Colt Python

The Colt Python is a double action handgun chambered for the .357 Magnum cartridge, built on Colt's large I-frame. Pythons have a reputation for accuracy, smooth trigger pull, and a tight cylinder lock-up.[2] They are similar in size and function to the Colt Trooper and Colt Lawman revolvers.[8]

The Colt Python was first introduced in 1955 as Colt's top-of-the-line model and was originally intended to be a large-frame .38 Special target revolver.[3] As a result, it features precision adjustable sights, a smooth trigger, solid construction, and extra metal. Pythons have a distinct appearance due to a full barrel underlug, ventilated rib and adjustable sights.[3] Colt originally manufactured Pythons with hollow underlugs but left them solid to work as a stabilizing barrel weight. When the revolver is at full cock, just as the trigger is pressed, the cylinder locks up for the duration of the hammer strike. Other revolvers have a hint of looseness even at full-cock. The gap between the cylinder and forcing cone is very tight, further aiding accuracy and velocity.[2] From the 1970s each Python revolver was boresighted at the factory with a laser; the first mass-produced revolver for which this was done.[3]

Production return

Colt Python, 2020 production

The Colt Python was officially re-released by Colt in January 2020, following months of circulating rumors. The new Python is built out of stronger stainless steel than the originals and is available with a 3 in (7.6 cm), 4.25 in (10.8 cm) or 6 in (15 cm) barrel. All new production Pythons are shipped with Altamont wood grips.[11]

Colt Python rollmark on the barrel

Colt Python Target, 8-inch barrel .38 Special

The Colt Python featured a fully adjustable white-outline Accro rear sight and a 1/8-inch front ramp with red inset. A wide spur, checkered hammer and grooved, curved trigger. Initially only a blued finish was offered, it was the first time Colt produced the Royal Blue finish. Soon after the introduction, a nickel finish was added, and together with Royal Blue, these were the two factory finishes. Initially made only with a 6-inch barrel, a compact 4-inch came afterward. Between 1955 and 1994, a downsized 2.5-inch barrel version was introduced which still sported full-sized grips. Colt also produced a few short runs of vaunted revolvers with a 3-inch barrel known to collectors as "Combat Pythons."[12][13]

In 1980, an 8-inch barrel Python was introduced chambered for the .38 Special. The Colt Python Target .38 Special was made in Royal Blue and only 251 Colt Python Targets were given the nickel finish. Also the Colt Python Hunter was unveiled, which was the 8-inch Python with Pachmayr grips, factory-mounted 2X Leupold scope on the barrel with Redfield mounts, and packaged in a Haliburton case that included a Colt-marked plastic ammunition box, wood handle cleaning rod and tool kit. The Colt Python Hunter was the first field-ready handgun hunting package made by a major handgun manufacturer. It was discontinued by 1990 and briefly offered as a Colt Custom Shop model afterward.[14]

In 1981, Coltguard, a proprietary electroless weather-resistant plating, was also made available. The stainless Python was reintroduced in 1984, followed in 1985 by the super-polished stainless Ultimate Python, which was fitted with an Elliason target front sight. In 1988 only 200 Colt Python Stalker were produced in stainless steel. It has an 8-inch vented ribbed barrel, a smooth non-fluted cylinder, a Leupold M8-2x Extended E.R. scope, and rubber grips with the Colt Medallion. A small number of Pythons were gold and silver plated for various commemoratives and special orders throughout the years.[15]

In 1982 the popularity of the 8-inch Python was evident. The Colt Python Silhouette came with a rib-mounted Leupold scope and Pachmayr grips, and housed in a black fitted-case with nickel trim. There was also an 8-inch Ten Pointer Series with a 3X Burris scope, wooden grips, an extra set of neoprene composition grips and a carrying case.[16]

In 1997 manufacture of the Python was switched from the main assembly line to the Colt Custom Shop, and the gun was offered in both highly polished and matte stainless steel and renamed the Colt Python Elite. It remained in limited production, off and on, until 2004.[17]

In 2020, Colt reintroduced the Python in 4.25 and 6-inch barrels, followed by a 3-inch version in 2022.[11] The reintroduced Python has been technically revised and reinforced compared to the original revolver.[18] Of the first issues, the 6-inch is generally the most common, the 8-inch was intended for hunting, the 4-inch was preferred by plain-clothes police, the 2.5-inch and 3-inch were limited and have become rare.[19]

Two Colt revolver variants using Python barrels but not Python frames or internals were made in small numbers by Colt. The first was the Colt Boa of 1985, a limited production .357 Magnum revolver, made for the Lew Horton Distributing Company in Massachusetts. It uses a Python barrel mated to a Trooper Mk V frame. Six-hundred 6-inch revolvers and six-hundred 4-inch revolvers were made, of which one-hundred were matched sets. Though it resembles a Python visually, it is substantially different internally. The second was the stainless steel Colt Grizzly of 1994, another limited-production .357 Magnum revolver. It uses a Python barrel mated to a Colt King Cobra frame. Five hundred of these revolvers were manufactured, with six-inch Magna-ported barrels and smooth, unfluted cylinders. The ported barrel includes a bear footprint. Similar to the Grizzly was the Colt Kodiak, which was a Colt Anaconda with a Magna-ported barrel and an unfluted cylinder. Approximately 2000 Kodiaks were manufactured.[8] All original Colt Pythons use the original Colt E/I frame type mechanics with a leaf hammer spring design in common with earlier Colt models, including the postwar Colt .357 Magnum model and the pre-war Colt Official Police and Army Special models. As described above, the Boa and Grizzly are structurally part of the Mk.III/Mk.V revolver product lines which use the much later J and V designated frames. While these various hybrids are very collectible due to low production quantities, because they are a completely different revolver action based upon the later coil-mainspring Colt products, they may not be considered Pythons.

According to Colt historian, R. L. Wilson, Colt Pythons have been collected by Elvis Presley and various kings in the traditional sense: "H.M. (His Majesty) Hussein I of Jordan ordered a limited number of Pythons with 4-inch and 6-inch barrels, as gifts to his selected friends. Casing and barrel were embossed with His Majesty's crest. The Python for King Juan Carlos of Spain bore his name in flush gold on the sideplate. Among other celebrated recipients: King Khalid and Prince Fahd (Saudi Arabia), King Hassan (Morocco), Sheik Zayed (United Arab Emirates), President Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and President Hafez Assad (Syria)."[4]

Colt Pythons with 8-inch and 6-inch barrels and royal blue finish

The Python immediately made inroads into the law enforcement market when introduced, with the 6-inch barrel being popular with uniformed officers and the 4-inch barrel considered optimal for plainclothes use.[3] However, it has since fallen out of common use (along with all other revolvers) due to changing law enforcement needs that favor semi-automatic pistols. When law-enforcement agencies realized that the 9 mm semi-automatic pistols fire a round with similar characteristics to the .38 Special with higher capacity, they began a migration to these, and other, semi-automatic pistol cartridges.[20][21] The move away from the Python is also being driven by the increasing number of law enforcement agencies which require officers to carry department-issue weapons (as a way to reduce liability).

The Colorado State Patrol issued 4-inch blue Pythons until their switch to the S&W .40 caliber autoloader.[22] Georgia State Patrol and Florida Highway Patrol issued Pythons to their officers.[22]

A Python, loaded with .357 Magnum semiwadcutter bullets, was used to murder Irish crime reporter Veronica Guerin in 1996, an act which resulted in the creation of the Criminal Assets Bureau.[23][24]

Colt's Python revolvers are still popular on the used market and command high prices.[25]

Colt Python with open cylinder.

Official Colt historian R.L. Wilson described the Colt Python as "the Rolls-Royce of Colt revolvers",[4] and firearms historian Ian V. Hogg referred to it as the "best revolver in the world".[7] However, the revolver is not without its detractors. Some view a downside to the Colt Python's precision as a tendency to go "out of time" with continued heavy shooting.[26] Mis-timing on a revolver is a condition in which the hand does not move each and every cylinder chamber to the exact correct rotation with respect to the forcing cone, so a shooter (or more likely someone nearby at right angles to the barrel) may notice some spray from burning propellant when the gun is fired, or—only in an extreme case—the gun may not fire when used as a double-action. However some gas leakage escapes from the cylinder to barrel gap on most revolvers and this normal phenomenon should not be confused with an out-of-time action. Furthermore, any revolver used for many thousands of rounds may eventually require the same timing adjustments. In any case the first and most common symptom of typical timing issues will be only a slight loss of accuracy, which on a Python may not even be noticeable to many shooters.

It is also useful to note that with the re-introduction of the new 21st-century Colt Python version, whenever examining criticisms of a Colt Python it is necessary to first determine whether the inquiry is in regards to an original Python model (1955 to c. 2003) or the new re-designed Python. This is for many reasons including the fact that a period approaching twenty years passed between the final high-volume manufacture of the last original Pythons and the redesign and introduction of the new Python.

Author Martin Dougherty notes the weight of the Python as a drawback, as it is quite heavy for a handgun of its caliber, ranging from 2.4 lbs (1.1 kg) to 2.6 lbs (1.2 kg). This makes the Python comparable to Smith & Wesson's premier .357, the M27, which weighs 2.6 lb (1.2 kg) with a 4-inch (10 cm) barrel. Both revolvers are 6 to 9 ounces (170 to 260 g) lighter than Smith and Wesson's more powerful M29 .44 Magnum, which weighs 3.0 lb (1.4 kg) in 6+1⁄2-inch (17 cm) barrel configuration.[1]

• Colt Diamondback
• Table of handgun and rifle cartridges

• Ayoob, Massad F. (1977). "The Mighty Colt Python" (PDF). American Handgunner. pp. 36–49. Retrieved April 2, 2020.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Colt Python (category)

• The Colt Revolver in the American West—Python Model Revolver Pair
• The Colt Revolver in the American West—Cased Python Hunter Model Revolver
• Official Safety and Instruction Manual (.PDF)
• Colt Python Serial Numbers
• Ballistics by the Inch tests including the Colt Python