CraigC
Sixgun Nut
I'd rather have an older 586 or 27 any day of the week.
Anyone know if Colt is bringing back the Python?
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ColtPythonElite
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There are still plenty of NIB Pythons out there. Sure they are pricey, but they are currently a better investment than the stock market.
wow6599
Member
Folks drop crazy money on 1911's that aren't "worth" the $$ (IMHO).
I think there is a bigger market than others do for a HIGH quality, American made revolver.
Look at the people who spend $1000 - $4000 on 1911's from Springfield, Colt, Brown, Baer, Wesson (CZ), Nighthawk, etc.
$2000 for a new Python? Sure.
OrangePwrx9
Member
Such crap in this thread.
Why should Colt make a Python? It was overrated to begin with. It would suffer in comparison to a good 686 and cost more to make. If more people had them it would become quite apparent.
I bought one new over 30 years ago. Still own it. Still trying to understand what the big deal is. Yeah, it looks mean, so what?
Good gun, yes; but it's not my favorite by any means. My Security Six and my 686 are the favorites and are better shooters. The Python became a safe queen once I mastered the Security Six.
Why should Colt make a Python? It was overrated to begin with. It would suffer in comparison to a good 686 and cost more to make. If more people had them it would become quite apparent.
I bought one new over 30 years ago. Still own it. Still trying to understand what the big deal is. Yeah, it looks mean, so what?
Good gun, yes; but it's not my favorite by any means. My Security Six and my 686 are the favorites and are better shooters. The Python became a safe queen once I mastered the Security Six.
tark
Member
Ive seen and handled plenty of Korth's at the shot show Compared to a Python, they are somewhat....lacking. I have seen them with visible machining marks, and ill fitting grips. They are ugly. They have smooth actions, but they do not measure up to a Python. That is not a put-down, as NOTHING measures up to a Python in that respect. For the price of a new one, you could ger a very nice used Python. Guess which one I would take.....
tark
Member
to be fair, I must admit I have never fired one
Sad but true. I bought one of the very last royal blue Pythons new, took it to the range a couple of times, thoroughly enjoyed it... and decided that it's far too nice to be carried as a backup gun on hunting trips. Into the safe it went and got replaced by a cheaper 686-2.
...which just might be replaced by a new, precision CNC-machined stainless Python, if such a thing existed. Even though I have a number of 'smiths, I still believe the cylinder should rotate clockwise.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Apparently there are a LOT more people who'll spend $2000 on a 1911 or AR than on a revolver.
22-rimfire
Member
There really aren't A LOT of people who will spend $2000 for a customized 1911. It is a very limited market. Very few would spend $2000 for a new Python no matter how you want to gift wrap the concept.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Well, there are definitely A LOT more $2000 1911's on the market than revolvers. The only production revolvers I know of that hit $2000 come from Freedom Arms. There are plenty of gunsmiths building custom revolvers full time but all told, it's probably not more than 100-200 guns a year. Most of those are probably well under $2000 as well. I have five and four of them are under $1500.
wow6599
Member
I respect your opinion, but disagree. If Colt hadn't stopped production a year after the '94 AWB (and the Anaconda a few years later), who really knows where Colt revolvers would be in the hearts and collections of folks today.
Just look at the $$ S&W gets for some of its revolvers, and those aren't all they're cracked-up to be. Not always a decent fit / finish, 2 or 3 piece barrels, a lot of MIM parts, and the IL with a hole that would destroy the beauty of any firearm. And people still drop down hard earned money for them.
When I see folks at the range with their $1800 ACOG scopes, just dreaming about keeping their family safe from paper zombies, I have to believe there are enough people out there to make Colt money on a new Python. Just my opinion.
Wow,
Colt stopped production on those guns because they weren't selling then.
What on earth makes you think they would now, at a much higher price, when the tactical market (as you noted yourself) rules?
There's sufficient market to keep Wilson, Baer, Brown, and others happily selling $2000+ 1911s year in & year out.
If there'd been an equivalent market for $2000+ revolvers (a SUSTAINABLE market), don't you think Colt would still be making them?
Colt knows very well there isn't & they couldn't make any money off 'em.
Denis
Colt stopped production on those guns because they weren't selling then.
What on earth makes you think they would now, at a much higher price, when the tactical market (as you noted yourself) rules?
There's sufficient market to keep Wilson, Baer, Brown, and others happily selling $2000+ 1911s year in & year out.
If there'd been an equivalent market for $2000+ revolvers (a SUSTAINABLE market), don't you think Colt would still be making them?
Colt knows very well there isn't & they couldn't make any money off 'em.
Denis
wow6599
Member
I understand your point of view, but I just think differently.
Back when Colt ('95 or '96) stopped production of the Python, there was a recent game changer to the handgun world - Glock. About a decade before the demise of Colt's revolver production, Glock came on to the scene ( yes, I know about the Nylon 66, XP-100, VP70). This was big. Guns were made of steel. And wood. Revolutionary.
Suddenly the firearms that we knew were old; outdated. A revolver? That's what old men and small town cops used. We want a Glock 7!
So, companies like S&W and Colt see the writing on the wall and slow down production of certain guns to tool up for classics like the SIGMA or Colt 2000. The 1990's were not good for a lot of firearm companies due to boycotts, lawsuits, union strikes, new competition, military contracts, etc.. Lost in this were some of the finest firearms ever produced - 3rd Gen S&W autos and Colt revolvers.
And the '94 AWB is in full effect.
Here is where I get to my point - this time in history is exactly when Colt should have refocused on revolvers. People started becoming used to the ban, so if you only get 10 rds, why not a 1911? Sure, folks still bought a ton of the cheaper plastic guns, but there was a new interest by younger shooters in the 1911. Did this happen because every new shooter just had to have an 80 year old design? I don't think so.
You could still get a 1911, or build one, for MUCH cheaper than a 3rd gen S&W, so they did. And they fell in love with them. But out of this affair with 1911s came a wanting of more. Of better. So we end up with insanely priced 1911s today because a younger generation had exposure to them. Revolvers? IMHO, if Colt had managed to keep the Pythons and Anacondas in production (don't know all the frame sizes), maybe Ruger and S&W would have some competition today. People exposed to "cheaper" revolvers (like myself) over the years would naturally gravitate towards nicer ones. The "pinnacle" to some.
Maybe since we only had 10 rds back then a new generation would have asked to see that Python in the LGS instead of a Kimber.
Besides, Colt throws out SA revolvers through their custom shop. Can't do a DA one?
Last edited:
P5 Guy
Member
If Colt made the Python now it would, most likely be more expensive than a KORTH.
Aside from what ifs, since you missed previous memos ) ) I'll repeat it again.
The Peacemaker has been in production, with processes & outside vendors in place, for a long time. Several parts are outsourced.
Colt does not make more than 3 or 4 thousand Peacemakers a year, if that, makes little profit on the model, and only keeps the gun going at all because it's their iconic & most-identified flagship model. Their attorneys have advised them to drop the model, but they keep it on & that's why.
Colt had the opportunity to sell the Peacemaker to an outside investor about 15 years ago & declined, for the same reason.
Start-up costs on a new model (which is how the Python would have to be viewed) are considerable.
Colt still has the drawings, but not the old equipment. Those drawings would have to be converted to CNC pathways where applicable.
For smaller parts, drawings would have to be shopped around externally.
Not one single part of any gun Colt currently makes could be used in the Python.
That means establishing new outside vendor sources for many, and new internal processes for what Colt would do in-house.
The Python could not possibly sell in sufficient volume to justify buying new CNC & related production equipment, which means the gun would have to be split between insertion into existing production equipment, thereby slowing down current model deliveries (already griped about) even further, and final assembly & finishing by specially trained people (most likely in the Custom Shop).
Colt's Custom Shop is pretty much backlogged by one or two years already, they don't have enough people to produce the labor-intensive Python's action & polish in volume (CNC can't make that gun profitable). They can't keep up with what they've already got going.
Colt would have to hire new people, involving salary & benefit packages.
Colt would have to train new people, and you don't learn that old V-Spring action in a couple weeks, nor do you become a master polisher in a few months.
It'd take months to establish reliable small parts vendors capable of supplying things like hands (Colt's already out of those & hasn't ordered any in years), triggers & hammers, screws, rebound levers, etc.
Colt would have to spend thousands in buying those new parts to have on hand before production could commence.
Colt would have to create a physical parts inventory space, an accounting system, a tracking & flow system, and so on, for those parts.
All that for a gun that wouldn't sell in a high enough volume to even repay startup, much less bring in an ongoing profit.
It can't make money for the company, and much as people may hope, Colt's bottom line is that profit across the board is more important than satisfying a few (and I mean a few) fans' wish lists on a project that could only lose them money.
Denis
) ) I'll repeat it again.The Peacemaker has been in production, with processes & outside vendors in place, for a long time. Several parts are outsourced.
Colt does not make more than 3 or 4 thousand Peacemakers a year, if that, makes little profit on the model, and only keeps the gun going at all because it's their iconic & most-identified flagship model. Their attorneys have advised them to drop the model, but they keep it on & that's why.
Colt had the opportunity to sell the Peacemaker to an outside investor about 15 years ago & declined, for the same reason.
Start-up costs on a new model (which is how the Python would have to be viewed) are considerable.
Colt still has the drawings, but not the old equipment. Those drawings would have to be converted to CNC pathways where applicable.
For smaller parts, drawings would have to be shopped around externally.
Not one single part of any gun Colt currently makes could be used in the Python.
That means establishing new outside vendor sources for many, and new internal processes for what Colt would do in-house.
The Python could not possibly sell in sufficient volume to justify buying new CNC & related production equipment, which means the gun would have to be split between insertion into existing production equipment, thereby slowing down current model deliveries (already griped about) even further, and final assembly & finishing by specially trained people (most likely in the Custom Shop).
Colt's Custom Shop is pretty much backlogged by one or two years already, they don't have enough people to produce the labor-intensive Python's action & polish in volume (CNC can't make that gun profitable). They can't keep up with what they've already got going.
Colt would have to hire new people, involving salary & benefit packages.
Colt would have to train new people, and you don't learn that old V-Spring action in a couple weeks, nor do you become a master polisher in a few months.
It'd take months to establish reliable small parts vendors capable of supplying things like hands (Colt's already out of those & hasn't ordered any in years), triggers & hammers, screws, rebound levers, etc.
Colt would have to spend thousands in buying those new parts to have on hand before production could commence.
Colt would have to create a physical parts inventory space, an accounting system, a tracking & flow system, and so on, for those parts.
All that for a gun that wouldn't sell in a high enough volume to even repay startup, much less bring in an ongoing profit.
It can't make money for the company, and much as people may hope, Colt's bottom line is that profit across the board is more important than satisfying a few (and I mean a few) fans' wish lists on a project that could only lose them money.
Denis
I suppose some people have safe queen Pythons that are NIB never fired for investments.I have a 6"Royal Blue Python made in 1963 and it goes to the range every time. If Colt made a new Python,maybe more folks would shoot them and let the safe queens sit around and appreciate.I guess it all comes down to price.
oneounceload
member
winner, winner, chicken dinner!
wow6599
Member
What does a new, "base" Korth go for? $7000?
Dframe
Member
There are probably people sitting around in dakened rooms hoarding their pythons. NOT ME. I shoot the hell out of mine. Thats what they were made for.
But No new pythons. Far too expensive to manufacture. Any new revolver from Colt will NOT be a python.
But No new pythons. Far too expensive to manufacture. Any new revolver from Colt will NOT be a python.
Vodoun da Vinci
Member
Gaad Bless you, Dframe. My Father in Law had a Python and we shot the heck out of it. His son inherited it - we still shoot it.
Best revolver ever? Nahhh...no holy grail. But very, very nice. I wouldn't buy a new one at $$$$$$$$ and modern craftsmanship even if it happened. Which it won't.
There are plenty out there NIB if someone really has to have it.
VooDoo
Best revolver ever? Nahhh...no holy grail. But very, very nice. I wouldn't buy a new one at $$$$$$$$ and modern craftsmanship even if it happened. Which it won't.
There are plenty out there NIB if someone really has to have it.
VooDoo
ColtPythonElite
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I shoot and hoard...
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