor]

Looking forward to seeing some of your targets from your first range trip!

Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pics of the targets. I used the same targets for all 3 guns, so I stapled over the old ones as they got too perforated. I will say that I did have some flyers that were all on me, trying to get used to the heavy trigger pull. I did center mass shots then went to the head when center mass was holey and one time I even started aiming at the 8 to the right of center since that area was clear.

I think all this dry firing I've been doing the last few days is helping me out too, as far as just squeezing the trigger instead of trying to hurry it up and snatching at it. With my 3 Smiths, you don't have to put much effort into just squeezing off without jerking, but not so much with the Anaconda.

 

[muddocktor]

This evening I got notification from Wilson Combat that they had the gold bead front sight in stock and had it at a discount from $75.95 to $60.76, so I clicked the link and put one in the basket. Then, since I was gonna buy it, I decided to check and see if they had the rear combat sights in stock and maybe on sale too and sure enough, they had it discounted from $109.95 to $87.96, so I dropped one of those in the basket too and went to check out. So I saved over $37 and got some quality sights for my new snake coming to me.

 

[Stirling]

Now I can't wait to see what it looks like fitted and hear how it improves the shooting experience.

 

[muddocktor]

I don't want to wait either, Stirling. But unfortunately Fedex just sent me an email stating my order from Wilson is delayed 2 days, with no reason why. I guess I won't be doing it until later in the week.