Tag Archives: Colt Python

So I saw how a Python is born…

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When you think of Colt revolvers, the Python immediately comes to mind, and we hit the road to get the behind-the-scenes access to see just how these iconic American wheel guns are made.

Launched in 1955, the .357 Magnum six-shooter stood out with its advanced features, which surpassed many standard models of the time. Featuring a full underlug with a shrouded ejector rod, ventilated rib barrel, and adjustable sights, Pythons are distinctive and quickly identified at even a glance.

We’ve seen hundreds of Pythons over the years and have loved every last one of them. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
There is just something electric about seeing the iconic “PYTHON” on the barrel. 

Over its original half-century run, the “I-frame” Python saw several variants with barrel lengths of 2.5, 3, 4, 6, and 8 inches, a few caliber experiments, and some specialty guns. The revolvers were produced in a range of finishes, including electroless nickel, referred to as “Colt Guard” by the company, stainless, polished nickel, Royal Colt Guard, an “Ultimate Bright” stainless, blued, and Colt Royal Blue, among others.

No matter the finish or barrel length, they are always appealing. A work of art crafted in steel. 

We were there at the SHOT Show in 2020 when the new Python was introduced. The event marked the debut of the updated generation of these premium revolvers for the 21st century.

The modern Python carries with it the legacy of the aristocratic revolver, whose name has become a household word.  

Now, with the new model in production for half a decade, we had to take a trip to New England to see how today’s Python is born.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Pythons in the News

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Colt brought back the “fighting Python” in the 3-inch format last year, but only recently started shipping it

Besides the new 3-inch Colt Python quietly released in late 2022 by the now-CZ-owned gunmaker ($1499 MSRP, available in stainless only) but finally shipping this month, Lipsey’s also has a very upscale version that features premier-grade engravings by Tyler Gun Works and elkhorn stag grips. The ask on the TGW model is $2,400.

I saw the TGW Combat Python at SHOT and it is a looker for sure.

In other Python news, Uwe and the gang over at Royal Tiger Imports have lucked into a small batch of early-model Colt snake guns as part of their sweeping warehouse buys in Ethiopia. Apparently, some of Emperor Haile Selassie’s royal guards’s commanders liked to carry them for special occasions.

Of course, old Haile was deposed more than 50 years ago and these things have been stored in pretty bad conditions. (RTI)

Still, that hasn’t stopped RTI from getting some outrageous prices for these Horn of Africa Pythons and Serial No. 10 just went for a downright bonkers $40K on Gunbroker (after an already bananas starting bid of $4,999) even though it looks to have been re-barreled or at least partially reblued at some point, is in incredibly beat up condition, and now carries an import mark.

Wow.

On Deck for 2022: Colt Combat Pythons and S&W Firestorms

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Although they haven’t “officially” announced them, both Colt and Smith & Wesson seem to have new handguns inbound for this year that mines at the tried-and-true vein of gun culture nostalgia.

Smith’s new CSX (Chief’s Special X?), a single-action-only subcompact 9mm that is hammer-fired, has an alloy frame, and a 10+1 or 12+1 magazine capacity, could be a hit with folks that don’t want polymer striker-fired micro 9s and are more familiar with carry-friendly M1911s such as the Colt New Detective or Sig Sauer P938.

The S&W CSX

It also, in my opinion, looks a lot like the old Star Firestar M43, although with a larger magazine capacity.

The Star Firestar was made from 1992-97, and would probably still be in production if the Spanish gunmaker was around as these were well-received little guns

Then there is the Colt Python with a 3-inch barrel.

While Colt produced the original Python in several barrel lengths between 1955 and 1994, including 2.5-inch snubs and commanding 8-inch Python Hunter, Python Silhouette, and Python Stalker models, the big I-frame snake gun rarely came with a factory 3-inch barrel. This was reserved for a short run of “California Combat” guns and a batch of 500 “Combat Pythons” made in 1988 for Lew Horton complete with a special “K” prefix serial number.

This circa 1974 Colt Python with a factory 2.5-inch snub-nosed barrel is sweet, but folks just went ga-ga for the 3-inch version, and Colt could do well to put such a thing back in production

The rebooted Pythons, introduced in 2020, including both a 4.25- and 6-inch model, with nothing shorter. With all that being said, the new 3-incher could prove both a hit with collectors as well as providing a more “carry friendly” Python for a new generation of wheel gun aficionados.

Either way, SHOT Show doesn’t start for another two weeks, so get ready for much more new gun news…I got my bags packed.

Sure, sure, but do you know of the Colt BOA?

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The Colt BOA was only made in limited numbers for a single year, then sold through a single distributor, making it probably the most elusive and desirable of the company’s double-action revolvers.

Between 1950 and 2003, Colt delivered to wheel gun aficionados a series of seven now-classic “snake” guns: Cobra, Python, Diamondback, Viper, BOA, King Cobra, and Anaconda. Some of these were more popular and widespread, such as the Diamondback which was made in both .22LR and .38 Special, while some were less frequently encountered, such as the Anaconda which was made in .44 Mag and .45 Colt. For seekers of the seven serpents, however, a couple of these guns are almost impossible to find: the Viper, which was just a regular catalog item for Colt in 1977, and the BOA, which is even rarer.

In fact, for many Colt fans, it is kind of a holy grail.

More in my column at Guns.com, where I checked out BOA #513.

Python Shorty

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While most of Colt’s world-famous Python .357 Magnum models were service-sized and longer, some more abbreviated variants were made.

First introduced to Colt’s 1955 catalog for a price of $125 and pitched as “a finer gun than you actually need” to “a limited number of gun connoisseurs,” the big double-action revolvers were most common with barrel lengths in 6-inch and later 4-inch formats. There were even some big 8-inchers that came along eventually.

Downsizing, Colt produced a few short runs of these vaunted revolvers with a 3-inch barrel known to collectors as “Combat Pythons,” and, off and on between 1955 and 1994, the 2.5-inch model, which still sported full-sized grips.

And they are beautiful.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Workhorse Wheelgun: Colt Trooper

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These days everyone is obsessed with the collectible Colt “snake guns” of the 1950s-80s. You know, the Pythons, Diamondbacks, Anacondas, Cobras and the like.

Well, the thing is, Colt also made a great six-shooter alongside all of those in the same factory and it remained popular enough at the time to see widespread use with not only police but also the consumer market.

The Trooper.

This circa-1965 Colt Trooper is a good example of the I-framed 4-inch .357 Magnum variants offered at the time.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

My thoughts on the New Colt Python

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So Colt brought the Python back from retirement after a 15-year hiatus. The old I-frame was a hand-fitted full-lug .357 with a tight lockup and superb finish.

The classic Python…

The new gun is different.

I handed several models both on the floor at SHOT Show and at the range on media day and I have to admit: the new gun looks like a Python and shoots like a Python but it just isn’t. Arguably, it is better, with modern CNC techniques producing a wheel gun reportedly stronger, more durable and made to tighter tolerances than the Python of old.

Changes that came as part of the reboot included re-designing the internals to trim the number of parts (14 less to be exact), thus streamlining the trigger group, while improvements were made to reinforce the new Python through the use of stronger stainless steel alloys. The results say Colt, is that the upcoming Python has a smooth-as-butter trigger, and is more reliable, easier to maintain, and more robust.

The “semi-bright” stainless finish on the new Colt Python after running hundreds of rounds on Industry Day. Colt tells us they fed the two shooting models on hand Monday over 4,000 rounds with no issues. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

More in my column at Guns.com

Colt Coughs Up an *Updated* Python

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Colt first introduced the full-lug six-shot heavy target style revolver in 1955 as something akin to the Cadillac of wheelguns. The big “I” frame .357 Magnum (although some .38 Special target models were made) was king of the block when it came to wheelguns for generations, which caused prices on used snake guns to skyrocket when the Python was put to pasture in 2005.

Now, after a 15-year hiatus, the Python is back in a 4.25-inch and 6-inch variant.

Importantly, the new Python has a lot of changes, which Colt says gives the revolver a smooth-as-butter trigger, as well as being more reliable, easier to maintain, and more robust.

Well, it sure looks like a stainless Python from the outside, anyway.

More in my column at Guns.com.

P-38 101

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I’ve always had a soft spot for P-38s (the guns, not the can openers, as I find the longer P-51 type a much better form of the latter and don’t even get me into the P-38 Lightning) since I was a kid.

With that, I had the great opportunity recently while in the GDC Vault to find examples made by all three WWII makers– Walther, Spreewerk, and Mauser– as well as some Cold War-era West German Ulm-marked guns.

There you go…

For insights into how to tell them apart and what to look for, check out my column at Guns.com. https://www.guns.com/news/2019/12/04/the-world-of-german-p-38s-walther-mauser-spreewerk-and-otherwise

The Rolls-Royce of Revolvers

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When it hit the market in 1955, the Colt Python was perhaps a high-water mark of sorts when it came to combat wheelguns and to this day was one of the few hand-fitted modern revolvers to be factory produced for the commercial market. Early Colt advertisements characterized the beefy .357 Magnum-caliber six-shooter as, “A finer gun than you actually need,” and its list of standard features set it apart from many of its pencil-barrel contemporaries.

(Photos: Richard Taylor/Guns.com)

Featuring a full underlug with a shrouded ejector rod, ventilated rib barrel, and adjustable sights, Pythons are distinctive and quickly identified at a glance. The first catalog price on the guns was $125 — about three weeks pay at a time when the price of a gallon of gasoline was 23 cents.

Sadly, Colt began trimming back on making the big I-Frame in 1996, switching from standard production of the classic model to the more limited Ultimate Python and Python Elite models. These late models soldiered on for another decade in declining numbers until the vaunted snake gun fell from the company’s catalog altogether after 2006.

However, we had a bunch of them in the warehouse lately at GDC so I put a piece together on them, which led to the usual gratuitous Python spread…

Enjoy!

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