bought a 1967 Colt Python. was it as good of a deal as I think?

[9.3X62AL]

It's crazy what Colt's snake series go for today. A friend who owned a gun shop back in the 90's had one of the Anacondas in 44 Magnum that came from the factory with the camo finish, camo scope and a Colt bag. He almost couldn't give it away. He offered it to me for $400 but we were poor as church mice back then. I wish I had scrounged up the money somewhere and bought it.

The Colt Anacondas and their late-series Troopers are real sleepers. Simple rugged actions, VERY accurate, and darn near indestructible. I had an Anaconda x 6" for about 18 months spanning a couple deer seasons, and never put sights on fur those years. No fault of the sideiron! That is one revolver I should have kept, but elected to move it after I acquired a blued Redhawk x 5.5". For much of my life it has been very hard to justify owning more than one arm in a given caliber unless they had a work-related application (and thereby enabled a tax write-off).

[Tatume]

Personally, I prefer to have multiple arms, all in the same caliber. I enjoy shooting different guns, but prefer to keep my loading as simple as I can. To each his own.

[hermans]

Good on you for getting it at a fair price. Pythons are great, and they shoot straight!

[smkummer]

Good for you. I have more colts than I’ll ever need so I would buy all day at $1600 and know it’s a easy flip at a gun show.

[flint45]

That was a great deal!

[Patrick L]

I applaud you for doing that. And, you were very honest in telling her that your offer was still less than she could get. I think people appreciate being treated with decency, and it speaks highly of her as well that she rewarded your honesty with accepting your offer. It looks like everyone wins, with the exception of the loser gun store commando, which is as it should be.

Well done sir!

[charlie b]

Pythons were the best OUT OF THE BOX pistols made back when the Colt Custom shop was building them.

But...take a Colt Trooper and have a gunsmith hand fit and hone everything and it will shoot just as well.

Add to that the Python mechanism is 'delicate'. After a lot of fast DA firing it will need some tuning to tighten back up. I have mine done every couple thousand rounds.

And, just ask Miculik about the differences in speed between them. He chose S&W because he was faster with them. Add a good hand tuning/fitting and you can see how his shoot.

These days, if I were serious about shooting targets, I'd get a Smith and have it 'fixed'.

But...you just can't beat the looks of the early Pythons. The combination of the underlug and rib with the Colt blue just made one of the more beautiful pistols made out of a factory. That is kind of a oxymoron since the 'good' ones were custom builds, just custom done by Colt.



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[Soundguy]

For those of us nowhere near a good pistolsmith, a colt python out of the box, as a custom shop gun was a fine shooter, and looker, especially the royal blue.

[jonp]

Good for you. That gun is worth well over $1,000. I hate to see people get taken advantage of and I'd have called that, um, store clerk out right there in front of God And Country. Usually I'm of the Caveat Emptor mindset but taking obvious advantage of someone that has no idea what is going on is unethical and makes my blood boil.

I've got no use for a Python being a SW and Ruger fan (SW for target, Ruger for everything else) but I would have offered $750 and like you told her it was worth more than that. I most likely would have played with it for a bit and then re-sold it using the profit to buy a few Rugers or a SW Model 25. She probably didn't want the hassle and just wanted to sell it for a good price and be done with it.

[winelover]

Six inch Royal Blue Python was my first handgun purchase. IIRC, bought new for @ $370 back in the mid 70's. Still own it but rarely shoot it, anymore. Too many other toys and use bigger calibers for hunting. Shot it a lot back then, mostly J-words with maximum charges of Blue Dot. Always in double action mode. Never went out of tune. V-shape main spring had to be replaced due to fatigue.........was getting a lot of FTF. Since it was my first, I'll never part with it. Never a Smith fan..........only ones I own are J-frames, for their concealability. Terrible triggers, IMO. Even have one from the custom shop and it's only marginally better. Much prefer the ugly LCR over the J frames...........better trigger as well as sights.

Winelover

[sw282]

Had a similar experience a few years at LGS. Guy comes in wanting to sell a SW Model 14. Shop owner would not meet the price and walks out. l pursued guy and told him l would meet his price.. l asked to see his drivers license. We made a receipt and l paid the man... Said he picked up the gun at a yard sale earlier in the day. Upon closer exam the gun is a rare Dash 0ne Model 14... Double Diamond grips are super RARE because they don't have the football cutouts for speed loaders.. Since the LGS is the only one in town l always ask if l might approach a seller after the gunshop owner has refused a deal.. l have been fortunate to get several guns this way over the years.. l have also picked up some jewelry like that too. Wife kinda likes those deals

[anothernewb]

Well, after a lot of deliberation, I did take it to the range. it's a heck of a shooter. I doubt I'll sell it anytime soon. It's one of my more accurate wheel guns. It will probably live out the remainder of my life on a diet of a few hundred rounds of 158 grain lead and 4 grains of 231 a year - and go to one of the kids or grandkids once I am no longer able to hold it.

[JoeJames]

Well, after a lot of deliberation, I did take it to the range. it's a heck of a shooter. I doubt I'll sell it anytime soon. It's one of my more accurate wheel guns. It will probably live out the remainder of my life on a diet of a few hundred rounds of 158 grain lead and 4 grains of 231 a year - and go to one of the kids or grandkids once I am no longer able to hold it.

Just a suggestion; try it with some good factory wad-cutters. I shot the best group I ever shot with factory wad-cutters and a 6" Python off a rest at 25 yards. That was 25 years ago and I still remember it: mickey mouse shaped - head with ears, all holes touching. I traded it off because at that time the East Arkansas Peace Officers Association required 4" or less at their matches. Still regret trading it.

[charlie b]

Mine also shoots well with a lot of rounds. If looking for best accuracy it likes 125gn jacketed at max loads best. 158gn at max load is right behind it.

[Clark]

Gold, guitars, and guns appreciate at ~ 3% compounded annually [background inflation] .

The big exceptions are Mossberg 16 gauge bolt action shotguns appreciate at ~ 1% and Colt snake revolvers appreciate at ~6%.

This 1978 Colt Python cost me $1413 out the door [with sales tax] 3 years ago.

1.06^3years = 1+19% -> it would cost 1.19 x $1413 = $1683 out the door today.

[Lance Boyle]

A friend of mine saw an elderly woman walking towards the Pawn shop as he was walking out. She was holding a pistol so he asked jokingly if she was robbing the place, she asked "do you want to buy this 38? They probably won't give me enough if you want it I'll sell it to you". He asked how much, she said 200?
He replied quickly that he'd take it but needed to find an ATM. She said she'd wait. He came back and told her it was worth a lot more but all he had was $500.
She said we agreed on $200. He said let me buy your dinner for you and your family. They argued; she took $300. Hugged each other.
2nd Generation nickel plated 4-3/4" SAA 38-40 with hard rubber grips.
He let me shoot it once!

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Nice.

I bought my 4” royal blue in a similar fashion. A older fellow was a retired town cop and worked part time in our maintenance group. Really good egg. He said to stop by he wanted to talk to me. He had decided to get rid of his handguns as his kids weren’t interested. He wanted $300 for the python with light holster wear. I had $400 bucks on me and had to push the extra on him. At the time the gun was going for 800-1000. I told him that and that I would give him more than the 400 on me. He said he didn’t care, just wanted me to have it as I appreciated nice guns. As great a guy as he is we didn’t hug. We did have a few beers though.

[charlie b]

Gold, guitars, and guns appreciate at ~ 3% compounded annually [background inflation] .

The big exceptions are Mossberg 16 gauge bolt action shotguns appreciate at ~ 1% and Colt snake revolvers appreciate at ~6%.

This 1978 Colt Python cost me $1413 out the door [with sales tax] 3 years ago.

1.06^3years = 1+19% -> it would cost 1.19 x $1413 = $1683 out the door today.

Except that Python prices rise and fall like the stock market. Several years ago a local gun shop sold a Python for $3000 (kinda like the one that started this thread). Now they are back down to the $2000 (or a bit under) mark.

[Clark]

I bought a 1963 Shooter's Bible when I was 12 years old. It showed a Colt Python at $125.
If I plot that as 6% appreciation at 55 years later, I get a good fit.
That is a monthly appreciation in the chart. Yearly would be $3,081.29

The stock market was flat from 1967 to 1982. As a child I needed a social security number to own stocks. The grown ups did it for me. But buying Shooter's Bible was all on my own.

[winelover]

I doubt you could make a living or retire comfortably, on investments, made on any guns............I bought my Python based on looks and reputation. Been living up to my expectations, ever since.


Winelover

[Soundguy]

If you owned some H&H guns and got them right, originally, you sure could.

Heck.. When turks were 29$ each and 25$ each per palate I wish I would have had the finances to buy a tractor trailer load. Turks are selling for 10x that or more now.

Remember the 5fer mosins? nearly same deal.

If someone had 25 though back then to buy them up.. They did better than the stock market.
Remember when Japanese rifles were 5$? you could see them in barrels in hardware stores.
Farther back, 45-70's were cheap too.