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Colt Pythons
- Thread starter mobias
- Start date
This is from the General Foreman at Colt:
Let start with the 1911A1, the first 50 are in process now, slight delay, making modifications to front sight hieght. These first 50 will not be available for public sale. the first run of 500 is scheduled for May that is when we expect the new boxes to come in, they will be packaged in the old style craft cardboard box. One thing to note, the current intent is to only build this gun for a year or so, will not be around forever. When these are in production, we will back off of building the standard 1991A1.
Change in finish, just last week I received approval to change the total sanblast finish of the 1991A1 government length carbon and stainless models. The new finish will be a polished finish on the side of the slide, the receiver will continue to total sandblast finish.
At the Shot Show we told everyone that we would be coning out with the Python in the Spring, followed by the Annaconda mid year and the Magnum Carry at the end of the year. Due parts availability, and listening to what people want, the following will take place. Limited quantities of Annaconda's will start to be produced in June and July, not to exceed 1000 units. The Python will begin production in August to the tune of less than 100 per month, right now only in 6" stainless. This is the gun that sells the best if other models are desired the company needs the info on preference from the public.
The Magnum Carry has been tabled for the time being. Instead we will come back with one model of the 380, I believe it will be the Pocketlite model.
Guys, new prices are a little steep, cost to manufacture in a union shop in CT is not cheap and we need to maintain a decent margin in order to stay healthy. Look at it this way in 1969 you could buy a new car for around $3500 and a new Python for two or three hundred bucks, now a new car will run you more than 20k. And a new Python will run you about 1K. So keep things in perspective.
Mark
krept, you can attribute the turnaround to decisions by the owner of Colt. Colt is still not a financial powerhouse, but they don't cut deals with the govt for protection like another handgun manufacturer. There were a number of steps taken including layoffs and dropping low profit and slow moving models. I am glad to see more models being added back, seeing the PocketLite would make my day.
44rugerfan
New member
Funny, I can still get a NIB Ruger GP100 for well under $400...
And in 1971 (oldest catalog I have handy) a Security Six with adjustable sights had an MSRP of $97.50. Saw many sold for less.
That being said, if Colt reissues the Python at that level of price it had better have a fit and finish (and action) to match the originals. Since they don't have to spend the extra hand work polishing for the Royal Blue finish (SS) they better get the timing and action perfect. A run of these that look and work like some of the mid-90's guns I saw and tried will kill them.
That being said, if Colt reissues the Python at that level of price it had better have a fit and finish (and action) to match the originals. Since they don't have to spend the extra hand work polishing for the Royal Blue finish (SS) they better get the timing and action perfect. A run of these that look and work like some of the mid-90's guns I saw and tried will kill them.
Blackrifle
Inactive
44rugerfan said:
Funny, I can still get a NIB Ruger GP100 for well under $400...
Yea, it's funny someone would own one.
Funny, I can still get a NIB Ruger GP100 for well under $400...
Yea, it's funny someone would own one.
...a new Python will run you about 1K...
1K is kinda steep for a gun worth maybe $400 if it didn't say "Python" on the barrel. (Yes, I've tried them. Actions were better than Ruger, inferior to *&*.)
Only reason Pythons got so much handfitting was that Colt's machinery was worn out and the interchangeable parts . . . didn't.
HankB wrote:1K is kinda steep for a gun worth maybe $400 if it didn't say "Python" on the barrel. (Yes, I've tried them. Actions were better than Ruger, inferior to *&*.)
I don't think you've tried a Python CNC machined from stainless steel from the Custom Shop, since theyve never been made before. $400? Maybe in 1985.
I have a 1961 vintage Python and a 1971 vintage M27. At that time the premier guns of each maker. The fit and finish on both is beautiful, but the Colt is prettier. The actions differ (totally different design) but the stock DA was better on the *&*, the Python had a MUCH better SA trigger. Since, at that time the Python was still marketed as a "target revolver" (this is what it originally was designed for - a replacement for the Officer's Model Match) the SA pull was much more important than the DA (due to the type of matches shot then). The accuracy (gun, not shooter) also goes to the Python, but barely. The balance and general "feel" in the hand goes to the M27. And at that time the two weren't all that far apart in price. For that matter look at what the Performance Center 627's and such are gettting for MSRP now. The M27 is a LOT more durable, and easier to improve the works on, but the Python was very nice. Unfortunately, I saw Colt offerings in the mid-80's of this model that lacked the fine tuning the early guns had. All a matter of taste I guess. For the record, I own eight *&* revolvers and one Colt. But I won't sell that one Colt.
Since the news of the reintroduction of the Python came out, I've noticed that the going prices on the online auctions have dropped. Too bad I didn't wait, although it was a nickel model that I wanted and it doesn't sound like they'll be producing them again. If they're going to charge $1000 for a new stainless gun, I won't feel that bad having paid $750 for an excellent condition nickel.
Sure is pretty, though.
Dick
Sure is pretty, though.
Dick
BB wrote:
If anything, CNC machining should REDUCE the price, since the amount of skilled machine work and handfitting will be less. After all, the economies of CNC machining led Winchester to reintroduce the CRF M70...in mechanically improved form, no less!
I couldn't find a 1985 price reference, but I looked at a 1987 Gun Digest. A blue Python listed for $687, an S&W 586 was $340. Better gun for less than half the price. Spend another $50 back then for an action tune, and you'd have a gun a LOT better than any Python, even if you tuned the snake, too. (Python tunes usually cost twice as much.)
I'm NOT saying the Python is a POS - no, not at all. I'm just saying that the design - and workmanship! - do NOT justify the premium price. I've tried a couple, and I see the Python as a good revolver, not a GREAT revolver.
If someone other than Colt put out a Python-like revolver today, with the same design and workmanship that Colt has been producing, I still say you'd be looking at a $400 revolver. The word "PYTHON" on the barrel is what generates the extra $$$.
I guess we've reignited the COLT vs S&W debates that were all the rage in the gun rags a few decades ago . . . and which, of course, were never settled.
(Now that S&W has become *&*, that may change the framework of the debate.)
I don't think you've tried a Python CNC machined from stainless steel from the Custom Shop, since theyve never been made before. $400? Maybe in 1985.
If anything, CNC machining should REDUCE the price, since the amount of skilled machine work and handfitting will be less. After all, the economies of CNC machining led Winchester to reintroduce the CRF M70...in mechanically improved form, no less!
I couldn't find a 1985 price reference, but I looked at a 1987 Gun Digest. A blue Python listed for $687, an S&W 586 was $340. Better gun for less than half the price. Spend another $50 back then for an action tune, and you'd have a gun a LOT better than any Python, even if you tuned the snake, too. (Python tunes usually cost twice as much.)
I'm NOT saying the Python is a POS - no, not at all. I'm just saying that the design - and workmanship! - do NOT justify the premium price. I've tried a couple, and I see the Python as a good revolver, not a GREAT revolver.
If someone other than Colt put out a Python-like revolver today, with the same design and workmanship that Colt has been producing, I still say you'd be looking at a $400 revolver. The word "PYTHON" on the barrel is what generates the extra $$$.
I guess we've reignited the COLT vs S&W debates that were all the rage in the gun rags a few decades ago . . . and which, of course, were never settled.
(Now that S&W has become *&*, that may change the framework of the debate.)
HankB,
Just out of curiosity I looked in a 1975 reference. At that time a M27 was $175 and a Python was $217 (both MSRP). In the mid 80's I wouldn't even look at a Python (the few that I saw weren't the same as the older guns). I'll keep my many *&* guns, but I'll also keep the old (61) Python. I doubt that I would pay the current price that Colt is projecting though (especially not in SS).
Just out of curiosity I looked in a 1975 reference. At that time a M27 was $175 and a Python was $217 (both MSRP). In the mid 80's I wouldn't even look at a Python (the few that I saw weren't the same as the older guns). I'll keep my many *&* guns, but I'll also keep the old (61) Python. I doubt that I would pay the current price that Colt is projecting though (especially not in SS).
Master Blaster
New member
About a year and a half ago I was faced with a tough choice. I wanted a good range revolver, and I was in my local gun shop. In the used case thay had 2 stainless colt pythons, and one anaconda made in the late 1980s each was priced at $450, they were from a collection and the widow was liquidating her husbands collection. They also had a 8 3/8" S&W model 27 blue with a checkered topstrap, in high polished blue for $300 it was made in 1967. Al were in mint condition. I handled them all and it was an easy choice for me I chose the M27 it was sort of like comparing a mass produced gun (the colts) with sloppy fit and finish to a hand made custom gun(the smith). The shop owner agreed with me that the smith was much much much nicer than any of the colts (he would have amde more money on the colts) The dealer who is also a gunsmith, as is his dad advised that if I planned to shoot it alot the python would go out of time and would need expensive repairs, over the years he and his dad (in business since 1947) had fixed many pythons, but the M27 which was popular with pin shooters (hot loads) were much less frequently in for repairs even though thay had sold 5 times as many of them a s pythons. I bought the smith which shoots like a rifle.
I later heard how collectable the colts were and went back but you guessed it they were gone. The S&W M27 is head and shoulders above the python. Since I have seen NIB pythons with the royal blue finnish going for as high as $1500 dollars at another dealer., I looked at one and it is not as nice as my old $300 used m27.
I later heard how collectable the colts were and went back but you guessed it they were gone. The S&W M27 is head and shoulders above the python. Since I have seen NIB pythons with the royal blue finnish going for as high as $1500 dollars at another dealer., I looked at one and it is not as nice as my old $300 used m27.
PYTHONS...HMMM...BETTER WATCH MY MOUTH HERE...
I've owned three PYTHONS in my life. Not a one was worth carrying home from the gunshop. The last I sent to COLT for re-barreling and re-cylindering as it shot so badly it was preposterous; my snub 38's would group far better at 25 yards. After getting it back I found I had the finest shooting wadgun you could hope for but it shot 357MAG loads like a slingshot. I WAS NOT A HAPPY SIXGUNNER! I called COLT back and ask them what their specs were for PYTHONS at 25 yards. " We have no specs for our guns at long distance. They are tested here at 45'."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOKAY...
I considered welding a 4' extension on the barrel, pounding it into the ground and growing tomatos on it, but a pal of mine asked me if it was for sale, knowing all about it's trials and tribulations. It went home with him never to be seen again.
GOOD RIDDANCE!
All of the L-frames I've owned would shoot better at 100yards than any PYTHON EVER DID for me at 25 yards.
And I still do believe it was nothing more than the luck of the draw. TM
I've owned three PYTHONS in my life. Not a one was worth carrying home from the gunshop. The last I sent to COLT for re-barreling and re-cylindering as it shot so badly it was preposterous; my snub 38's would group far better at 25 yards. After getting it back I found I had the finest shooting wadgun you could hope for but it shot 357MAG loads like a slingshot. I WAS NOT A HAPPY SIXGUNNER! I called COLT back and ask them what their specs were for PYTHONS at 25 yards. " We have no specs for our guns at long distance. They are tested here at 45'."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOKAY...
I considered welding a 4' extension on the barrel, pounding it into the ground and growing tomatos on it, but a pal of mine asked me if it was for sale, knowing all about it's trials and tribulations. It went home with him never to be seen again.
GOOD RIDDANCE!
All of the L-frames I've owned would shoot better at 100yards than any PYTHON EVER DID for me at 25 yards.
And I still do believe it was nothing more than the luck of the draw. TM
"The Python I should not advise, it needs a doctor for its eyes, and has the measles yearly.." ( kid's poem)
The Python has a totally undeserved reputation based on essentially cosmetic considerations. It was the first of the heavy-long-underlug, vent-rib super-wheelguns, and fit and finish were (at the beginning) first-rate, so that people overlooked the fact that the Snake was built on a turn-of-the-century chassis...sort of like a supercharged nitro-fueled Model T. It would go like hell for a while and break. The Colt .41 frame is barely suitable for hot .38's, much less the pounding of .357 magnums.
The mystique of the Python depends on the fervent rantings of those who already have paid more than they should for a crackerjack gun, and are whistling in the dark.
If one wants a nice old Colt design with which to shoot light loads, one can pick up a good condition .38 OP at almost any gun show. Same frame and innards, possibly as good finish and fit, for a couple of hundred bucks.
Colt started the price inflation cycle that we now have in the gun business, with its $1000 Mattel Greenie rifle and over-priced cowboy guns. Now you can't get a decent target 1911 for less than the cost of a good used car. With it's announced intent of keeping touted models in scarce supply, the company is admitting that it's deliberately exploiting the consumer. Like .44 Rugerfan, I say if you want a DA .357, get a GP100.
The Python has a totally undeserved reputation based on essentially cosmetic considerations. It was the first of the heavy-long-underlug, vent-rib super-wheelguns, and fit and finish were (at the beginning) first-rate, so that people overlooked the fact that the Snake was built on a turn-of-the-century chassis...sort of like a supercharged nitro-fueled Model T. It would go like hell for a while and break. The Colt .41 frame is barely suitable for hot .38's, much less the pounding of .357 magnums.
The mystique of the Python depends on the fervent rantings of those who already have paid more than they should for a crackerjack gun, and are whistling in the dark.
If one wants a nice old Colt design with which to shoot light loads, one can pick up a good condition .38 OP at almost any gun show. Same frame and innards, possibly as good finish and fit, for a couple of hundred bucks.
Colt started the price inflation cycle that we now have in the gun business, with its $1000 Mattel Greenie rifle and over-priced cowboy guns. Now you can't get a decent target 1911 for less than the cost of a good used car. With it's announced intent of keeping touted models in scarce supply, the company is admitting that it's deliberately exploiting the consumer. Like .44 Rugerfan, I say if you want a DA .357, get a GP100.