Why do Colt snakes sell for so much more than comparable S&W's
- Thread starter Paul12644
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alde
Member
I picked up a King Cobra a few months ago at a local GS for what I thought was a good deal. It's a nice enough revolver but no better than a 686. It shoots well and they do seem to hold there value but I prefer S&W revolvers for shooting.
The whole Colt supply and demand thing is just total BS. Every week there are hundreds of Colt python's for sale, been like this for years, definitely no short supply of them. There are still thousands of them out there NIB I am willing to bet. It is simply over the years all the hype with the smoothest this or that on the python and being used in a few popluar tv series the last few years, the Coly python is a very good example of a over hyped and over valued gun. I would rather buy several prelock Smith and Wesson's before I waste my money on a python 
and this coming from someone who owned a few of them .
Eric
and this coming from someone who owned a few of them .Eric
10-12
Member
I agree with CajunBass. I have been into handguns since the late 1950's and I seem to recall that new Colts were always more expensive than a comparable new S&W.
Bill
I have several issues of Gun Digest and The Shooters Bible from the late 1950's, 1960's and early 1970's. The Colt revolvers were always twenty to forty dollars more.
all357mag
Member
I shoot a 44 yr old Python and a 27-2. Until you shoot both, you won't understand why a Colt is more money.
S&W1006
Member
I love S&W revolvers but I have always wanted a couple of Colt revlovers. Since they are no longer in production they have gotten out of my price range. I have always loved the finish on Colt revolvers blued or stainless. I hope to add at least one Colt wheel gun to my collection but if not I'll enjoy my Smiths. If Colt did start to produce revolvers again I might have to get one.
I think a big reason that one sees so many Pythons on GB is that many are being offered by owners that have reached their "Golden Years" and don't get out shooting as much as they used to. Now they are looking hard at the revolver that they paid $150 for back in '65 and seeing a tenfold increase in value...there's nothing new here; it happens all the time with collectibles. The interesting thing to me is that, with all those Pythons on GB, relatively few are seen on gun show tables, even at a major show like Louisville. The same phenomenon applies to pinned & recessed "N" frames...priced a 3.5" 27-2 lately? Seen many, even at $1000+? I didn't think so...
jtcarm
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Fairly priced is whatever people are paying for them.
Safety devices didn't have much to do with Colt ceasing production of DAs, it was their financial situation and the fact that there is just not that big of a market for premium DA revolvers, with Police/Military switching to autos. They resurrected their SA revolvers thanks to the popularity of Cowboy Action Shooting. There just is no equivalent for DA revolvers, much as we all love them.
Colt just about gave up the ghost a few years back and is about to lose it's contract for the M4, so it'll be interesting to see where they go.
30 years ago,I thought pythons were over priced,so I didn't buy one.20 years ago,same thing.6 years ago,I bit the bullet and bought one.It's now worth almost twice what I paid for it.
mkk41
US Veteran
I'm surprised nobody else said it , sheer production numbers. I'd bet S&W made far more revolvers of comparable models than Colt. I'd bet way more Model 10s were cranked out than Colt Official Police.
S&W also had far more models thru the years.
I'd go as far to bet that S&W manufactured at least 10x the total number of modern double action revolvers than Colt , if not greater.
S&W also had far more models thru the years.
I'd go as far to bet that S&W manufactured at least 10x the total number of modern double action revolvers than Colt , if not greater.
The whole Colt supply and demand thing is just total BS. Every week there are hundreds of Colt python's for sale, been like this for years, definitely no short supply of them. There are still thousands of them out there NIB I am willing to bet. It is simply over the years all the hype with the smoothest this or that on the python and being used in a few popluar tv series the last few years, the Coly python is a very good example of a over hyped and over valued gun. I would rather buy several prelock Smith and Wesson's before I waste my money on a python
Eric
I agree with Eric 100%.........And I own one(Python) from the custom shop. My bride bought it for me in 1980.
As a young man I had a bad case of the hots for a 6" Python. Had owned a few lesser guns by that time (no S&Ws yet!) but found the looks and balance of the 6" Python impossible to resist. Saved up and finally got one in 1971, a new 6" blued model.
Lots of reamer marks in the chambers, a rough action shared with other DA Colts pre Mark III that went "click-pop-snap-crack-click" on its way to full cock via single action, a weak action that soon wore out of time (a very common characteristic of the old-style Colt DAs--I saw more than one come right out of the box that wouldn't fully index its cylinder on slow cocking single action) and a cylinder that soon started rubbing on the barrel end due to poor fitting/poor materials.
I got rid of the gun and went to a Smith 27, the gun I SHOULD have been lusting after all that time. None of the above problems, was more accurate too. Grip was a bit large for my girly hands, so when the 586 came out I then had the perfect .357--looks and balance of the Python, light-years-better action, better-feeling grip (to me at least).
I will give the Python credit where it is due--a fabulous finish in either blue or nickel, assuming it is a gun made before that quality started slipping in the 1970's.
Lots of reamer marks in the chambers, a rough action shared with other DA Colts pre Mark III that went "click-pop-snap-crack-click" on its way to full cock via single action, a weak action that soon wore out of time (a very common characteristic of the old-style Colt DAs--I saw more than one come right out of the box that wouldn't fully index its cylinder on slow cocking single action) and a cylinder that soon started rubbing on the barrel end due to poor fitting/poor materials.
I got rid of the gun and went to a Smith 27, the gun I SHOULD have been lusting after all that time. None of the above problems, was more accurate too. Grip was a bit large for my girly hands, so when the 586 came out I then had the perfect .357--looks and balance of the Python, light-years-better action, better-feeling grip (to me at least).
I will give the Python credit where it is due--a fabulous finish in either blue or nickel, assuming it is a gun made before that quality started slipping in the 1970's.
Over a forty-two year period (1927-1969) Colt made approximately 750,000 OP's. If you throw in the Army Special (the predecessor) the numbers might break 1,000,000. During that same period I believe S&W made close to a couple million.
geoff40
Member
I also agree it has much to do with the lockwork. What makes certain models so attractive to me is the resulting smoothness of a hand-fitted action.
I used to own a pretty nice Python, but I sold it off. That peculiar double-notched hand found on a Python has been known to wear down, and the usual fix for this is to ever so slightly peen it with a hammer. Colt issued a directive not to fire .357s in a Python, instead of standing behind what they made. Boardroom decisions like this one are what put them under more than any other thing.zq
I used to own a pretty nice Python, but I sold it off. That peculiar double-notched hand found on a Python has been known to wear down, and the usual fix for this is to ever so slightly peen it with a hammer. Colt issued a directive not to fire .357s in a Python, instead of standing behind what they made. Boardroom decisions like this one are what put them under more than any other thing.zq
drhenzler
Member
Price on Colt vs S&W
I bought a Colt Python in 1969 for $160. A S&W model 28 or model 19 was considerably less at that time. Smith's have always sold for less. I believe they are appropriately priced considering what they sold for originally.
One reporter's opinion...
I bought a Colt Python in 1969 for $160. A S&W model 28 or model 19 was considerably less at that time. Smith's have always sold for less. I believe they are appropriately priced considering what they sold for originally.
One reporter's opinion...
