[Jeff Higgins]

Well, it sounds like a few of the early on-line reviewers who had difficulty with their Pythons and sent them back are hearing back from Colt. Colt is saying the sideplates were loose, allowing the hand to flop over and skip over the ratchet on the rear of the cylinder. Certainly possible, I guess. I've sure had plenty of screws come loose on handguns over the years.

Single actions seem particularly prone to this, but I honestly cannot remember a double action doing this. There is a big difference in functionality of the screws that come loose on a single action and the side plate screws on a double action. The latter simply hold the sideplate onto the frame, capturing the revolver's mechanism inside. The screws that typically loosen on a single action, though, serve as the pivot points, or axles, for the various parts of the internal mechanism, like the hammer, bolt, and trigger.

Anyway, that's Colt's story and they are sticking to it. A couple of guys are already saying "no way in hell", so it's hard to say what's going on. No one has actually gotten their gun back yet. It will be interesting to see what happens when they do.