Colt Python: why so valuable?

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I was talking with Brent there a couple weeks back on a custom Peacemaker idea I was interested in, he said currently a two-year wait.
Just FYI.

If he gets the staffing he's been promised, could be sooner.
Hopes to fill those two immediate slots this month.

That'll be the biggest number of Custom Shop employees in years.
Denis
 
I got an email back today from Carol Wilkerson who normally handles a lot of the custom shop SAA's...

"My suggestion is to check gun broker or the auction houses. Colt is still working out of bankruptcy. "
 
Try calling Brent directly at the Custom Shop & discuss.
Wilkerson is not in a position to tell you anything helpful, Brent is.

You seem to be going everywhere but where you need to be & making false assumptions based on what you're not finding.
Denis
 
I just think it's so ironic, and sad, that in today's "modern world" of computers and machines, that we can't get a reasonably affordable revolver that is equal to the smoothness and precision of the decades old Python. I mean really... 50+ years of technology, the widespread adoption of automated computer machinery, and the best one can hope for these days for $1000 (new production guns) is probably a S&W of some flavor... and let's face it, S&W quality isn't quite what it used to be.

It's really strange. Yes I know that the hand fitting and polishing would make the Python prodigiously expensive to make today, but you're telling me they can't make some robot do the same thing for half the cost? Do parts really need to be hand fitted to get the same results? A super-accurate modern CNC machine can't do it, but a clumsy squishy meat bag human can?

It's all just so, so weird to me... it's like... :(
 
IMHO, my Colt Police Positive .38 Special 4" is more valuable to me, personally, because it is light, compact, and is more suitable to my needs as a CCW (to protect my life). What's more important, in this life ?

Oh, BTW, it's in pristine condition (approx. 99.44 %).:D
 
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Cooldill said:
I just think it's so ironic, and sad, that in today's "modern world" of computers and machines, that we can't get a reasonably affordable revolver that is equal to the smoothness and precision of the decades old Python. I mean really... 50+ years of technology, the widespread adoption of automated computer machinery, and the best one can hope for these days for $1000 (new production guns) is probably a S&W of some flavor... and let's face it, S&W quality isn't quite what it used to be.

It's really strange. Yes I know that the hand fitting and polishing would make the Python prodigiously expensive to make today, but you're telling me they can't make some robot do the same thing for half the cost? Do parts really need to be hand fitted to get the same results? A super-accurate modern CNC machine can't do it, but a clumsy squishy meat bag human can?

It's all just so, so weird to me... it's like... :(
Click to expand...
You mean like the stuff Ruger uses? Rattle , Rattle , Rattle. Got a bunch of them and they arent in the same league as the hand finished Colts. I can shoot them without worrying about dropping one though
 
yugorpk said:
You mean like the stuff Ruger uses? Rattle , Rattle , Rattle. Got a bunch of them and they arent in the same league as the hand finished Colts. I can shoot them without worrying about dropping one though
Click to expand...
No Ruger uses cast parts. I would think CNC, an advanced one, could replicate the hand fitting process. The technology must not be very advanced then since humans can produce a better product.
 
Cooldill said:
No Ruger uses cast parts. I would think CNC, an advanced one, could replicate the hand fitting process. The technology must not be very advanced then since humans can produce a better product.
Click to expand...
Automated machinery makes things cheaper and more efficiently in large quantity. Automated machinery does not necessarily cost effectively build things to tighter tolerances and higher finish levels in small quantities .
 
Oh!

Never mind then.

But BTW, a CNC machine is unable to make a Rolex watch today too.

Nothing we have invented so far can match a master craftsman hand fitting every part.

rc
 
DPris said:
Try calling Brent directly at the Custom Shop & discuss.

Wilkerson is not in a position to tell you anything helpful, Brent is.



You seem to be going everywhere but where you need to be & making false assumptions based on what you're not finding.

Denis
Click to expand...


It's truly amazing how people can ignore facts that don't suit their interpretation of the truth.
 
ljnowell said:
It's truly amazing how people can ignore facts that don't suit their interpretation of the truth.
Click to expand...
If i could actually buy those guns Colt lists in their catalog I'd agree with you. Unfortunately I cannot. Colt does not make enough to fill, at their own admission, a 2 year backlog and I cannot find a distributor after extensive searching over the last year that can figure out when or if they will ever get another shipment of SAA's from Colt. 1911's I can get all day. Yes, truly amazing. MAYBE they are trying to improve their manufacturing capabilities or fill positions they laid people off from during their bankruptcy . Thats great. I somehow doubt that 4 or 5 union guys is going to fill the pipeline except from truly custom orders. Unless they do some major restructuring Colts best days are behind it.
 
Regardless of your opinions, your statements about Colt have been shown to be wrong.
Colt did not stop Peacemaker production, Colt has shipped those guns continuously since 2014, they are still producing them without interruption, and the Custom Shop is not & has not been "all but shuttered".

The Model P is not a huge money-maker for Colt & is simply produced in small volume which demand far exceeds.

You were given a path to follow in trying to do a custom order.
If you choose not to follow it, then keep looking for a regular production Model P.
Denis
 
rcmodel said:
Oh!

Never mind then.

But BTW, a CNC machine is unable to make a Rolex watch today too.

Nothing we have invented so far can match a master craftsman hand fitting every part.

rc
Click to expand...
I have a mechanical seiko "monster" that I wear every single day. It lost a total of 40 seconds from the last daylight savings time to this daylight savings time. From my understanding it was built nearly 100% by robots. My omega, by contrast has much more human involvement in its manufacturing and it would lose between 7 and 10 seconds a day (I don't even wear it anymore because I prefer the seiko).

I don't think guns have tighter tolerances than watches....
 
I don't think the accuracy, smoothness of the action, or anything inherent to the design has much to do with the current values. When the gun was still in production, it was 25% or so more than a comparable S&W which made sense. But now a Python will sell for 400-500% more than a same vintage Smith M27. Most of the Pythons being bought up today at those prices will never be fired.
Everybody wants what they can't have. There is a finite supply of Pythons, and the generation that drooled over them 30 years ago now has the disposable income to buy them almost regardless of price. Sort of like muscle cars. A new '69 Dodge Charger R/T didn't cost much more than a Ford LTD, but you don't see a '69 LTD bringing $100k at auction.
 
yugorpk said:
If i could actually buy those guns Colt lists in their catalog I'd agree with you. Unfortunately I cannot. Colt does not make enough to fill, at their own admission, a 2 year backlog and I cannot find a distributor after extensive searching over the last year that can figure out when or if they will ever get another shipment of SAA's from Colt. 1911's I can get all day. Yes, truly amazing. MAYBE they are trying to improve their manufacturing capabilities or fill positions they laid people off from during their bankruptcy . Thats great. I somehow doubt that 4 or 5 union guys is going to fill the pipeline except from truly custom orders. Unless they do some major restructuring Colts best days are behind it.
Click to expand...


A backlog does not mean out of production or not being made. They simply aren't being made fast. That's the case for many firearms.
 
Dang prices are so high for Pythons, I can't afford to shoot the thing any more:


DSCN1765ColtPython.jpg

If prices for a M27 Smith also skyrocket, I won't be happy.

DSCN1755M27-2.jpg

If this gets to be a $1000 pistol, well I sure shot out its collector value!

M10SW.jpg
 
You seem to be going everywhere but where you need to be & making false assumptions based on what you're not finding.
Click to expand...
Prezactly!

Yugo, if Colt has a 2yr backlog, why would any distributor have any in stock???
 
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