Why do so many people dislike the new snake guns?

I bet they are hurting the resale or collector value of the original snake guns and that's got a bunch of people but hurt.

KarateHottie93 said:

Why do so many people dislike like the new snake guns?

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Simple, and it has little or nothing to do with quality and performance.

For a generation, the words "Colt Python" meant a gun made in a previous generation, a piece of history, preserved till today only by the care of the people who owned it, and a rarity if it survived it's decades without a scratch. A new gun isn't any of those things, it's just a new gun.

I think my neighbor's 1967 Corvette Stingray is a wicked cool car. . . mostly because it's a 1967 that looks 2 years and 500 miles old.

I have a small collection of '60s-'80s S&W revolvers, and in every case the long-past year and dash-number was a significant part of my decision to own that revolver. Same for my Garands.

edwardware said:

Simple, and it has little or nothing to do with quality and performance.

For a generation, the words "Colt Python" meant a gun made in a previous generation, a piece of history, preserved till today only by the care of the people who owned it, and a rarity if it survived it's decades without a scratch. A new gun isn't any of those things, it's just a new gun.

I think my neighbor's 1967 Corvette Stingray is a wicked cool car. . . mostly because it's a 1967 that looks 2 years and 500 miles old.

I have a small collection of '60s-'80s S&W revolvers, and in every case the long-past year and dash-number was a significant part of my decision to own that revolver. Same for my Garands.

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This is much better stated than I could have done and I agree 100%.

This is a very big reason I never buy new guns. Any gun you can just show up to the store and buy is the height of boring for me and now that you can essentially buy a clone, made by the original company even, of a highly sought after and valuable collector piece would leave the neat old gun enthusiasts a little miffed....whether they owned an original or not.

I am indifferent about Pythons in general so I only pay attention to that drama in regards to it being gun related information. I find it bemusing (and annoying) whenever manufacturers of any product re-release something years later. Makes you wonder why it was ever discontinued in the first place.

Then there is Colt as a business entity....

In another thread someone mentioned Colt’s stellar business choices by suspending civilian AR sales at the same time as they ramp up production of revolvers which have been steadily declining in net sales for decades from all manufacturers. I can see why there is some derision to anything with the Colt name on it for the last 10-20 years. It’s too bad really.

Because I can't afford one.

I've got three "snake guns." Two 2020 Pythons and a 2019 Cobra. I'm quite happy with them. Are they "better" than anything else? Heck, I don't know. They're no worse and I got them because I wanted them.



I will say I agree with you about the Cobra. I like it WAY more than I ever did any other small revolver, including the old Colts. The SS finish is perfect for a gun I'm going to carry. The trigger is everything you said it is. It falls size wise right between a K-frame and a J-frame Smith and Wesson. It has six shots rather than five. It has a stock that I can actually get a grip on. No, the grip isn't pretty, but it works very well. Then last but not least that big honking fiber optic front sight just jumps out at me.

Some might perceive it as a contrived, bad faith attempt by Colt to regain its reputation as a world-class firearm manufacturer – a reputation they believe is no longer deserved, no matter how good the new snake guns might be.

I am trying like crazy to convince myself to hate them just to save myself money, but alas, it is not working. I will have a 6” Python like CajunBass before I crater...

My two warranty month long repair visits don’t do colts reputation any favors! That said now that it’s fixed it’s perfect and you literally could not part me from it! Finest handgun I own!!

As a S&W fanboy I have to say a Colt cylinder release moves the wrong way and that will get a person killed on the streets.

There are those who buy guns as tools (and maybe pay extra for really good tools) and those who buy them as relics, talismans, and symbols to add to a collection.

Those who buy tools are happy to see them still produced, parts still available, upgrades being made, the manufacturer still in business, etc. They will retire a valued tool that can no longer be easily repaired or replaced...what I did with my late '70s Python and am considering with my Security Sixes.

The relic/talisman/symbol/collector group is entirely the opposite. The value of their holdings drops if current production resumes and parts/repairs once again become easily obtainable and they don't like it. Relics, talismans and symbols lose their 'power' if anyone can own one. That plus many have made considerable sacrifice to own one of these relics. You can understand their pain when Bubba can go buy a new one for half as much at the LGS.

I suggest your answer lies in why those who dislike current production Colts (not just dislike Colt revolvers in general) buy guns.

There are dedicated S&W shooters/collectors who look at the new versions, with the Internal Lock, frame mounted firing pins, and shrouded two piece barrels and say "Yuck!" There are dedicated Colt shooters/collectors who look at the new offerings from Colt, with their lesser finish, different lock work, and except for the Python screwy names that used to mean an entirely different model, and say "Yuck!"

Heck, I know people who won't have anything to do with the New Model Ruger single actions. They compare them to the Old Model 3-screw guns and say "Yuck!" Just the way some folks are.

Dave

I have three and like them very much. And the triggers on all three beat the triggers on the last several Smith PC guns I have added to my accumulation. So, do not worry what the outspoken critics are saying...just enjoy!

BOARHUNTER

mcb said:

As a S&W fanboy I have to say a Colt cylinder release moves the wrong way and that will get a person killed on the streets.

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Likewise with the cylinder, which will surely result in the same outcome

It's easier and more fashionable to be a critical stick in the mud than to be open minded and positive.

I've grown up in a era were Colt revolver's just didn't exist. My sole experience is a LBNIB Anaconda I inherited from my grandpa, which quickly went out of time from about 50 live rounds a few hundred dry-fires. I was excited by the 6-shot Cobra as I was looking to upgrade from my 442 j-frame, but disheartened that it was "only" a .38 special and was rather pricey compared to it's .357 competition, not to mention I find it ugly so that money went to a Kimber K6s. The King Cobra seems OK, but I'd rather give my money to S&W for a proven k-frame, or even more likely pick up a used version of the Smith 19/66 or a Ruger Speed series for a couple hundred less. Finally, the Python just seems like a gimmick Colt released to grab the money of nostalgia-smitten Python lovers who've lusted after one for years. Personally I can't comprehend what justifies the price of the new ones compered to a Smith 686 or even a GP100.

So why don't I like the new snake guns? I'm a bang for the buck kind of buyer, and I don't see anything better about the Colt's to sway me away from Ruger or S&W (or Kimber). You may tell me the trigger is better, but I've found the triggers on my other revolvers turns out pretty nice after several trips to the range and a few dry-fire sessions, and if I wanted better I'm not above breaking into the action and replacing springs and massaging the moving parts.

I owned a Night Cobra for a time. It needed two trips back to Colt, and was gone over 3 months total. Additionally, I would frequently short stroke the return when shooting fast and none of the current grip options fit my hand well. Having said that, I hope they are wildly successful. Hopefully they force everyone else to step up their game on quality and innovation and all revolver fans benefit. The Pythons are gorgeous, just not something I personally need. I like 7 or 8 shots in a gun that big and heavy, but I totally get why people want them.

A LGS had one on display and I couldn't believe how nice the trigger was. A friend had a Model 10 that a real gunsmith worked over the trigger and it was very nice also but the Cobra beat it hands down.

SteadyD said:

I owned a Night Cobra for a time. It needed two trips back to Colt, and was gone over 3 months total. Additionally, I would frequently short stroke the return when shooting fast and none of the current grip options fit my hand well. Having said that, I hope they are wildly successful. Hopefully they force everyone else to step up their game on quality and innovation and all revolver fans benefit. The Pythons are gorgeous, just not something I personally need. I like 7 or 8 shots in a gun that big and heavy, but I totally get why people want them.

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My reset was a lil soft as well. After this second trip it feels much more positive which I love! I don’t know what they did (they don’t tell you) but I’m very happy with it now

I was deeply skeptical when they came out.

For the past decade at least, Colt quality (lack thereof), high price, and general “screw you, gun-buying public” attitude have done little to endear them to open-minded shooters who didn’t grow up worshipping at the altar of the rearing pony.

So now they suddenly do an about-face and come out with an (admittedly beautiful) gun that they’d like me and everyone else to throw down $1500 on? That’s a lot of coin for something that’s pretty unproven, from a company whose reputation is spotty. And everyone’s also been saying for a couple of decades now that “we’ll never see the likes of the old Pythons again,” “they simply can’t be made in 2019, the workers don’t exist anymore, and each one would cost thousands, they became a custom shop item and were then discontinued altogether, for practical reasons, Colt could never make money selling them” ....etc.

So, they come out with a beautiful new revolver, and call it the Python. Which means that either checkered-rep Colt is right and all the gun connoisseurs are wrong, or the new Python is pretty but engineered with a lot of cost-cutting measures which may or may not show up down the line, or the workmanship must be shoddy. And many or most people reasonably bet it might well be one of the latter two options. Because releasing a so-so gun with a famous name as a way to make a quick cash grab from the Faithful is just the sort of thing we might expect from the Colt of the 21st century. Furthermore, the mechanical reliability of the originals seems to have had mixed reputation. The feeling I get is that they were regarded as prettier and nicer-finished than an S&W, but more delicate/less reliable/harder and more expensive to fix when (not if) something went wrong. So many people probably also thought something along the lines of “let the old Python Rest In Peace. Great achievement of firearms art but I don’t want a new one, which, of course, also won’t have the historical cachet of an original.”

Happily, so far I and others have been proven wrong. The guns (initial issues aside) seem to be pretty great so far. And if the modern re-engineering that allows them to be so well-finished and yet sold at “only” their current price doesn’t result in issues down the road, I may well own one in the future. I’d certainly rather spend $1500 on a pretty Python with no lock than $900 (or whatever they go for these days) on a new N-frame Smith. Especially when both have MIM parts.

Your getting MIM and poor QC any which way you go so might as well roll the dice on one you like! Too bad but maybe true

What I find interesting (annoying) are those that don’t like a gun because someone they know or heard from doesn’t like that particular gun. It reminds me of the guys that would read a magazine article and days later are spewing remnants from the article as if they are an expert on whatever the article was about.

Something else to consider. If no one buys new revolvers, regardless of maker, how long do you think it will be before there are no new revolvers to be had? I am not saying to blindly buy whatever is offered but guys with their head or heart in the past reliving a perceived heyday of “spectacular craftsmanship and engineering” will have their guns while all the young guys relish their Glocks and other “plastic fantastics” because they can’t afford the old good stuff.

My 2 cents.

PS: I am considering one of these awful Colts and one or two more of those awful Smith & Wesson Scandium monstrosities that enhance the blood pressure of S&W purists.

For the same reason people hate the PT Cruiser. the same reason people hat the 05+Mustang, Crosley stereo's and hipster music. If your 'going retro', you need to actually do it. Those cars are much more reliable and durable than their 50/60's counterparts, but they're not the same. Same could probably be said for the Colts. I have handled some old colts, and the watchlike lockwork really is fragile, and as little as I think of Colt, I bet their MIM/CNC setup makes much better guns. But they're not the same, they don't have the same charm, or style, so they should have really picked a different name.

The new ones may be great but I agree they should have picked a different name. By using the names of their desirable classics I kinda feel like they are trying to ride their own coat tails. Or using it as a gimmick to lure people into buying a "Python". Maybe they could have at least called them a "Python 2.0" or something.

OrangePwrx9 said:

There are those who buy guns as tools (and maybe pay extra for really good tools) and those who buy them as relics, talismans, and symbols to add to a collection.

Those who buy tools are happy to see them still produced, parts still available, upgrades being made, the manufacturer still in business, etc. They will retire a valued tool that can no longer be easily repaired or replaced...what I did with my late '70s Python and am considering with my Security Sixes.

The relic/talisman/symbol/collector group is entirely the opposite. The value of their holdings drops if current production resumes and parts/repairs once again become easily obtainable and they don't like it. Relics, talismans and symbols lose their 'power' if anyone can own one. That plus many have made considerable sacrifice to own one of these relics. You can understand their pain when Bubba can go buy a new one for half as much at the LGS.

I suggest your answer lies in why those who dislike current production Colts (not just dislike Colt revolvers in general) buy guns.

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The new Python has absolutely no effect on the value of the original Pythons that are of interest to collectors. The new Python may depress the prices of shooter-grade original Pythons to some extent, but those aren’t guns that appeal to collectors at all.