rswartsell
Member
Welcome to the dark side Luke.
My first blue revolver Colt Python
- Thread starter dgroff85
- Start date
- Status
Confederate
Member
When you take photos of blued guns, set your exposure compensator to +1 or +1.5, the same that you'd do for shooting snow photos. Unfortunately, most of the blued gun photos we get here are silhouettes.
I love Pythons and don't think getting the stainless ones are worth it as the S&W 686, ounce for ounce, is a better gun. It's the luxurious blue that makes the Python a great keeper, and if I had one like yours, I wouldn't fire a shot out of it. Some people, though, love shooting their guns more than collecting them.
The only downside of the Python is the pawl, or hand, which is designed a bit small. The result is that it wears quickly and goes out of time after as little as 2,000 rounds. Some shooters have the pawl hard chromed so it won't wear. The ratchet also can be hard chromed so the gun will likely never go out of time. But if this is to be a safe queen, don't bother!
For shooting, get a Smith 686, which is an astoundingly good gun that shoots every bit as good as a Python and it has better grips. The grips on the Python seem like they're made for an orangutang! They're small where the fingers are longer and thicker where the fingers are smaller. Never could figure that!
I love Pythons and don't think getting the stainless ones are worth it as the S&W 686, ounce for ounce, is a better gun. It's the luxurious blue that makes the Python a great keeper, and if I had one like yours, I wouldn't fire a shot out of it. Some people, though, love shooting their guns more than collecting them.
The only downside of the Python is the pawl, or hand, which is designed a bit small. The result is that it wears quickly and goes out of time after as little as 2,000 rounds. Some shooters have the pawl hard chromed so it won't wear. The ratchet also can be hard chromed so the gun will likely never go out of time. But if this is to be a safe queen, don't bother!
For shooting, get a Smith 686, which is an astoundingly good gun that shoots every bit as good as a Python and it has better grips. The grips on the Python seem like they're made for an orangutang! They're small where the fingers are longer and thicker where the fingers are smaller. Never could figure that!
ColtPythonElite
Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2011
- Messages
- 10,474
The heck with that not shooting it business. The gun is a prime example of a shooter. What is the point of preserving it? To make the next guy happy? If it needs service, Colt still works on them everyday.
CajunBass
Member
I'm a Smith & Wesson guy, but man, IMHO, the Colt Python is the BEST looking revolver ever made. Yea, yea...I think it's better looking than the Model 27, and I've owned a few of those in my time, still have one, a really nice one, too. I don't know if they shoot any better, frankly, I think it would be hard to shoot any BETTER than a Model 27, but for looks, IMHO, the scale tips to the Python.
I'm sort of torn with this view. While I agree with CPE, that they're made to be shot, I do have guns that I've never fired. Not that I WON'T shoot them, I just never have. Kinda goofy, I admit. My wife tells me..."Shoot them...if you don't the kids will when you're dead and gone." She's right.
On the other hand, I agree with him about the "Don't shoot it, it might break" argument. If you don't shoot it because you're afraid it might break, it might as well be broke. What's the difference?
I'm sort of torn with this view. While I agree with CPE, that they're made to be shot, I do have guns that I've never fired. Not that I WON'T shoot them, I just never have. Kinda goofy, I admit. My wife tells me..."Shoot them...if you don't the kids will when you're dead and gone." She's right.
On the other hand, I agree with him about the "Don't shoot it, it might break" argument. If you don't shoot it because you're afraid it might break, it might as well be broke. What's the difference?
Cocked & Locked
Member
I agree with that 100%. Python factory grips are the worst.
I replaced the grips on the above pictured Python with these from Herrett. Same basic design but a little thinner at the bottom and thicker at the top...feel much better.
Fuzzy Farrant grips are an improvement over the factory ones but I like the Herrett ones better.
That's a beautiful Python you have. Those stocks are really nice, also.
The differences in 2nd and 3rd generation stocks makes for great discussions.
For example, I have two Pythons, with serial numbers less than 500 apart. One has 2nd generation stocks, and the other has 3rd generation stocks.
Colt is probably no different than Smith & Wesson, in that they use parts to exhaust, when possible; and that they're in the gun-making and selling business, and not the "suit the collector" business. Revolvers are tools, not museum pieces.
The differences in 2nd and 3rd generation stocks makes for great discussions.
For example, I have two Pythons, with serial numbers less than 500 apart. One has 2nd generation stocks, and the other has 3rd generation stocks.
Colt is probably no different than Smith & Wesson, in that they use parts to exhaust, when possible; and that they're in the gun-making and selling business, and not the "suit the collector" business. Revolvers are tools, not museum pieces.
MtnSpur
Member
Python stock prices have soared into the stratosphere where some examples have fetched $350 (no I didn't stutter though I wish I did
). I purchased a 1978 Python in nickel finish and it came with Pachmyer Presentation w/medallion which would have been incorrect for that year as factory shipped. I got fortunate and was offered a pair that need restoring. The set cost me something like $55 or so and the restoration was another $65 but the combined cost saved me about $75-$100 if I wanted to get originals off GB or fleabay. The final package makes me much happier as I prefer wood over rubber on a Colt.
Last edited:
Those are very nice stocks on your Python. The more I see them, the more I like the 2nd generation stocks more than the 3rd. The 3rd Gen stocks look like Colt saved money by not circling around the medallion.
I do not like the 3rd generation stocks for regular shooting. They eat up my hands, because the checkering is so sharp. My 1978 came with 3rd generation stocks, and I bought a set of Herrett's Shooting Masters in 1979, modified them, and have never put the originals back on the revolver, except for pictures.
I do not like the 3rd generation stocks for regular shooting. They eat up my hands, because the checkering is so sharp. My 1978 came with 3rd generation stocks, and I bought a set of Herrett's Shooting Masters in 1979, modified them, and have never put the originals back on the revolver, except for pictures.
MtnSpur
Member
Thank you Dennis. I agree on the 3rd gen stocks and also prolonged use at the range with stocks that still have a sharp checkering. I have Herretts on a reblued Trooper that I can use or I can cheat and glove some range sessions Somewhere in the safe I've a set of full bark stags and another set of smooth stag stocks for the I/E frame Colts I've managed to acquire. Like the gals used to dress up their dolls I dress up the Colts
Somewhere in the safe I've a set of full bark stags and another set of smooth stag stocks for the I/E frame Colts I've managed to acquire. Like the gals used to dress up their dolls I dress up the Colts ColtPythonElite
Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2011
- Messages
- 10,474
Shoot 'em enough and those sharp edges will wear down.
I shoot my 686-4, 7 shot more than any gun I own. Although, I've been caught up in the Colt Snake gun craze and have bought 1 Anaconda/2 Pythons in the last 2 months. I won’t shoot this Python. My other Python "not pretty", with a born date of 1975 and non-correct finish is my shooter. Once I'm done shooting it, she will go back to Colt and be re-finished. Hopefully I will find some period correct grips at a decent price, bringing it back to its original look.
Last edited:
Confederate
Member
The reason I wouldn't shoot the gun is that it's no longer made and that once you begin scratching a ring around the cylinder and putting nicks and scratches in it, you've destroyed its beauty forever. The finish on a blued Python is one of the most beautiful sights on a handgun you'll ever behold. If I had a mint model, there's no way I'd turn it into a shooter.
There are other handguns you can shoot, and many other magnums. I also don't think there will ever be any more factory made models, which means there's no going back. There are other guns I also wouldn't shoot mint, including early Smith 13s and early 66s.
There are other handguns you can shoot, and many other magnums. I also don't think there will ever be any more factory made models, which means there's no going back. There are other guns I also wouldn't shoot mint, including early Smith 13s and early 66s.
Plastikosmd
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2011
- Messages
- 828
"What is the point of preserving it? To make the next guy happy?"
Always felt the same about the car show guys with the mirrors under the car. Amazing in it's own way but I prefer to drive or shoot! To each his own!
Always felt the same about the car show guys with the mirrors under the car. Amazing in it's own way but I prefer to drive or shoot! To each his own!
Owning a Colt Python and not shooting it is like being married to Miss America and having seperate bedrooms. I have a 1965 6" blued Snake that goes to the range with me every time. I've owned it for ,IIRC, 8 years and have shot several thousand rounds thru it. It locks up like Ft. Knox, is in perfect time, and still looks better than any other gun I own. I took the grips off and installed a set of Pachmyers. Nothing wrong with the originals, the Pachmyers just fit my hand better.
Very nice. I own a pre-war Colt Officer Model Target Heavy Barrel 6" and I shoot it. I shoot it very lightly with target loads, but I do shoot it. I have two guns that I don't shoot. One is a 1898 Smith & Wesson M&P (mfd. 1901) and a Webley Mk VI. Both can be shot, but I think they've earned some down time. All my others are fired. Now some of my pieces are taken to the range once a year and have only twelve to twenty four rounds fired through it. I don't run them like they're competition revolvers. I treat them kindly. It's up to the individual.
- Status
