shooter grade Python cost

4

44 AMP

Staff
A friend is looking for a ball park price for a "shooter grade" Python. He wants a 4", and holster wear, or a reblue is acceptable.

I've checked several sites, and seems like all that being pushed on the net is rare ones, like new ones, 90%+ used, etc. And at astounding asking prices, even for Pythons.

Considering how crazy things have been about prices I was thinking $1200+ but not the $2k to 6K they want for the prime guns.

Just wondering what a well used (finish) one ought to cost. I haven't seen any lately...

He has a 6", in very good shape, and he wants a 4" to play with, it doesn't need to be perfect, or even pretty.

thanks!
 
I am in the exact same boat.
I want a shooter grade Python bad, and have been looking hard. I have found very few under 2K and it was never much under 2K.
I keep a close eye on gunbroker as I don't see them in the LGS.
 
I can't speak to what a skilled buyer might be able to negotiate or haggle one to, but in the circles I travel -- there are plenty of Pythons to be had but I can honestly say that it isn't all too often that I spot these ones that we could all easily agree are "shooter grade" revolvers.

With that said, I would expect to see - NO - price tag lower than $1,500 hanging from any Python that is in fully functioning and shootable condition.

And while I simply don't pay a lot of attention to any of the Pythons I see, I do very much tend to look at the prices I see on King Cobras and Troopers and those seem as though they are finally slowing their climb. I have watched them work their way to new heights over the past two years or so.

I once considered the idea that a "shooter grade" Python was something I might need to try and chase but really, I know I would only be disappointed so I let that plan evaporate.
 
Last shooter grade I saw for a "reasonable" price was in a pawn shop a couple of years ago. Laid in the showcase with a $800 price tag for nearly a year. I would have rated it 70% it had wear and had been shot and carried a lot. I just couldn't see putting eight Benjamins down or even seven for the Colt Pony on the side of a gun especially when there were better looking Trooper MKIII's, and Lawman Colts for half the asking price of the Python. I happened to be in the pawn shop when an older gent bought it, he paid full price and tax for it. I haven't seen another Python in my area since.
 
If your friend can find a shooter grade Python for $1200 he will be very lucky. The last good deal I saw on one was about three years ago. It was a 6" made in 1964 in about 97-98% condition for $850. I am not the sharpest tool in the box, but even I knew it was a very fair deal. Yes, it came home with me.
 
If you find one move fast , last year saw one with a lot of bluing gone but ok other than that show up in a local GS , It was $1250 and was gone in a day.
 
44 AMP, here are some recent sales of Pythons like the one your friend is looking for -- these sales being just a tiny fraction of however many thousand Python auctions run during a 90-day period. They can definitely be had for well under $2,000. You can find them for $1,500 or even a fair amount less with a lot of patience and regular searching, but they'll generally be fairly rough looking. Not always, though (see below) -- there's a surprising degree of variability in the price outcomes of Python auctions even when controlling for guns' characteristics.

One way to save some money on a Python of a given condition would be to look for ones that have been re-imported (usually from Germany). The proof marks on the frame above the crane and on the barrel will knock the value down some. You'll see several below. The seller "Exclusive Firearms" is a very reputable seller and seems to sell a fair number of these. Their actual business name is Heritage Arms (exclusivefirearms.com), and they deal in the really high-end stuff (Korth, Korriphila, Manurhin revolvers, old Colts, etc.). Your friend could call them directly. If he's willing to accept incorrect grips, that's another way, since Python grips are so pricey (especially first- and second-generation grips).

For the sake of quality, I'd avoid any Python made after the 1970s.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=450256705 (proof marks)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=453188984
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=456431080
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=464423094 (not a bad deal for a 1966 Python in that condition)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=462108994 (proof marks)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=451452363
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=457865995 (no year/SN given)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=464128273 (no year/SN given)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=459644260
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=455235113
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=458652493
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=458723806
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=453841013
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=454880962
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=457827328 (no year/SN given)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=457388141
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=456611047 (no year/SN given)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=455678761 (first 3 photos are of different gun)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=462430202
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=453996633 (proof marks)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=459098448
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=458661123
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=453438322 (proof marks)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=456632851
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=460999827
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=466307068
 
I'm going to get slammed for this but, I think in the last few years Pythons have become the Beanie Babies of the gun world. The action has a love/hate feel. They're pretty and shoot well but they're not rare by any measure. Yes, there are some rare variations, but in the main, well kept 4" and 6" examples are all over the place. I can't help but think that the bloom will fall off that particular rose and we'll see a large price correction within the next few years. But, who knows, maybe the faddists are right. We'll see.
 
My python cost more used than my first gen 686 cost new back in the 80's.

The python was $500 and change and the 686 was around $350. Both are worth more now than they were back then even after years of use.
 
I do not know whether it will help or not, but your friend and other may want to check the Rock Island Auction site. They have a number of upcoming auctions with tons of firearms and associated items.

If nothing else it is fun reviewing all the listings. Just three weeks ago I was bidding on a Whitney Wolverine at a local auction. I went to $750 and stopped raising my bid card. It was not in the best of condition. Low and behold it is now in the Rock Island Auction. It is the same pistol, and I assume my bidding competitor is seeking to flip it.
 
I'm going to get slammed for this but, I think in the last few years Pythons have become the Beanie Babies of the gun world. The action has a love/hate feel. They're pretty and shoot well but they're not rare by any measure. Yes, there are some rare variations, but in the main, well kept 4" and 6" examples are all over the place. I can't help but think that the bloom will fall off that particular rose and we'll see a large price correction within the next few years. But, who knows, maybe the faddists are right. We'll see.
Click to expand...

It may adjust in the near-term, but I think the medium- and long-term trend is definitely up. They were always expensive to begin with, and pristine examples from the '50s and '60s aren't going to get any more common. It's the rise in the prices of the more recent-production Pythons ('80s and '90s) that I find more puzzling, to say nothing of the prices for the stainless models or the so-called "Elites," which are in the running for the lowest-quality Pythons ever produced.

I suppose it remains to be seen how many collectors in the younger (my) generations will step in to replace the boomer collectors that will age out of gun collecting one way or another in the coming decades.
 
I bought a Colt Python new with the 6" barrel when they came out. I wanted a 'magnum' to shoot along side by buddy who got a Ruger 44

I handloaded for the 357 and sure enough the forcing cone split open. Colt put a new barrel on for me. The 'Python' was barrel heavy and out of balance.

Colts out of business now.

I bought a Ruger 45 Colt and handload it hot.

It's lasted for decades. A cool reliable gun.

If I had a 'Python' I would sell it tomorrow.
 
AustinTX, I think you and I are somewhat on the same page. Pythons will always command a premium, they always have. I not saying that they'll ever be cheap but, when I see nice but not special examples going into the $2,500/3,500 range, that says to me they're over priced. The fact is that because they've always been at the top of the mark, most have been well cared for. Look at older S&W 27s. It's sort of the same thing. High grade guns that have been babied, lots of them out there, but they can be had all day long for under a grand. The Python is the current "must have" for a lot of folks but the reality is they're not rare nor that special. It's an artificial construct that's driving the market, not the actual product.
 
Agent like to say that real estate is expensive because God made only so much. Colt made only so many Pythons too. And than they scrapped the tooling/machinery for it. The highly trained people are gone/retired, so we may say the skill is lost.
Oh yes the newer CNC machines can make new ones faster, more accurately but they will be different. In Hungary we used to say that you can make Hungarian Pick salami in Detroit too, but it will NOT be Hungarian.
 
Last edited:
My buddy just purchased a new 4" 686 six shot to shoot so that he could leave his "like new" Python in the safe.

The 686 arrived, and we were closely inspecting it for function, flaws, fit, etc., and comparing to his Python. The new Smith is superb. Little issues that I have seen in other 686's were non-existent, timing was flawless, trigger - DA and SA is sweeeeet.

Anyway it kind of made the Python look like a weak sister.

Us gun owners are kinda weird.:rolleyes: jd
 
About $1,400 is the going rate for a shooter grade Python. I keep an eye out for shooter grade Pythons and this is what I've been seeing. Don't expect it to be pretty at that price, though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top