It's a shame about the Python...

[GUNKWAZY]

If you don't like Colt, feel free to leave your comments somewhere else or sabotage another thread.

It's a shame about the Colt Python for this year. Stopping production to catch up on 1911 orders is not a good thing.

I personally would have liked to see Colt or some distributor step up and do a 50th anniversary set of Pythons. Do in fact that 2005 is the 50th anniversary of that fine Revolver. Not many guns are still being produced the same way they were 50 year ago.

I would have liked to see something like a Bright Stainless & Royal Blue pair with 3 inch barrels.
Full checkered (wood) service stocks with fine line Gold trim accents around the very outside edges of the checkering and a gold plated emblem signifying 50 years. The front sight could have a Gold plated insert. The barrels could be marked Golden Anniversary Python. The set would come with the 50th anniversary wooden lined presentation case. Hhmmm I don't want to think about the price, but I would have loved to see something for the 50th B-day instead of production being halted.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)

 

[Magnum88C]

Heck I'd just like a 4" or 6" blued version. But, I've never seen a Python in person, so, that's unlikely.

 

[GUNKWAZY]

Hey Magnum,
Where do you live that you've never seen a Python before ?

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)

 

[nero45acp]

I too am sad to hear that Colt is no longer making the Python (Elite). I'd love to see Colt reintroduce the Python AND Detective Special.


nero

 

[akviper]

And the Diamondback and the Cobra.

 

[P. Plainsman]

Yep -- what I really want is a new Diamondback.

A well-made, new, blued .38 Diamondback.

 

[thatguy]

You see lots of comments about "I'd buy one if they made it again..." but apparently not enough people actually pony up otherwise they would make them. The S&W Triple Lock sold for $21 and it folded after 5 years and 15,000+ guns. Everyone seems to want a 1950 target Model now (at least I sure do) but when they were in production they languished, unsold until dropped in 1967.

I think Colt is a lot to blame in this case. They have priced the Python out of most people's reach. Same with the SAA.

 

[Magnum88C]

Hey Magnum,
Where do you live that you've never seen a Python before ?

East central FL

 

[Standing Wolf]

It's a shame about the Colt Python for this year. Stopping production to catch up on 1911 orders is not a good thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

I'm sure Colt could have made plenty of Pythons and model 1911s at the same time. The problem is very simple: Colt jacked up the Python's price and significantly reduced the quality, so people stopped buying them. I'd have kept buying Pythons at $1,059.99 each if the quality had been consistent; when the fit and finish of a brand new Python are inferior to that of the average Ruger, however, I'd have to consider myself a fool to buy one.

I'm currently looking for a stainless Python with a 2.5-inch barrel. It'll necessarily be a used gun. If Colt had wanted to sell me a new one, it could easily have done so.

 

[Majic]

I too am sad to hear that Colt is no longer making the Python (Elite). I'd love to see Colt reintroduce the Python AND Detective Special.

The Python is coming back, but not in time for a 50th anniversary. They are retooling and will be back next year. With the new tooling hopefully more revolvers will be back. The original Detective Special probably will never come back, but the newer DSII and just maybe a new version of the Cobra similar to the DSII could show up.

 

[SnWnMe]

So many revolvers Colt can bring back. I am good for at least one New Service in 44 Spl, Anaconda in 45LC, Python and a SFIV Cobra

 

[BluesBear]

Everyone's taling about the Python Elite like it's dead or something.
The Python hasn't been discontinued. They're just not a stamdard catalogue item.
Now they are produced through the Custom shop.
http://www.coltsmfg.com/cmci/Python_C.asp
(Although 2" @ 15 yards is not my idea of "accurized".)

Since the recent quality of the Python Elite was more often than not an insult to the Python name hopefully the quality will actually increase because of the change.

As to the rumor that increased production of semi-automatic pistols was responsible for the decrease in the Python production, that's untrue also.
In fact the only model that is seeing any marked increase in production is the Single Action Army. I believe it is now catalogued in more variations than at any time since WWI.

 

[HankB]

The Python is coming back, but not in time for a 50th anniversary. They are retooling and will be back next year.

Retooling? I wonder if new Pythons will have MIM internals and integral locks like S&Ws do now?

 

[Standing Wolf]

Since the recent quality of the Python Elite was more often than not an insult to the Python name hopefully the quality will actually increase because of the change.

Might rain nickels this evening, too.

I hope I'm wrong, obviously, but Colt's quality has been on the wane a long, long time.

 

[bjbarron]

I agree with Standing Wolf.

The older Pythons are still awesome...the newer manufacture doesn't live up to their reputation and selling price. I own a couple of Colts, but from 30 to 70 years old. I ain't a young'un and have been watching Colt slide for a long time. It's a shame.

Here in the PRNJ, you can find plenty of Pythons, older, and the prices still run from $800 - $3000. For that kind of money I would buy the oldest one I could find and afford.

Hell, I only own one new pistol, my wife's P22. The other dozen are no younger than the 70's.....45s, 9s, .380s, 38s, .357s and more .22s. They built them better back then. New guns don't thrill me like the older ones do.

 

[BluesBear]

I wonder if new Pythons will have MIM internals and integral locks like S&Ws do now?

¿New Pythons?

What "new Pythons"? Are you referring to the current production Python Elite?
It's still made the same way.

And don't forget that MIM is just another sintered metal process. and Colt literally wrote the book on sintered metal gun parts over thirty years ago. The hammers and triggers of the MkIII series were all powdered metal and I have yet to hear of one that failed. Of course the main reason is that most people didn't know anything was different so there was no reason to constantly whine about it.

 

[HankB]

The hammers and triggers of the MkIII series were all powdered metal and I have yet to hear of one that failed.

And the MkIII isn't regarded with nearly the reverence of the Python, is it?

 

[birddog]

My wife and I inherited a 70's vintage Python when her father passed away. I've carried it here and there but really want to keep it as a safe queen, for a variety of reasons. One day, when a few other guns have been procured, I wouldn't mind buying a new one. It's the best balanced revolver I've ever shot in any caliber.

The Python is pictured lower right here.

 

[The Rabbi]

Colt revolvers are priced like they are because the work involved in producing one uses a lot of hand fitting and the like. The advantage is that there is little point taking them to the smith (unlike the 1911s) because they are about as good as they get from the factory. The disadvantage is they cost an arm and a leg and arent really much better than a Smith.

 

[Standing Wolf]

The advantage is that there is little point taking them to the smith (unlike the 1911s) because they are about as good as they get from the factory.

That's a myth. I've had nearly all my Pythons' triggers worked on, including some from the 1960s. It's a rare Python trigger than can't—and shouldn't—be lightened.

Recent production Python Elite triggers invariably needed action work in a serious way, which was yet another reason I declined to fork over $1,059.99 for one.

 

[denfoote]

My sad sordid tale of woe!!

I was saving for a Magnum Carry at the time Colt went bonkers.
Col. Ollie North told me that Colt had sold out to the Klintons, so I abandoned the project!! When Colt dropped the line, it only vindicated that view!!
Well, it turns out that Ollie was wrong. But, I have yet to see a resurrected Magnum Carry!! The Python is a fine gun that is priced way out of my price range!!!
I eventually bought an old Smith.
IF Colt, in their infinite wisdom, decides to extract the Magnum Carry from it's premature grave, and it is priced something less than extortive, I might start saving for one again!!!

I can't even begin to think about the Python!!

 

[GUNKWAZY]

QUOTE : If you don't like Colt, feel free to leave your comments somewhere else or sabotage another thread.

Wow, I guess I should have posted Cry babies post somewhere else.

I post what I thought was a nice thing about the Pythons 50th Birthday and get a bunch of winers saying....
Colt should have done this, Colt should have done that, Raining nickels, MIM parts, Pythons trigger pull is crap even the old ones, reduced quality, blah blah blah .....

 

[Ky Larry]

I bought a 1976-vintage Python a few weeks ago. (6 inch,blued, appeared to be in new, unfired condition) It was expensive (to me, anyway) but they won't get any cheaper and I probably won't find another one in this condition. It fits my hand better than any revolver I've ever held. I now have a Python, a Det. Special, and a Police Positive .38 Special. My gun safe is slowly being cleaned out of other brands and restocked with Colts. Next on my list is a Colt 1911 Commander.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Colt should have done this, Colt should have done that, Raining nickels, MIM parts, Pythons trigger pull is crap even the old ones, reduced quality, blah blah blah...

Sad to say, it's all true, more or less. Realistically speaking, Colt has been a deep disappointment to people who appreciate fine revolvers. The company let itself get stuck between incompetent management and union greed.

As well as I can discern, http://www.usfirearms.com is picking up where Colt left off. We're not likely to know for sure until another few years have passed, but I can tell you this much right now: the one U.S. Firearms revolver I looked at left Colt's products in the dust.

If I'd the money, I'd buy Colt, move it to a free state, and start with a clean sheet of paper. It could be done—and the quality that was Cold could be resurrected.

 

[The Rabbi]

If I'd the money, I'd buy Colt, move it to a free state, and start with a clean sheet of paper. It could be done—and the quality that was Cold could be resurrected.

Probably not. As I pointed out, the Colt design relies on a lot of specialized work that in the old days was done by experts who were underpaid. Today that same hand labor costs a lot of money. The Python is a great gun (I own a 1980s version I bought new) but it is no way worth twice as much as a Smith Model 686. If it were Colt would still be making them. They could redesign their revolvers but then it wouldnt be a Colt anymore. I think they have very little interest in the civilian market or in innovation of any kind. It is a shame but years of government contracts ruined the company.