I've shot a Colt Python back in the early 80s and I much prefered the DA action of my S&W66 and 586 Target. Accuracy goes to the Ruger GP-100 with the specimens we had at the range. This is with factory and handloads, for any given reason my blue GP-100 won the accuracy contest when fired single action mode. Yes I'll admit that the Python looks great and it is discontinued with all the other DA revolver line, are there really that many Colt DA afficianados. Please educate me on this matter. I don't mean to offend at all, I'm just doing a research. josh
Why are Colt Pythons so EXPENSIVE?
- Thread starter joshua
- Start date
The Python was and is hand fitted, using the old Colt lockwork. While its DA "stacks", which the S&W does not do, it is still one of the smoothest revolver actions going. There are 3 reasons for the high price:
1. The amount of internal hand polishing and fitting involved.
2. The generally high quality of finish
3. Because they can get it.
The Colt name doesn't hurt either. "I have a Colt Python" just sounds better than "I have a Ruger GP-100".
Jim
1. The amount of internal hand polishing and fitting involved.
2. The generally high quality of finish
3. Because they can get it.
The Colt name doesn't hurt either. "I have a Colt Python" just sounds better than "I have a Ruger GP-100".
Jim
Metaloy Industries
New member
I personnally think they are very well made. The internals and action design are pretty impressive IMO. Good quality, Colt name, discontinued all make for stiff prices. I will pick one up one day.
Dfariswheel
New member
Here's an old post of mine that explains why the Python costs so much:
The gun is essentially a custom, hand built revolver.
Other revolvers are designed in such a way as the parts are "drop-in" as much as possible and require little hand fitting.
The Python, and all the older Colt's are "old school" designs dating back to the 1890's.
The guns MUST be totally hand assembled and fitted since all parts are made over-sized, and are filed and stoned to fit.
This requires extensive hand labor by Master fitters with many years of experience.
The Python then gets MORE custom hand fitting and polishing to give a even more refined action.
The old Colt action is an extraordinarily intricate, complicated design, that cost much more simply to build, much less finish to Python levels.
Other brands can be assembled by much less experienced people, and there isn't much fitting and tuning needed.
Next, is the exterior finish.
When a S&W or Ruger is being boxed for shipment, the Python is still being hand polished by highly trained polishers with many years of hands-on experience.
The Python is polished on custom Colt-made leather covered polishing wheels by people who were started out on Colt's cheaper guns.
After years of experience, only the very BEST of them were allowed to polish the Python.
The final polish on the Python used a media the consistency of flour.
This lengthy polishing process was used on all Python's including the nickel and bright stainless guns.
Reasons for Colt's reputation for being the most accurate
brand, and the Python's reputation for being the most accurate of all revolvers, involve the old-style Colt "Bank Vault" lockup, Colt's superior quality barrels, and their faster rifling twist.
The Python went even farther with an expensive tapered-bore barrel, which was finished with Colt's mysterious "Silver Ball" treatment.
In short, The Python is very much like ordering a true custom 1911 from a maker like Wilson, Brown, or one of the other top custom builders.
What you're getting is a revolver on which expensive hand labor is lavished, and on which everything possible is done to insure it's the finest quality and most accurate production revolver possible.
Hand labor, especially highly experienced labor is NOT cheap.
The kind of people capable of fitting and tuning the action or polishing the finish to the level the Python is, have many years on the job, and they don't work for minimum wage.
The difference is like buying a Seiko watch or buying a Rolex.
One is a common, mass produced, unrefined watch, and the other is a hand made labor of love that takes a year to build.
Hand made is higher quality and more expensive than mass produced.
Why does a Rolls Royce cost more than a Chevy?
They're both pretty much the same mechanically, and are made of the same steel and rubber.
The gun is essentially a custom, hand built revolver.
Other revolvers are designed in such a way as the parts are "drop-in" as much as possible and require little hand fitting.
The Python, and all the older Colt's are "old school" designs dating back to the 1890's.
The guns MUST be totally hand assembled and fitted since all parts are made over-sized, and are filed and stoned to fit.
This requires extensive hand labor by Master fitters with many years of experience.
The Python then gets MORE custom hand fitting and polishing to give a even more refined action.
The old Colt action is an extraordinarily intricate, complicated design, that cost much more simply to build, much less finish to Python levels.
Other brands can be assembled by much less experienced people, and there isn't much fitting and tuning needed.
Next, is the exterior finish.
When a S&W or Ruger is being boxed for shipment, the Python is still being hand polished by highly trained polishers with many years of hands-on experience.
The Python is polished on custom Colt-made leather covered polishing wheels by people who were started out on Colt's cheaper guns.
After years of experience, only the very BEST of them were allowed to polish the Python.
The final polish on the Python used a media the consistency of flour.
This lengthy polishing process was used on all Python's including the nickel and bright stainless guns.
Reasons for Colt's reputation for being the most accurate
brand, and the Python's reputation for being the most accurate of all revolvers, involve the old-style Colt "Bank Vault" lockup, Colt's superior quality barrels, and their faster rifling twist.
The Python went even farther with an expensive tapered-bore barrel, which was finished with Colt's mysterious "Silver Ball" treatment.
In short, The Python is very much like ordering a true custom 1911 from a maker like Wilson, Brown, or one of the other top custom builders.
What you're getting is a revolver on which expensive hand labor is lavished, and on which everything possible is done to insure it's the finest quality and most accurate production revolver possible.
Hand labor, especially highly experienced labor is NOT cheap.
The kind of people capable of fitting and tuning the action or polishing the finish to the level the Python is, have many years on the job, and they don't work for minimum wage.
The difference is like buying a Seiko watch or buying a Rolex.
One is a common, mass produced, unrefined watch, and the other is a hand made labor of love that takes a year to build.
Hand made is higher quality and more expensive than mass produced.
Why does a Rolls Royce cost more than a Chevy?
They're both pretty much the same mechanically, and are made of the same steel and rubber.
Current prices on Python's are a bargain IMO.Thaey were hand fitted and finished and without a doubt the finest revolver ever made. I just bought an 8" Python, nickel finish in LNIB condition for $1200 made in 1981.All you have to do is pick this gun up and feel the quality and know it was made by master craftsmen.I think they are great investments at todays prices and will only continue to go up in value.I'm looking to buy my second Python as we speak!!
I bought a brand new 4" blue Python in '78, another new one in '81 (the Python Hunter "set" that I still haven't fired), and later, a 6" Stainless Python mfg. in '82 (I bought it used).
To the best of my recollection, I "think" I paid about $480 for my new 4" in '78, about $1025 for my new Hunter Halliburton set in '81, and about $550 for my used (but mint) Stainless 6" about 5 years ago.
I've got way more S&W revolvers of various calibers and models, mostly bought new from the '70's and '80's, but it's the Pythons that really tickle me when I pick one of them up. The Smiths are really nice, but the Pythons are, well, perfect. They feel like... butter.
Maybe you have to have one to really appreciate them.
Carter
To the best of my recollection, I "think" I paid about $480 for my new 4" in '78, about $1025 for my new Hunter Halliburton set in '81, and about $550 for my used (but mint) Stainless 6" about 5 years ago.
I've got way more S&W revolvers of various calibers and models, mostly bought new from the '70's and '80's, but it's the Pythons that really tickle me when I pick one of them up. The Smiths are really nice, but the Pythons are, well, perfect. They feel like... butter.
Maybe you have to have one to really appreciate them.
Carter
john45colt
New member
It's like they say about divorce -- Because their worth it!
Pythons made after 1962 are poorly fitted and finished, the worst being made in the '80s. It seems that Colt all of a sudden decided that it did not know how to fit sideplates. Colt also began to dish screw and pin holes with their buffers. Then they changed the bluing formula. Current Pythons are poorly finished as well. My pick would be the first seven years of production.
I haven't seen an early Python, but I saw and examined one from the early 70's. I didn't see a poorly fitted sideplate or poor craftsmanship.
Anyways, it doesn't matter how much work went into something if nobody wants it. Current prices are high because everybody wants one.
Anyways, it doesn't matter how much work went into something if nobody wants it. Current prices are high because everybody wants one.
Great inputs guys. I have only fired a 6" blued Python and as I remember correctly everything looked great with that one. If I would've known that the price will skyrocket I would've purchased all the Pythons in the gunshop I worked at in the early 90s. I did not know that the action/lockwork of the Python were hand fitted. Very interesting. Thanks. I suppose if I did own a Python I'd cherish it, but wouldn't dare fire it because of the value depreciating. I can always call on the GP-100s to take the abuse. josh
I've handled some earlier Pythons and see no difference in any way from them to any of my three, all made between '78 to '82. I guess I must be naive and just don't know what makes for a "poor fit" or "finish" because I've handled them a lot and still don't see anything poorly fitted or finished. The side plates melt into the rest of the frame, and the bluing is as dark and rich as any Python I've seen including earlier ones.
I've also handled Pythons made in the later 80's and they look great to me.
So what else should I be looking for?
Or is this the deal where "older is better" because "they don't make 'em like they used to" that people like to rattle off?
Seriously, I'm really interested and would like to know exactly what I'm looking for in ANY Python that would indicate poor fit or finish. What parts are supposed to fit poorly (on a pistol that is hand built)? And should the finish be pitted?.. or less blue?.. or of a different color?.. or a different degree of shine (buffing)? I'm really curious.
Carter
Not at all, in fact, I'm hoping 918v will join back in and further explain his experiences so we can all learn from him. You asked a question in your first post so I would imagine that might be thinking of buying a Python sometime, and I'm always looking for another one (of any vintage).
So if 918v will expound further with some real information about what to look for when you buy a Python (as opposed to anecdotal or opinionated information), we can avoid getting one of those made in the years when "poor fit and finish" was the norm. I just haven't been able to identify one of those yet so maybe I need to look a little closer. Evidently, it makes a lot of difference what year a Python was made whether it "looks" good or not.
Carter
You'd like to see some facts?
Why don't you actually get an early Python before you offer your opinion. Do a close inspection. If you still can't see a difference, then you're blind.
BTW, there also is an obvious design difference between the early and the latter Pythons that affects the shooting experience, making them even more desirable.
Why do you call me a coward? Where did I run? Am I hiding from you? You accuse me of disappearing when I haven't. For your information, I am not obligated to wait by the computer until YOU post. How many days has it been? One? Is that too long for you? Who is making rash statements now?
I'm making an educated statement based on actual experience. You, on the other hand, are offering a poor analysis based on assumptions because you clearly have not owned an early Python.
Are you claiming that Colt quality has been consistent throughout its history? Because everyone knows the opposite to be true.
Why don't you actually get an early Python before you offer your opinion. Do a close inspection. If you still can't see a difference, then you're blind.
BTW, there also is an obvious design difference between the early and the latter Pythons that affects the shooting experience, making them even more desirable.
Why do you call me a coward? Where did I run? Am I hiding from you? You accuse me of disappearing when I haven't. For your information, I am not obligated to wait by the computer until YOU post. How many days has it been? One? Is that too long for you? Who is making rash statements now?
I'm making an educated statement based on actual experience. You, on the other hand, are offering a poor analysis based on assumptions because you clearly have not owned an early Python.
Are you claiming that Colt quality has been consistent throughout its history? Because everyone knows the opposite to be true.
I have a 6" blued Python from the late 70's that belonged to my father. It is a beautiful gun that was always well cared for. The pull is smooth and even and the weapon shoots better than I can. My only gripe is I have smaller hands that are not as well suited to the DA pull, but genetics cannot be blamed on Colt.
There is something else to remember about the Python and why its price will continue to climb. Yes it is discontinued but NO, you will never see it again. Plain and simple it is gone. Colt MAY reintroduce something they will call a Python but it will not be the Python of old. Their plant is a shadow of its former self. Their work force has shrunken and without the steady flow of DA revolvers on which assemblers learned to cut their teeth you will not generatemaster assemblers capable of manufacturing a Python as it once was. Colt has not lost the technology, the equipment to make the guns is still there. They have lost the SKILLS and that is far more tragic because they have no way of regaining them.
Look at SAA model P production. It may have come and gone but there were always lots of revolvers for Colt assemblers to keep up to speed on. Now the SAA is the only coltr revolver produced but just having the skills to make that gun does not meanthe skills to turn on the machines and make a run of Pythons exist. The Python was the culmination of all the craftsmanship and skill that Colt had developed in revolvers up untill that date. If you let those skills die off or retire without growing new employees with the same skills (and I think the average age at the plant is now eligible for AARP membership) then you have to start pretty much from scratch to regain them.
The Python as a production gun is gone forever. Never again will you see a hand fitted gun of such quality come out of Colt. As that realization sinks in the prices for Pythons will climb steadily skyward.
There is something else to remember about the Python and why its price will continue to climb. Yes it is discontinued but NO, you will never see it again. Plain and simple it is gone. Colt MAY reintroduce something they will call a Python but it will not be the Python of old. Their plant is a shadow of its former self. Their work force has shrunken and without the steady flow of DA revolvers on which assemblers learned to cut their teeth you will not generatemaster assemblers capable of manufacturing a Python as it once was. Colt has not lost the technology, the equipment to make the guns is still there. They have lost the SKILLS and that is far more tragic because they have no way of regaining them.
Look at SAA model P production. It may have come and gone but there were always lots of revolvers for Colt assemblers to keep up to speed on. Now the SAA is the only coltr revolver produced but just having the skills to make that gun does not meanthe skills to turn on the machines and make a run of Pythons exist. The Python was the culmination of all the craftsmanship and skill that Colt had developed in revolvers up untill that date. If you let those skills die off or retire without growing new employees with the same skills (and I think the average age at the plant is now eligible for AARP membership) then you have to start pretty much from scratch to regain them.
The Python as a production gun is gone forever. Never again will you see a hand fitted gun of such quality come out of Colt. As that realization sinks in the prices for Pythons will climb steadily skyward.
BS
There are CNC machines that produce the most complicated of parts to very tight tolerances. There is nothing special about a Python, other than the nostalgia. It requires alot of hand fitting because the gun was made on old and inaccurate machines. Why is it that S&W keeps pumping out revolvers at $500 a pop with better fit and finish. Colt for some reason cannot. I would love to see a Python with MIM parts for $500. It should not cost anymore than that.
There are CNC machines that produce the most complicated of parts to very tight tolerances. There is nothing special about a Python, other than the nostalgia. It requires alot of hand fitting because the gun was made on old and inaccurate machines. Why is it that S&W keeps pumping out revolvers at $500 a pop with better fit and finish. Colt for some reason cannot. I would love to see a Python with MIM parts for $500. It should not cost anymore than that.
918v why don't you tell us what you really think?
I like the old ones too, had a 6" and a 4", never did get another because they never "felt" the same to me. Maybe I'm just too fussy. I'm glad my boy kept the 4", at least I still can look at it. He will not let me shoot it anymore .
I like the old ones too, had a 6" and a 4", never did get another because they never "felt" the same to me. Maybe I'm just too fussy. I'm glad my boy kept the 4", at least I still can look at it. He will not let me shoot it anymore
.I know a thing or two about CNC machining and tolerances. I work with the largest Swiss turning parts manufacturer in the world. We run more sliding headstock Swiss equipment than anyone else. Tornos, Star, Index, Traub, you name it and we run it. We have CNC and old cam operated machines and I am here to tell you there are certain parts that CNC is NOT going to produce as well as a old style cam operated machine run by a master machinist. One customer of mine spent $50,000 last year trying to find that out for themselves.
Why do I say this? Because people tend to think "Modern Machining Methods" will solve everything. It is true that properly designing a device for production with parts made to the latest achievable tolerances will achieve a better result than the same production done by hand in mass. It will never achieve what is accomplished by 100% hands on attention by a master craftsman in limited quanitites though. No CNC machine out there understands the concept of "touch" or "feel." No automated finish line can achieve the aesthetic thumbs up of the descriminating consumer like the hands on attention of a master.
Modern Production Techniques have done wonders for firearms. The array of Rugers available, Glocks, and Smith & Wessons attest to that. There will always be a place though for pieces that show true hands on attention. While some here poo-poo the work done by Colt on the Python the vast majority of people out there will attest it is the finest double action revolver they (and for some, anybody) ever put out.
People often forget that the machinist is a critical part of the machining process. Having the greatest machine is only a part of the solution. My customer bought a top of the line machine from a world class manufacturer but my third generation machinist on a machine older than anyone would suspect consistently turns out parts that they cannot. The Python was what the skills at Colt once were and most likely never will be again.
Why do I say this? Because people tend to think "Modern Machining Methods" will solve everything. It is true that properly designing a device for production with parts made to the latest achievable tolerances will achieve a better result than the same production done by hand in mass. It will never achieve what is accomplished by 100% hands on attention by a master craftsman in limited quanitites though. No CNC machine out there understands the concept of "touch" or "feel." No automated finish line can achieve the aesthetic thumbs up of the descriminating consumer like the hands on attention of a master.
Modern Production Techniques have done wonders for firearms. The array of Rugers available, Glocks, and Smith & Wessons attest to that. There will always be a place though for pieces that show true hands on attention. While some here poo-poo the work done by Colt on the Python the vast majority of people out there will attest it is the finest double action revolver they (and for some, anybody) ever put out.
People often forget that the machinist is a critical part of the machining process. Having the greatest machine is only a part of the solution. My customer bought a top of the line machine from a world class manufacturer but my third generation machinist on a machine older than anyone would suspect consistently turns out parts that they cannot. The Python was what the skills at Colt once were and most likely never will be again.