The Better Gun: Colt Python or S&W 686?

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#2 Smith
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And I'd choose either a K frame Smith or N frame Smith over the L frames. I've had all 3 and while I realize the L frame was intended to be a compromise between the K and N frames the result just doesn't really do anything for me.
 
Yeah, what's in a name? Well, a name is what's in a name. :D

  • Browning firearms are all made by other companies, but they still get labeled Browning and people are still happy to own Brownings.
  • Walther, for years, had other companies making their guns, but they were still labeled Walther and people were still happy to buy them and say they owned a Walther.
  • When Sako was bought by Beretta, the name on the guns didn't change and people didn't suddenly start calling them Beretta rifles.
  • When Kahr bought Magnum Research, people didn't start talking about Kahr Desert Eagles.
So what's going to happen with the Colt product line? We won't know for awhile--maybe nothing much, maybe a lot. But if past history is anything to go on, the Colt name is going to be around for a long time.

If you think about it, CZ almost certainly bought Colt for their name, not because they needed manufacturing facilities or employees who know how to make guns. They have those already. They may have to make some changes for solvency purposes--businesses gotta make money, but in my opinion, they aren't going to spend all that money buying the name "Colt" and then go about ruining the name right off the bat. Not every gun company is as stupid as Remington was with Marlin.
 
DR505 said:
You are going to get personal preferences here too...
I like S&W revolvers so that would be my choice. Never cared for the Python personally...
I like pre-lock and prefer stainless for hard working guns and blue in general.
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DR505 said it first, and probably best, but I'll add that Colt makes (made) a pretty revolver but for day in day out holster use, with customer service to back it up if tragedy strikes your SS or blued steel beauty, S&W is my choice. For me either of these two choices would be range guns as I find them just too heavy (42 oz. for either with a 4" bbl.) to lug around all day in a holster. A Model 66 Smith is 37 oz. by comparison. YMMv. Rod
 
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If you think about it, CZ almost certainly bought Colt for their name, not because they needed manufacturing facilities or employees who know how to make guns
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Or - did they buy it because of the aerospace stuff Colt is into & the price is right?

My point is - nobody but CZ knows why they want Colt.
Once CZ buys Colt - Colt is gone & the future of the brand is for CZ to determine.

Look at Peterson Manufacturing for example. They sold out and Peterson Vice Grips shortly afterward vanished & were replaced by Vice Grips made in China. Same name on the tool but absolute garbage.

Again - my point here is - after the sale the Colt Python will be no more. It will be the CZ Python since CZ will own everything about it.
 
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Hal said:
Or - did they buy it because of the aerospace stuff Colt is into & the price is right?

My point is - nobody but CZ knows why they want Colt.
Once CZ buys Colt - Colt is gone & the future of the brand is for CZ to determine.

Look at Peterson Manufacturing for example. They sold out and Peterson Vice Grips shortly afterward vanished & were replaced by Vice Grips made in China. Same name on the tool but absolute garbage.

Again - my point here is - after the sale the Colt Python will be no more. It will be the CZ Python since CZ will own everything about it.
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Nonsense, I really doubt there will be any CZ markings on Colt going forward, and a lot of buyers probably won't even know CZ bought them. I see no problem here, CZ is a fine company in itself. The Colt name will ALWAYS have value.
 
Rodfac said:
DR505 said it first, and probably best, but I'll add that Colt makes (made) a pretty revolver but for day in day out holster use, with customer service to back it up if tragedy strikes your SS or blued steel beauty, S&W is my choice. For me either of these two choices would be range guns as I find them just too heavy (42 oz. for either with a 4" bbl.) to lug around all day in a holster. A Model 66 Smith is 37 oz. by comparison. YMMv. Rod
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I'm a Colt guy but S&W definitely has better customer service, last summer I bought a Colt Competition that hit me in the head with empties. Already back once and wasn't fixed so I sent it in again. It is supposed to be on it's way to me but has basically been at Colt since last August.
 
mcb said:
It's relevant to me and I suspect a few other members here that compete or are thinking about competing. No doubt for the majority it is not relevant but I rarely am worried about the majority, it has a way of taking care of itself.
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The OP didn't say anything about competitive shooting, but the new Python would hold up at least as long as a S&W. Supposedly they can hold up for up to 60,000 full power loads.

This whole thread is kind of like asking which flavor of ice cream is best.
 
Paul7 said:
The OP didn't say anything about competitive shooting, but the new Python would hold up at least as long as a S&W. Supposedly they can hold up for up to 60,000 full power loads.

This whole thread is kind of like asking which flavor of ice cream is best.
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I have no idea if the Colt will hold up to the amount of shooting a USPSA or IDPA shooter would put through it. My objection is to the ergonomics of the cylinder release. The rearward motion of the cylinder release makes for a more awkward and slower reloading for both moonclip feed or speed-loader feed setups. And in a sport where you score is divided by your time (or the lowest time wins), fast reloads are as important as good hits. If the Colt release was faster there would be competitors using it and there are vanishingly few competitor using Colt. Clearly this does not apply to everyone but it does apply to some.
 
Nonsense, I really doubt there will be any CZ markings on Colt going forward, and a lot of buyers probably won't even know CZ bought them. I see no problem here, CZ is a fine company in itself. The Colt name will ALWAYS have value.
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Zing!!! Right over your head too huh?
 
Guess it's right over my head too, since I have absolutely no idea what exactly you're trying to communicate (other than belittling the opinions of others posting in the thread).

A brand is a brand is a brand, and consumers don't tend to obsess about the ownership of their favored brands (at least until they don't like the new versions of the products). Except on the internet.
 
mcb said:
I have no idea if the Colt will hold up to the amount of shooting a USPSA or IDPA shooter would put through it. My objection is to the ergonomics of the cylinder release. The rearward motion of the cylinder release makes for a more awkward and slower reloading for both moonclip feed or speed-loader feed setups. And in a sport where you score is divided by your time (or the lowest time wins), fast reloads are as important as good hits. If the Colt release was faster there would be competitors using it and there are vanishingly few competitor using Colt. Clearly this does not apply to everyone but it does apply to some.
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I don't see what difference it makes as long as you're used to it, it's the same distance the release is moving.

YMMV
 
So I guess In the 90's when Zilkha purchased Colt they ceased being Colt?
Just purchasing a company doesn't change anything. How they run it or what they do with it might. But a Colt is a Colt, regardless of who buys/owns the company.
 
Hands down an older S&W 686.

But if I had to buy it new, today, I’d go with the Python. No lock. And I’m sure it would do the job just fine. I can’t deny they look attractive. The ventilated rib for which I can see no practical purpose except dirt collection would bug me a little bit, but it would bug me less than the presence of a lock.
 
Colt has been under a variety of different owners since Mr. Colt died back in 1862. CZ has expanded their lineup exponentially over the last decade and continues to put out quality products. It's impossible to know where Colt is headed but if you think CZ is just going to let them rot on the vine I think you are sorely mistaken.

As for as which is a better gun - I don't think you'll ever get a definitive answer. Some people like Colts better and others like S&W's. If you want optimal accuracy you'll need to shoot a variety of different loads in each gun to determine which shoots best. I bet with extensive testing you'd get comparable accuracy between the 2 guns. Durability of the firearm almost becomes irrelevant once you spent $10,000+ on ammo to do a torture test. And you'd need to test multiple samples for the test to have any meaning. S&W's are about half the price of a Colt, so S&W is a better value in my book.
 
The Python is a work of art.

I prefer a 686+ with seven shots, a five inch barrel, a tapered underlug, and soft grips.

I think I prefer the S&W cylinder release.
 
Redranger said:
I had a 6” 686 no dash that I worked over myself as well as having it mag-na-ported that I’ve since gifted to my son. It has the best SA and DA trigger of any revolver I own or have owned in my life. Also, at one time I had it scoped and is the most accurate revolver I’ve ever shot. .... I love nice S&W revolvers but any that I acquire will be Pre-lock.
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That describes my 1982 model 686 precisely. I've had several people, including a few Python owners, handle it and essentially all of them have told me that it has the best trigger and action of any revolver they've ever handled.

I also have a 1983 model 586 that has a very nice action, but not at the level of my particular 686. I recall working on the 686 action a bit when I got it in approximately 1986, but I don't recall what all I did to it. I know that I thinned the mainspring, and I also made the tip of the firing pin slightly smaller diameter, but don't recall what else, if anything. It has a 2.3# S/A and 6.5# D/A without any hint of stacking or unevenness in the D/A stroke. Even with the light pulls, it hasn't failed to light off the primers that I've used, or factory loads that I've fired. I've put a spring kit in the 586 but haven't gotten around to doing anything else to it.

Like you, any S&W that I buy will be a pre-lock, and is likely to even be a no-dash as are the two above-mentioned ones.

FAJ88lB.jpg
 
Once CZ buys Colt - Colt is gone & the future of the brand is for CZ to determine.
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Yes, the future of the Colt brand is certainly for CZ to determine. That’s not in question. The problem is saying that “Colt is gone”. By that logic, Sako is gone since Beretta bought it, Uberti is doubly gone since Benelli bought it and then Beretta bought Benelli, Benelli is gone, Magnum Research is gone since Kahr bought it, Tikka is doubly gone since Sako bought it and then Beretta bought Sako, Winchester has been gone since 1989 when FN bought it, Walther has been gone since 1993 when Umarex bought it, Smith & Wesson has been gone since Saf-T-Hammer bought it in 2001, Stag Arms is gone, the list goes on…

Clearly, it is pure nonsense to claim that merely because one company buys another, the first company is gone, or the brand is gone. Can it happen that way? Well, sure, it can, but when the purchased company has a well-known brand/reputation, it rarely does.
Again - my point here is - after the sale the Colt Python will be no more. It will be the CZ Python since CZ will own everything about it.
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What you are claiming is clear. It’s just that the claim can’t be supported at this point.

It's child’s play to find counterexamples--products that continued essentially unchanged after the company that made them was acquired by another company.

Might CZ decide to change the Colt Python, or discontinue it? Perhaps. But they might leave it alone completely. And no, the fact that CZ owns Colt won’t automatically make all the products that Colt makes CZ products any more than all the products Tikka makes are called Sako/Beretta products, or all the products Uberti makes are called Benelli/Beretta products, all the Federal ammunition and CCI products are called Vista Outdoors products, or all Walther products are now called Umarex products.

Do we hear people talking about SAF-T-Hammer Model 686 revolvers? American Outdoor Brands Model M&P 2.0 pistols? Beretta TRG-S rifles? FN Herstal Model 94 lever action rifles? Benelli Cattlemen revolvers, Vista Outdoors Hydrashok ammunition? No, it just doesn't happen.
 
Yes, the future of the Colt brand is certainly for CZ to determine. That’s not in question
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Then what's not to understand?
I've been through enough corporate changeovers to know what happens to the gobbled up companies.
Decades of experience with corporate America tells me that it's no longer a Colt - it's a CZ.
 
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