Should I fire my recently bought "unfired" Colt Python.

[tanakasan]

absolutly not. its a classic collector peice. buy another python. otherwise you will kick yourself years later.

Or buy a Trooper to shoot and keep the Python for investment and drooling on.

Robert

[thomashoward]

There are plenty of calgunners who I'm sure would let you shoot there's, i included if you need to, but what you have is very hard to find even more so in this state. I think you know you have to keep it to marvel at. It won't be the same once you shoot her that's for sure and real collectors crave a python in this pristine condition they go Gaga over it.

Check with "Aircraftman" on CALGUNS he is a serious collector, but if you don't have the box and box candy well..........
bryantgilbert@comcast.net

[sully007]

Question: aren't all pistols fire at least once at the factory before they ship out the firearm?

[battleship]

Yup

[Dondiablo70]

yes they are.

[Dead*Reckoned]

If you don't fire it God will kill a kitten. Fire it for the sake of all of the classics that have been turned in at gun buy backs that will never br shot again. I had a dream, that one day gun owners from all over California would not be afraid to fire their guns. Let the gun shots ring!

[ElDub1950]

I wouldn't buy a car I didn't drive and I wouldn't buy a gun I didn't shoot. But that's just me.

[MOA1]

The rotational scratch is avoidable when closing the loaded or unloaded cylinder into the frame by lining up one of the cylinder's six flutes directly in line with the cartridge extractor rod. You can then live or dry fire it (with snap caps) all day long and never create a scratch.

Nonsense. This is incorrect.

The design of a revolver is such that the "bolt or cylinder stop" drags on the cylinder for the last 1/3rd of rotation, aprox. But it will drag by design.


To the OP, keep it clean with CLP, always wipe all finger prints off of it before putting it away. The salt on your hands will leave rusty finger prints when you get back to it after a long term storage.

To avoid drag marks on the cylinder you'll need to put something over the bolt/cylinder stop. Piece of non abrasive tape, handle with care.

I bought a near new Mod 19 6 months ago, only 18 rounds plus the factory round had been fired through it, it was tough to commit to using it but it was not an unfired gun. It's a 20 year old gun in mint condition that has now fired a few hundred rounds. I like carrying it and it will never be in the Smithsonian, I hope.

Should you shoot it? I had a hard time shooting the Mod 19 that had 18 rounds through it, no way I could bring myself to shoot it. Well maybe after I had one too many drinks and decided I'd admire it and accidentally drop it on the floor. Then, I'd shoot it.

[Horton Fenty]

I'm willing to bet the old boy that spent so much time and effort putting that thing together did it with the intent of making a fine *** pistol for someone to shoot.

[myk]

Why wouldn't you drive a classic car, display classic artwork, or shoot a classic gun? I just don't get it. Next thing you know, people are going to stop trying to breath so they can preserve the air that they're standing in; you never know how valuable that air will be in the future!!!!!!11111

[Aircraftman]

[QUOTE=thomashoward;9737072]Check with "Aircraftman" on CALGUNS he is a serious collector, but if you don't have the box and box candy well..........

Thank you Thomas for the compliment



Don I tried to send you a PM on this but got to wordy and went over my 1000letter limit, so I pasted it here for all to see. Just my humble opinion and its your gun to do with as you wish, but here's my advice:

Hey thanks for reaching out to me on this, glad to see someone thinks I know a few things about Colts. I have been collecting Colts for about 10 years now so I have learned a few things along the way. One of the best sources of info for me over the years has been the ColtForum.com board. While they don't really have much of a focus on us poor comrades here in PRK, their Colt knowledge there is amazing. Check it out.

Now on to your question. I would NOT shoot that gun. Like someone said once you loose your virginity you can never get it back!!

Forget all that noise about "guns are made for shooting - shoot it". That may apply to Glocks and AR's but not to collectable Colts. There are only a finite number of NIB unfired Pythons left in the world. No more will ever be made. Once you fire this gun it will no longer be a member of that "elite" club. There are thousands of "fired" Pythons out there, so if you want to shoot a Python buy one of those.

Here's another way to look at it. One of my other loves in life are Corvettes. I own a 2010 C6 that I drive to work every day. It is one of a million cars and it will never go up in value and it will never be special. If someone dings it in the Home Depot parking lot - oh well its my driver. My collector is a '67 convertable big block car. I drive it only a few times a year but I look at it, polish it and cherish it every day. And watch it go up, up, up in value every year. Would I ever drive that car to Home Depot - Hell no! Same as your Python should you ever shoot it - Hell no! Again it comes down to something "Special" vs "Ordinary"

My shooter is a old Model 357. The action on this gun is smoother than any of my Pythons. When I "have" to shoot a Python (mainly to show off at the range) I use a stainless Python - easy to clean and if I ding it, it can be easily repaired.

I love shooting as much as the next guy, so get yourself a shooter and leave that unfired Python as it is.

[beetle]

^^^ agree with what Aircraftman says above. While my collecting focus is 1911s, the reasoning stays the same. What you have is a very collectible unfired python. Collectors have a saying "buy the best you can afford". The high condition examples are the most desirable and go up the most in value.

For pythons, unfired examples represent "the best". As it stands now your unfired python will be worth a significant premium. As Aircraftman states, once you shoot it the gun will fall from "best" to the ranks of just an ordinary python. Still nice, but not the best. The blue book of gun values states that a NIB condition python is worth a 20% premium. In today's market that means that once you shoot it the gun drops in value up to $400.

my advice is to keep it unfired and admire what you have. Buy another "shooter" python if you must shoot it. Or sell it to a collector who will appreciate what it is and buy another shooter and keep the extra cash.