Colt Python prices

[Aircraftman]

When I first got into Colt collecting you could buy a Python for less than $1K all day long. I remember some of the old-timers refusing to pay any more than $500 for them!!!

Now a basic Python is bringing almost $3K (surely to hit that level in the next few months).

Now I wish I had bought all those Pythons I passed on because I thought $1200 was too much.

I know there is much debate on the "Python bubble" but I'm betting that a few years from now, today's $3K Pythons will be worth $5K!!

Colt collecting is very cool, but its becoming a "rich man's game"

[MoltoMario]

I'm 24 years old and got my 1st Python last year. With the current prices of Pythons and even Diamondbacks I doubt Ill be able to get anymore anytime soon. As much as I absolutely love my Python, I really have a soft spot for my Smith's. My 1st wheel gun was a 4" 686+. I bought it about 1.5 years ago. I've shot the snot out of it and it goes to every range trip with me. I shoot almost every weekend. I recently just picked up a S&W 625JM and love that too. Shoots amazingly and has a great trigger to! As much as I love my Python I think I love my Smiths more just because I don't feel bad about shooting them because the value of a Python is so high I cant really bring myself to shoot it. Ive only shot my Python one time. The Python is a safe queen.

Recently I've been tempted to trade my Vepr 12 for a Diamondback. My LGS is a huge Colt Collector and he is willing to trade my Vepr 12 for his mint 4" Blue Diamondback, But at the same time my V12 is super fun and I know if I trade it for the Diamondback I know I wont ever shoot it. Its just too nice and will be worth to much one day.

Dont get me wrong. I do know that the current production Smiths are not near the build quality of a Python, but I dont think I could have anymore fun then shooting my 686 and 625JM.

[colossians323]

dont waste your money, by a smith model 19, some ammo and enjoy

[trigger945]

I don't have a Python but have shot one before. Maybe I still don't understand why Pythons are valued the way they are. Then again, I understand why high-end 1911's are valued the way they are. Maybe I just need more seasoning. At this point, I still don't see dropping that much on a Python.

I also don't like the idea of having a safe queen. I have a Series 70 Colt in mint condition that I might sell here next year. I enjoy my guns a lot more when I shoot them. To each his own, I know.

Maybe when I have extra funds I will finally get a Python and shoot the heck out of it side by side with my Smiths. I will probably enjoy doing the comparison then.

[Che762x39]

Early 1980s I got good at revolver shooting so I got a Python (6" used and had been hard chromed) It was accurate but being young I let it go to get a Colt Officers ACP in 1986. I got $357 credit for it.

Comparing a Python to a S&W M19 is like comparing a Lexus to a Toyota.

['ol shooter]

Early 1980s I got good at revolver shooting so I got a Python (6" used and had been hard chromed) It was accurate but being young I let it go to get a Colt Officers ACP in 1986. I got $357 credit for it.

Comparing a Python to a S&W M19 is like comparing a Lexus to a Toyota.

Actually, it is more like a Jag to a Toyota, because at some point the Jag is going to break on you, as the Python's action is not as robust as the Smith, something I learned in Armorers school. There is a lot of hand fitting required when repair is necessary as well. I love my Python, but it is a safe queen compared to the Smiths I own.

[drdanno84]

BEAUTIFUL SNAKES

Pythons are like a beautiful woman! can never have too many of them to enjoy!

[SFOGUN]

Salutations from a recent Colt convert also in Pacifica. Picked up my 1st Python Jan of this year; an 1975 6" Bright Nickel. Ive always thought of the Python as an overly extravagant gun due to price. Only movie stars and 55 yr old Sergeants owned them until I bit the bullet and picked one up (BTW Im neither of the 2 professions) I initially thought the gun was broke because the hammer pulled back so effortlessly. Prior to the colt a S&W Mod 27 Highway Patrolman was the smoothest revolver action I've experienced. My grail gun is still a pristine 4" Royal Blue. I had the chance to picked up a couple 4"ers not in pristine condition last week just because they don't come up for sale too much at our LGS's. And... they where under $2K and now I don't feel guilty for not shooting the Nickel Pythons are worth what ever you can afford within your cash-flow I say... and for you married folk... what your allowed to spend

[trob]

...... but I'm betting that a few years from now, today's $3K Pythons will be worth $5K!!
.......

BULL-to the- MF'n- SHEET

[The Gleam]

I've posted aspects of this reply in the past, and it's usually in reply to the same topic of "Python Pricing" or "Python Bubble" that reappears about once every other month, oddly often procured and propelled by the same people.

First things first; everything I ever predicted back in the late 1980s/early 1990s about the plateau in prices and interest in the collectability of Lugers and Colt Single Action Armies has come/came true.

Most all of my truly rare-model Pythons I obtained back in the late 1980s and early 1990s when they were still in the $600 to $800 range as NIB. However, current Python values are not justified for how many have been produced for more than 50 years, and for just how many are available at any given time, while anyone buying them now won't be using them much (IF AT ALL) because they'll deem them to be "collector" items.

The majority of what's available now, will likely always be available, because current buyers will relegate them to a mystique status as either too special to shoot or as an investment rather than for utilitarian purposes.

Search "Colt Python" on Gunbroker and nearly 300 listings for actual firearms pop up - not just parts or accessories. And of those listings, nearly 3/4th say "NIB".

Now do the same search for "Semmerling" or "Registered Magnum" and see if ANYTHING comes up; but check the history and production figures on these gun, and you'll get an understanding as to why I say Python values/prices are out of control considering how many had been made, and how many are still floating around as available.

The Colt Python is really not a rare gun at all. Certain models are rare, but even some of the high-production stainless examples are fetching 3" Combat Python, Python Hunter, or Python Silhouette prices. Silly and stupid. Many of the prices being fetched for common-place Colt Pythons are even higher than much for more rare one-off Lugers where few are known to exist. It's gotten that crazy.

But no, I don't believe there will be a "burst" of a bubble - just a plateau.

Some idiot will always point to a completed Gunbroker auction for a Python that was available to CA buyers as to the justification for their asking price as if Gunbroker is a blue-book. Anyone using California as a litmus test, qualifier, or measure of pricing is out of their mind. Of course such guns sold here will fetch crazy pricing as I said, but the same could be said for a P7M13, a Steyr GB18, a Walther P88, or pre-GCA 1965 Walther PPK. A no-box, mid 1980s 6" blued example available in CA on Gunbroker will breach $3500 but that same gun outside of CA will be lucky to get above $1,600. It's just stupidity or novice collectors making more of the Colt Python than it really is and worsened by fools in California trying to grab for a overly-hyped brass ring.

Colt Pythons are not all they are hyped to be; I've owned and shot Pythons for more than 30 years; they can easily go out of time, they are fragile, and honestly somewhat flimsy. They are very finely made and the barrels were excellent, true; but they are neither "working guns" or something that can handle full loads regularly. These traits alone ALSO ensure that what is out there now, in private hands, will forever be safe-queens and their rarity will plateau out of default.

The irrational sudden increase in Colt pricing and "bubble" is being driven by a mass of "bubble-heads" (and most typically Californians, because of the damned Roster) overpaying for ANY common, run-of-the-mill pedestrian Python as self-validation that they are a certified, elite, high-brow "Colt Collector" and their buying-in is akin to joining some snobbery, exclusive country club to impress others of their "uber-rare/I-got-one-too" Python.

It's worst case of the "Joneses" I've seen with any particular model firearm in decades (other than the ever present contagion of venereal "BRD").

[Aircraftman]

I've posted aspects of this reply in the past, and it's usually in reply to the same topic of "Python Pricing" or "Python Bubble" that reappears about once every other month, oddly often procured and propelled by the same people.

First things first; everything I ever predicted back in the late 1980s/early 1990s about the plateau in prices and interest in the collectability of Lugers and Colt Single Action Armies has come/came true.

Most all of my truly rare-model Pythons I obtained back in the late 1980s and early 1990s when they were still in the $600 to $800 range as NIB. However, current Python values are not justified for how many have been produced for more than 50 years, and for just how many are available at any given time, while anyone buying them now won't be using them much (IF AT ALL) because they'll deem them to be "collector" items.

The majority of what's available now, will likely always be available, because current buyers will relegate them to a mystique status as either too special to shoot or as an investment rather than for utilitarian purposes.

Search "Colt Python" on Gunbroker and nearly 300 listings for actual firearms pop up - not just parts or accessories. And of those listings, nearly 3/4th say "NIB".

Now do the same search for "Semmerling" or "Registered Magnum" and see if ANYTHING comes up; but check the history and production figures on these gun, and you'll get an understanding as to why I say Python values/prices are out of control considering how many had been made, and how many are still floating around as available.

The Colt Python is really not a rare gun at all. Certain models are rare, but even some of the high-production stainless examples are fetching 3" Combat Python, Python Hunter, or Python Silhouette prices. Silly and stupid. Many of the prices being fetched for common-place Colt Pythons are even higher than much for more rare one-off Lugers where few are known to exist. It's gotten that crazy.

But no, I don't believe there will be a "burst" of a bubble - just a plateau.

Some idiot will always point to a completed Gunbroker auction for a Python that was available to CA buyers as to the justification for their asking price as if Gunbroker is a blue-book. Anyone using California as a litmus test, qualifier, or measure of pricing is out of their mind. Of course such guns sold here will fetch crazy pricing as I said, but the same could be said for a P7M13, a Steyr GB18, a Walther P88, or pre-GCA 1965 Walther PPK. A no-box, mid 1980s 6" blued example available in CA on Gunbroker will breach $3500 but that same gun outside of CA will be lucky to get above $1,600. It's just stupidity or novice collectors making more of the Colt Python than it really is and worsened by fools in California trying to grab for a overly-hyped brass ring.

Colt Pythons are not all they are hyped to be; I've owned and shot Pythons for more than 30 years; they can easily go out of time, they are fragile, and honestly somewhat flimsy. They are very finely made and the barrels were excellent, true; but they are neither "working guns" or something that can handle full loads regularly. These traits alone ALSO ensure that what is out there now, in private hands, will forever be safe-queens and their rarity will plateau out of default.

The irrational sudden increase in Colt pricing and "bubble" is being driven by a mass of "bubble-heads" (and most typically Californians, because of the damned Roster) overpaying for ANY common, run-of-the-mill pedestrian Python as self-validation that they are a certified, elite, high-brow "Colt Collector" and their buying-in is akin to joining some snobbery, exclusive country club to impress others of their "uber-rare/I-got-one-too" Python.

It's worst case of the "Joneses" I've seen with any particular model firearm in decades (other than the ever present contagion of venereal "BRD").

Wow you seem to be a real expert in this matter

[Kraviwannabe]

It has more to do with the unique style Colt brought to the scene with the Python than anything else. People buy them because they are very pretty!

[cajay]

All I know is I picked up my first one 60 minutes agon(it just got released from jail)

All I have to say is...'forget the bubble".

[03fatboy]

I'm a revolver guy but have never been a fan of the python with the vent rib, but that is just me. Love the bluing though. This is really good for my pocket book. If I could predict the future I would have been stock piling them only to sell now and cash in.

All Colt has to do is start making them again and the current prices will drop. Whether they are smart enough to do that, probably not, let alone be on the roster for CA.

Most Python owners do not shoot them, as it seems everybody has a mint one for sale. I have read on many occasions about the timing issues that occurs with some amount of use, and with limited parts and gunsmiths around this may become an issue. I have never shot one, but I would still take my handy, reliable, durable smith just about any day of the week. One day I hope to shoot one, and hopefully it is not love at first site for the sake of my pocketbook,LOL!

[The Gleam]

Wow you seem to be a real expert in this matter

Thank you; I am. R.L. Wilson would likely vouch for that.

You can post a "roll your eyes" smiley. You can cluck your tongue behind your keyboard in sheer disgust. You can doubt to the heights of Mt. Olympus, if it makes you feel better, or puts you in a serendipitous state of feeling more in the know. But that flagellation serves you and you only, and would do very little to change the truth.

Good luck to you.