Gotta poke fun at the Python craze

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Sevens

New member
Sure, it's not like we never laugh at the silly and inflated Colt Python market. And for fans of the snake gun, this NOT Python "hate", honestly, the revolvers are truly historic, iconic and likely many other forms of "ic" but the market is ripe for discussion. This absolutely does not have to foster any negative discussion of these revolvers... likely a cornerstone of American gun and specifically revolver history.

To my point!
Gunbroker brings much to my world and often times, it's simply in the form of entertainment.
www.gunbroker.com/item/621517827
31 total bids, more than a dozen different bidders and YES, for the irrationally skeptical folks in the crowd... definitely long-established and high feedback *REAL* bidders took this 8" Python with gorgeous bright nickel finish to a final bid of $1,275.

Now I would love to leave you hanging because so far it sounds like someone got this hog for HALF PRICE but the devil is in the details. This revolver has bullets stuck in the bore and it took a return trip to Hartford where the official word from the mothership is that the rubber stocks are functional but the rest of it may be a complete and total loss.

Discuss the details, argue a position and share your thought process or simply laugh with me! :D There were half a MILLION Pythons made and in this one man's opinion (nothing more than an opinion), to simply call the Python market "inflated" just doesn't capture the spirit of the lunacy.
 
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Jim Watson

New member
A good S&W crossover gunsmith would beat the "sprung" frame back into line with his Official Armorer's Babbitt Bar.

Wonder where the barrel is plugged? If not too far back, it could make up into another one of those fake 3" Pythons.
 
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Sevens

New member
Hahaha, one of the earliest bidders was a fellow that calls himself SOLD-AS-IS... haha, he dropped out early, to his credit.
 
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CDR_Glock

New member
"Bullets" stuck in the bore? I can understand one bullet but multiple? That's odd.

I think the hype of this specific model is for fans of Walking Dead. Even if it's not functional, I'm sure someone will just frame it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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rodfac

New member
40+ years ago, working as the chief range officer on a military range, we had a no-experience trainee fail to recognize a squib load, the first cartridge fired. To make a long story short, he fired the remainder of the cylinder full in rapid succession. The gun was a Model 15.

The squib had lodged just past the forcing cone, and the rest pushed it up the bore, the last sticking between the cylinder face and the forcing cone; effectively tying up the gun and locking the cylinder in place. Our gunsmith examined it, found the squib sticking out of the muzzle, worked that loose and drove the rest of the stack back down the barrel until the cylinder gap was clear. He then drove the remainder out.

Inspection showed no visible damage to the bore (we speculated that the cylinder gap allowed enough pressure to bleed off that the bbl. wasn't bulged. I loaded it with 6 fresh rounds, (military issue .38 special 130 gr FMJ's) and shot a sub 3" group from the 25 yd. line, and we put the gun back in the service rack. Low pressure .38 Special ammunition no doubt helped...might've been a different story had it been a .357 M19 with full house loads.

Rod
 
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MrBorland

New member
Well, there are still many working parts in the gun (including it's intricate lockwork) and considering what functional Pythons run nowadays and the scarcity of replacement parts, it might easily make sense for someone to buy this one a $1k+.
 
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reddog81

New member
What difference does it make? Most the people buying $3,000 Pythons probably never shoot them anyways so they'd probably never even notice...
 
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RIDE-RED 350r

New member
Snake guns were expensive long before the Walking Dead first aired. Some things just end up being a collectors item and demand what many would deem crazy prices. Prices are set by what the buying market is willing to pay and that's all there is to it.

Would this S&W fan like to own a snake someday? Sure... but I doubt that will happen unless the bottom falls out of the market for them. It's not that I won't pay the price for them, I am just a man of more modest means that just can't justify paying a month's salary for one.
 
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Old Stony

New member
I once had a 6' Python come into my gun shop that was loaded with a barrel full of bullets from the forcing cone to slightly out the front of the barrel. The barrel could be wiggled in the frame, so obviously the gun was trashed. I called Colt and asked if they would like to have it as an example of their quality firearm able to hold together through this torture. They had absolutely no interest and didn't even want to discuss the problem.
I can certainly understand how they could bleed off some of the pressure through the cylinder gap. I bought an 8" model through their custom shop years ago. I ordered it with factory action work, Elliason sights, etc.. as I was doing a lot of competition back then. The blast from the cylinder gap was terrific and I measured it with a feeler gauge. The gap was .010 so I called Colt and they again had no interest and said that was completely within factory specs.
 
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bedbugbilly

New member
I love vintage S & W - give me my 5" K frame M & P anyway. I bought a very nice 98% 4" blued Python a few years ago because I got it at a steal and I had always heard about the "Python Experience". Well, "been there and done that" and for me, I hated the Python - yes, well made and good action but too much "iron". But that's a personal thing and I don't knock anyone who likes them as we all like different things. I ended up selling the Python as I always reached for my old M & P K frame. I consigned it and was amazed at what they put on it - I made good profit - they got their commission and it was gone in no time at all.

To each their own! Looking at the link the OP posted, it looks to me like that's the most expensive pair of grips I've ever seen! :eek::rolleyes::)
 
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Reloadron

New member
I have a 4" and it shoots just fine. I also had a 6" but my brother managed to repay part of a loan and got his gun back. :)
The Python I have does shoot well but I also have other S&W and Colt revolvers I enjoy shooting every bit as much, including a S&W Model 28 I really like. I really don't give any thought to what a Colt Python may or may not be selling for these days. I don't tend to sell any guns I have with a few exceptions. Hell, when I check out one of the grandsons can have the Python as well as many of the other guns. Anyway, while I do enjoy shooting the Python I also like several other revolvers just as much.

Ron
 
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jmf552

New member
There is a new "Python 2.0" on its way to join the new Cobra. It was mentioned, but not shown, at the last SHOT show and I have a good friend in the industry who has handled a fireable prototype at the Colt factory. He said it looks the same on the outside, except the trigger guard is slightly larger, but the innards are all a new, more manufacturable design, which should be more reliable also. Apparently, Pythons could have timing issues if they got rough use. They didn't tell him a price point, but he expects it to be competitive.
 
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ThomasT

New member
Did anyone else notice the seller only takes PayPal? I was under the impression that PayPal doesn't do any gun deals.
 
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Sevens

New member
Paypal vehemently does not do guns themselves and Paypal likely has a laundry list of other (dumb) rules but folks do as they choose and they take the risks for doing so. Certainly nowhere in the hemisphere of illegal, but both parties agree to willfully skirt the rules of Paypal.

Nothing to see here.
 
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Model12Win

Moderator
There is a new "Python 2.0" on its way to join the new Cobra. It was mentioned, but not shown, at the last SHOT show and I have a good friend in the industry who has handled a fireable prototype at the Colt factory. He said it looks the same on the outside, except the trigger guard is slightly larger, but the innards are all a new, more manufacturable design, which should be more reliable also. Apparently, Pythons could have timing issues if they got rough use. They didn't tell him a price point, but he expects it to be competitive.
Click to expand...

Did you guys read that?? THE COL. COLT'S REVOLVING SNAKE PISTOL OF MAGNUM CALIBER IS GOING TO RETURN!!! :eek:
 
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Jim Watson

New member
You had better buy a lot of New Cobras and get all your friends to buy them to convince Colt management that it is worth their while to bring back another revolver.

Years ago, I saw a Python Mk III. On the 1969 coil spring action of the Trooper Mk III but with vent rib full lug barrel and Royal Blue. Engraved, too.
I have since seen pictures of a couple more though not engraved.
Guess they did not think they would go over and so kept building V spring Pythons.
 
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coolbreezy

New member
While im a fan of the colt snake guns, esp. The anaconda, i see see no reason for the extremely steep and unwarrented prices that most people ask for them. IMO, the smith L and N 357's are just as good and much more feasible in terms of cost.
 
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