Differences between King cobra & Python

[Art]

Smith & Wesson giving LEO's major price breaks on duty & off duty pistols helped a bunch too............ when everyone saw near 90% of police officers with S&W...... it helped drive civilian sales too..... Colt didn't care. they had the M16 contract with the military & for the most part Colt just didn't care about any other models selling..........

Probably the last really serious attempt by Colt to compete in the LEO revolver market were the later Troopers (Mk III) and Detective Specials produced in the late 1960s - early 1970s. They were very nice guns but the Smiths were cheaper and more durable, heavy on the cheaper. I worked with a couple of guys who had the later D.S. as personally owned duty guns and they were beautiful guns with very smooth actions, but even the guys who bought their own were buying Chiefs at the rate of at least 3-1 over the Colts. The Border Patrol bought a bunch of Troopers at one time but the Patrol after a brief flirtation with the Troopers went back to Model 19s and eventually on to their last issue revolver, Ruger .357s. The Rugers were great duty revolvers, robust, reliable and accurate, though their actions felt a bit funky to someone who cut their teeth on Smiths and Colts, but by the time the old INS adopted them for the Patrol and Special Agents the day of the revolver as a law enforcement tool was nearly over, they were obsolescent almost from the day they were introduced. But since the Border Patrol back then was said to have "50 years of tradition uninterrupted by progress" they kept wheel guns much longer than other agencies, hanging onto them as issue weapons well into the 90s.

[da gimp]

I still carry a Colt Agt. parkerized snub day to day... with a good lil S&W 36 blued snub as a back-up reload gun........... the agt is a direct descent of the Colt DS & then the Cobra.............but with the aluminum frame... it restricts 90% or better loads to be 750fps LWC's ...... with heavy carry loads practiced with sparingly......but the good little Chief's Spec gets the same diet......... On these lil snubs. it's far easier to draw a second pistol, than it is to reload.........

as an aside I'd bought it for my late mother in law after she opened an antique shop & started doing the bigger shows............ she'd always been anti-gun until her first grandkid was born...... ours.. then when she started to complain about my carry pieces & her middle son..... Ranger/Delta / 5thSF... I asked her how she was ever going to protect the baby if the need ever arised......... 2 days later she was up at the farm.... learning to shoot pistols, revolvers, pump 20 ga's & CAR 15 .223's............. & became quite adept.......... it turned out that her dad.... a WWI vet had taught her the basics back in the 1930's. but my point is this... if you can trigger that wonderful protective mother instinct.. we've got another pro-gun lady.. who will in turn help us convert more.

[PhillipM]

I wouldn't call them weak or delicate. Let Grant Cunningham explain: http://www.grantcunningham.com/blog_..._delicate.html

There is an assertion that comes up with surprising frequency, particularly in the internet age where everyone is an expert: the Colt Python (and all other Colt revolvers) are "delicate", "go out of time easily", or "not as strong/durable as a S&W."

Let's start with the construction: a Colt revolver, for any given frame size, is as strong as any gun with that frame size. Their metallurgy is absolutely the best, and their forged construction is of superior quality. They are superbly made, and their longevity is a testimony to that fact. You are never compromising when you choose a Colt!

How about the charge of "delicate" or "goes out of time easily"? In my work, I see a lot of Colts; I shoot them extensively myself. With proper maintenance, I've seen no tendency for any Colt to go out of time. Yet, the rumors persist!

Why do such opinions exist if there wasn't some basis to them? Is there some amount of truth? I think I can answer that!

Let's start with some facts: Colt revolvers have actions which are very refined. Their operating surfaces are very small, and are precisely adjusted to make the guns work properly. Setting them up properly is not a job for someone who isn't intimately familiar with their workings, and the gunsmith who works on them had better be accustomed to working at narrow tolerances, on small parts, under magnification.

Colt's design and construction is unique; it uses the hand (the "pawl" which rotates the cylinder) and the bolt (the stop at the bottom of the frame opening) to hold the cylinder perfectly still when the gun fires. The action is designed so that the hand - which is the easiest part to replace - will take the majority of the wear, and is expected to be changed when wear exceeds a specific point.

This is considered normal maintenance in a Colt revolver, which is not the case with any other brand. To get their famous "bank vault" cylinder locking and attendant accuracy, you have to accept a certain amount of maintenance; it goes with ownership of such a fine instrument.

I've often made the statement that a Colt is like a Ferrari; to get the gilt-edged performance, you have to accept that they will require more maintenance than a Ford pickup. Unlike gun owners, however, folks who own Italy's finest don't complain that they are more "delicate" than an F-150!

I truly think that the negative reputation that Colts have in some quarters is because their owners - unschooled in the uniqueness of the Colt action - apply the same standards of condition that they would to their more pedestrian S&W guns.

What standards? A Colt, when the trigger is pulled and held back, should have absolutely no cylinder rotation. None, zip, zilch - absolutely no movement at all! Not a little, not a bit, not a smidgen - zero movement. A S&W, on the other hand, normally has a bit of rotational play - which is considered absolutely normal and fine.

There's another measurement to consider: at rest, a Colt cylinder should move front-to-back no more than .003" (that's 3/1,000 of an inch.) This is - in the absolute worst case - about half of the allowable S&W movement!

Now, let's say a S&W owner, used to their looser standards of cylinder lockup, buys a Colt. He goes and shoots it a bit, and the hand (which probably has a bit of wear already, as he bought it used) is approaching the normal replacement interval. He checks his gun, and finds that the cylinder has just the slightest amount of movement when the trigger is back, and half of his S&W's longitudinal travel. Heck, he thinks, it's still a lot tighter than his Smith so it must be fine to keep shooting it.

WRONG! It's at this point that he should stop shooting, and take it to an experienced Colt gunsmith to have the action adjusted. Of course, he doesn't do this - he keeps shooting. The cylinder beats harder against the frame, compresses the ratchet (ejector), causing the hand to wear even faster, and the combination of the two leads to a worn bolt. If left unchecked, the worn bolt can do damage to the rebound lever. When it finally starts spitting lead and misfiring, he takes it in and finds to his astonishment that he's facing a $400 (or more!) repair bill, and perhaps a 6 month wait to find a new ratchet.

Of course, he'll now fire up his computer and declare to anyone who will listen that Colts are "delicate" and "go out of time easily" and are "hard to get parts for." That, folks, appears to be the true origin of these fallacies.

Colts do require more routine maintenance, and a more involved owner; that's a fact. But, as long as the maintenance is performed properly, a Colt will happily digest thousands upon thousands of rounds without complaint. The owners who take care of them will be rewarded with a gun that is a delight to shoot, wonderfully accurate, and visually unmatched. Those who don't will sell them off at a loss and complain on the internet.

I sincerely hope that you will choose to be the first type of Colt owner. If, however, you are the second, please drop me a note - I'm always in the market for Colt revolvers at fire-sale prices!

[Tuna]

Phillip, I have over 30K rounds through my S&W 686 of which 5K are .357 Magnums. The trigger pull is like glass and even better then a Python. It just kept getting smoother with shooting. My total maintenance on my 686? ZERO!!!!!! I do have a friend who has a 4" Python. It just sits in his safe. Maintenance on the Python requires a smith to hand fit the part to it which I must assume is not a cheap thing to have done as I have not yet found what I would call a good smith at cheap prices. Yes S&W revolvers have more play in them to start with but they are like comparing an AR to an AK The S&W is like the AK. You know it's going to work when you pull the trigger.

[PhillipM]

I have a 586 I don't ever plan to get rid of, too, Tuna! It does it's job well!

[Johnny P]

At one time the Colt Pythons were beautifully finished revolvers, but when Colt threw out the wood and leather polishing wheels the Python finish took a severe downturn. I have a Colt Python that I bought new in 1977, and it shows all the characteristics of being polished with a cloth buffing wheel. While the cloth buffing wheel is faster and much easier to master than the wood wheels used previously, it also gives the Python the gun shop reblued look. The fibers of the cloth buffing wheel run down in the stampings and wash out the sides of the as the piece is moved over the wheel.

You can look at the displaced metal and see which was the barrel was moved over the buffing wheel.

[Iceman66]

When I started in LE in 1969, virtually all officers had to purchase their own duty weapons. I was just out of the USMC and had no experience with wheel guns, but knew I wanted a Colt. .38spl or .357mag were our only caliber choices. I went to a gunshop and looked at both a 4" Python and a 4" Diamondback. Having little money, I opted for the .38 Diamondback. I carried it for for approximately two years and learned a lot about revolvers and calibers, most importantly that the .38spl was severely underpowered compared to the .357mag. In 1971-72 I had the opportunity to buy a very slightly used 6" Python from a private party. I jumped on the deal when my Lt. offered to front me the $. In 1974 I found myself assigned to my first tour as a detective and knew the 6" Python was impossible to carry under a suit coat. I still didn't have a lot of money as cops still weren't paid very well in those days, but I didn't want to carry a different weapon other than the Python. I made some sacrifices and purchased a new 2.5" Python from a local dealer who had one on hand.

It was around 1975 that handguns were recognized as essential uniform parts - court decisions - and departments started providing handguns to officers as an alternative to personally purchased duty weapons. My department bought 4" S&W Mdl. 19 .357mag. I checked one out and returned it two days later. I carried my Pythons another 10 years before automatics were finally authorized and I purchased a H&K P7 M13 directly from H&K on a departmental personal purchase arrangement. By this time the Mdl 19s had all failed and been returned to S&W for the new L frame Mdl 686 which could handle the steady diet of 357Mag ammunition. In the early 1990's the department adopted their first auto pistol made by Glock. As a grandfathered employee I was allowed to continue to carry my personal handguns, which I did until my retirement.

Circa 1984, I took my Pythons out of daily service. I sent my 6" back to Colt for a complete factory inspection and upgrade, including a fresh polishing, new Colt Royal Blue finish, installation of a red insert front sight and white outline rear sight and a pair of Colt custom wood stocks. It has never been fired since it was returned to me. My 2.5" shows a lot of holster wear from the spring retention Bianchi shoulder holster that it was carried in during my years in the detective division.

I never had a problem with either of my Colt Python revolvers. They were carried daily and banged around in wrestling matches with bad guys and, while I took care of them, they were not handled with kidd gloves. I treated them as tools that were needed to protect my life and the lives of the citizens I was sworn to protect. So my experience tends to dispute some of the negatives alleged about the Colt Python. It was, IMO, the finest example of American gunsmithing and will always remain so.