A California Original: The Python before the Python

[JohnCCW]

Made reading the forum today a joy. Thanks for posting!

[Click Boom]

NSFW

[FresnoRob]

Thank you once again for the enjoyable history lesson.

[BigPimping]

That was a fascinating read. Thank you OP.

[cannon]

Thank you

[BradleyAbrams]

Good stuff..! - Thank You.

-

[jazman]

As always, well done Beetle! Thanks for sharing.

[Mr. Beretta]

Outstanding post!

One of the best of the year!

Thank you Beetle!

[Bill Steele]

Great stuff, thanks much.

[agent88]

Thanks op really enjoyed that.

What is the most highly regarded King modified pistol right now the colt or SW?

[beetle]

thanks everyone for the kind comments. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy sharing gun stories. As of yet I don't have a blog or youtube channel -- perhaps I may start something up in the near future. For now Calguns is the way I publish my original content. I update my master thread every time I post something new. For a listing of all my original content please see this thread:

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=769850

Beetle, as usual, best thing I have seen on Calguns in weeks. Fascinating history, how did you research all of this and discover it all?

"before you buy guns.....buy books!". quote from a gun collector/mentor of mine. I spend a lot of time reading gun books. Also whenever I buy a new gun for the collection I'll almost always go and buy a book or two on that gun so that I can learn all about it. I guess it's the silver lining to the 10 day wait -- gives me time to learn/study more about the gun.

lately my wife has caught onto my pattern. if a couple of books show up at the house she will immediately start the inquisition "did you buy a gun?!?!"

Thanks op really enjoyed that.

What is the most highly regarded King modified pistol right now the colt or SW?

regarded by who? different people have different opinions and it stems from the age old question -- Smith or Colt? (nikon or canon, coke or pepsi, mac or pc, etc...). In an article I read Colt was heavily preferred by target shooters over Smith at the time. In fact King did 10X more Colts than Smiths. But today that makes King converted Smith much more rare and valuable.

Probably the most expensive King conversion that I've seen is a Full King Super Target Registered Magnum, offered at $15K

[beetle]

Great point. King was a smith of such renown that both Colt and Smith & Wesson offered the ability to order King customizations through the factory.
In fact when Smith and Wesson introduced their then top-of-the-line Registered Magnum it could be ordered with King front sights to be installed during production. King parts were held in such high regard that even Colt/S&W had no issues stocking them and installing them straight from the factory.

I found this Smith and Wesson historical letter online (not mine) which indicate that this particular Registered Magnum had King sights installed from the factory and then was shipped directly to King for further enhancements.

[madjack956]

Beetle thanks for the education and making my afternoon. As a Python owner it makes me appreciate the pistol that much more.

Pretty wild how Colt capitalized on someone else's ideas.

Thanks so much for a well written, informative article.

[geeknow]

Another awesome write up from Beetle! Keep them coming. Why haven't you bound these together into a "campfire tales" sort of book???

[jyo]

WAY back when I was just a pup, we went to a local shooting range to teach me "The way of the gun"---the revolver used at the time was a well-worn Colt Officers Match 22---what a wonderful shooter! Wish I had bought one back then...