Colt Python 3" bbl?

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mick53

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hey guys,

i was looking around for a 4" Python (tel. search) and i had a fella tell me he had a NIB 3" Python, never fired.

Said it was a "Combat Python" and he thinks colt only produced a small number of these. said he thought about 500 of them.

he gave me a ser# of T74631.

anybody ever hear of this revolver or know it is really a true Python Model.

his price was $1500 but he left it kind of "open" as to his final price.

i'm intruiged but i never even heard of this revolver. has anyone here heard of it?

thanks,

mike
 
Careful, now.
Colt made some 3" Pythons, I have heard them called the Combat model and California model.
They also sold off their excess barrels to Numrich, who advertised them for some time.
I'd want to see the box with correct label etc.
 
Yes, the Python was made in a 3 inch tube. It was originally sold as a COMBAT PYTHON thru Lew Horton. The barrel is marked COMBAT PYTHON.
Colt also sold the 3 inch tube Python in a very limited number with just the PYTHON standard markings.
Both of these guns are VERY desirable.
Both of these have been made up out of extra barrels as Jim pointed out.
Beware of NON originals as they are out there. Actually there's a LOT of fakes out there. Be careful. Don't just take some nice old mans word for it.
An original documented (Colt lettered) 3 inch Python boxed unfired will bring you right past the $2,000 mark with no problem.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
I have seen one, and only one, Combat Python in the 15 yrs I have been into firearm collecting. It was about 5 or 6 yrs ago, and the asking price was $1000, which I thought was ridiculous, but in retrospect I wish I had bought it.

If you can get a Combat Python with the box for less than $1500, you need to run, not walk, and go buy it!
 
I have seen several 3" Pythons over the last few years; all but one were fakes, using the barrels that Numrich (and later Sportsmans Guide) sold.

During that time I was approached by at least two people who wanted me to rebarrel Pythons with the 3" tube; I told them I'd be happy to, but would clearly and indelibly mark the frame under the grips so that future buyers would know they were fakes. Neither took me up on my offer - gee, I wonder why?? ;)

(The same companies also sold off some 3" Detective Special barrels; I did make a couple such conversions, both of which were marked under the grips. They were done as favors to special clients, and neither is likely to be sold anytime soon!)

I'd want a certification letter from Colt before I'd buy that gun. Frankly, anyone who has a legitimate 3" gun and who knows how rare they are probably already has the appropriate documentation; its absence should raise very large, very red flags.
 
thanks for the tips and advice.

if the barrel says combat python and the ser# on the revolver matches the box and the box says combat python, it should be real correct?

did these come with the colt letter or do you have to ask colt to send one?

do you think colt, would verify or disclaim it over the telephone.

the seller should have no objection to a phone call, i would think.

thanks,

mike
 
if the barrel says combat python and the ser# on the revolver matches the box and the box says combat python, it should be real correct?
Click to expand...

Personally, I'd be inclined to call Colt. What you're looking at certainly seems entirely legitimate; it would also be well within the realm of possibility, however, for an unscrupulous individual to gin up a fake label, remove the old, and slap the fake on the box.

That said™, $1,500 for a tip-top condition Python wouldn't be unheard of these days.
 
fellas,

i will use a cell phone and call colt while i'm in the shop.

i will watch the seller's eyes and actions closely as i'm on the telephone.

and i'll certainly post the results of the adventure tomorrow.

thank you one and all,

mike
 
A phone call will only net you the date of production. You will have to fork over the $75 to have Colt research the revolver for you (and no the certificate didn't come with the revolver).
 
oh, i'd wager i can get someone to tell me if the serial number goes to a combat python or not.

i may have to ask for some type of manager but i believe i will get the info.

often, if you simply ask for help in cases like this, you receive it. roy jinks at s&w is a great guy for this. i have a letter on order from him currently, but he has answered questions for me in the past simply because he is a decent human being,

mikem
 
When contemplating a higher dollar Colt, even the "original" box with end label and a letter from Colt isn't to be trusted.

There are now "replica" Colt boxes and "replica" end labels floating around, so if you Colt just "happens" to be without the original box and end label, you can just roll your own.

As for genuine Colt Historical Letters, there's the infamous case on the West coast some years back.

There was a new man in the upper levels of Colt dealing who was paying what at the time was unbelievable prices for really good pre-war Colt Detective Specials within a certain serial number range.
He was the talk of the time, and people wondered if he was trying to corner the market on Detective Specials.

Unknown to the collecting community, under another name he was also selling genuine Colt "Fitz" model Detective Specials complete with factory documentation verifying that the guns were real "Fitz" models.

A year or so later, one buyer damaged his factory letter, so he contacted Colt to get a new one.
When the letter came back minus the Fitz information, he inquired at Colt with a "What the Hell" letter.
Colt asked to see the original factory letter, and the buyer of good Detective Specials and seller of "genuine" Fitz revolvers complete with Factory Letter, wound up in the gray-bar hotel for fraud.

You occasionally still hear of one of these fakes turning up.

These days with laser printers being common, if I was going to spend big money for a 3" Colt Python I'd get my own letter before writing a check.
 
The interesting thing here is the fact that they are only asking above a normal Python price as a lot of shops that go by the Blue Book would.
If a gunshop that REALLY knew their Colts would do, they would put it on the Internet or stick you for way more than $1500.
If someone was going far enough out of their way to stick it to you that they rebarrelled an unfired Python & made up a fake box, I personally would not be selling it at BLue Book pricing, but at REAL WORLD pricing.
I know of a couple shops that would call me and sell me that gun for the $1500-$1600 Blue Book price if it came in their doors.

Also to help this story even more, If someone did this gun up and then sold it to the shop that currently is selling it, they would never have sold it to the shop cheaply. they would have sold it to the shop at a very high dollar amount.

I'm willing to bet it's real if it is in fact unfired & the box & gun looks correct.

Just my 2 cents.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
In this particular case, it's almost certainly the "real thing" due to the "Combat Python" barrel markings.

Barrel markings are a lot harder to successfully fake.
What this likely is, is one of those legendary "Great Deals".

I'd jump on this one like a half-starved hound dawg jumping on a bone.
 
damn damn damn damn damn,

whoever told me "run, don't walk" to go buy that revolver was a prophet!

this is a gun guy's nightmare! i found this thing in a shop 2 counties away from me yesterday. i was looking for an older 4" python and calling shops from a list friends and i have compiled over the years.

"i don't have a 4 inch," said the guy.

but he said he had a 3" and went on to describe the compat python. i had never heard of this revolver and did the research.

i called this morning and told him i was coming to look it over. I DIDN"T ASK HIM TO HOLD IT FOR ME.

sure enough. i got there a little after 1 p.m. and he told me a guy came in just before 11 a.m., spied it in the case along with the $1500 price tag and went crazy for it.

it had been sitting in the case for a little over 2 weeks he said.

the buyer told the shop owner he had been looking for one for years and years. "didn't even try to knock me down a penny," he said.

????! live and learn.

mike
 
Someone here probably read your post and saw you were located in Florida.
Jumped in front of you and bought it.

Don't worry, you'll never have to worry about coming across that gun again.
At least not at that price.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
jeff,

i suppose that's possible. but it's a huge state and the revolver was 2 counties away from where i live.

now i suppose if someone had a connection at the ATF they could have traced the ser#, which i listed here in its entirety, to the gunshop and got in there ahead of me.

if so, they are very industrious and i've learned a(n) (expensive) lesson.

mike
 
Sorry you missed out. Although I know it won't help you to feel better, it's happened to me more than once. Every time I kick myself, but it doesn't seem to help - I do it again and again. :banghead:

I prefer to think of it this way: at least I'm consistent! :eek:
 
whoever told me "run, don't walk" to go buy that revolver was a prophet!
Click to expand...

That would be me, and as I pointed out, I learned that the hard way myself.

Look at the bright side, you really arent sure if it was a real Combat Python. Also, if you keep looking, you will eventually find another one, but it may take 20 or 30 years.
 
Look at the bright side, you really arent sure if it was a real Combat Python. Also, if you keep looking, you will eventually find another one, but it may take 20 or 30 years.
Click to expand...

It was real, I'll bet a Franklin on it.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
I suspect the piece in the auction is the real deal because I bought the exact same gun in the late 80's and the serial number is within 25 of the auction piece.
 
In the early seventies when custom fighting revolvers were all the rage,there was a three inch Python called the "California Combat". I don't believe it was a factory offering,but rather a custom deal,produced as a sub contract gun in limited numbers,such as some of the custom limited Smith's.
The gun was advertised in Shotgun News by the maker/broker,and if I recall it was very expensive for that time.This may be what the owner has.
Been a long time,so I can't really recall all the details. The thing I remember most is I wanted one real bad,but couldn't afford it doing police work and trying to raise three kids!
 
From my shop experience the "Blue Book" on collectables is at least 2-3 years behind if not more.

Also Colts seem to bring more than any other makers including Winchesters than the "Blue Book” acknowledges.
 
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