New Colt Python

[Sal1950]

And I forgot to mention everyone is complaining about the heavy and lousy single action pull on the "new" Python. The "original" Python had an out of this world single action pull. The last 3 "original Pythons I owned had single action pulls of 3 lbs or less.

Yes but lets be honest, a great trigger pull in both SA and DA mode, BUT, after a short time they would go out of time and require gunsmith tuning to get them back in order.. Back in the day, gents who used their guns for a living or just shot them a lot knew the truth which was well known. Colts had the BEST factory triggers but they didn't last too long.
S&W's were much better, just a bit of a smith tuning and the trigger could equal a Colt and last much longer.
Then there was Ruger, built like a tank but factory triggers were really crude by comparison. A good smith could really improve them, but they still couldn't equal a Colt or S&W for competition shooting. The Security Six was a great LEO but for the very high round count shooter, the GP100 replaced it with a gun that can last virtually forever, no matter how much you shoot it. I've got my personal range GP SA to break at 2 5/16 lbs, DA at a little over 10, BUT its a Federal primer gun only and not one I'd ever use for personal protection.

 

[Sal1950]

I don't care what anyone says, that finish looks awesome. A Python is a Python no matter what suit it wears. Now I kinda want my 4" to look like that, but it's stainless so maybe not.

If you really dig it, watch Gun Broker for a used and abused one on the cheap, then do the same.

 

[malph]

How much for the sights?

I think you replied to the wrong guy.

 

[GeeBee]

I prefer the look, feel and trigger of a vintage S&W and always have. I can see where others love the look of the Colt better. Each camp's choice has its pluses and minuses. I think it comes down to a "Ford versus Chevy" thing. Here are my favorites, an Outdoorsman and a pre-27, each with Coke grips.

View attachment 791404

superb

 

[Mostly Good]

Don't ask me if I could only have one ...

 

[cookieman]

My Python was given to me by a dear friend, now passed. He had been given the pistol by the original owner's brother. The original owner had bought it sometimes in the 1970s, I believe. It was originally a nickel-plated 6" model. The owner had some mental issues and at one point, got into a confrontation with some Sheriff's Deputies. At some point in the confrontation, guns were drawn and Dan, the original owner, had a pistol shot out of his hand. One of the deputies told my friend that after being shot, Dan told the deputy, "Goddamn, good shot!". Dan then spent some time in the nervous hospital and while away, his brother hid his guns. The Python sat in a cardboard box on a shelf in an old abandoned barn for maybe 20 years. When my friend, Joe, was given it by Dans brother, it looked like this:

Joe brought it over to show it to me and I suggested that it might could be "saved" by having it refinished. I suggested that since it was in pretty bad shape, he could have it parkerized for a different look. He and I took it to Randy Kline, aka Sledgehammer, in Jacksonville, Texas. Randy is a master gunsmith and has built several FAL rifles for me. At his shop, I lobbied to also have the barrel shortened to 5" for a truly unique look, but that idea was shot down. Probably for the best, too. Randy said that the most expensive part of the refinish was having to send the pistol away to have the nickel coating electro-chemically removed in Houston. Joe put the Pachymar grips on after getting it back.

I've heard of several other parkerized Pythons since acquiring this one. I imagine they were finished like that for similar reasons. It may well offend Colt purists, but I like the way it looks now, and it's surely much improved over the way it looked when Joe first got it.

I have a 4" S&W 686, bought new around 1987 or '88 that was tuned by a neighbor who was a gunsmith. His specialty was tuning S&W revolvers (and bedding rifle stocks) and he was fantastic at it. Gene Salach replaced the factory springs, stoneded, polished and shimmed the parts and the result is just an incredible trigger job. Many people say that it's the best they've felt. I don't know about that, but it is very fine. Recently, I had both it and the Python out of the safe and I'll say that even now, that Colt's trigger isn't that far from the trigger of that Smith. In both single and double-action mode, it's not far behind, and after all it's been through, that's quite the testament to its quality.

Maybe a silly question but was complete disassembly require to do the job?

 

[cookieman]

Don't ask me if I could only have one ...
View attachment 791455

That's a tough one. Colt does have a chrome hammer though.