Colt Python .357 Metal Co2 Airsoft Revolver

Revolver

Colt Python
Colt Python with six-inch (15 cm) butt and nickel finish, the upper view featuring a cocked hammer and the lesser one with hammer downward
Type	Revolver
Identify of origin	U.s.a.
Production history
Manufacturer	Filly's Manufacturing Company
Produced	1955–2005 2020–present
Variants	2.5-inch (6.4 cm), 3-inch (seven.vi cm), 4-inch (ten cm), 6-inch (xv cm) and 8-inch (20 cm) barrel
Specifications
Mass	38 ounces (1.1 kg) to 48 ounces (1.four kg)

Cartridge	.357 Magnum
Action	Double-action
Maximum firing range	200+ yards
Feed system	Six-round cylinder
Sights	Rear adj.; front end ramp

The Colt Python is a .357 Magnum caliber revolver manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut.^[1] It was offset introduced in 1955, the same year as Smith & Wesson'south M29 .44 Magnum. The Filly Python is intended for the premium revolver marketplace segment. Some firearm collectors and writers such as Jeff Cooper, Ian V. Hogg, Chuck Hawks, Leroy Thompson, Scott Wolber, Renee Smeets and Martin Dougherty have described the Python as "the finest product revolver ever made".^[1] ^[ii] ^[3] ^[4] ^[five] ^[vi] ^[7]

In 2020, Colt reintroduced the Python in a 4.25″ and a 6″ barrel configuration, followed by a 3" barrel version in 2022.^[8] The reintroduced Python has been technically revised and reinforced compared to the original revolver.^[9]

Description [edit]

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 part to the Colt Trooper and Colt Lawman revolvers.^[10]

History [edit]

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 outcome, information technology features precision adaptable sights, a smooth trigger, solid construction, and extra metal. Pythons have a distinct appearance due to a total 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 erect, merely 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 total-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 light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation; the first mass-produced revolver for which this was done.^[iii]

End of production [edit]

In October 1999, Colt announced that it would stop production of Python revolvers. In a 2000 follow-upwardly letter to distributors, the company cited changing market conditions and the costs of defending lawsuits as the reasons to discontinue the Python line, besides as a number of other models.^[11] The Colt Custom Gun Shop continued making a limited number of Pythons on special order until 2005, when this express production ceased.^[2] ^[12]

Production render [edit]

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 iii", 4.25" or six" barrel. All new production Pythons are shipped with Altamont forest grips.^[eight]

Models and variants [edit]

Colt Python rollmark on the barrel

Colt Python Target, 8-inch barrel .38 Special

The original Python was initially available in carbon steel with two finishes, a deep blue, designated equally Imperial Blue; and a standard loftier polish nickel designated as Nickel. A 3rd finish, Colt'due south Electroless Nickel (also designated on some Python boxes as Royal Coltguard ) was added afterward in production. The Royal Coltguard electroless nickel finish was a satin nickel terminate process intended to exist a durable, more than weather resistant finish compared to the others. This introduction was as well partly a response to the fact that Filly at that fourth dimension lacked a stainless steel version of the Python. Later the 2d textile type (stainless steel) was added with the addition of stainless steel models in the 1980s. The bright nickel model and the electroless nickel Royal Coltguard versions were eventually discontinued after the introduction of the satin stainless and mirror-polished Ultimate Stainless models.^[ii] The stainless steel and Majestic Blue finishes were offered until 2003 by Colt on the Python "Elite" model.^[ten]

Pythons were bachelor with ii.five-inch (6.4 cm), 3-inch (7.half dozen cm), 4-inch (10 cm), vi-inch (fifteen cm) and 8-inch (xx cm) barrels.^[two] The vi-inch model was the nigh popular generally, and the eight-inch model was intended for hunting. A three-inch barrel version is very collectible and much less mutual than the other barrel lengths.

The Python Hunter model, with eight-inch barrel and factory-installed 2X Leupold scope, was made in 1980.^[xiii] The Python Hunter was the first field-set handgun hunting package made by a major handgun manufacturer.^[13] The telescopic was mounted on the barrel using Redfield mounts and the gun was packaged in a Haliburton case.^[13] The case also included a Colt-marked plastic ammunition box, a wood handle cleaning rod and other minor items. It was discontinued by 1990 and briefly offered every bit a "Custom Store" model afterward.^[13] A Python Target model was made for several years in .38 Special only, in blueish and nickel finishes.^[ten] Another afterwards cased version 8-inch Python like to the Python Hunter was the Python Silhouette, supplied in a black fitted case (non a Halliburton) with rib-mounted scope setup similar just not identical to the Hunter model.

Two Colt revolver variants using Python barrels merely not Python frames or internals were made in pocket-sized numbers by Colt. The showtime was the Filly 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 600 four-inch revolvers were made, of which 100 were matched sets. Though it resembles a Python visually, it is essentially different internally. The second was the stainless steel Colt Grizzly of 1994, another limited-production .357 Magnum revolver. Information technology uses a Python butt 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. Like to the Grizzly was the Filly Kodiak, which was a Filly Anaconda with a Magna-ported barrel and an unfluted cylinder. Approximately 2000 Kodiaks were manufactured.^[10] 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-state of war Filly Official Police and Army Special models. Equally described above, the Boa and Grizzly are structurally role of the Mk.III/Mk.Five revolver product lines which utilise the much afterward J and 5 designated frames. While these diverse hybrids are very collectible due to low production quantities, because they are a completely different revolver action based upon the after coil-mainspring Colt products, they may not exist considered Pythons.

According to Filly historian, R. L. Wilson, Colt Pythons accept been collected by Elvis Presley and various kings in the traditional sense: "H.M. (His Majesty) Hussein I of Hashemite kingdom of jordan ordered a express 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 Espana bore his proper noun in flush aureate on the sideplate. Amongst other celebrated recipients: Male monarch Khalid and Prince Fahd (Saudi Arabia), Rex Hassan (Morocco), Sheik Zayed (United Arab Emirates), President Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and President Hafez Assad (Syria)."^[iv]

Usage [edit]

Filly Pythons with 8-inch and 6-inch barrels and majestic blue stop

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 optimum for plainclothes apply.^[three] Nevertheless, it has since fallen out of common use (along with all other revolvers) due to changing constabulary enforcement needs that favor semi-automated pistols. When constabulary-enforcement agencies realized that the 9 mm semi-automatic pistols fire a circular with like characteristics to the .38 Special with higher capacity, they began a migration to these, and other, semi-automatic pistol cartridges.^[14] ^[xv] The movement away from the Python is also being driven past the increasing number of constabulary enforcement agencies which require officers to bear section-issue weapons (equally a way to reduce liability).

The Colorado State Patrol issued iv-inch blue Pythons until their switch to the South&W .40 quotient autoloader.^[16] Georgia State Patrol and Florida Highway Patrol issued Pythons to their officers.^[sixteen]

A Python, loaded with .357 Magnum semiwadcutter bullets, was used to murder Irish criminal offence reporter Veronica Guerin in 1996, an act which resulted in the creation of the Criminal Assets Bureau.^[17] ^[18]

Colt'south Python revolvers are yet popular on the used market and control high prices.^[19]

Criticisms [edit]

Colt Python with open cylinder.

Official Filly historian R.50. Wilson described the Colt Python equally "the Rolls-Royce of Colt revolvers",^[4] and firearms historian Ian 5. Hogg referred to it as the "best revolver in the earth".^[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 fourth dimension" with connected heavy shooting.^[20] 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 detect some spray from burning propellant when the gun is fired, or - only in an extreme case - the gun may non fire when used as a double-activeness. However some gas leakage escapes from the cylinder to barrel gap on all revolvers and this normal phenomenon should not be confused with an out-of-fourth dimension activity. Furthermore, any revolver used for many thousands of rounds may eventually crave the same timing adjustments. In any case the first and well-nigh common symptom of typical timing problems will exist only a slight loss of accuracy, which on a Python may non 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 commencement make up one's mind 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 xx years passed betwixt the terminal high-volume industry of the last original Pythons and the redesign and introduction of the new Python.

Author Martin Dougherty notes the weight of the Python equally a drawback, equally information technology is quite heavy for a handgun of its caliber, ranging from 2.4 lbs (1.1 kg) to 2.vi lbs (1.2 kg). This makes the Python comparable to Smith & Wesson's premier .357, the M27, which weighs 2.6 lbs (42 ounces) with a four-inch barrel. Both revolvers are six to 9 ounces lighter than Smith and Wesson's more powerful M29 .44 Magnum, which weighs 3.0 lbs in 6½-inch barrel configuration (one.36 kg).^[1]

See likewise [edit]

Colt Diamondback
Tabular array of handgun and rifle cartridges

References [edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c Dougherty, Martin Small-scale Artillery: From the Civil State of war to the Present Day, New York Metropolis: Fall River Press, 2005, page 48. ISBN 978-0-7607-6329-2
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^east ^f The Filly Python .357 Magnum Revolver by Chuck Hawks at chuckhawks.com accessed April 27, 2009
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^eastward Thompson, Leroy; Rene Smeets (October 1, 1993). Peachy Combat Handguns: A Guide to Using, Collecting and Training With Handguns. London: Arms & Armour Publication. p. 256. ISBN978-1-85409-168-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wilson, R.Fifty., The Colt Heritage, New York City: Simon & Schuster, 1987, P. 272.
^ Wilson, R.L., Colt: An American Fable, New York Metropolis: Abbeville Press, 1985, p. 272.
^ Cooper, Jeff, Cooper on Handguns, Los Angeles, Petersen Publishing Co., 1974, p. 189.
^ ^a ^b Hogg, Ian V. (1994). Armed forces Minor Artillery: 300 Years of Soldiers' Firearms, Salamander Publishing
^ ^a ^b "Information technology's back: Python 2020"
^ "New for 2020: The Upgraded Filly Python"
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Tarr, James (Nov eighteen, 2013). Standard Catalog of Colt Firearms. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. pp. 120–121. ISBN978-1-4402-3747-8.
^ For several years before that, nevertheless, the mighty Python's days were numbered, and some collectors believe the sterling quality of these guns were not the aforementioned during the "strike years," which began on January 24, 1986, when more than one,000 workers struck the Colt Firearms division of Filly Industries and Colt hired replacement workers. Update from Colt'southward Manufacturing Company, Inc. Archived Feb 20, 2007, at the Wayback Automobile
^ The New York Times, Oct 22, 1986, "After 8 Months, U.A.W. Sees Shift in Colt Strike."
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Metcalf, Dick (1994). "Top 10 Hunt Guns". HandGunning. PJS Publications. 8 (5): 52–58.
^ Bailey, William Thou (1995). The Encyclopedia of Law Science. Taylor & Francis. p. 309. ISBN0-8153-1331-4.
^ New York City Police to Supervene upon Revolvers With Semiautomatics The New York Times, By CRAIG WOLFF, Sabbatum, August 21, 1993, Accessed Apr 27, 2009.
^ ^a ^b Ayoob, Massad(2003)The Filly Python, The Accurate Rifle Magazine, November 2003
^ Corcoran, Jody (March two, 2014). "Veronica led virtual ane-adult female crusade to bring down gangs". Independent.ie . Retrieved December 23, 2014.
^ Cusack, Jim (October 13, 2013). "Gilligan returns, now but a lilliputian effigy in a very inverse mural". Independent.ie. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
^ Fjestad, Southward.P. (August xviii, 2015). "Colt'due south Snake Guns". American Rifleman.
^ Rich Grassi (May 2005). "C&S Python .357MAG". Combat Handguns . Retrieved April 27, 2009.

Farther reading [edit]

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

External links [edit]

The Filly 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 Transmission (.pdf)
Filly Python Serial Numbers
Ballistics By The Inch tests including the Colt Python.