You Walk Into A Gun Store in 1978...

When I bought my first Model 19, it was a used gun, nickled which I did not care for, but it was the first and only M19 I saw for another couple of years. It cost me $125.00 when I was being paid $288.00 a month before any deductions. A couple years later, I had the opportunity to have and use a Python for a while. I'm glad I didn't have the money to buy it. What I found for me is that the Python wouldn't hold a candle for my M19 or a M27 or M28 to run by. If I had bought it and held onto it till today's prices, I'm not sure I could sell it to anyone who ever intended to use it for more than a safe queen or an investment. If you like the Colts, I have no problem with that. That leaves the Smiths for me. That suits me just fine!
 
I woulda gone for the 3.5" M27. I remember as a kid my Dad had lots of guns that we'd all shoot at the town dump. Mostly Smiths, and some single action Rugers from 22 up to 44 Magnum.
Don't recall any Colt's.
I've always since gravitated towards the S&Ws when I was old enough to buy them. My very first was a 1969 29-2 from a local pawn shop.
The only Colt's I ever bought are the 1911s. Love those pistols.
I sort of considered buying some Pythons last year, but after handling several at a gun show, I remembered why I never bought one years ago. I simply don't like the way they feel in hand.
I'm positive I would not have chosen the Python over a Smith in 1978.



Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
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Living in Colorado, I would have bought the 4" Python because that's what the state troopers were carrying at the time and everybody wanted one.

38 years later I would have regretted passing up the 3 1/2" N Frame.
 
The 3 1/2 inch Model 27. Never did think the Colt Python was "all that" and everything I heard about their needing constant "tune ups" like a Ferrari has done noting to change that opinion. In addition a 6 inch Python was so muzzle heavy that you had to do weightlifting practice to shoot well in NRA Slow Fire segments.

Contrast that with the 3 1/2 inch Model 27 with it's completely perfect balance for Combat shooting and it's well deserved reputation for being very long lived with little more than a drop of oil once in a while and it's no contest at all.
 
Richard:

If it was just a year later, here is what I would have picked: my 1979 vintage 27-2, 3 1/2" Smith and Wesson .357....



I have ivory stocks on it now, but I love this big snub nose. The fit and finish are superb. But I am not knocking the Python, it has a lovely top of the line Colt blue that is also beautiful. And the Model 19 is also very nice. But even in 1979, the Model 27 was still "The" .357 Magnum, and the flagship of the Smith and Wesson fleet. And I have always loved snubbies, so that (as I said in and earlier post) would have been my pick. And I still love mine!!

Best Regards, Les
 
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snowman.45 said:
Pythons are fine revolvers, but they tend to have timing issues relatively quickly in their life cycle. Further, I prefer the S&W action over the Colt action by a wide margin. Admittedly subjective, but I'll take the Model 27 (or most other medium to large frame S&W revolvers) over the Colt without a second thought.
Click to expand...

I see this timing issue mentioned occasionally. The best I can tell by looking at the majority of the guns in this post and others, they don't get shot anyway. Not much of an issue if sitting in the dark in a safe. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, if bought for a collector's investment, the mechanics don't matter anyway. All that matters is the future price increase. We seem to keep getting back to the owners and shooters issue. Whether or not the action is glass smooth or it jumps timing doesn't make a hill of beans if you don't shoot it. If you are going to shoot it, go ahead, let her rip. If something happens, fix it and shoot it some more. Whether it's your choice or not, then buy or not. If it is your choice to buy and keep or use or not, spend your hard earned money and enjoy the fruits of YOUR labor. Don't be put off by what MAY happen. If you apply that to everything , why get up? You'll just get tired again.
 
Billy:

I have an awful lot of Smith and Wessons, and I love them all. But I also have an awful lot of Colts, including double action revolvers, going all the way back to my 1877 "Lightning", (which may be the, or at least one of the first) D.A. Colts, and all the way up to some "modern" Detective Specials and Diamondbacks, and Agents, Official Police, and a lot of others as well. I must be special, because none of those has developed any timing issues. I shoot all of my guns. Not all of the time, of course, there are too many of them for that, but they always come around in rotation,depending on my mood. And of course, I have a lot of autos as well, so I get a lot of shooting in. I think that this Colt timing thing reminds me of Mark Twain's response when he read his own obituary in a newspaper (which thought he had died):

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!".

Richard: Sorry for the thread drift!!

Best Regards, Les
 
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I would have bought the Python, put it away....then I would have NOT sold the 1957 Jaguar XK140 roadster that I paid $1800 for, put it away, and then I would have given Bill Gates a couple grand to invest, and let it ride.......and......would have skipped the first marriage.....she would have wound up with all of it anyway.......:mad:
Now, I'd buy a S&W in a heartbeat.....and I do when I can....
 
1978.... just out of Law School...... making good money.........

Never liked the Colt's action or grips............

The N'frame never fit my hand until I found Spegel grips .........

So guess I'd stick w/ the 4 inch Model 10 that quickly got traded for a 2 1/2 inch 19.............................




OK knowing what I know now.... some Pythons for my 401K


Edit: my first Colt Diamondback (84/85) was so out of time I was lucky to get 3 of 6 shots off.........rapid fire/ double action.......did I mention I don't like the action!?!?!
 
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I would have gravitated toward that 4" Python.

I would have tried to get that, or a model 19.
 
The short barreled Smith, 3-1/2 or 4", whichever it is, because that's not only a great gun, it's a barrel length I don't have. Pretty wood in the grips too. I have or had 2-1/2, 6, 6.5 and 8-3/8, but never landed a 3.5-4".
RKmesa - Thanks for the pics - they're all beauties.
 
Richard:

In 1978 I had a 2 1/2" and a 4" 66 no dash!! Only because I had been issued them in 1975 as a rookie police officer. In 1977 I had been to the Smith and Wesson factory Armorer's school, and was working on Smiths on a regular basis, and was very impressed with the mechanics of the Hand Ejector based guns. Smith automatics were in their infancy then.

Best Regards, Les
 
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I was fourteen in 1978 and was after a shotgun with a slug barrel so I could shoot a 10 point buck. I do have a 78 Python that I bought in 1992 for $400 that came with 300 rounds of ammo.
If I could go back to 1978 now I probably buy the 4" Python or maybe a 4" model 19 , oh heck I'd buy them both.
 

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I was a Skeeter fan in 1978, so I got the 5" M27

image_zpsaly0wunh.jpeg


At the same shop I passed on a consecutive numbered pair of M29's,
one a 5 screw the other a 4 screw, the pair for $1,500!

The M27 is wearing some Blu Magnum grips
 
In 1978 i was but a senior in High School so i wouldn't have
had the funds for any of the above. But if i did......
First choice is a 4" Python. Second choice is the 3 1/2" model
27.

But all four are beautiful guns. Thanks for sharing !!!

Chuck
 
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