Colt Python blue 4" price check / opinions needed

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marktx

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Colt Python blue 4" checking s/n looks like it was made in 1978

Guy selling is a old timer type dealer, got it from another old timer type friend of his. He has been very honest with me in the past and unlike most dealers I believe him. Says it was never fired and from the look of it that would seem to be the truth. Overall it looks like it sat in a drawer for the last 32 years and was occasionally pulled out and handled but never used.

Asking $1050 which seems pretty decent from what I see on gunbroker

Any thoughts? I'm not overly familiar with the Colt Python but like the .357 with a 4" barrel.
 
I sold a 6" Python that had about 95% finish on it for $700 earlier this year. I had $800 on it, but no takers at a couple of gun shows. I don't know if that helps you or not, but that was my experience.

Fred
 
Don't shoot it at that price

In time it will be worth more then you paid for it. IMO its to much to pay for a shooter if its as described.
 
As you know, Colt ceased production of the Python in 2004 and made one Python in 2005. It was a very ornate gun to signify 50 years of production.
It wasn't until around early 2007 that just about everyone finally knew there would be no more made as the rumors finally came out that Colt had sold off most of the tooling for the Python. Prices have climbed since then. Especially on some of the rarest examples.
Some of them topping the $10,000-$20,000 mark for one off prototypes and other oddities.

The gun you're asking about is one of the most common. The 4 and 6 inch blue are the most common variations, but are still the most sought after as well. People that want to have at least one Python usually want one because they remember their dad having one and it was usually a 4 or 6 inch blued gun.
At the end of their run in 2002-2004. The Python had a list price that was over $1000. As a matter of fact, you had to pay $1000-$1100 for a new at that time.
Buying an unfired Python from the 70's with factory correct wood checkered grips/stocks is getting very difficult to do for under $1000 today.
Shooter Pythons that show holster wear and rubber $10 grips bring $800 on their own.
The factory correct wood Python grips/stocks in mint condition bring $150-$250 alone. Early full checkered stcks bring over $300.

If in fact the Python you're looking at buying is a mint example with factory correct wood stocks/grips then $1050 is no sweat, and if you were unhappy with the gun or needed to sell it down the road, you would get your money back with no problem.
If it shows wear from rolling back in forth in a drawer and has a $10 set of Rubber grips on it, I'd walk away.
Hope that helps.

Have a great New Year.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
I'd question the fact that it was never fired. Having a gun since 1978, there is only a slim chance that it was never fired. If it was still in it's original box or something then it might be more believeable. I buy and sell Pythons all the time. Currently I've got a 4" blued and a 4" E-nickel. The blued one would easily pass as non-fired and the stocks are almost mint condition. I think I paid $700 for it....but I got one of those "once in a lifetime" deals.

Without seeing pictures of the gun, it's hard to say. If you've got the money and spending that much won't put you in a bind, I woud buy it because they'll continue to increase in worth. But if you're asking if that's a deal...I'd say no. That's about average price for one. My opinion is that GunBroker shouldn't be used as the Blue Book. Prices that I see on GunBroker are almost always inflated more than they should. Get a better idea of trends at a gun show. Different areas of the country have different trends.
 
Actually, it's not at all uncommon to find guns guns 20, 30 or 60 years old in unfired condition. Amazing but many buyers put new guns in the closet and never shoot them.

An unfired 4" Python at a grand or so is a real deal at this time.
 
Saw a 4" blued Python w/ box in Cabela's gun library and they wanted over $1,800 for it. Haven't seen a good Python at a gun show for under $1k in the last year.
 
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