Mistreated Python: Resurrect or Sell?

[Wolfeye]

So I picked up a 4" nickeled Colt Python for cheap from a relative who needed money. He'd inherited it from someone who was known for being hard on his guns, and this one was no exception: it had obviously been put away wet on a regular basis (owner lived in the SE Alaskan rainforest), it had rarely been cleaned, and the barrel was underturned. As a result, the finish is pitted, the grip has lost its sealant in places, and the rear sight is frozen. However, a few dryfires showed that the action was like butter, and I think the the inside of the barrel cleans up decently.

While I'm no smith, I think the gun is probably safe but needs some professional work to be sure. Otherwise its issues are cosmetic. Should I spend the potentially hundreds it would take to restore this Python to its rightful beauty, or sell it and try to break even? Right now it's just an ugly safe queen.

 

[918v]

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=20613/Product/SUPER_STRIP_trade_

Then, get some sandpaper from 400 to 2000 grit. Get a wooden or plastic block about half-inch wide and 2" long. Use doublesided tape to attach the sandpaper to the block. Trim the excess with a razor blade.

I'm sure you can imagine where I'm going with this.

 

[yeti]

Leave it ugly use the refinish money to buy ammo.

 

[Oyeboten]

Images?

 

[MikeJackmin]

Guns with fine, hand-tuned actions were made to be used. If it is not harmed by the occasional scratch or blemish, so much the better.

It's no longer what it was, but it is what it is now, and what it is now is awfully nice. Shoot it all the time and enjoy it.

 

[Nasty]

The cost you have in it matters. If you're already in for a few hundred and you spend a few hundred more to have it properly redone, it still would not be worth what a well cared one would cost. If you pay that premium to make it all pretty, you'd probably have a nice weapon that you would want to baby and thus not enjoy as much. If you refinish and sell, you will probably barely break even.

You are in a no win because you did a relative a favor...helping really was the win.

I'd say keep it as it (after a basic clean-up) and shoot the heck out of it, enjoying the mechanical beauty while ignoring the esthetic beauty it once had.

It's kind of the same as how our wives keep *us* around, eh?

 

[Armored farmer]

My uncle was a truck driver who died suddenly. The company he worked for unloaded his personal stuff from his truck and gave to my aunt, who placed the cardboard boxes on her garage floor. A few years later, she went through the boxes and discovered a 4" Python. It was in terrible cond. Rusty and pitted.Grips almost gone. She gave it to me. I sent it back to Colt. The refinish and action job they did on the gun was remarkable. You must really look to find evidence of the pitting.
I really don't remember the cost of the rebuild, but it was money well spent because that gun is a real shooter, and has a great story. The action is buttery smooth. Colt threw in a nice set of combat grips at no charge. It is the most accurate handgun I own.
If you spend the $$ on a rebuild...I bet you won't regret it.

 

[forindooruseonly]

If you pay that premium to make it all pretty, you'd probably have a nice weapon that you would want to baby and thus not enjoy as much.

I've never understood why something nice can't be enjoyed. Or the notion that someone who babies something is getting no pleasure from having something nice and that if that person would simply go "drive it like you stole it" they would sure have more fun with it. Its like people get a kick out of throwing guns around and generally beating the hell out of something.

If anything, a refinished python will be even a better shooter IMO. Now it looks great, but its refinished so if something does happen you aren't marring a collectible. You get to enjoy both aspects of it, aesthetic and mechanical.

I guess if you just want the money out of it, sell it as it is. Refinishing it won't increase the value and will put you deeper into the gun. If you are someone who simply cares about function, make sure it is safe and shoot it. However, one of the things that makes owning a python special is the quality finish. If you care even the slightest about how things look, refinish it, you won't regret it.

 

[Sniper X]

I baby my Python and get total shooting enjoyment out of it. Well, as much as I can whilst worrying about it getting scratched! I still will shoot it though.

 

[Big Mike]

I've never understood why something nice can't be enjoyed.

Amen. Of your choices, I would resurrect it a shoot it, alot. As previously mentioned, if you didn't want to put a whole lot of money into it, you could address some of the cosmetic challenges yourself. Big kudos for helping the relative out.

 

[DRYHUMOR]

Shoot the snot out of it.

 

[CraigC]

You can spend a lot to make it like new again, or spend a little to have it bead blasted and reblued.

 

[Jimmy10mm]

Not being able to see it I can't say that it wouldn't bother me too much to leave it as is. OTOH, I think I wouldn't mind having a knock around 4" python with a buttery smooth action. I treat my Glock 23 like a knock around gun and baby the others. It is nice to have a tackle box gun. Especially if it is something as fine shooting as a python.

 

[Wolfeye]

Thanks for the insights, everybody. I think I'll invest enough to make it shootable again, but not bother with the finish or grips beyond a good cleaning. Might as well enjoy shooting it for a while before deciding whether to go further or sell.

I think I got the best of the bunch with this one. Every gun in that collection had water damage of varying degrees and at least one major issue: jammed actions, a bulged barrel here, duct tape holding the stock on there... the original owner really was all about tossing his guns around, and I think he just ran them until they stopped & bought another instead of doing a little cleaning now and then.

 

[Big Bill]

Resurrect it! They ain't making them anymore.

 

[joed]

You want it refurbished? Send it back to Colt, you'll never regret it. I had a blue Python that I came across a few years ago that had be carried quite a bit. For about $250 I ended up with a gun that looked like it left the factory.

I paid $450 for the gun and sold it last year for $1200. I used it for awhile and made $500 on it. Don't listen to the do-it-yourselfers, send it back to Colt.

 

[W.E.G.]

the barrel was underturned

I am unfamiliar with that description.

Can you explain?