"They simply were not worth to the consumer their higher cost compared to the competition "
I think they were worth it. My father thought they were worth it. So do other folks I know. Who are you referring to?
The Python was discontinued once the tooling wore out and the skilled craftsmen who built the Pythons retired. It would have been a major expense and undertaking to replace both of them.
" I would say its about 10 to 1 on people who don't impress me with their knowledge of firearms."
And sometimes that "1" doesn't know it all either.
If I have to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand. Your reasoning for the Python discontinuation is worse than the ever popular one from earlier in this thread. They were worth it to you and some people you know, yet they didn't sell well esp at the end and were discontinued. How is it that their superb quality was apparently such a secret to where they had to be discontinued and yet the quality of a luxury automobile, a Rolex watch, or a fine rifle is known, and allows them to sell?
I can appreciate people who say Colt themselves made mistakes that figured into all of this, but the bottom line is that if there was a consumer demand when they were around, they would still be made. Colt couldn't afford to just discontinue one of their most infamous revolvers for any reason other than "hey, we aren't making money anymore on these". The tooling and craftsman are not enough to discontinue such an iconic firearm. Its not like they were making the statue "David" one chip at a time. It was a mass produced revolver. These "master craftsman" you speak of can and do train others, which is how these people are replaced. Its not like only select people could for Colt on a Python, get real. They also didn't make 5 or 10 a year because it was so difficult to make them. Show me some evidence on the tooling be worn out which forced them to discontinue DA revolvers? You really think those were the only two reasons? Since all of their revolvers were so great, how come the tooling was not worth it? Does that make any sense? It makes me laugh that people believe things like that. How do companies like Beretta who make higher end guns, continue to make expensive deluxe models, when the original craftsman who worked for Beretta died over 300 years ago? So a Python is now a work of art? How many times did they buy new "tooling"? They are one of the oldest gunmakers in the world. Are we trying to replace Picasso or Rembrandt here? I think not.
I will say that it is obvious that Colt's management really screwed things up too, but when you have "the Rolls Royce" of revolvers, you would have to have really really bad management for the management itself to screw up such a good thing. It was more than the management, more than the price, more than how they were made, it was rather a combination of factors. Quality items are always worth more money, and they always will sell despite the extra cost. The problem is when a item is priced too high for the quality given.
The reason I personally know things is because I always want to know more, because I always think I don't know enough / there is something more to know. Apparently you think you know enough about Pythons so you can't see the forest through the trees in what I say. Thats fine with me. I'd like to hear how a 60s Python for example beats out a 60s 27 to justify the extra cost. I don't want to hear "my father said so" or "look at how much they sell for". I presented logical criticisms to the consensus opinion on Pythons. No one has had any kind meaningful reply to what I said yet. I wonder if that should tell you something.
Its your money so whatever makes you happy is cool. I'd rather get what I'm paying for unlike others.
