Christmas Python headed back to Colt-CZ

Mn Fats said:

That is unfortunate. That's why I prefer info from THR.

I believe @CraigC right here on THR is a writer for some gun mags. His input or opinions don't appear to follow any company. Just straight forward handgun info from that man.

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Nope, I wrote one article for a handgun hunting book and I've done a few for my website but that's it.

When I wrote for gun mags (MANY years ago) they wouldn't edit an article, but they would give a manufacturer a chance to remedy the situation, and the updated/corrected gun had to be included in the final version. Not sure if that was all of them, or just American Handgunner, Combat Handguns and Guns and Weapons for LE, which are the three I wrote the most for.

It wasn't that you couldn't print anything negative, per se, but had to give them every chance to put a positive spin on things. You'll see it sometimes, with "We initially had an issue with extraction, but our second sample ran flawlessly."

Larry

CraigC said:

Nope, I wrote one article for a handgun hunting book and I've done a few for my website but that's it.

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Maybe I'm thinking of MaxP? I can't remember anymore.

Old Dog said:

That's right, S&W does use more MIM and many of its guns do cost less than Colt's. "Hand-tuned?" Sigh.

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"Sigh" at "hand tuned" or hand fitted all you want. The old Colt Pythons were like swiss clocks in a way. The new ones are just overly expensive "copies" of the original using modern, cost effective production methods. Fine by me. But for the price, I'll take a proven 686 any day of the week.

To the OP, good luck man. I hope Colt makes it right and you have no future problems.

Riomouse911 said:

I bought it off GB so I can imagine there may have been previous abuse. The exterior was nice but who knows what went on inside. It was a damaged hand and also something else in the lockworks that prevented the cylinder from rotating correctly.

Whatever it was it required a custom part to be made since CZ and Numrich were dry. So far it’s been good to go, but in all honesty the Models 17 and 18 are a bit more svelte and have been more fun to shoot.

Stay safe.

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Abuse on guns and electronics is something I have way too much experience with. One of my S&W 28-2's looks great, but when the grips come off, there's a long dead guy's SS number crudely engraved on the left side of it. The seller never took the grips off, so he didn't know and you can't see it anyway, but we worked out a slight refund of what I paid. I had an Astra A-100 that was "rusty" but actually was covered inside and out with jeweler's rouge. A little cleaning and it was a 98% gun. I guess the guy who did it was trying to smooth it up? A friend bought an S&W K frame of some kind (I'm definitely not a big K expert, I prefer L and N frames and DW's of course) and it had been "action jobbed" and was a mess, dangerous, actually. A local gunsmith fixed it for a decent price, but the seller was a con artist who soon was no longer selling on GB.

The DW mechanism not a clock or anything complex, there's a hand and star for it to push against, and the cylinder stop/bolt, whatever DW calls it. I had so many parts at one point I put together a complete "fankengun" out of my pile of parts and it functioned 100%, but the bluing was from different times and was slightly different colors with the frame being plum, the sideplate the normal blue, and the cylinder slightly "faded" compared to the sideplate. The guy who bought it loved it. About the only part I don't have now is a frame, and any extra barrels. I've got a dozen hands alone last time I looked. I used one of them to fix a gun once. I have them on a hunk of wire, from shortest to longest and I just guessed at the length of the first one to try and went from there. I have an SS cylinder and yoke with the ejector rod, all the guts 7 or 8 times over, just for the -2's, no porkchop guns for me. Other than the hand, I've used a couple of screws to replace cosmetically damaged ones and some springs. Not much to break in a DW.

Nice to have a stock of parts on standby.. especially for a maker who has products that are still in demand but are, with the exception of some recent CZ guns, long out of production.

I thought I had a picture of the DW with the 4” VH CZ barrel/shroud I bought off the CZ site, but it’s buried in the phone memory somewhere. This is it with the 6” V shroud it came to me with.



Stay safe.

Looks good!
I wish I had kept some of the barrels I got in a box of DW parts I bought about 35 years ago. I kept them for a long time, but when the prices on Ebay started getting into the stupid zone, I sold all the non-lugged barrels and shrouds I had, a couple of 4" and 6" each, all blued and in condition ranging from OK to "just out of the box" new. A few years later, I was buying barrels and shrouds on Ebay, of course.
Here are my two pretty ones. The third is pretty rough looking and I don't have any pics of it handy..

I can't talk about the Python. I've always wanted one and had one for a day. Wife told me I couldn't afford it so I brought it back to the orignial owner who was kind enough to give me my money back.

He called me later and told me he left the gun on the hood of his car and took off. Someone ended up with a great Python for free.

On the OP's P22. I love my little Walther. Yes it takes HV ammo to function 100% of the time. CCI Mini Mags work great but I've also had luck with Federal Punch and CCI Stingers. The Stingers have a muzzle blast the will scare anyone. I've put about 500 rounds though it with hardly any trouble. It does require cleaning and oiling occasionally.

Old Dog said:

Brother, I firmly believe that when you find one, you can be confident that it won't be a lemon. As I've said in every "new Python" thread since the gun's been released, it typically exceeds expectations. Of course, my sample size is currently running at exactly seven (and of those I've shot only one is mine) that I've actually handled and fired so far... (I wouldn't be able to go back to work if these guns sucked as I've talked several of the guys into buying a new Python in the past year).
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I hope this is true with mine. My brother bought me one for Christmas and have yet to fire it as it is not in my possession yet. He also gave me an older one from the 80's. Did I tell you he is my favorite brother.

Your brother is a very good man!!!

there's a magazine called Gun Test. it receives no advertising; they simply take a type of gun from different companies, test 3-4 of them, and give the exact results of their tests. no glossing over problems, etc... then give it a grade, give their pick, and then give a "best buy" pick.
example, the latest mag tested hi cap 380 pistols, 3 bug-out rifles, and single action 44mags.
in the back, they have a list of all the guns they've tested and what month issue it's in.

any and every problem they run into, and their feelings on such and possible fixes, are included. they will also mention hand sizes, etc.... if they think that may have influenced their opinion.

jmorris said:

Walk in stores where you get to inspect a firearm before saying “I’ll take it.”, come in handy sometimes.

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I don't know if many stores keep a lot of product on the shelves anymore. The big chain stores might but my LGS doesn't. I suppose you could have them place your order if they still do that and you could inspect it before the store transferred it to you. But then the store is stuck with selling it or returning it on their dime.

I don't know how it works lately but the last pistol I purchased in 2019 I had my FFL order it. It was the wrong model that was shipped and he said he wouldn't return it. I think he may have already submitted the BC to the state and was locked in. That probably runs against state law but the time to process in this state is 10 days, or as long as they want in some cases, so the FFL's don't have any warm fuzzy feelings for the WSP background check. His business. I don't care how he runs it. It worked out for me anyway because I rather like the pistol after I got some trigger time on it.