Colt Python

[Guillermo]

That's because Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet.

ain't that the damned truth!!!

 

[CraigC]

...ain't that the damned truth!!!

Before the internet, I had no idea that Colt's were fragile, cast bullets were the work of the devil, Kimber is garbage, you need at least a .300Mag to kill a deer, Elmer Keith blew up half the guns he touched, the .223 is a moose cartridge, the 7.62x39 is a bear stopper, Ruger 10/22's with $300 barrels shoot "just as good" as a $75 Marlin 60 and all Remington .22LR was junk. Did I forget anything???

 

[trex1310]

You covered it pretty well. I learned that almost everybody on the
internet was a sniper in Vietnam, your handgun must have a
laser, a flashlight and a bayonet, the well dressed ccw man must have
on a tactical vest, cargo pants and SWAT boots, you must
attend at least 8-10 self defense courses, you absolutely must doubletap
everything, even squirrels and lastly you must start a thread at least
once a week on how much you hate or love Glocks.

 

[4v50 Gary]

The 38 Special Python was made in the late '70s and was the large I frame gun not to be confused with its smaller 38 Special Diamondback sibling.

 

[Owen Sparks]

Why did Colt stop making the Python?

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Along with all their other DA revolvers, except for a brief revival of two or three models in the early 1990s. The Python was still made during this time, but through the custom shop.

As the story went, they got too expensive to produce while still maintaining the quality. Either they would have had to raise the prices to the point where no one would buy them, or keep the price down but cheapen them, with the same result. A prime example of the latter was the last couple of years of the Agent, which had pronounced machining marks due to almost no polishing, and parkerized instead of blued.

 

[Guillermo]

you must start a thread at least
once a week on how much you hate or love Glocks

I am not holding up my end on this one.

respect but don't own Glocks

I will try to do better...but not sure which way to go

 

[4v50 Gary]

Why stop making Pythons? They're labor intensive. You need skilled assemblers who under stand the 19th Century lock work. By the time an assembler finishes one, a S&W or Ruger worker has probably assembled three.

 

[Guillermo]

By the time an assembler finishes one, a S&W or Ruger worker has probably assembled three.

In the era of injection molded parts I would suggest that estimate is very low. And the worker at Smith or Ruger is a much cheaper worker than the skilled craftsman it would take to assemble the Colt.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Those might be good reasons why Colt quit making the Python, but they don't answer the reason why they quit making the MK III, MK V, and King Cobra action style guns. I'm sure they would sell like hotcakes...I'm still waiting on my Python II to be made, basically a King Cobra action with a Python barrel screwed on it.

 

[Guillermo]

I'm still waiting on my Python II to be made, basically a King Cobra action with a Python barrel screwed on it.

It would be nice

so would a lot of things that ain't gonna happen

 

[CraigC]

I don't know, while I don't worship the rampant pony like some and consider my position on them to be of the "realistic" variety, I have high hopes for Colt. They have made great strides in improving the quality of their SAA as of late and have reintroduced the New Frontier. At this point, I think anything is possible.

 

[357 Terms]

Those might be good reasons why Colt quit making the Python, but they don't answer the reason why they quit making the MK III, MK V, and King Cobra action style guns

True.

I have always wondered what Colts reasoning (or lack of ) was for getting out of the DA revolver bussiness was.

Then again, we are talking about Colt. They seem to try really hard to run that company into the ground.

I know they would put up healthy sales in DA revolvers if they were still producing them, in whatever configuration.

 

[ladder13]

Anyone give me a ballpark figure on a 6 inch Coltguard Python in the original box, papers, and Colt rubber grips? Gun has about 300 rds of 38 sp thru it. I traded a 586 for it 20 years ago and haven't fired it since. I think it's an 82 gun, about 97-98%

 

[BobWright]

Collect them in gold, nickel, stainless, blued, their all good...
Just for the record: el Godfather


You may already know this, but there was a .38 Spl. version of the "Python" called the "Diamondback" I personally have not seen too many and I think it only existed till the late '80's or early '90's but that also would be a cool one too add to your collection as well.

The Diamondback was far from being a Python. Smaller frame, less well finished. Sort of a junior look-alike.

I had a Colt Python, a 6" blue model, that I put over 6,000 rounds through before swapping it off when the S&W introduced the L-Framed Model 586. The S&W gun digested my heaviest bullets that would bind up the Python with its short cylinder, same as with the N-Framed Model 27.

The Python is a fine revolver, but when I got my hands on the Model 586, I never looked back. Like a lot of other things, glad I had one, never expect to have one again.

Bob Wright

 

[entropy]

I am on quest to gather Pythons is all sizes.

Hope your pockets are very deep. The snubs have gotten into insane prices...

You may already know this, but there was a .38 Spl. version of the "Python" called the "Diamondback"

Different Frame, different action, much smaller; The Python is the I frame, Diamondback is a D frame.

if you always shoot it single action i bet it wont ever go out of time.

False. Wear on the hand is caused in both DA and SA, and this is the part that needs to be replaced when it 'goes out of time'. It should be replaced by a gunsmith that has considerable experience working on Colts, Pythons in particular. There are very few left, and parts are scarcer these days, too.

 

[CajunBass]

Before the internet, I had no idea that Colt's were fragile, cast bullets were the work of the devil, Kimber is garbage, you need at least a .300Mag to kill a deer, Elmer Keith blew up half the guns he touched, the .223 is a moose cartridge, the 7.62x39 is a bear stopper, Ruger 10/22's with $300 barrels shoot "just as good" as a $75 Marlin 60 and all Remington .22LR was junk. Did I forget anything???

You forgot the most obvious one. The .45 ACP is the very hammer of Thor. 9mm will bounce off a lightweight summer shirt. 22's and 25's will just make someone mad enough to beat you to death before they know they've been hit with anything (although I admit that Jeff Cooper was spreading all of those around before the internet even).

I had a Python once. A beautiful, but definite "shooter grade" gun. I really couldn't tell you if it was any "better" than the Smith & Wesson's and Rugers I've had over the years or not. I suspect for what I use a gun for, not really, but it did have a certain panache about it that other guns just don't have. I wish I hadn't sold it, because I'll likely never get another one.

 

[jmorris]

Ladder13 instead of replying to a 4 year old thread, you might be better off starting a new thread with your question. Most people start reading at the first post and already have something to say before getting to the very last one.