Colt Python
 

Dang you guys (my turn to blame all of you for something ;) )... With all this talk about Pythons around here, I finally had to break down and nab another one. This one was my older brother's, which he bought new in about 1981 while he was in the Navy. I've had an "option" on it for years now, so I finally exercised that option and relieved him of it with a little bit of horse trading for some guns he wanted from me.

Anyhoo, here she is. Very lightly used:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487531882.JPG

That's a beautiful wicked beast.
Tim

Nice. What did it take to snag it?

Nice score. I'd really like one. On the local board there was a perfect nickel one from 77 - almost 5k asking. It was gone in less than a day. :eek:

G

I have one. NIB, never fired, original receipt, etc.
.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/783982-colt-python-357-6-whats-worth.html

A couple of other handguns, a large sack of small, unmarked non-sequential serial numbered bills, and the threat to tell our mom he was being mean to me if he didn't do it.

A true negotiator, you.

:)

You still have it? That would be good, as these have gone up more since you asked in that thread. I'd say 3k+, but no expert. I'd put it on GunBroker with a hefty reserve and see what transpires. I wish you were local, I'd tell you it is worth 1500 and be over with the cash! :)

G

At the time of that thread I went on a Colt Python forum to get some feedback.
I rec'd several emails and turned down 3 offers of $5k because I no longer needed nor wanted to sell.
The prices for these are vulgar...to say the least.
These days I'm again considering selling.

Quite honestly, guys, the "value" of this thing doesn't mean squat between us. We're brothers. I have two brothers actually, and firearms change hands between us under all kinds of circumstances. Hell, I could have asked to "borrow" this Python and my brother would have just given it to me. We have each other's guns that we have "borrowed" around our little triumvirate thirty years ago that still haven't found their way "home". We very rarely change "ownership" in any kind of a formal manner like we did here. When we do, it's with the understanding that the original owner, if he ever wants it back and the new owner is willing to let it go, it goes back for about the same price, regardless of increase (or decrease) in value. These guns fall into a special "shall not sell outside the family" classification. In other words, I'm not gonna turn around and flip my brother's Python for five or six grand tomorrow. We made our deal with both sides knowing full well what it is worth. If he really needed the money, and really didn't mind it being gone for good, he knows what he could have sold it for. For me to turn around and do that just wouldn't be right. Besides, I'm sure he would tell mom.

Seems like a bubble. If they reach >5k and colt brings out a new line of them, will they tank?

Looks like I am too late to the party. I need a python like a hole in my head. I already have the .357 and similar performing calibers covered ...

G

But you want one....bad. :D

So how many of those bad boy Pony Snakes do you really have when you say, "Another one."

I purchased it's little brother in .22lr the same year...removed it's NIB collector status the following day :). If'n I didn't still have my first....a M27, then.....drool...

Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead - "another one" to replace the one I foolishly let go over 20 years ago. This is the only one I have at the moment.

Like Aigel, "I need a Python like a hole in my head". I'll never carry it, I'll never hunt with it, I'll never keep it loaded in the nightstand - its only purpose will be plinking. I have many, many other guns that can do that, plus fill "real" purposes, like concealed carry, hunting, backpacking, day hiking, etc.

But none of them are Pythons...

I am NOT opening this thread.

Yeah, I've been getting the itch lately.

When did Colt say that they are going to bring them back on the market?

Years ago, one of our local P. D. members was a national police pistol champion. Yes, hell of an expert with a wheel gun. Last name was Horton. Anyway, coffee shop BSing..but he preferred to use a Smith over a Python.

Yeah, I know..this has no bearing on the desirability of either as a collectable firearm.

(edit) Old fart confession...this coffee shop conversation was over 40 years ago..

I miss my snake collection

I well remember when wheelguns were the norm, and the endless debate over which double action was "better" - the S&W or the Colt. Colt complicated things by producing distinctly different actions on different models, where S&W pretty much used (uses) the same basic action on all models, just scaling it to fit their different frame sizes. So, it kind of came down to which Colt was being compared to the S&W's. It always seemed to come down to "other than the Python, which is better - Colt or S&W?". The Python was that far ahead of the rest, on either side.

Of course, personal preference plays a role as well. Some folks just don't like the way a Python "stacks" its DA trigger pull. Others prefer it. Neither is inherently "better".

I settled this debate for myself, for my own use, by declaring "none of the above" and developing a real preference for Colt single actions...

You WHAT? You sold them?

....and then some folks just like the way BOTH of these classic names perform. Equal mix of both works too :). I've never shot a Colt SA.....

Dang you Higgins....

I have a 2.5" stainless Python. It is sublime. I had Bill Laughridge do his super action job on it ten years ago. Made a great trigger even better.
I too have turned down big offers. My wife gave it to me. It stays in the family.
Troy

Two keepers worth hanging on too :)!

Fortunately for my wallet my hands are no longer able to manage that much power for more than 3 or 4 rounds. .38 yes, .357 big bang no. But it sure is purdy.

Every growing boy needs at least one Colt SA... ;)

Like K frame S&W's, these are really .38 Specials in which you can occasionally fire .357 magnum ammunition. They won't hold up to a steady diet of it. My favorite load is the RCBS 150 grain SWC cast from wheel weights, lubed with SPG, and seated over 5.0 grains of 231 in .357 mag brass. These do about 950 fps and are a real pleasure to shoot. Very easy on both the gun and the shooter's hand.

If you want to hear a 357 ROAR load em up and put em through a Ruger Red Hawk in 357 magnum.

I have several Interarms Virginian Dragoons, one of which is a .357 magnum. The most over-built .357 magnum ever made. The cylinder is long enough to allow seating the old Thompson bullet to its bottom crimping groove in full length .357 mag brass. This bullet was originally designed for the .38/44 Outdoorsman, to be used in .38 Special brass so it wasn't too long for the cylinder. Most .357 magnum guns still require that you use .38 Special brass with this bullet, or they come out too long for the cylinder.

The nice thing about these loads is that they simply do not fit Model 19 cylinders, nor will they fit the Python cylinder. They come very close to duplicating the old .357 Maximum loads. They worked pretty good when I was shooting silhouette with this gun, but are otherwise pretty useless. If I feel like I need that much power for hunting, I just grab a .44 or .45.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487618201.JPG

yer' killin' me Higgins! ;)