The Colt Python was intended right from the beginning to be the finest double action revolver ever built in America.
It was intended to be the most accurate, highest quality semi-custom revolver possible, and it always was.
Originally conceived as a super-premium .38 Special Target revolver, Colt management decided to chamber it in .357 Magnum.
It was hand assembled from forged steel parts, then even more hand tuning was lavished on it to make it the best.
In the blued versions, the Colt Royal Blue was the best blue job ever given a production revolver.
All the older Colt revolvers like the Official Police and Trooper used the same action which while not as well tuned as the Python, still required hand fitting and adjusting. This priced them out of the market.
In 1969 Colt designed a totally new revolver to replace all the older medium frame models except the Python. This was the "J" frame Mark III series, which included a variety of fixed and adjustable sight models.
The Trooper Mark III model was intended to be Colt's premium standard production holster revolver, which could be "machine fitted" with little hand fitting needed.
The new action was a transfer bar safety-ignition system that was so successful, every DA revolver invented since uses a close copy of the Colt design.
Internal parts were made of sintered steel, an early form of MIM casting.
These later Colt's were specifically designed for unlimited use with full power .357 Magnum ammo, and master gunsmith Jerry Kuhnhausen thought they were the strongest medium frame revolvers ever made, including the S&W 686 and the Ruger GP-100.
The Python was America's Ferrari level DA revolver, the Trooper Mark III was a Cadillac.