Have Colt Pythons Really Gone Up That Much?

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9mmepiphany

9mmepiphany

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I have had a Colt Python for a while and someone recently asked me if I would be interested in selling it. So I went to Gunbroker to see what they were selling for and I'm Shocked.

Are they really selling for $1500-$2500?

Mine is a nice 6" blued model serial # 10000E that i got about 30 years ago at a local sporting goods store. I put about a box of rounds through it before I semi-retired it, because I found a well used one to carry as a duty gun.

Now I'm also wondering what my used one is worth. It has wear one the barrel muzzle, cylinders, sights and rib from being worn in a break front holster. The right side grip has all the diamonds flattened now also. Someone asked me about what I want for it recently and i haven't the slightest idea. serial # in the 50XXX range. What does a Python former duty gun go for?

Can someone give me some ballpark guidance on pricing?

Thanks
 
Hard to say without actually seeing the gun, but around my part of the country, no way you'd get $2500 for what you describe. Something as you describe it would go for somewhere between $900-$1500, tops. I recently saw an 8" python in cosmetically mint condition for just under $1500, and that is the highest of several I've seen in the past year or so.

Of course, like any used gun, it is worth whatever someone will pay for it, so if in your area, prices are up to $2500, then that's what it is worth in a local sale I guess.
 
Look at the CLOSED auctions to see what the items actually sold for, NOT at the asking prices that no one had bid on. Different parts of the country place different values on different guns
 
A 4" Python will sell for a bunch of dollars more then a 6" one.

Just the way it is.

rc
 
Yes, Python prices have climbed shrply in the last 3 years.
No a 4 inch Python is not worth more than a 6 inch Python "Just the way it is".

Depends on exactly what you have condition, finish & barrel length wise, but YES some prices are well up over $2k on some of the Pythons.
At auction, some have just been remarkable price wise.
Correct box, manual and paperwork enhance the value as well.
Bright stainless MIB and Python Elites are all in that $2k class.
Early boxed examples have been bringing silly money at auction as well.
Here's just a few examples...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=159415446

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=158633986

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=161523432

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=162004389

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=159607707

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=154008992

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=158983456

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=161733332



Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
I'd certainly pay a premium for a 4" Python over a 6", but that's just me I guess. :)
 
There was a 4" Python for sale at a local gunshop in Boise for $1,800 last summer. It lasted for two days and then was out the door. Whoosh. Python prices have gone beserk.
 
Yeah, you guys are right. The 4 inchers are where the money is.
The 6 inchers are cheaper by the dozen.

dozenpythons2.jpg


Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
While I understand the "Classic" Python is the 6"... for me personaly I'd pay a premium for a 4" or shorter one... because as a carry gun, the 6"ers don't work for me.
 
From what I've seen the Colt Python had it's better days about a year or more ago. Examples I've seen at Cabela's Gun Library were $1600 and up are now about $400-500 cheaper. Funny thing is the Anaconda seems to have risen in popularity a bit though.
 
Mine - "only" a six-inch stainless, made in 1982 - went for $1300 in 2008. The circumstances under which I had to sell it were distressing, but considering I paid $500 for it in 1998, that lessened the pain. It had the original box and papers which may have enhanced it somewhat.
 
A buddy of mine sold a 4 inch last week for $700. It had a little wear on the end of the barrel and was missing the factory wood. (Had Pachs) In our neck of the woods the factory Python grips run $100-$200 for nice ones.
 
"You're in California, add 20% to "normal" prices... "

My friend if it was only a 20% premium I would be ecstatic. Perhaps 20% for retail safe-list guns, eg. a GP 100. Some revolvers, such as old smiths are worth a 75% premium in CA now (socal and sacto areas). Don't dare ask me what I just paid for my first smith--a 686-1. It was hard enough finding someone willing to sell one, let alone somebody who lived close enough for a private party transfer. Colts don't seem to have the same premium as the same seller is trying to get $2,000 for his mint colt python, but no takers so far.
 
Here's my experience:
I bought a 4" blued Python with original grips (about 1982 vintage) 2 or 3 years ago thru the local classifieds for $500. It had a little wear on the end of the barrel and a small spot on the trigger guard. It was nice. I read about all these big prices for Pythons so I put it up for sale for $1,000. No takers.
Now, I didn't just put it up locally. I put it on the Colt Forum, I believe I put it here, and several other national gun forums. No takers.
I had a lot of "wish I had the money", "it's worth every penny" talk but nobody was pulling out their wallet so you know what that talk was worth.
It was for sale over a month. No takers so I lowered the price to $900. No takers. After about 4 months I took it to a gunshow and sold it to a dealer from Atlanta for $750 and about $40 worth of trinkets and beads.
So, based on my experience, I've come to the following conclusions about Pythons :

1. The ones that are going for the big money are LNIB or very rare versions. Serious collectors are buying those.

2. The people that are talking it up on forums about how Pythons are worth big money either own Pythons or are just parroting what they heard on the forums. If they aren't pulling out their wallet, talk is just that, talk.

This is my real-life experience. Yours may differ. Like somebody said earlier, go look at the completed auctions on Gunbroker and see what ones in similar shape to yours sold for. The asking prices don't mean squat. Look at what they actually sold for.
 
I posted about my buddy and his Python he let go for 700. He's a dealer and just got into it to where he could let it go for that. A few months ago he sold a 6 inch in about the same condition only the front sight had been Bubbad'. I saw the guy hand him 1,000 for it. And I've seen 'em go for 1,000-1100 at shows around central Indiana. I've got a 6 inch blue that I've had since 1978 and it's only had about 2 boxes thru it. I know I could get 1,000 for it but it 's not for sale.;)
 
I have a Diamond Back a Pyhton and a Anaconda all three in 4 inch/blued that I paid a total of $874 for all three. ( mid 70's)

Python and Anaconda have less than a 100 rounds threw them and the Diamond Back has been shot quite a bit, just wish I had left them unfired..:banghead:

God knows what the three would be worth at todays prices...
 
I paid $1150 for this one in 12/08 and found it here in the for sale forum. Here's the pic from the ad.

I thought it was a little high, but it is a 1967 model according the SN. I know, wrong grips, but I had some 2nd generation ones and now have a spare 3rd gen set to keep my 2nd gen nickel set company until I find guns to go with them.

Shoots good too.

python2.jpg
 
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