Another Python question (or two)

[Monkeyleg]

A couple of weeks ago some members were nice enough to give me some info on Pythons: finishes, years of production, etc. A range friend of mine is selling a Python Elite. I haven't seen it, but he says the finish is highly polished stainless, and that it was produced only by the custom shop. He bought it new three or four years ago. My question is whether the quality of a custom shop gun is as good as the production models from the 1970's and whether that gun could be as collectible as the 70's vintage Pythons. Haven't seen the gun yet, but wanted any input I could get.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Dick

 

[JNewell]

Can't answer the question directly, but I've owned a Python from the 80s and a custom shop Python from the 70s, and you wouldn't even guess they came from the same place. The 70s custom shop Python was really something else. Unfortunately, that doesn't tell you how to compare a 70s Python with an 80s custom shop Python!

 

[thequickad]

I had both an 80s Python and one made in the 90s. The 90s I got NIB. The first range session, I got a cylinder locked-up. It turned out that release latch wasn't machined probably and would bind one of the cylinder during rotation. A hand file took care of the problem. But for a $650 gun that's new? You can see how quality has gone downhill on Colt.

[Edited by thequickad on 12-12-2000 at 12:23 AM]

 

[4V50 Gary]

Ultimate was more than a marketing name...

In the old days, all Pythons were incomparable. Then Colt allowed standards to slip and it really went when the stainless Python was introduced. Mind you, the fitting was done with as much care as the blued guns, but the external finish was a "tumble finish" which left a satin appearance instead of a high lustre. Then Colt decided to polish the stainless and it appeared as if it was "nickel" plated. This polished stainless was called the "Ultimate" to set it apart from the regular. Unfortunately, the "Ultimate" was what the Python was suppose to be anyway!

That is as how I remember it. Perhaps one of our old timers (Art Eatmon, or the Curmudgeon, or the venerable Jim Keenan) can fill in the blanks or correct me on this matter.

 

[9mmepiphany]

now i'm confused

is the elite python a lot more different than the ultimate finish and a trigger tune.

i also never knew that there were "custom shop" pythons before they stopped regular production; don't blow me off yet, i did know about the "action jobs by tedford" from the factory up until his death...i had friends send their pythons back to the factory for his tune.

gary - i believe that the first stainless were bead blasted, and like the royal blue pythons of that time, some were beautiful and some were dogs. i even heard (after i had bought one)that "factory 2nd pythons" were used for "special numbers (1000,2000,3000...) and commemoratives", musch like they did with their 1911 series.

i understood that the satin finish was to address concerns of "flash" while hunting; remember that the first stainless python was a special package with 8" barrel mounting a 2x scope on the rib all contained in a metal pistol case.

i have all my colts tuned to remove the stack, i only shoot DA, and bevel the throat lead-in for wad-cutters (you can make money demonstrating 50yd shots to semi-auto shooters.

 

[Wally]

Python Question

Dick - I picked up an ultimate stainless Python new in the early 80's, and can't think of any way it could have been improved.I believe it was standard production at the time.

It had and has the smoothist trigger of any hand gun I have ever owned;double action far better than anything I've seen from Smith's Performance Center, and fit & finish near perfect.

Have no idea how good the quality is on current custom shop models, but if you can get an old one in good shape, don't feel you can go wrong.-Wally

 

[Monkeyleg]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I did some more checking online and found that the Elite was produced a few years ago, and has a finish that's only slightly brighter than the regular stainless. Given the comments about late-production models, I think I'll try to find a seventies or early eighties vintage in nickel or Ultimate finish. One of the salesman at our local shop has a nickel 6" model from the late seventies. I can't believe he doesn't want to sell it.

Dick

 

[JNewell]

"custom shop" pythons

The label on the box said so, and had a different number. Interestingly, it was a stick-on label over the original label on the box, since the gun itself had been renumbered (and the label on the box matched the new #) -- something like (I'm making this up because I don't recall exactly) "I-4099" on the box, "AI-4099" on the CS label, and you could see where an A had been stamped in front of the I-4099 on the gun itself.

The 80s Ultimate SS Python I had was (I hate to say it) maybe not a lemon but definitely some kind of citrus. It went back several times and was never really right -- the timing was always a little off.

 

[Monkeyleg]

Hello again, everyone. Some of you have mentioned the 70's being the best time for Python quality production. I'm bidding on a 6" nickel Python that was manufactured in 1981. The price is fair--so far--and I'm wondering if guns made in '81 were still made with the same craftsmanship or if that's when quality started downhill.

Thanks for any opinions.

Dick