Posted: 10/15/2010 7:39:57 PM EDT
| I recently took posession of a 4" Colt Python. I have not been able to put it down for the past four hours. Anything special I should know about these guns? |
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It's almost necessary to buy a well used one, otherwise you'll never shoot it. Already put six through it in the back yard  . While it is used everything seems to lock up tight and I think it's in overall great shape. Will try to get some pics up in the next couple of days
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I like mine. I don't like the trigger as much as compared to my well worn 686. Its still a damn sexy wheel gun. http://photos.bsportal.org/d/1410-2/Colt_Python.png WHAT?? The Python had the BEST trigger of ALL Colts' pistols!! It's probably THE best sixgun EVER produced by ANY company in the history of the world! 
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Quoted: Quoted: I like mine. I don't like the trigger as much as compared to my well worn 686. Its still a damn sexy wheel gun. http://photos.bsportal.org/d/1410-2/Colt_Python.png WHAT?? The Python had the BEST trigger of ALL Colts' pistols!! It's probably THE best sixgun EVER produced by ANY company in the history of the world! Well see, there is your problem. Colt isn't the only game in town.  Really though, I just can't get used to the stacking of the trigger in DA. SA is crisp as a glass rod breaking. |
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I like mine. I don't like the trigger as much as compared to my well worn 686. Its still a damn sexy wheel gun. http://photos.bsportal.org/d/1410-2/Colt_Python.png WHAT?? The Python had the BEST trigger of ALL Colts' pistols!! It's probably THE best sixgun EVER produced by ANY company in the history of the world!
Oh! How many Pythons do you own and what is your shooting game? Have you tried a Korth, an MR73, or a S&W PC revolver? |
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Colt Pythons are really nice guns. There are others that are just as good and even better.
Austin Behlert down in Texas used to build custom revolvers for people called Smythons. They would put a Python barrel on an S&W revolver. 
It was the forerunner of the L frame look we have now. I wouldn't do that to a Python. I'd sell it and get a nice S&W instead. |
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I like mine. I don't like the trigger as much as compared to my well worn 686. Its still a damn sexy wheel gun. http://photos.bsportal.org/d/1410-2/Colt_Python.png WHAT?? The Python had the BEST trigger of ALL Colts' pistols!! It's probably THE best sixgun EVER produced by ANY company in the history of the world!
Oh! How many Pythons do you own and what is your shooting game? Have you tried a Korth, an MR73, or a S&W PC revolver? +1 I was in the market for a premium revolver and I chose a 627 over a Python after handling both. The 627 is not a 'sixgun' though, it is an 'eightgun'. |
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Back to the OP's original question:
About all you have to know about the Python is don't abuse it. This holds for any revolver. Abuse is opening and closing the cylinder Bogart-style with a flick of the wrist. Shooting double action by jerking the trigger as hard and fast as you can. Shooting single action by cocking the hammer with a hard yank. As for the Python being "weak" the cylinder and frame are actually about the strongest ever built. It's the old 1900's Colt action that can get out of order. Complaining that the Colt is not as good as other revolvers because of this is like complaining that you can't take your Ferrari off-roading like you can your pickup. The Python was designed to be the ultimate target revolver, and the finest DA revolver ever made in America. It's literally a hand assembled, hand tuned and adjusted semi-custom revolver. Like an expensive sports car, the Python does need more routine maintenance then other, less refined guns. When the cylinder will no longer fully lock when the hammer is very slowly cocked, it's time to have the action adjusted. Complaining about this is, again, like complaining that your Ferrari needs tires and spark plugs more often then your Chevy sedan. As for maintenance and any repairs, trust only Colt. These days very few professional gunsmiths "understand" the old Colt action and often you'll get your Python back in worse shape because they tried to learn the Colt action on your gun. NO ONE knows more about it than Colt and they have all the parts and the special tools needed to work on them. Another good source is usually Cylinder & Slide Shop. C&S is a top custom shop so prices are high and turnaround is slow. As for the Colt trigger, this is simply a different feel than a S&W. If you grew up shooting Colt's it's the S&W that feels "wrong". The Colt does "stack", and this is something that needs to be learned by a new to Colt shooter. The Colt double action trigger is extremely smooth. The Colt single action trigger is probably the best there is even on the budget models like the Official Police. The Python is even better because it was intended to be a super-premium target revolver. The Python will be the most consistently accurate DA revolver. Note I said "Consistently". You'll get an extremely accurate S&W or Ruger, and a rare Python that won't shoot. However, for a number of reasons ranging from the old Colt action that tightly locks the chamber in perfect alignment with the bore, to the Python faster twist rifling in a bore that's tapered, the Python will out-shoot most any other DA revolver. Again, this has nothing to do with an individual revolver shooting great or a Python not. If you could shoot 50 Pythons and 50 of another brand, ONE revolver would be the most accurate, ONE would be the least accurate. The most accurate could be the other brand revolver and the least accurate could be a Python. However, ON THE AVERAGE, of the 100 revolvers tested the Pythons would be more accurate. This is because the Python was expressly designed and built for pure accuracy. Most other revolvers were really built to be service and defense revolvers, not target guns. The bottom line on the Python is that it was specifically intended to be the finest quality, most accurate DA revolver ever built in America, and it always was just that. While Colt quality did suffer in the 1980's and later 1990's, everyone else's quality also suffered. While quality may have suffered, the Python was still always the best DA revolver made in America, and the only one that was hand built. |
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All I know is a Python is a handgun you had better have a VERY GOOD gunsmith do any work on.
Just like dfariswheel said, lots of good Colts are screwed up by "gunsmiths". My personal opinion are that Colts are great guns but they are a lot more fragile than a S&W. I once tried to rebuild a Colt Police Positive that was really fouled up that I got cheap. I never got it quite right and traded it off. I would NEVER under any circumstances try to work on a Python. They are too expensive a handgun to screw up on. |
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I'm a Colt fanboy as well. (the 2 Snakes are obviously at the top in the pic) ––- Interestingly i am a much better shot with the 6" than the 8" ––- the shorter barrel is not as shaky for me in off-hand shooting. Either one is more accurate than i am. I need to add a 4" and a 2.5" to the family to round out the collection (with regards to barrel length only, that is) '
The Lawman in the pic was my first .357 and i havent owned anything besides Colt, so i can't comment on the trigger quality of a nice S&W. I just loved the looks of the Colts first and have stuck with them. The trigger of the Python is night and day better than the Lawman though ––- but, as Dfariswheel noted, the LAwman was built to be a service grade revolver and not a premium piece of shootin' iron. I would like to add a nice N-frame to the mix some day though 
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