Colt Resurrecting the Python?

[Crazy Dane]

Crazy Dane,

I agree the OEM grips are very attractive but a tad slippery in the hand. I’d find myself readjusting my grip on shot four or five with .38+P, two or three with .357. Caleb was right when he described the shape of the grip rolling the recoil up and driving the gun down into your hand.

Do the presentation grips allow for speedloader use? I just took my Python out for its first range trip wearing the OEM grips and found Safariland Comp-II’s will work with .38s but there’s not enough clearance for .357 casings, they’re a tad too long.

If so and if they’re still available, I’d like to give them a try. PM sent.

Something else I found out today - check the locking screw on your rear sight! I didn’t check mine out of the box, assumed it was tight enough, but it loosened up and my sights drifted left after about 50 rounds.

I get why the OEMs are polished to the level they are but I want to shoot mine not put it on a pedestal to admire. I think 100g sanding then some linseed oil on the front strap and back edges will make them more grippy. I want to try to take a deer this season with it and is why I am grip shopping.

Honestly, I didn't have the presentations on long enough to try speed loaders. I have HKS and they work with OEMs and .357.

I disassembled mine to clean and lube before the first shot and found the same on the lock screw. Make sure you lube the crane pivot well. I have read some instances of the crane locking/binding up and believe it is from galling. Mine was completely dry inside.

Black presentations are gone.

[Wyoming Shooter]

I fondled a new production 4” stainless Python at a gun shop in SLC yesterday. It’s calling my name. Has anyone fitted a fiber optic front sight to a new Python? Thanks very much.

[Wyoming Shooter]

I fondled a new production 4” stainless Python at a gun shop in SLC yesterday. It’s calling my name. Has anyone fitted a fiber optic front sight to a new Python? Thanks very much.

After posting this question, I learned that the new production Python front sights are easily replaced using only a hex wrench. Brownells is a source for replacements: https://www.brownells.com/handgun-pa...rod123397.aspx

Good on Colt!

[Inkwell 41]

After posting this question, I learned that the new production Python front sights are easily replaced using only a hex wrench. Brownells is a source for replacements: https://www.brownells.com/handgun-pa...rod123397.aspx

Good on Colt!

Not yet. They've been out of stock since before I bought my Python in early July. But I think it would be a good addition to the revolver and plan on ordering one. The current red ramp looks good (in a 1970's firearms tech kind of way), but it is very hard for my 59 year old eyes to pick up.

[Inkwell 41]

Update- Mag tech 130 gr lead round nose. Seems warmer than Winchester White box 130 grain ball. Noticed one charge hole consistently failed to let go of the empty case. Is this common, or am I doing something wrong? Hitting the ejector rod pretty hard and it’s consistently sticking. I didn’t have a sharpie with me to mark it so that’ll have to wait until next time.

How do you revolver guys get a consistent grip on these things? I find the stocks shift in my hand with each shot fired. I have some Hogue stocks on order but they are at least a month out.

I remain happy with the Python, and am enjoying this journey.

[03RN]

Update- Mag tech 130 gr lead round nose. Seems warmer than Winchester White box 130 grain ball. Noticed one charge hole consistently failed to let go of the empty case. Is this common, or am I doing something wrong? Hitting the ejector rod pretty hard and it’s consistently sticking. I didn’t have a sharpie with me to mark it so that’ll have to wait until next time.

How do you revolver guys get a consistent grip on these things? I find the stocks shift in my hand with each shot fired. I have some Hogue stocks on order but they are at least a month out.

I remain happy with the Python, and am enjoying this journey.

Grip harder

[jetfire]

Grip harder

The problem is that this isn't really a solution with the Python. I don't think anyone here would question my grip strength with a revolver, but during my 2000 round test of the Python, one of the criticisms I had was that the factory stocks tend to force the gun to roll up and into the hand when you're shooting any kind of spicy load with any attempt at speed. It's actually part of the Python's design; it's a gun that really wants to be shot single action (wide flat hammer spur) and the grip shape helps place the hammer spur under the thumb in recoil, while also preserving some of the SAA's "roll the recoil off" features.

I'd much prefer a grip shape like the Trausch grips on the Manurhin that directs recoil back and helps keep the gun flat.

[revchuck38]

I’ve got wood Hogues on my Official Police 4” gun (same frame) and don’t remember this being an issue. Then again it’s been a couple of years since I’ve shot it.

[Rex G]

The problem is that this isn't really a solution with the Python. I don't think anyone here would question my grip strength with a revolver, but during my 2000 round test of the Python, one of the criticisms I had was that the factory stocks tend to force the gun to roll up and into the hand when you're shooting any kind of spicy load with any attempt at speed. It's actually part of the Python's design; it's a gun that really wants to be shot single action (wide flat hammer spur) and the grip shape helps place the hammer spur under the thumb in recoil, while also preserving some of the SAA's "roll the recoil off" features.

This is how I felt, about my non-shiny Stainless Python, which I owned in the early Nineties, alongside my GP100. Undesirable muzzle rise, compared to a GP100, and seemingly more of a single-action revolver that was capable of being fired DA, rather than truly purpose-built DA. When my GP100 was at the Firearms Examiner, for a couple of weeks, after a line-of-dty shooting, I carried that Python, in the same duty holster. After a while, I sold or traded the Python, and added a pair of K-Frames, that joined what became a trio of duty revolvers. S&W OEM grips are not perfect, either, as I have always had to use aftermarket grips, for shooting magnum ammo, whereas the original-pattern GP100 grips have always seemed ideal, for my hands.

I might have kept that Python, as a “dress-up” gun, had it been blued, instead of matte stainless. Back then, a utiltarian-finished gun had to “work for a living,” to avoid being traded for the next cool thing. Now that I am buying guns, for nostalgia, or just because I like them, I may well buy one of the Twenty-Twenties Pythons.

[Tennessee Jed]

I got the Grippers in and it took all of about 15 seconds of dry fire to break out the Dremel to make the finger grooves go away. My big fingers do not play well with them. The grippers seem skinny in thickness but fill the hand well front to back. I got this set from Numrich as a "used set". There wasn't a blemish on them and they still had the sharp ridge down the backstrap, They feel really good after dehorning. I'll shoot it tomorrow. I still think I will order a set of wood OEMs from Altamont and sand the smooth off of the front and back straps. I have a can of Linseed oil to make them shiny again.

The offer still stands on the Presentations.

I'm interested to hear what you think about shooting the Python with the Grippers. After trying a large number of other grips/stocks, I've settled on Grippers for my S&W n-frames and k-frame. I'd put them on my GP100, too, but they didn't fit at all. They're not much to look at, but made a big difference for the web of my hand when shooting magnum ammo. I'm considering getting a Python, but a question I've had is whether Grippers actually fit it, and how the Python shoots with Grippers.