Colt Python: why so valuable?
- Thread starter Flechette
- Start date
- Status
Panzerschwein
member
The Walking Dead.
Seriously, and the fact Colt doesn't make them anymore. That coupled with the "snake gun mystique" means prices will only continue to climb.
Seriously, and the fact Colt doesn't make them anymore. That coupled with the "snake gun mystique" means prices will only continue to climb.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Quality, accuracy, scarcity, and a collectors item.
Probably the smoothest action anyone ever put on a revolver from the factory.
Probably pretty close to the best factory finish ever.
They are no longer made, so what's out there is all there will ever be.
It has Colt & a dancing pony on it.
And all things Colt are collectable.
IMO: Still not worth the crazy prices they are bringing now to me.
rc
Probably the smoothest action anyone ever put on a revolver from the factory.
Probably pretty close to the best factory finish ever.
They are no longer made, so what's out there is all there will ever be.
It has Colt & a dancing pony on it.
And all things Colt are collectable.
IMO: Still not worth the crazy prices they are bringing now to me.
rc
pbearperry
Member
The Python is iconic because of it's superb function, beauty and unfortunately out of production. That is why the high price.
HankB
Member
If the Python's value were in its performance, it would have dominated revolver competitions like PPC, where the top tier competitors would spend whatever it took to gain a competitive advantage.
Instead, S&W dominated. Overwhelmingly.
It always had a reputation for being accurate, and for a time it was in vogue to take a Python barrel and screw it onto an S&W to make a "Smython" (or Smolt?) but if you think about it, that was to take the best of both worlds - superior S&W action and more accurate Colt barrel. But the "improved accuracy" was always questionable.
Cosmetics, scarcity (it was discontinued over a decade ago) and movie tie-ins are the reason for it's recent rise in price.
Instead, S&W dominated. Overwhelmingly.
It always had a reputation for being accurate, and for a time it was in vogue to take a Python barrel and screw it onto an S&W to make a "Smython" (or Smolt?) but if you think about it, that was to take the best of both worlds - superior S&W action and more accurate Colt barrel. But the "improved accuracy" was always questionable.
Cosmetics, scarcity (it was discontinued over a decade ago) and movie tie-ins are the reason for it's recent rise in price.
OilyPablo
Member
Demand. It was on a roll before the Walking Dead. Iconic look and feel.
stchman
Member
Because people will pay it.
You can get a S&W 686 or a Ruger GP-100 for WAY less. Have a gunsmith give either a trigger job and you're set.
You can get a S&W 686 or a Ruger GP-100 for WAY less. Have a gunsmith give either a trigger job and you're set.
Superior can be a relative term when speaking of revolvers.Flechette said:
I would say the the lockwork of the Python is more interesting and clever with it's cams and levers. Mine was superbly accurate right out of the box and only got better when I had it tuned for PPC "Leg Matches"
One of mine has a sentimental value as it was my first Duty Gun. I've owned 3 that I acquired for prices ranging for $350-$475 and thought they were a good investment...sold one last year for $2200 to buy another gun
More the look than the function.
The Python has been in many television shows and movies and is instantly recognizable
CajunBass
Member
They always have been. "Back in the day", when they were still being made, and you could walk into most any gun store and find a brand new Python, still in the box, they sold for about twice what a comparable Smith & Wesson in the cabinet right next to it sold for.
When I was a young fellow, I wanted a Python. I bought a Smith & Wesson Model 19.
Not that that was a bad choice.
When I was a young fellow, I wanted a Python. I bought a Smith & Wesson Model 19.
Not that that was a bad choice.
tjs45d
Member
" take a Python barrel and screw it onto an S&W to make a "Smython" (or Smolt?) "
Best line I've read this week...!
Best line I've read this week...!
walnut1704
Member
It's built with a level of quality that's just not seen in any other contemporary revolver, and certainly nothing today comes even remotely close.
With the quality came superb performance. Can't beat that.
Only those that have owned and shot one would understand.
With the quality came superb performance. Can't beat that.
Only those that have owned and shot one would understand.
Why are Swiss automatic watches so expensive? Because they are intricate little pieces of art. Sure, they don't actually do anything, performance-wise, that a more modern design (like a quart movement) cannot do far more cheaply and durably, but they're marvels of mechanical engineering and craftsmanship. And because the Swiss watched, like Colt Pythons, were finished with the highest level of meticulous perfection. Add in the fact that there aren't any new ones being made, and that they're a bit of a gunner's status symbol, and have a lot of pop culture cachet, and there you go.
I would say the finish is second to none. The hammer and trigger feel is also very well engineered, smooth and consistent. I purchased it from a relative who unfortunatly passed and am almost embarrased to say i have never shot it and according to what he said he did not either. With todays prices who knows what I will do with it but selling is not an option
entropy
Member
Well, they are a helluva good gun, for starters, but mostly I'd say it's Rick Grimes' fault, just as it was Harry Callahan's fault you couldn't buy an S&W 29 for any decent price between 1972 and @1989. I regret selling my 2½" Python to get the water turned back on many years ago.
Speedo66
Member
Colts were always expensive, even way back when. The Python was their top of the line gun, more expensive.
I wanted a Diamondback, similar Colt but in .38 Spl., as my first duty gun. Wound up with a S&W revolver because it was so much cheaper, but not a bad gun in itself.
Add in original cost, myth, aesthetics, popular culture, etc., and it's not hard to see why Python's are expensive.
I wanted a Diamondback, similar Colt but in .38 Spl., as my first duty gun. Wound up with a S&W revolver because it was so much cheaper, but not a bad gun in itself.
Add in original cost, myth, aesthetics, popular culture, etc., and it's not hard to see why Python's are expensive.
BobWright
Member
One other thing not mentioned: The Python was the end of an evolutionary line of revolvers going back to the turn of the century. Beginning with the Army Special of ca. 1900 and going through the Official Police and the various target sighted offshoots as the Officers Models, then the Trooper and Three Fifty Seven, there is a "bloodline" running through those models, the thread of which makes a good collection in itself.
As for myself, I had a 6" Python, running just over 6,000 rounds through it. Great revolver but just short of my ideal sixgun. Then S&W introduced their Model 586 Distinguished Combat Magnum and I never looked back. This Smith was, to my notion, the finest DA .357 Magnum to come forth yet.
Bob Wright
As for myself, I had a 6" Python, running just over 6,000 rounds through it. Great revolver but just short of my ideal sixgun. Then S&W introduced their Model 586 Distinguished Combat Magnum and I never looked back. This Smith was, to my notion, the finest DA .357 Magnum to come forth yet.
Bob Wright
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Myth, legend and perception.
Finish: Royal Blue is simply hot salt blue over a bright polish. The Python was not exempt from the over-polishing woes typical on many Colt revolver from the 1970's through the 1990's. IMHO, this finish work does not hold a candle to the hand polished, proprietary blues from Colt and S&W prior to WWII.
Action: The Python's action is slicker than butter on glass. Probably the slickest factory action ever produced. Problem is, so is a S&W with a $150 action job, with the benefit of a quicker return. Folks like Miculek can outrun the Python's trigger.
Accuracy: Their reputation for accuracy is well deserved. However, S&W's and Rugers are also very accurate and don't cost several thousand dollars. Off their hind legs, most shooters won't be able to tell a difference.
Finish: Royal Blue is simply hot salt blue over a bright polish. The Python was not exempt from the over-polishing woes typical on many Colt revolver from the 1970's through the 1990's. IMHO, this finish work does not hold a candle to the hand polished, proprietary blues from Colt and S&W prior to WWII.
Action: The Python's action is slicker than butter on glass. Probably the slickest factory action ever produced. Problem is, so is a S&W with a $150 action job, with the benefit of a quicker return. Folks like Miculek can outrun the Python's trigger.
Accuracy: Their reputation for accuracy is well deserved. However, S&W's and Rugers are also very accurate and don't cost several thousand dollars. Off their hind legs, most shooters won't be able to tell a difference.
ljnowell
Member
I've owned and shot one. I sold it. For competition the S&W has a better trigger. I've yet to see anyone at any match around me using one for bullseye. All if us revolver guys use S&W.
A collectible gun? Sure. Better trigger and/or performance, not really.
The same reason Colt doesnt sell SAA's any more. They have lost their minds. USFA made better Colts than Colt made and couldnt keep in business doing it now their guns have tripled in value. Colt want government contracts with 100% profit margins . Shame to see a once great company teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. The won't sell SBR's to the public. The AR-15 market is in the toilet because everyone and their brother make them at as good or better quality than Colt ever did at 2/3 the price point. The custom shop is all but shuttered. They are limping along making 1911's but its a matter of time. Colt doesnt handle competition in the marketplace well. They could tool up for gun of the year and sell 50,000 Pythons one year, 50,000 high grade SAA's the next and collectors would gobble them up.
- Status
Similar threads
