Colt Python: The Best Revolver Ever Made?
BY Herschel Smith
6 years, 11 months ago
More than a hundred years after Colt’s successful line of cavalry pistols the company released a new revolver: the Colt Python. One of seven mid-20th century Colt handguns named after snakes, the Python was introduced in 1955. The Python was a beefy, all steel and wood revolver chambered in .357 Magnum. The revolver had a six-shot cylinder and originally came with either a bright nickel or royal blue finish.
The Python was exactly what people imagined a revolver to be. The Python had a slightly oversized, stout .41 caliber frame with beautiful, beveled edges. The trigger well was large and capable of accommodating gloved fingers. The revolver was most commonly sold with a six-inch barrel, although two, three, four, and eight-inch barrels were also available.
The barrel was the Python’s most defining and beautiful feature. A full length ventilated rib ran the length of the barrel, all the way to the muzzle, leading to the front iron sights. This was complemented by a full length underlug with a knurled ejector rod tastefully nestled inside. The result was a barrel that at first glance looked outsized, as though it was a larger caliber than it really was.
Pythons were made the old fashioned way, by hand, when as one gun writer put it, “technology was relatively expensive and labor was comparatively cheap.” Parts were fitted by hand by skilled machinists who could take the time to tweak and polish the fifty-seven parts that made up a Colt Python until it ran like a watch. The Python may have been the last mass-produced handgun built with a nod to Old World craftsmanship.
I don’t know. The Smith & Wesson Performance Center makes a pretty fine revolver, and I’ve really liked my Ruger GP100. It’s trigger is as good as any wheel gun made by Smith.
With that said, I’ve never shot a Colt Python. It’s too rich for my wallet, the lowest starting at just under $3000, and going up to more than $6000 for pristine condition. I will probably never in my life shoot such a gun.
Here’s an interesting and humorous story for readers. I have a very dear friend, who had a very dear wife, and we were visiting with them talking and showing guns and grilling steaks one evening. It was when I did the cheap plastic gun scene and before I threw them all away (traded them in) for nice 1911s and wheel guns.
My dear friend trots out a beautiful Colt Python, SS 6″ barrel, in a beautiful Walnut case, and it had never been shot (except for the obligatory shot by the gunsmith). It was in pristine condition. My mouth fell open and I put my cheap plastic gun away.
The humorous part is the story behind it. One day his wife wanted to kill a snake in their back yard, and he arrived home to find his wife sporting a gun, ready to shoot. The gun she chose was that Colt Python, and it was a black snake. My friend managed to stop her by shouting her down. Don’t ever touch that gun, and don’t shoot black snakes.
And thus he saved several thousand dollars by preventing a single shot. And that Colt Python is still in pristine condition. And I’ll still never have one.
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On January 9, 2018 at 1:15 am, TheAlaskan said:
Great story. Great gun. Had a friend in Kodiak who was a trawler captain. He had a Colt Python. My Ruger 44 didn’t measure up….plain to see.
On January 9, 2018 at 7:51 am, SGT. BAG said:
I wonder how many Dan Wesson 15-2’s I can buy for 3k…..
On January 9, 2018 at 9:31 am, Angus McThag said:
Colt Pythons are like boats.
They’re absolutely best when you have a friend who owns one and lets you use it.
I’ve got three friends who’ve shot theirs regularly, and they are very sweet.
However I am fully convinced that for the $2,000+ price difference you could make a S&W as sweet.
They’ve a cachet to them. The Anaconda is similarly nice.
On January 9, 2018 at 11:20 am, Ned said:
I had an unfired S&W model 53 that I didn’t shoot. Finally sold it unfired.
Problem was, I really wanted to shoot it.
On January 9, 2018 at 11:35 am, Herschel Smith said:
@BAG,
Yea, that’s my problem. I can buy much more than a single gun for that kind of scratch. I don’t have the scratch to be a collector.
@Angus,
Yea, that’s my problem. I don’t know anyone who owns a Colt Python who wants to let me shoot it.
@Ned,
Yea, that’s my problem. If I owned a Colt Python, you can bet your last dollar I’d be shooting it.
On January 9, 2018 at 1:16 pm, JTwig said:
My co-worker had one that he got from his father after he passed. He sold it two years ago to his neice for around $500. She wanted it for her future husband who was over seas in Afghanistan (I don’t remember what he did, but he was in one of the special operation units). When I asked how he could let it go for so cheap he said it was part wedding present, part thank you for his service, and part keeping it in the family (he has no children of his own). He showed me pictures. It was an awesome gun, and you can tell from the pics that it meant a lot to him and his father.
On January 10, 2018 at 12:42 am, Chris said:
You know, everybody has an opinion…. I had a 6″ Python about a decade ago. I came to hate it. It was not designed for .357 Magnum; it was designed as a target .38 Special. It was adapted to .357 Magnum. But it was big and heavy, so I shot 180 gr. and 200 gr. Magnum loads through it, thinking I might take it pig hunting. It would go out of timing and start shaving lead. The gunsmith said to stick to 125 gr. Magnum loads max. Also that big target hammer spur would occasionally jam against my hand in double action (but not in single action) so I couldn’t fire it reliably. I traded it for a fine old 6″ Smith & Wesson 586, in which I fire heavy magnums with no problems. The trigger pull on the Smith is every bit as nice in my opinion as the Colt ever was.
On January 11, 2018 at 11:00 pm, Carter said:
Let’s not forget the leaf spring of the Python “stacks” as the trigger is pulled. I never got used to that and preferred Smith’s coil springs. Some things are best left to history, some things are best left to be used.