As I've said repeatedly before:
Colt would have to sell in VOLUME on such a gun. Not a few units here & there to fringe elements of the market willing to pay $2000 per gun largely out of nostalgia.
I would love to see Ford bring back an absolutely authentic Model A roadster, just exactly like it was built at its production peak. Will not happen, though, because even without government regulation the resulting cost would be so high only the wealthy could afford to buy one. Unit price would be in the stratusphere because the startup in turning out a totally "new" model from scratch would be huge & not recoverable in volume sales.
The Model A also couldn't compete in the modern world on several levels (speed, comfort, efficiency, longevity, etc.).
See any kind of parallel?
Colt has retained the "patterns" for the Python, I was told by a rep some time ago, but they no longer have the machinery. Nor do they have sufficient trained people to produce the old V-Spring actions, and CNC can't bypass that entirely. It's not just a matter of sticking the parts together & tossing them in boxes for the shipping department to get out.
Also repeatedly:
Bringing back the V-Springs, or even more modern versions of the MKV revolvers, would involve the entire process of setting up a new model from scratch, with the exception of already having the basic design & specs on file.
Specs for parts produced in-house would still have to be translated to CNC programming.
Parts not produced in-house (the majority of the smaller ones) would have to be specced and vendor sourcing set up.
Forged parts come from a forging house in Hartford, new dies would have to be fabricated for raw forgings.
Outsourced smaller parts would have to be carefully QC'd, paid for, routine deliveries arranged, and inventoried.
NO PART OF ANY COLT DA REVOLVER WOULD BE INTERCHANGEABLE WITH ANY OTHER EXISTING MODEL CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION.
This would involve a major outlay in set-up costs to establish vendor networks, inventory space, and inventory control/tracking, on top of the money to pay for the parts.
Colt can't even keep up with parts on existing guns at times as it is.
Additional people (at least one or three) would have to be hired & trained on the V-Springs.
Either additional CNC machinery would have to be bought (quite expensive) or production runs would have to be integrated into current CNC resources (which would further affect availability of existing models that everybody complains about).
The entire process of bringing back a Python would take large amounts of money, and money is something Colt's not had a lot of to play with in the past 15 years or so.
To justify that level of expenditure, careful market analysis would be required and a certain positive projection would have to be in place up front to justify the risk, and all that goes back to the volume issue.
Colt can't afford to do it, as a practical matter.
Regardless of the same 20 people posting "I'd buy one!" on ten different Internet gun forums ad infinitum, the market for a new Python built to the same standards as the discontinued Python simply is not there.
Comparisons to other companies are invalid (Colt has a convoluted ownership and limited funds for development & operation), and to other guns are equally invalid (Colt makes limited numbers of the Model P because they've had tooling & processes in place for many years, by & large, and the Peacemaker is their most iconic product).
Any new DA revolver they produce, if they ever do again, will be built along the MKV lines, to compete with Ruger, Taurus, and S&W, at an equal quality & pricing level, to move in large numbers to both pay for startup costs and ensure a sustainable profit.
It will NOT be an antiquated design that almost nobody left in the gunsmithing trade can work on, STILL requires a higher level of fitting & polish (despite the idea that CNC centers can eliminate the skilled human element entirely) than designs already selling well by other companies even in a market where plastic autopistols rule, and would price itself out of the market now just as it did toward the end of original production.
CNC can't solve every problem associated with the outdated V-Springs.
Colt is much more stable now than it's been in several years, but money is still tight & has to go where they think they'll get the most return.
An expensive DA revolver can't do that for them.
And this "Colt decided not to sell guns to civilians" BS is getting very old.
At the time the DA revolvers were dropped, YOU WERE NOT BUYING ENOUGH OF THEM FOR COLT TO KEEP MAKING THEM!
Very simple business math, and no matter how many people are still nursing a personal grudge over being "abandoned" by a cold and callous gunmaker, the fact remains that Colt IS a business. Unless you're either scamming or tax dodging, the basic premise behind any business is to make money.
COLT WAS NOT MAKING MONEY ON THOSE GUNS.
They were essentially broke. They took a hard look- millions in military rifle contracts vs going and STAYING in the red on DA revolvers that weren't producing enough sales figures to justify allocating limited production funds.
Not at all hard to understand why they took the route they did.
It's business, they don't owe any customer or fan base eternal production of a product line that's losing them money.
Simple survival. Put your operating capital where it'll bring in the most return, or go under.
A very essential business principle that seems to be bafflingly hard for some to understand.
Denis
