Choice of 2 Colt Pythons

G

Gaz_in_NZ

New member
Hi all,
I have just been talking with a guy at our Pistol Club and he has 2 Colt Pythons and could be talked into selling any one or both.
I only spoke to him for a short time before he went home but : -

No idea as yet of the year of either of 'em.

1) 4", Nickel or SS(?), fired (but not many through it).... he wants $1800nz ($1500 usa)

2) 4", Blued, never been fired.... He wants $3000nz ($2500 usa)

Considering that Pythons come up for sale in New Zealand hardly ever then which would be the best to go for? I have only ever seen 1 for sale in the past 5 years and that one was a bit of a dog and was well used.
Considering that I will shoot it on a regular basis which ever one I go for.

He will keep 'em for a good few months as he doesn't need the cash immediately.

Cheers
Gaz
 
Well, you haven't really told us a whole lot about the guns, really. Could be that the blued and unfired one is from the 1950s :eek: and could be worth a truckload of money. The one that is either nickel (could be very old) or stainless (not as old), well, we just don't have a lot of information.

If the shiny one is stainless, it's finish will withstand far more shooting (actually, the cleaning and handling that goes along with shooting) while showing less external wear than either nickel or the high polish blue will.

I suppose I'd be more interested in the one with the lower price tag?

I think four inch Pythons look too short for the design. Of course, most of what I think about a Python falls outside the norm. :p
 
Unfortunately that's all the info I have at present, as I said I only spoke to him as he was leaving the club having found out just a few minutes before that he had 2 of them and was amenable to selling them.

I Have only ever seen 1 other for sale in the last 5 years and that one was battered.

I also know he looks after his guns and only entrusts them to reputable gunsmiths as opposed to the normal cheapskate Kiwi way (he's not a Kiwi, like me he's an immigrant) of try and fix it your self (cause it's cheaper) and when you FUBAR it get your mate to get it sorta working then sell it for as much cash as you can (normally a few $'s less than a new one)... "Caveat Emptor" are the watchwords buying anything second hand in NZ from a Kiwi.
Everything I have ever looked at for sale second hand over here has some sort of hidden history attached to it that unless you ask you won't get told, you only find out when it stuffs up after a few days, by then of course it's too late.
I know this sounds a little harsh but it is what I have found to be true of yer "dyed in the wool Kiwi".

Cheers
Gaz
 
If you are going to shoot it, I would say get the nickel one, as it's already been fired.
I have a 6" blued Python that I shoot, so I would buy the blued, never been fired one for an investment.
The price's are fair on either one of them.
Just look at the prices they are asking for nickel Pythons on Guntrader.com
 
I'd agree with Micromontenegro

When people talk about blued finishes they always end up talking dreamily of the Colt Royal Blue. If you can afford the extra $, go for it.
 
As a follow-up, the serial No's are as follows : -
PY6070
T70201
Not sure what date these are.... Probably mid to late 80's(?).

The SS one is in new condition, no marks anywhere and no dirt in or around the cylinder, forcing cone, barrel etc.... in fact it looks new and unfired (but it has been fired).
This guy really is meticulous with his firearms, all his guns look more like collectors pieces than shooters and he does shoot quite a lot.... and ASA my "B" endorsement arrives I'm having the SS one...
There was a piece of paperwork I hadn't filled in that I was sure I had filled in and sent in... but it was back in Oct/Nov when I had my heart attacks (or "Cardiac Event" as they are now called.... sounds like something that you would buy tickets for) So in that time I didn't send in all the paperwork I should have done... So this is why I'm waiting so long for the "B" endorsement to own handguns.

Cheers
Gaz
 
Serial numbers show after the mid 80's. Colt was on strike from 85 through 89. Personally I would pass on the 2 Pythons you are interested in. Quality went down hill during and after the strike as they had non-qualified folks assembling guns.
Some added info,
web site,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt's_Manufacturing_Company

1980s–1990s[edit]The 1980s were fairly good years for Colt, but the coming end of the Cold War would change all that. Colt had long left innovation in civilian firearms to their competitors, feeling that the handgun business could survive on their traditional revolver and M1911 designs. Instead, Colt focused on the military market, where they held the primary contracts for production of rifles for the US military. This strategy dramatically failed for Colt through a series of events in the 1980s. In 1984, the U.S. military standardized on the Beretta 92F. This was not much of a loss for Colt's current business, as M1911A1 production had stopped in 1945. Meanwhile, the military rifle business was growing because the U.S. military had a major demand for more upgraded M16s, the M16A2 model had just been adopted and the Military needed hundreds of thousands of them.[48][49]

In 1985, Colt's workers, members of the United Auto Workers went on strike for higher wages. This strike would ultimately last for five years, and was one of the longest running labor strikes in American history.[50] With replacement workers running production, the quality of Colt's firearms began to decline. Dissatisfied with Colt's production, in 1988 the U.S. military awarded the contract for future M16 production to Fabrique Nationale.[51]Some criticized Colt's range of handgun products in the late 1980s as out of touch with the demands of the market, and their once-vaunted reputation for quality had suffered during the UAW strike. Colt's stable of double-action revolvers and single-action pistols was seen as old-fashioned by a marketplace that was captivated by the new generation of "wondernines" - high-capacity, 9x19mm Parabellum caliber handguns, as typified by the Glock 17. Realizing that the future of the company was at stake, labor and management agreed to end the strike in an arrangement that resulted in Colt being sold to a group of private investors, the State of Connecticut, and the UAW itself.[52]The new Colt first attempted to address some of the demands of the market with the production in 1989 of the Double Eagle, a double-action pistol heavily based on the M1911 design, which was seen as an attempt to "modernize" the classic Browning design. Colt followed this up in 1992 with the Colt All American 2000, which was unlike any other handgun Colt had produced before—being a polymer-framed, rotary-bolt, 9x19mm handgun with a magazine capacity of 15 rounds. It was designed by Reed Knight, with parts manufactured by outside vendors and assembled by Colt; its execution was disastrous. Early models were plagued with inaccuracy and unreliability, and suffered from the poor publicity of a product recall. The product launch failed and production of the All American 2000 ended in 1994.[53][54] This series of events led to the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992.[55]
Click to expand...
 
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