Why are Colt Pythons so desirable?

[ivanimal]

Beats me.

Ill beat you when I see you you Python whore!

Flat out the most accurate revolver made in its time. Combine that with a fit and finish second to none and you have the setting for a credit card exodus. Life savings have been spent and people never recover from the deal that fell through. Pythons are like crack only legal. Try one, I warn you, you will never be the same.

[randy]

They're art that happens to shoot.

My Smiths shoot better but aren't as sexy.

[Vacaville]

Some of the best looking guns I've ever seen. I want a nickel one.

[PatriotnMore]

As has been mentioned, the Bluing was incredible, and they are somewhat difficult to find. Even when they were new, they were highly sought after pieces, and expensive to buy for the time.

[HowardW56]

I see them fetching crazy prices. Why? What is special about it that current revolvers can't match?

I'm genuinely curious.

Quality, fit & finish, rarity, a fine revolver....

That said, I prefer Smith & Wesson... 50's 60's & early 70's production...

[Black Majik]

Buy one, so you can sell it on Calguns with "I'd like to keep it in California."

[.454]

Life savings have been spent and people never recover from the deal that fell through.

Tell me about it. Last year a real Combat Python slipped through my fingers. It was one of five hundred, with the Combat Python rollmark on the barrel and pinned front sight, not the California Python or any other 8" chopped barrel fake.
I was practically two minutes too late and a Turners employee bastard got it.
I felt sick for weeks in a row.

[Bruce]

Why are Colt Pythons so desirable?

Don't know. Smiths are easier to shoot DA than Colts. I still remember a LASD rangemaster asking a class if anybody had a "fishing weight". After a minute of blank stares, he elaborated and said he meant to say "Colt".

[Brutish]

That's it? Meaning they were hand assembled?

Hand fit doesn't just mean hand assembled. He said hand FIT. That means each part was installed and fit into the build by someone with skills enough to install and modify a part with fine files or rubbing compounds, etc so that they fit perfectly into the space they are to be installed in if the part didn't go in properly or look good to begin with. Thus, there are no unsightly gaps where there shouldn't be and no misaligned parts or other anomalies and the fire control components interplay correctly and make for a smooth, crisp, light trigger.

[Beelzy]

The Colt Python is the fine wine of Firearms.

However, it won't mean much if you are a beer drinker.

[peekay331]

just out of curiosity, but if they were this wonderful and in such high demand, why did Colt stop making them?

[Bruce]

just out of curiosity, but if they were this wonderful and in such high demand, why did Colt stop making them?

Colt had a decent stable of revolvers, but they were usually $100.00 or so more than the S&W equivalent. PD's went to semi-autos, and they were making their money off of government M-16 contracts, so they dumped the revolvers.

[ojisan]

just out of curiosity, but if they were this wonderful and in such high demand, why did Colt stop making them?

Too expensive to hand fit and finish everything anymore.
Along with the general demise of Colt at the time.

[audihenry]

Thanks guys.

[SnWnMe]

It's the Colt mystique. Anything that says Colt on it = $$$. In relative terms, the asking price for a used 357 Python is a bargain compared to the price of a 22 Diamondback.

From this "practical" wheelgunner's point of view, the Python's action is inferior compared to a 686. Like most common Colts the DA return is slower and the action doesn't like lots of rapid DA fire. It's just the way it is designed. Try this on a Python, Dick Special or a New Service Colt: Pull the trigger and raise the hammer to just before it drops and you hear the action lock. Maybe 8 times out of ten, you will be able to spin the cylinder juuuuuust a tad before the cylinder bolt engages the notch. However, in battery the lockup is tighter than either any DA Ruger or Smith. I daresay it is the tightest in the business.