[Kahr carrier]

A Smolt was a conversion done by Davis & Co in the Prk around the eightys .It was a K frame Smith mated to a Colt Python barrel .:)

[Bottom Gun]

I used to have a K-22 with a Colt Diamondback barrel but it wasn't made by Davis and Co. It was put together for me by a pistolsmith friend of mine in Phoenix. I sold it to another friend about 15 yr ago.
Kinda wish I'd hung on to it.

[10-Ring]

I had seen one once in a shop in San Leandro. At the time I didn't understand why you'd want something like that other than too much disposable income.

[Mal H]

Nope. :)

[Kahr carrier]

They were cool looking I saw it at the old Davis showroom they use to have in Berkley.:)

[dfariswheel]

The reason for the original "Smython" wasn't for "gee whizz, look what I've got", it was for shooting the PPC course.

A great many PPC police shooters used the Python because of the muzzle-heavy balance and super accurate Colt barrel.
But, people also liked the S&W trigger action, so somebody thought "If only I could have a Python barrel on a S&W action".
Thus, the "Smython".

S&W developed the 686 as an answer to the Python. S&W only had the "K" frame and "N" frame guns. The "K" was too prone to shooting loose from Magnum rounds, and the "N" frame was too big and heavy for most cops to carry on duty.

The Python was about perfect in size and weight, so S&W introduced the 686 with a frame and cylinder size as much like the Python as possible, and a barrel that was almost a direct copy.

Another gun out there, but very little known is the Colt TroopOn.

In the late 60's, Vietnam was on big time, and Colt Python's were almost impossible to find. So, several gunsmiths took the still available Colt Trooper, welded up the front of the topstrap to match the Python barrel, fitted a Python barrel, gave the action a high-grade tune, and finished it with a Python quality blue job.

Thus was born the Colt "TroopOn" revolver.
There are a fair number of people out there with "valuable, early 60's Pythons".........That aren't. The only ways to tell are a serial number check, and a close look at the front of the barrel for signs of the weld job.

[Standing Wolf]

I saw one advertised at http://www.gunbroker.com several weeks ago. As I recall, it was in the rough neighborhood of $600.

[Kahr carrier]

Dfariswheel thx for the info ,thats why I like this forum ,I learn something new almost everyday.Have you had an opportuninty to shoot one of those Troopon conversions??

[Jim March]

Then there's the "Cruger" - Python barrel on a Security Six!

:scrutiny:

Saw one of 'em once. Uuuugly. Just didn't look like it fit right.

:rolleyes:

[Kahr carrier]

Did Davis Company make the Cruger?? Or was it another company that did that conversion??

[Daniel Watters]

Yes, Davis did mate the Python barrel to a Security Six. It was called a 'Cougar'.

[dfariswheel]

Kahr carrier:
The one TroopOn I got to examine was indistinguishable from a Python. The only sign that it was a conversion, was the weld on the topstrap could be detected.
The action was tuned to Python specs, and the blue was perfect.

One gunsmith who did these conversions was profiled in a gun magazine in the late 60's. He said they polished and blued the gun to Python specs, then put the "green" (newly) blued gun in a tank of hot oil for a week. Once or twice a day, they would gently rub it down with a oiled rag.
This finished it off to look just like a Python.

The owner said it shot as well as his genuine Python.

So, if you ever want to buy a valuable old Python, look at the top strap, and check the serial numbers carefully.

[Kahr carrier]

Thx for the tip Dfariswheel ,I would have never known there were some clone Pythons out there .It sounds like they put a lot of work into doing the blue jobs on the clones. :)

[dfariswheel]

There in is the problem.
There were a couple of shops offering the TroopOn conversion in 1969-70. They were turning out an unknown number of guns, then the the article appeared in either Guns & Ammo, or Shooting Times.
I later heard that business expanded by an order of magnitude after that.

Everyone wanted Pythons, and they just weren't to be had.
The Trooper had been discontinued in 1969 and there were plenty of them around from used to new-in-the-box.

I suspect there are a fair number of these out there.

Want a "good" time.....Try explaining to a customer that the Python he's trying to sell, or worse, just bought....ISN'T.

"WHAT do you MEAAAAANNNNNNN this isn't a Python"?
"Of course it's a Python, it says so right here on the barrel, you &%$)@#$."

Back to the original subject on the Smolt.
The original purpose was for shooting PPC, but as in all things, people thought this looked "cool" so a good number of these were turned out too.
I've even seen a few S&W-Smolt-S&W guns....S&W guns converted to a Smolt, then converted back again years later.

[9mmepiphany]

the biggest "advantage" of the "smolt or smython", besides the underlug, was the rifling twist change...from 1-18" to 1-14", which stabalized 148gr wadcutters better...also the "choking" down of the barrel at the muzzle.

the "cougar" (python barrel on the ruger security-six) is my favorite mostly because i always thought the tapered barrel of the "SS" looked funny on the rugged frame of the ruger. just typing this makes me want to go out looking for another "six"

both of these were very popular in the davis shop with the rarest being the 3" (cut from left over 8") barrels on the m-19

i've seen a .22lr diamondback barrel on a m-17, but the smaller scaled diamondback barrel did not look "proportionaly correct"

i remember a "how-to" article in "Guns" by the late george nonte on converting the OP (official police) into a python clone...i would think the hammer mounted firing pin would be the most oblivous give away

[chief]

Yes, I have a 6" one. Bought it from Davis in the later 70's. Shoots like a dream.

[Jeff OTMG]

Any of the top line smiths should be able to do the conversion for you. I know that Bill Laughridge has done some and would expect that Ron Power or Alex Hamilton could do the work as well.