Found a snake today and adopted it

Status
Not open for further replies.
bikemutt

bikemutt

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2010
Messages
4,479
Location
Vancouver, WA
I knew better than to hit this pawn shop today but my truck just seemed to drive there as if on auto pilot, so I went along for ride.

They had no less than 5 Pythons under glass, it reminded me of when I got to pick my gun dog from the litter, sigh.

I'm a sucker for strays so I adopted my favorite, a 6" in bright stainless. Serial number indicates it was part of the last guns Colt made which I know carries some additional risk, but I couldn't find anything to be alarmed about so I bought the darned thing.

It wasn't a steal but it was a good deal. Less than I'd have to pay on GA.com or GB.com and I didn't have shipping and transfer fees to pay. Needs some cleaning up and a little polish but I've been told before that I could use some the same as well :)
 

Attachments

  • Python-1.jpg
    Python-1.jpg
    245.4 KB · Views: 152
  • Python-2.jpg
    Python-2.jpg
    216.9 KB · Views: 135
I don't know what you paid, but I recently let one just like slide by me with an asking price of $1400. I would say I could have owned it for a bill or two less.
 
Congrats...that is a beautiful gun. I got to shoot one for the first time a few months ago. The Python has an unbelievable trigger...I was shocked.

Very jealous here...and you did good by giving it a new home.
 
bikemutt

Congrats on the new Python. Nice buy for that price. Not a screaming deal but a fair price for a gun that appears to be in decent condition.
 
Nice! Enjoy it for awhile...shot the crap out of it, and when you can't afford anymore bullets... clean and polish the crap out of it.
Sweet gun let us know how she shoots.
 
bikemutt said:
Elaborate please, what's Mother's mag?
Click to expand...

A cleaning and polishing compound. With some elbow grease it can turn virtually any stainless gun to a mirror-finish showpiece. This is my son's (unfinished) S&W 686 after some light polishing:

686-2.jpg
 
One of my favorite reasons for being home for the holidays is that I can play with my dad's Colt Python. 4" blue steel. The quality in hand is outstanding.

My dream Python is a 4" stainless. By the time I can afford one they will cost 5k.

Congrats, enjoy, and for Pete's sake let it roar at the range! :)
 
Contrary to what some say or believe, all late production Pythons were not inferior. Colt still had a few assemblers that knew how to build them, and also some that didn’t. Still, they tried to have the “best assemble the best,” because the price of a Python justified it.

My point is, when looking at the last of Colt’s hand-ejector revolvers, judge them on an individual basis, because the best ones were (are) very good. That said, keep in mind that some weren’t, especially when brain-dead management was letting experienced old-timers go so they could replace them with new hires for less pay. :banghead:
 
Of course Fuffster is correct.

The later Pythons were a crap shoot but a lot less so than some brand new revolvers.

I have a Python from the mid 70's (75?) and it is a delight and had been used a fair amount.
 
Congratulations, that is a nice piece.
It's funny what a "Python" does to people that really appreciate a fine revolver, I got mine many years ago ( mftr. 1975 model with wood grip and 6" barrel) my father has several also fine S&W revolver's in .44 Mag., and .357 Mag. and still to this day wants a "Python" in his collection as well, but the price just wants to make him cry. I have a felling he will eventually do it. (His problem is finding one like mine with the Wood grips, he really does not like the rubber grips on pistols period.)-- and he say's that's all he ever see's in the stores, when he get's more serious about it I will help him. (Or put the &*%$ wood grips on myself!) :D
 
I was ever so tempted to take a real stray home instead of the one I did. It was the only blued one in the bunch, problem is the there was still some blue here and there between the holster wear. But it was tight, and an earlier model, although still within the CNC era.

It was funny though, he budged pretty good on mine but was just stuck on that blued one, maybe he had too much into it. At $895 it was more than I wanted to pay for one I'd want to get re-finished.

What pushed me over the edge on the bright stainless one is how nice it looks alongside the stainless King Cobra and Anaconda :)

Anyway, as we are completing the transaction I foolishly ask if he has a 6" 29-2 hiding anywhere, "took one in this morning" he says. He brings it out for me to examine and of course the thing is flawless, doesn't even look fired. He pulls out a calendar and points to January 28, that's when it will move from the safe to the counter. Why, why do I keep asking questions :banghead:
 
bikemutt said:
We're all friends here, $1050.

Edit: sorry, fat-fingered $1150.
Click to expand...
That is very good price for one of those revolvers. I have seen Pythons with boxes and paperwork almost into NEW Freedom Arms category that is actually shocking. Who buys those is beyond me.
Second hand Field Grade #1007 .454 with Premier Grade laminate grips in top shape $950 the Colt Python few slots over in similar shape $1399.:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
It appears that after days of mind wrangling, you final convinced yourself to put one of the most prized Colts in your stable. I hope it is everything you expected.:)

I disassembled & reassembled my Python to clean/oil it for the first time using Jerry K’s shop manual. The action wasn’t complicated and the job was relatively easy; no special tools required. However, I could see how the parts were precision made and fitted perfectly. Gunsmithing the revolver, well that’s a horse of a different color.:uhoh: Unfortunately, it’s a dying breed.:(
 
Sorry bikemutt,

Mother's mag cleaner is a wheel cleaner, can be bought at any auto supply store. Really does a nice job as mentioned above. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the kind words and wishes. The snake will be fired today, right after I stop at AutoZone for some Mother's :)

It seems to me the polish job would be easier if the cylinder were separated from the frame, especially on the KC where the wheel is really going to need some extra polish time. Is that feasible for Bubba (me) to do or is that a gunsmith job?
 
Here is a local one I kept an eye on, it's an 8" so it wasn't high on my list. Pretty gun, took him since October to sell it for $1000. It has seen plenty of action and was refinished, not by Colt. Love those grips.
 

Attachments

  • Capture.JPG
    Capture.JPG
    150.7 KB · Views: 29
The cylinder and yoke is removed as one assembly; it is easy to do. Just remove the screw/detent and spring from the right side using a good fitting gunsmith screwdriver blade. You can then open the cylinder and by pulling forward, remove the assembly from the frame.
 
Nice to know they are out there, despite the high price.

What the market will bear. They certainly aren't making them anymore.
 
2ifbyC said:
The cylinder and yoke is removed as one assembly; it is easy to do.
Click to expand...

For polishing, I also like to remove the side plate, cylinder latch and sometimes even trigger and hammer. As you said, yoke comes off easily and there's little chance of botching anything up, but anything beyond the side plate can be a different story.

I'd really like to get myself a 6" stainless Python, just to have another revolver project after the Anaconda is finished. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

bikemutt
  • Locked
Adoption needed, S&W 19-5 in WA
Replies
9
Views
752
tightgroup tiger
tightgroup tiger
H
  • Locked
Blasphemy and heresy in the land of the snake.
Replies
23
Views
1K
Rover 'n Rugers
R
bikemutt
  • Locked
I hate this: Python found at Pawn shop
2 3 4
Replies
96
Views
7K
trapper500
T
V
New scales for the snakes
Replies
4
Views
367
vanfunk
V
KarateHottie93
  • Locked
New Colt snake guns: Part Deux
Replies
9
Views
596
bannockburn
bannockburn
Back
Top