Today was my lucky day!

B

boa2

New member
I walked into a local gun shop and a friend of mine who worked there was holding a mint 3 inch Colt Python for me. After all, 10 years ago this dealer had a 2.5" blue Python and I'd agreed to purchase it but since the banks were closed I had to return the next morning with full payment for this Python. Well a new kid clerk had mistakenly sold this Python out from under me...but this friend of mine felt sympathetic towards me so he had promised me that if he ever got in another 2.5" Python that it would be mine? Unfortunately for the last 10 years every time I had visited this shop and had asked this friend the big question his answer was "NO"! But this morning I decided to go back to see my friend in this shop since I had not been back there for one year...but whenever I popped the big question to him he surprised me by pulling out a brown cardboard box containing a mint 3-inch Python he'd been saving just for me for quite awhile due to wanting to deliver on his 10 year old promise! He sold it to me for about one-half of the going market price! How's that for a true friend? The only reason this 3" Python had come in was due to a Widow who needed the money and she said that her husband had purchased this Python 15 years ago. I was stunned that my dream had come true today! Since I live in CA I can't pick this Python up for 10 days!:eek:
 
No I don't plan to shoot this 3-inch Python as it's too expensive and collectible to do this. I only bought it to collect it anyway.
 
Sad that you won't be shooting it. It is no longer a gun. Now it's just a thing of some monetary value, that you hope will appreciate.

You're property and your choice.

Dave
 
Well mint 3" Pythons will eventually appreciate despite the fact that currently Python prices are somewhat down now.....but if I fire this Python there would be a big loss in value. I'm mostly a collector anyway.
 
Boa2---not shooting your Python...
I get it. I might not agree with it, but I get it.

If I had the $300 new in box 4" something Colt Python that I ran across at a hardware store going out of business in the late 1970's it would definitely give me a warm fuzzy knowing it was sitting there with all its Python Goodness in the gun safe, after all there is only so much Python Goodness left in the world.

On the other hand I might just of shot the beejeebees out of the thing too.

Congrats on your find. Don't pay any attention to anyone telling you what to do with it.

Good luck.

P.S. What I REALLY have a problem understanding is the folk that collect stamps or coins...I mean the Python COULD be shot but what could a stamp or coin do? (And mindful of the season I WILL accept folk telling me the Python could 'put your eye out' but only till the end of the month.)
 
Your firearm, your choice

Boa2:
First, you need to do something special for your friend at the gun shop.

Second, my personal opinion is that, despite the 10-year wait, you made a much better investment. I happen to be the original owner of a 3" Python. I had the option of purchasing a new Colt 3" or a used, very nice, Lew Horton 3". The trigger on the Horton was smoother and it was stamped "California Combat" which was the typical barrel stamp on his 3" conversions. I didn't really know or appreciate the difference between the two, but by some stroke of dumb luck, I opted for the NIB Colt.

Third, I also did not realize that the production of 3" models was going to be limited and really didn't pay attention until the last few years. I just knew that I had never seen a 3" Python prior to 1985 and thought it was novel.

Last, but not least, if I had realized that the value of an original, unfired, NIB 3" Colt Python would approach or exceed five-figures, I might have considered making it a safe queen. Instead, I paid a few hundred dollars to change the rear sight, slightly bobbed the original target hammer and have shot thousands or tens of thousands of rounds through it. This, my friend, is priceless. It shoots like a dream, has great balance, is the same overall dimension of my Gold Cup. I have absolutely no regrets and whatever you decide to do, I am confident that you will similarly have no regrets.

Congrat and Happy New Year to you!
 
DMY:

When I first started collecting revolvers I only purchased the guns that I liked that were affordable for me...but I used to drool over the Colt Pythons in the dealers display case, but I felt that I couldn't afford these beautiful revolvers. My mistake was not saving my money until I could slowly purchase one Python at a time instead of wasting my money on guns that were never going to appreciate much at all...therefore not worthy of collecting them. In the end though I have collected a few Pythons for my collection but I never dreamed that these could have reached or exceeded five-figures.

As you probably already know the 3 inch "California Combat" was made from a batch of 8 inch Pythons purchased from Colt that was sold to Pacific Internat'l Merchandising Corp. located in Sacramento, California....and whenever these first came out collectors shunned them because they wouldn't letter as a 3" Python but only as an 8" Python target revolver.

I eventually met another avid Colt collector who also shot some of his Pythons and since he knew me to specifically be a collector he allowed me to shoot one of his Pythons which I had enjoyed very much, but for me it's always been hard to afford valuable Pythons so shooting these would result in a major loss in value and I wouldn't like the thought of losing a pile of money! I appreciated your comments!

Happy New Year to you, also!
 
I always say & truly believe that good things happen to good people. I lucked into
a 1967 4" Python in 1970 because my LEO friend wanted to give his wife a special gift for Christmas. In those days LEOs had the choice to cary the S&W 38 &/or
the 4" 357 Python. I had no bloody idea what I was getting until years later. I put a lot of rounds thru it for 4 years & then tucked it away until 2000.
Do yourself a favor. Take your 3" out for a spin & enjoy it.
 
I can truly relate to finding a desireable firearm new in the ?????? box but at the same time I personally value the trigger time of that pistol more than the idea of what can I sell it for. I “collect” a lot of various pistols and rifles but shoot all of them, why hold onto a 3” Python for someone else after you pass on just to make a buck.
One should make their own decisions in these matters but perhaps should weigh each side carefully.
 
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