Colt Python expertise needed!

Pretty sure mine has it too. It's not a crack.

Perfectly normal. It’s not a crack.

You need a new FFL.

Sideplate. Your FFL is cracked.

Just because someone has an FFL doesn't mean they know squat about guns.
I stood at a counter listening to a dealer extolling the virtues of 22lr as a SD round to a woman who obviously knew nothing about guns. She had came in the store looking for a 9MM.
IDK maybe he had a better profit margin on his .22s.

Maybe your FFL isn't so dumb. Maybe he was hoping you were and would refuse to accept the Python so he could scoop it up?

Have seen more than a few first time S&W owners come to a forum to ask about their cracked revolver and it turns out to be the seam

I can only add a comment to this python pictures . Based on what I can see it is far from being unfired. It shows wear on the back edge of the cylinder and a very noticeable wear line from the cylinder locking bolt. That is bluing wear usage signs .

dumbhunter said:

The add said it was unfired but had some handling marks.

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It looks very well used. Gunbroker vendors are becoming less and less reliable these days.

No way that gun is unfired. Look at the cylinder line. Look at the ridge on the cylinder release latch. I hope you got a genuine bargain because, if not, if you paid for an unfired Python, you might want to consider exercising your 3 day return guarantee.

I’ve never looked that closely at the “dancing donkey”.
Only one Colt in my collection. An 1878 .44 I was gifted.

Looks like he’s caught in a barbed wire fence!
No wonder he’s jumping around!

SunnySlopes said:

Gunbroker vendors are becoming less and less reliable these days.

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Were they ever anything else?

I've scooped some pretty good bargains on GB thanks to the ignorance of sellers. Got a Colt Official Police .32-20 for $325 because the seller thought it was a .32S&W Long with "bad cylinders." Wouldn't chamber a round so he was selling it as a "parts gun." Shoots great (with the right ammo)

Had it happen to me. I set back a Python for Jerry Moran to work on and gave up after several years when I read that he had changed his emphasis to Contenders. I sold it to a relative novice. A friend said she told him "I don't want to hurt Jim's feelings, but that gun he sold me is cracked." We had a laugh and gently explained the construction.

dumbhunter said:

Hi all. Hope one of you Colt Python aficionados can help me out here. I bought a 1968 Python online. The add said it was unfired but had some handling marks. No biggie, I'm going to shoot it any way. My FFL called me when it came in and said that the frame was cracked. he sent me the two attached pics. Due to Covid he has reduced hours and I am super busy so I have not been there to look at it. I'm thinking it is the side plate, but don't know. My ffl is a young glock guy, so maybe he has never seen an old python. Any thought would be helpful.

Thank you!

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I certainly hope you didn't pay an "unfired gun" premium when you bought it. Pythons of that era are expensive enough with half the bluing gone, without adding to the price because it was unfired. That one has seen a lot of handling, and most likely, shooting. Be sure to check the timing before you shoot it, Pythons (and Colt revolvers) are known for going out of time when shot a lot. Another reason not to buy a gun you can't inspect first.

SunnySlopes said:

It looks very well used. Gunbroker vendors are becoming less and less reliable these days.

No way that gun is unfired. Look at the cylinder line. Look at the ridge on the cylinder release latch. I hope you got a genuine bargain because, if not, if you paid for an unfired Python, you might want to consider exercising your 3 day return guarantee.

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I agree about Gunbroker. I picked up a Smith revolver a few weeks back. The listing said 98%. I should have asked for close ups. It had plenty of surface wear. Not horrible bit not 98%. The seller had well into the hundreds of A+ feedback. I decidedly to keep it even though there was a 3 day inspection period. The wear wasn’t horrible but the timing and lockup were fantastic as was the trigger

btw. I wasn’t aware GB started collecting sales tax. Wow. That added quite a bit to the price. It went from a decent deal to meh fast even with the wear

dumbhunter said:

Hi all. Hope one of you Colt Python aficionados can help me out here. I bought a 1968 Python online. The add said it was unfired but had some handling marks. No biggie, I'm going to shoot it any way. My FFL called me when it came in and said that the frame was cracked. he sent me the two attached pics. Due to Covid he has reduced hours and I am super busy so I have not been there to look at it. I'm thinking it is the side plate, but don't know. My ffl is a young glock guy, so maybe he has never seen an old python. Any thought would be helpful.

Thank you!

Click to expand...

Judging by the line on the cylinder, this gun has been turned extensively. You may want to check the timing. If it really is unfired, that first shot will be costly in terms of value reduction. I sold an unfired 1978 6" nickel Python that I paid $2,000 for, in original box, for $3,100 last year.

Good luck and the line yours shows is the side plate.

Harry

Two things to check for a used Python, cock the hammer back and hold it back and then pull the trigger, the cylinder should lock up tight and stay tight until you release the trigger. Then open the cylinder and cock the hammer back half way, examine the tip of the hand, exposed through the recoil shield. The accuracy of the Python is in the tip of the hand, it binds the cylinder against the frame cylinder lock when the trigger is pulled. If the tip of the hand is messed up, you are living on borrowed time at best.
If the cylinder does not lock up tight, with a good hand, pass, the frame lock, cylinder notches or both are then probably off.
50s and 60s Pythons are the precision DA/SA revolvers of their time. Nice guns, I shot three in competition back in the 80s/90s. Repaired my guns and the guns of others, when you could still get parts.