Why spend many thousands for older Pythons?

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BurningAmmo

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I am curious why people are spending ridiculous money on old used pythons when the new version is out for a fraction of the price. I loved the pythons 30 years ago and even owned 4 of them, but is it worth paying 3, 4 , 5 thousand for? They were temperamental about timing and end shake, plus the beating over the years for most shooting high powered rounds. I know there are some safe queens that are in great shape, but metallurgy is so much better these day for gun making. Colt has a great warranty and a new line of parts to support the gun so I am wondering if its just nostalgia. Whats your take on it?
 
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Well I have read about a couple of new ones that have issues with timing. Until we hear about those issues being resolved, I’m going to wait.

Just because there is a new one, it is nowhere near what the workmanship is on the classic versions.

If you have a collectible, keep it, and shoot the new one.

If you’ve been dying to own a python, once the issues are addressed, then grab one.

I had a few myself, but I favor the S&W action, more. So I got rid of two through sales, and gifted one to my brother in law.


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First the Python was considered the Cadillac of 357 Magnums for many years. I always preferred the pre-M27, but that's a different thread.

Second, they aren't making them anymore (original Pythons) and that always drives up demand, which also drives up price.

Third, from all reports the new Python is a mere shadow of the original. Not in the same league at all.

Dave
 
This is the most interesting bit I've ever read on the Colt Python.

http://www.coltfever.com/Python.html

The original was nothing short of a custom hand fit hand polished revolver made in mass.

I have tried to find out more about the new ones. But all I ever hear about is the trigger and material improvements, never anything about the actual manufacturing process.

I don't expect they are taking the time and care on each individual revolver to the degree that they used to. Otherwise I think they would be bragging about it!!! But maybe they don't have to either?

All I know is the originals, although not the toughest kid on the block, have plenty of reason to be lusted after by shooting enthusiasts and collectors alike!
 
I am curious why people are spending ridiculous money on old used pythons when the new version is out for a fraction of the price.
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The answer that occurs to me is the standard, "they have more money than brains". But of course that view comes from someone who doesn't have money.

It's a bubble. Fueled by a want for an out of production item, and an a willingness to profit to the limit the market will bear.

A friend is fond of telling me to look at those $2-3000 Pythons and see they are not "moving". $12-1500 ones are.

Sure, every once in a while some gullible person buys one, but as a rule they just sit while the ones with lower asking prices get snapped up fairly quickly.

Sure, Pythons are very nice pieces and they have a "prestige" to many people, though I'm not one of them.

From what I hear, the new Pythons are simply not the same as the older ones, and that also makes the older ones more desirable (and therefore "worth" more) to some people.
 
I've got a new Python, and I've owned an old one. If there is any difference between them, I don't remember the old one well enough to tell myself what the difference was (except the blue vs SS thing).

That doesn't change the fact, that real or perceived, some people believe there is a difference and they're willing to pay for it. Just as Smith and Wesson revolvers are divided into two classes (pinned and not pinned), the Python has now be divided into...we'll call the "classic" and "new."

Those people who really want a "classic" Python will not be interested in the new one. Personally, I'm not interested in a "classic" Python anymore because, well for one thing, I can't afford them, and if I could I wouldn't shoot them.

The new gun is at worst a VERY nice gun that I can enjoy shooting with no guilt or even question.

You can argue all day rather it's as nice as the old one I suppose. I doubt you'll change anyone's mind either way.
 
I think people will pay a premium for the old over the new for the same reason people will pay a premium for an old Mustang or Camaro over a new one. The new one may be better in every way but there is an attachment for the old that defies logic. The old brings back memories of the past that the new cannot do.
 
I bought a 6 inch blued Python in 1977, for totally aesthetic reasons, it was just a badass looking hand cannon. I carried it on LE duty from 1979 - 88, when we switched to high cap 9mm's. Accuracy wise, it wasn't that great. My 6 1/2 inch Ruger Blackhawk matched it for group size. A 6 inch S&W Model 19 was the 357 accuracy champ in my collection, cutting a 2 1/2 inch group at 25 yards, whereas the Python and Ruger were just under 4" at the same distance. The Python was plenty accurate for the PPC though, and gleaned style points over the 4 inch Model 10's and 64's. I was glad to hang it up though, when we switched to autos.
In '89 when we needed to raise money for a down payment it was sold. I still think they were beautiful guns.
 
What's a gun worth? In short, it is worth just what someone is willing to pay for it.

So an older Python is, first of all, available in blue finish, not just blue, but a supreme deluxe blue. And it is "from the past" an attribute many folks solicit. It fits into a place in one's collection not filled by any other gun. So, if the gun of your chase is priced at, say $3000, and you can spend $3000 without taking food off the table, then that person is satisfied for the moment.

Bob Wright
 
My opinion is simply that spending thousands on a Python is so someone can feel as if he has a special gun, one that is "better" then the S&W or the Ruger, and feel good about "seeing" how beautiful the emperors new cloths are.

As for me, I know the emperor is actually naked.
The educated term for the phenomenon is call Cognitive Dissonance, the the wisdom of how it's explained in the child story of the Emperors New Cloths should not be dismissed or bypassed.

Pythons are a top level guns and the quality is as good as any, and better then some, but to think it is 3X better then a S&W is not realistic and as a gunsmith, I know what the fitting and tolerances are from both brands.

Bottom line?
If the Ruger GP100 is the standard for strength and is as accurate as any other DA 357,(and yes,,,,it is) and the S&W M27 is the standard of a historical 357 (the first 357s ever made were basically M27s even though they were not named that way in 1935) we have 2 guns that are in competition to establish what we believe a gun should be. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so that is not something that can be judged on a basis of hard evidence.

So we have the categories of
#1 Quality of fitting inside and out,
#2 accuracy.
#3 reliability of function in a set number of round fired. Let's say 50,000.
And #4 value of the above 3 categories viewed against the cost of the gun.

When judged this way, the Python does not stack up to be 3 times the gun of a S&W or Ruger.

Now, money is worth that the owner of the money values it at, just like all things, so if someone wants to spend $3000 (or $200,000 or any amount they want) on a gun that does nothing better then a $800 or $1200 gun, that 100% OK. It's his money!

But the problem comes when he wants to sell it for $3000 --- and at that point someone else must agree that gun is worth 3X or 4X what another gun costs that is every bit as good.

That's when the conversation starts to bend toward how beautiful the emperors cloths are.
 
The new version is not the same thing. No factory gunsmith did the trigger job.
"...I can't afford them..." Exactly. Couldn't when a 'real' Pythons was available either. snicker.
 
If they cost $3000 and if I wanted one I would pay the price. They are worth that much to the person that puts down the money. They will go to the range and people will ooh and aah over a very fine piece of firearm history. I hope those who have them ( old and new) enjoy them for years to come.
 
Very generous of you pass one along. S&W make excellent revolvers and the actions are very smooth, no stacking. The Python was hit or miss when they were manufactured. Nostalgia and prestige are what drives then. Of course if you can afford one and truly want one that's fine. But its the shooter not the gun that makes a gun what it is.
 
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And don't forget good luck finding parts for them, another rude awakening.
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Also don't forget the scarcity of gunsmiths who CAN and will, work on them, and do the job right. I've known smiths that won't touch them, no one is really trained to anymore, and there are lots of "smiths" out there who will work on them and who SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO!
 
I have the old Python and if I recall back than they also were fraught with timing issues as are the new builds now. You would have thought that those issues would have been resolved.
 
Why spend many thousands for older Pythons?
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Because that silly TV show about zombies has made them very desirable.

I never got interested in Pythons, Smiths have always been what interested me.

So I will not be paying many thousands for a Python, old or new.
 
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You are missing my point Petersburg, I am referring to buying old and very used in most cases a very expensive guy. I don't care what people spend their money on, just they don't get what the crazy prices are giving them.
 
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