My new Windicator 4" nickel 357mag vs 686 vs Python

[wild cat mccane]

Hi.


As a millennial, I'd NEVER claim to know much about revolvers, but I sure like learning about or finding mechanical faults with them. I equally like finding great 4" L frames (or comparable).


The EAA imported Windicator finally got the best of me. The poor mains Python with 50/50 good online opinion.


No surprise, the Windicator trigger pull bests my 2022 Python for feel. Again, I would rate the Python as having the worst I own because of stacking . I would say Python, Windicator, GP100, Taurus 66/689, and top at 686 for current trigger pulls in the revolvers I own.


What I don't like in the double action is that the trigger kinda leaps. Unlike the Python stacking that progressively gets hard, this hits a wall of weight and pulls to fire rather fast through it. Good or bad, I prefer the constant 100% same weight of the 686. I do not like the two stage feel of the GP100.


Everyone online claims it is heavy. At 6 rounds, it feels exactly the same as all my other 4" revolvers. Maybe someone is looking at specs, but I don't feel any difference in weight. Someone could prove me wrong on the specs I didn't read, but I have no idea what these reviews are saying. It's comparable.


The Windicator comes with very pronounced ridges on the trigger. While fine when smooth, the Windicator trigger is not flat but triangular. This makes the ridges more uncomfortable because it feels sharp.


Grip is very comfortable. Yet it is a hard rubber. It isn't hard plastic, so there is some give to it.


The cylinder has wobble. Immediately you'd think this an issue, but the S&W forum had a post I hadn't considered. You expect the GP100 and 686 should lock up fairly tight when cocked, but that's their design. I think this wobble is part of the Windicator design. I do not think it's meant to lock up tight.


But then I wonder about the forcing cone, for which there isn't much there.


All and all...if you don't want a Python and want the fake vent ribbing that this gives...less than 400 with a lifetime warranty that may prove needed? I don't know. If you aren't going all in on a 686 or Python or GP100, yeah. I think this is an option that deserves some thought over the Taurus 66.


Hopefully I don't return this weekend after shooting it to say I did not like it at all


Take care


vs my newest 686:

 

[CCCLVII]

Those are some pretty guns!

 

[Smaug]

Hmm, that doesn't mirror my impressions of them. Admittedly mine are just from handling them in the LGS, but here are my thoughts:

EAA - (I don't think they're called Windicators any more.) Trigger was really heavy and stacky to me. I don't like the serrated trigger at all. DA was smooth, but too heavy and stacked to even consider. The fit & finish were outstanding though; on par with Colt. This might be improved a lot with a bit of tuning.

GP100 - The one my local shop had has a WONDERFUL DA trigger. Pulls right through, and smoothly. It must have been dry-fired a million times to get that good from a stock action. I'm thinking of adding a 6" GP100 to my arsenal, to slot in between my 7.5" 44 Mag Redhawk and 4" "357" S&W 19. The only fly in the ointment is that the SA on it is not great, and on a 6" 357, it will get shot a LOT in SA. It has me thinking of some kind of SA Bisley revolver instead.

686 - The ones I've tried in the shop do not have as smooth & light of a DA pull as that GP100, but the SA is markedly better.

Python - I don't care for them, as these days, they're just tarted-up King Cobras. Vents and a square grip. I found the DA pull to be exceptionally smooth, but with a little stacking. Not enough to complain about. SA pull was excellent; on par with S&W. For $1600, it should not stack. Fit and finish on all new DA Colts I've seen is a LOT better than new S&Ws and Rugers. This is the only thing to justify the price.

King Cobra - Now this is the tempting Colt for me. I want a King Cobra Target, but I'd like it in 6". Can't pay $1100 unless it's perfect, and to me, a Target handgun needs a longer sight radius than this. I could get a 6" Python and change the grip I guess, but then I paid the extra $500 for nothing. I'm tempted by the 3", but it doesn't offer much over my 3" 357 SP-101. One more round, prettier, smoother trigger. Still fixed sights. Probably not any more accurate or stronger.

Charter - I've tried a couple Charters in the LGS. Fit & finish didn't feel good, especially the latching in of the crane/cylinder. But the DA trigger? It's in another league. Very light & smooth.

I guess one thing we can gather from our very different impressions is that there is quite a lot of variability from sample to sample.

Side note re. my wife: I'm thinking of a Professional in 32 Mag for my wife. She feels like my 4" 19 is too heavy and that full power 38 Special with 158 gr. bullet is too much recoil. This gun would lessen the weight and I'd handload lighter 32 Mag or even 32 S&W for it for her. Heck, maybe get an old S&W in 32 S&W... Might be a wild goose chase, though...

 

[Smaug]

By the way, have you tried a Taurus Executive Grade yet?

They're getting good press and I want one in a bad way, but am having a hard time justifying it over my 3" SP-101 with the tuned trigger & lighter springs...

 

[wild cat mccane]

No.

If it's press, I would avoid. I'm pretty much done with "press" these days. After finding that the Python is build to be a bad trigger by the only factory approved gunsmith stating this, I'd never read that and bought the Python based on gun mag reviews. Never again.

My experience with the flagship M66 has been a lot of purchased guns over a long time. All ended up with cylinder binding and/or transfer bar failure.

The executive will only be a finish. It's not parts. So I'd avoid just on that fact if the "press" is anything other than finish.

 

[wild cat mccane]

Also should have said, the Windicator is not 4". As you can see. It's apparently 3.75" and not the advertised 4".

 

[Smaug]

With the press, you have to read between the lines sometimes, but to suggest they're dishonest as a group is not fair. Some may be.

I'm also thinking about individuals on YouTube who are not sponsored. Those reviews carry some weight with me, even if the videos are not fancy and edited. Those guys have real day jobs, not just getting paid to write fancy, always-positive, well-edited reviews.

 

[wild cat mccane]

Oh. I'm calling the group as a whole totally shills.

Guns.com stated the MR73 has a documented 1,000,000 357mag rounds. The actual number they misquote is 100,000. Only off by 900,000. When I brought this up, the page has now been changed to "tested for 10s of thousands of rounds." That also isn't accurate. They don't proof them for 10,000s of rounds. That still doesn't make sense. Think on it, how would a manufacture test a gun to be worthy of 10,000 of thousands of rounds? https://www.guns.com/news/2021/04/29/coming-to-america-beretta-importing-new-manurhin-mr73-revolvers

On the Python, the triggers are awful. They stack. They are heavy. Everyone seems to agree Colt revolvers have always stacked in Double Action, but here we are again hearing it's great.

Here is the only gunsmith approved by Colt stating the trigger is mechanically made bad. Literally, they aren't good and it's built that way: https://www.heffronprecision.com/blog

Knowing that it is mechanically made bad for drop testing reasons, how is the Colt Python trigger called good?

In fact, I can't find anyone referencing this known drop safety reason for the mechanical build.

 

[Drm50]

There are of used S&Ws that can be bought in neighborhood of $400. I don’t know why anyone who knows anything about guns would buy EAA grade guns. I went S&W back in 60s in DAs and Ruger in SA revolvers. In those days the S&W vs Colt wasn’t over cost. The S&W was a better design. Same with Ruger SA over Colt SAA, although when I started a Colt was twice as much as Ruger. Ruger had adjustable sights and was available in magnums too.

 

[trophyrider]

Here is the only gunsmith approved by Colt stating the trigger is mechanically made bad. Literally, they aren't good and it's built that way:

Where did you read that? I saw where he wrote about Colt recommending him for services on old and new Colt's, but where did he say the trigger design is flawed on the new guns?

I have seen you mention a few times now about the "horrible" stacking of the new Colt triggers. According to the source you referenced, he says they are better than the old ones. In my experience, the trigger on my Python and King Cobra Target are on par with most of my Smith's and definitely better than my GP-100. All of my Smith's are pre-lock and with the exceptions of my Model 29, 686, and a couple of other models p&r.

 

[wild cat mccane]

I have a flip phone so please excuse me not posting the link.

The Colt forum has the owner of H Precision talk about the physical bad qualities. They fix them, but they are there by design to be drop safe.

 

[trophyrider]

He clearly states on his website blog how much better the new triggers are compared to the older ones. So there seems to be a disconnect between what he is saying on his blog compared to what he said on the Colt forum. Why did you attach a link to his blog and not to what he said on the forum?

 

[wild cat mccane]

https://www.coltforum.com/threads/2020-python-trigger-pull.389991/page-2

There you go. Post 26 is by the owner.

Right above is a link to this blog about how the trigger is (factory) really bad. The blog also is independent of Heffron Precision and said Colt says their triggers are bad for drop test.

Better than previous version doesn't make current good. The Python commands a massive myth online. It is mechanical fact the Python stacks in double action.

I own one made by CZ in 2022. It has one of the worst triggers I have felt. Stacks in DA to stuper heavy (slow pull) and SA is extremely heavy. It has the qualities exactly what Heffron Precision says their service packages offer to fix.

That said, it is pretty. Wish the vents were 3 instead of 2 for visual appeal. Odds are more pleasing to the human eye because we see patterns with evens.

Heffron Precision will return your Python with these qualities, not that it comes with these qualities. Notice, these are services that imply they are bad to begin with and as an owner of a 2022, I can confirm:

"A crisp and light single-action pull.
A revolver that's still timed properly.
A revolver that does NOT have light primer strikes.
Your cylinder will turn properly.
The double-action trigger will be lighter and slicker as well with a swift and smooth trigger return.
The entire action will feel as if it "glides" during operation."

I am personally hesitant because the work by Heffron is only warrantied for year. I don't know what that means. Is it their work or the Colt mechanics that are going to go out of time?

My Python

 

[trophyrider]

Seems to me he is trying to drum up some business, nothing wrong with that. In fact, if you read his blog, he is complimentary of the new trigger, but he can make it better. I don't have a problem with the trigger on either one of my Colt revolvers, a 2022 Python and King Cobra target. As I said, they are comparable to my 686, though not as good as a couple of my other Smith's which are older models. I think you are reading your own prejudices into what Mike Heffron said. He in no way said the trigger was bad, but that he could improve it.