Colt Python advantages/disadvantages?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Mastrogiacomo

Mastrogiacomo

Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2002
Messages
2,414
Location
Boston
I've never considered this gun as I've eyed the S&W 686P, and since no new Colts can be sold in Massachusetts....

Yet, assuming I don't get the armed security job I applied for -- and what a damn shock if I don't, I can't carry. I like the look of the Python Elite in the 4" and 6" barrels, ss and blued. Which finish is better and which barrel length? Assuming I decide to save up and buy a used -- is it worth it? How hard is the trigger pull and maintaining this gun?

I'm planning on getting the 686P but I'm interested in what the Colts are like...
 
What is it like to maintain it -- blued or stainless -- and which is the better barrel length? Beautiful gun by the way....:D
 
Me too

I too am interested in Python's. They are very pretty guns. The one thing I have heard is that they are not quite as strong as some similar sized guns(S&W 686, Ruger GP-100) and may get loose if you shoot a bunch of full house magnum loads. I have also been given to understand that they get the most of their accuracy by using lead bullets.

Good luck to you.
 
There is a considerable mystique to the Python, and it is a very fine gun.

I got my six-inch blue gun about 25 years ago. Then, it was the only factory heavy-barreled revolver and specialists like Don Tedford at the Colt Custom Shop could give it a lighter and smoother double action trigger pull than seen on any Smith or Ruger. They had a well-deserved reputation for fine accuracy, they got the best barrels Colt made.
That was what mattered to me, not the fact that the gun and the action job each cost about twice as much as gun and gunsmithing on a S&W.

I got my four-inch blue gun about five years ago for IDPA competition. It was largely a nostalgia trip. Still a fine gun, but S&W and the Smith-smiths hadn't been standing still. You can shoot as well for less money.

Finish: I don't like the stainless guns. Colt Royal Blue is a beautiful finish but takes some care - it is subject to rust if not kept clean of fouling and sweat and will show wear. Holster and hand wear doesn't bother me, just gives character. A nickel plated Python is the best looking "white" gun I know.

Barrel length: The longer the better, within reason; the few eight-inch barrel guns look and feel awkward to me. But no Python is a small or light gun, the six-inch shoots and looks better for me. I got the four-inch as required by IDPA rules. The two and a half inch barrel makes no sense to me, but the few California Combat three-inch guns are not bad looking.

Durability: Mine have shot thousands and thousands of .38 Specials and good numbers of Magnums without getting "out of time," but I still think a Smith may be stronger. A Ruger or Dan Wesson will be stronger yet, but are not as pleasant to shoot, for me.

Price: A used Python in a repressive jurisdiction will likely cost as much or more than a new Smith.

You are probably better off with the Smith. I do not like and do not recommend the ported barrels but that may be because they are not allowed in IDPA or IPSC Revolver Divisions. I don't think they make much difference in recoil of Specials, either. Might be more comfortable if you shoot a lot of Magnums.
 
I wouldn't shoot anything but .38s through the Python or the S&W 686P, but I've always been curious about the Python. I'll probably save up a little on the side for both guns but make the 686P my first buy since it's more practicle to carry the gun and look for a good used Python in my state....assuming they're out there. :uhoh:
 
I imagine if I got a Colt, it'd be for the Range or home only -- hence, no holster. The 686P S&W would be the gun I'd probably carry. I'd like to find a 6" SS Python in my state at some point but right now, I'm saving a little on the side for the revolvers. By the time I have the money for both guns -- perhaps it'll be legal to sell new Colts in Massachusetts...:rolleyes:
 
By the way...

Once the nickel start showing the age...could you just find a good company to refinish the guns?
 
Mastrogiacomo, once you start venturing into the area of collectible or semi-collectible guns, you really don't want to refinish them. If you've paid $700 for a Python, you're going to pay maybe another couple of C-notes to get it refinished. And any buyer with an ounce of knowledge will be able to tell that it's been replated or refinished, and those buyers won't be willing to pony up even $700 for a refinished gun.

As with just about all collectibles, the pecking order is something like this: as new without any blemishes (100%); never used but shows some age (98%); used, but very little (~95%); used, but normal use (90%); used a bit more than usual (85%); used a lot (80%); was used as a pry bar (75%); only spent one-half of its life in a lake (70%); spent most of its time parked next to a salt pile (60%).

The refinished or restored collectibles can look like the 95% class, but an expert will always be able to discern the difference.
 
Refinishing an older Python should be a crime punished by pistol whipping! (using a Ruger and not a Python, of course).

The blued guns are often worth more to serious python collectors, with the nickel being second, and stainless being last.
 
Stainless is always easier than blueing to maintain. A good way to maintain blue guns, at least my blue Colt 1911s, is that the safe queens get some high quality liquid car wax applied to them so that I have more ease of mind if I don't pull them out for fun as often as I should. A good carnuba coat to the exterior of a blue pistol, if not handled extensively, will literally last years, but can be removed with little effort if need be.

I still have plenty of dessicants in the safe however.

Someday I will acquire a blue 4" Python though I had a 6" pass through my hands some years back. I despise Colt's cylinder release design somewhat. I think a pre-agreement blued S&W 586 can be sent to the S&W Performance Center and come back as sweet as most Pythons for less money than you will pay for a minty used one. My frined has a 586 PC and that is one sweet piece of work.
 
Mastrogiacomo,
Don't let the hard core collectors here deter you. If it's a gun you want, and want to keep forever (not sell), then get Stainless. It has to suit you, not your next potential buyer.

I have several stainless guns, and my S&W 625 Performance Center (Miculek) is my favorite gun I own.

-Robert
 
One down side to the Python and other Colt I frames is the rebound lever. Secifically the the slender extention on the front. In order to stay in time, it has to bend slightly and slide to the side. If the "springyness" of this part is anything less than perfect, the gun will never stay in time.

Some that I've seen are great, most are not, and allow the bold to pop too soon.

Good Luck...

Joe
 
Today I bought a 686P in a 4" barrel. I plan to take it to the range soon and test it out but I bought it used for a total cost of $419 -- not bad considering what'd it cost new. The trigger I'm sure is broken in from the previous owner and I may dolly it up at some point with a nice brush finish and trijicon site...when I have the $$. If I find a nice Colt Python in ss for a good price too -- I'll snatch it up as well....:D
 
One down side to the Python and other Colt I frames is the rebound lever. Secifically the the slender extention on the front. In order to stay in time, it has to bend slightly and slide to the side. If the "springyness" of this part is anything less than perfect, the gun will never stay in time.

Some that I've seen are great, most are not, and allow the bold to pop too soon.
Click to expand...
There is much misinformation promulgated about the Colt impinging hand lockwork, but this is one I haven't seen before. It is, however, incorrect.

The extension on the rebound lever does not flex in any direction; it rides on the cam surface of the hand, and is trapped between the hand itself and the side of the trigger. If it *did* flex, it would have no where to go and nothing to do!

The writer may be thinking of the finger on the bolt, which is indeed spring material and does in fact move slighly to one side during trigger *reset*. However, that is the only time that it does (or should.) When the trigger is pulled, the bolt rides up on the rebound cam surface, finally "tripping" off of the front edge of the cam and allowing the bolt to drop into the cylinder notch. When the trigger resets, the cam drops down, pushes the bolt finger slightly to the side to allow passage, and when has reached the limit of travel the bolt finger springs back onto the face of the cam, and the process starts over. The amount of sideways travel is on the order of 1/32".

I have seen many cases where uninformed gunsmiths, in a clumsy attempt to adjust the bolt drop timing, would bend and/or twist the bolt extension to make it slide off of the SIDE of that cam. If this is done, and the spring portion were to change characteristics, it would in fact affect bolt drop timing as the writer alluded. This is the fault of the gunsmith who adjusted it incorrectly, not the lockwork design!

When properly adjusted, the "springyness" of the part will not in any way affect the bolt drop timing.
 
Just wanted to add this in:

python.jpg



Offhand, at about 15 yards (if I remember paced it right).
 
Last edited:
Love the gun and grip...:D If I could afford a good Colt -- I'd pick one up but for now my 4" 686P S&W will have to do...;)
 
Yes, but I ask because on other forums or when asking other folks, I get conflicting answers. Drives me nuts...if you pay this much for a gun, you should know exactly what to expect from it in terms of performance and durability of the finish...:) I didn't intend to drive other folks nuts in the process, sorry...
 
If I ever had the money -- I'd pick up one of each in a four inch barrel....:D I find they both have their own charm.
 
Here's the short version of what I've seen over the years regarding the Python...

Everybody and their brother will tell you it's too expensive and too fragile.

Then they ask to shoot it.

John
 
There's no doubt to me that stainless is much easier to care for on working guns. But I strongly dislike reflective finishes- so a satin type or bead blasted stainless finish is what I generally prefer. For looks though, it's hard to beat a good blue finish. I had both a 4" 686 and a 4" blued Python years ago, I liked both quite a bit and wish they were still here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

G
  • Locked
Colt Python
2 3 4
Replies
89
Views
7K
OneFastBird95
O
C
  • Locked
Question for Colt Python historians
Replies
19
Views
2K
bikemutt
bikemutt
J
  • Locked
Help need with Colt Python information
Replies
7
Views
1K
rfo1
R
J
  • Locked
1961 Colt Python
2
Replies
37
Views
3K
bflobill_69
B
P
  • Locked
New production Colt Python Elites -- what's the scoop?
2
Replies
25
Views
4K
Quinch
Q
Back
Top