What is wrong with Colt?

[dvc4you]

I don't know much about revolvers, I have shot 1911s or glocks in IPSC, but I always liked the looks of the Colt Python.

I went to Colt's website and realized they only sell single action revovers??? 

Compared to the lineup of models that other companies like S&W, Ruger or Taurus have it seems very odd.

What is wrong with Colt?

[tekoken]

They seem to care about the military side of things these days....at least on their websites. You can find a Colt Python pretty easy if you look around a little.

[twyacht]

http://www.gunsamerica.com/Search.aspx?T=colt%20python

A few on that site, around $800 and up, most around a thousand.

also check gunbroker.com

They have there own marketing and research teams design what sells, and what doesn't. They can't compete with the Taurus, Rossi, S&W, and Ruger, for a cost effective revolver.

Seeing how most Python's are used around $1000, should say something.
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[Johnny Bravo]

I have 2 Pythons. One I shoot and one is a safe queen. It is one of my favorite guns. Six inch barrel of pure colt blued steel! It's like pointing your finger when aiming. Don't knock it if you haven't tried it!!

[fightingquaker13]

I owned the worlds only thousand dollar Glock. Oddly, I got it free. My mom hates guns. She gave me the Ruger Bearcat my dad gave her in the 1970s as long as I promised to keep it out of the house. The prettiest .22 single action ever made, but way too small for my hands. So I hit Austin and find myself living around the block from a pawn shop. Deciding at the ripe old age of 22 that I need a "grown-up" pistol, I take the Ruger in and talk trades. I hit paydirt. It was like winning the lottery. The owner was a certifiable Ruger freak. The gun was like NIB (with box, paper work, original price tag, less than 100 rounds through it etc.) and a commerative edition for the bicenntinal. I swear he had to keep from drooling. I asked what it was worth. He said"Pick a gun and its yours'. I looked at him like he'd grown a second head. There were ARs, overunder's, AKs, 1911s, etc and here I was with a .22 pistol I loved to look at but hated to shoot.  He explained that he had one of every commerative pistol ever made by Ruger, but not that one and to him it as like a Hank Aaron Rookie card. Fair enough. Not being concerned about money at the time, just getting a nice pistol, I traded even money for  a 4" Python with some holster marks that a Tx. cop had sold when they went to semi's. The gun was like glass. It was the Rolex watch of revolvers. Then came the damn Clinton AWB. They were talking about banning semi-auto pistols as well as EBRs after the Luby's shooting in Killeen. I panicked. Being a starving grad studet surviving on the princely sum of $840 a month, I couldn't afford to buy a semi at the ridiculously inflated prices. So, I went back to the guy with the gun and asked for a Glock.  He gave me a new G-17 even money (this was when Pythons were still in production, and semis were at '08 full bore panic level prices, so it was only a slightly lopsided trade).  To his great credit, he did say I'd regret  it, even if the bill went through (only in Austin do you find an honest pawnbroker) . I should have listened and gone home. In hindsight, as much as I love my Glocks, I woud all but kill to have that pistol back. Sad thing is, there are a whole lot of folks who feel the same way. Screw 1911s (sorry guys). If Colt were to come out with a new Python between $600-$900, folks would be lining up, including a lot our military who want a no BS, always goes bang side arm in the sandbox. Why  don't they?
FQ13

[Sponsor]

[TAB]

colt still makes pythons, but only thru thier custom shop, but you won't like the price.

[fightingquaker13]

colt still makes pythons, but only thru thier custom shop, but you won't like the price.

Are you trying to say they wouldn't take my Gen1 G-17 in trade?
FQ13

[TAB]

Are you trying to say they wouldn't take my Gen1 G-17 in trade?
FQ13

it might be useful as a door stop.

[fightingquaker13]

it might be useful as a door stop.

Sad, but true. I sold it for $350 and the guy that bought it got a square deal. All those years with never a burp or a hiccup regardless of ammo, unless I limp wristed the the thing, and I must have cleaned it at least twice. It worked as well the day I sold it as the day I bought it. Just decided a G-19 and a G-26 was enough and I really wanted an AR. Still, the idea of it being an even money trade on a Python today? A sad, sad joke. I guess this where you 1911 guys have a point. I like Glocks a lot (in case you haven't noticed),but they just feel dead in the hand. Unlike that Python. Its the difference between a spinning rod and a fly rod or a nice double and an 870. One feels alive and the other doesn't. I will carry one until and unless something better comes along, but I've never gotten attached to any of them like I do with my shotguns or  my Brownng Highpower.
FQ13

[billt]

Colt's Patent Firearms and Colt Defense are in a way, 2 different companies. There also is, or was, a Colt Crucible Metals Division. Colt Firearms couldn't make money on a bet. They have had the dubious honor of making some of the worst business decisions involving firearms in modern history. The "Colt 2000" being one of them. They also poured money into a "Smart Gun" that no one wanted, and were left holding the bag financially on that unpolished turd.

What has kept their nuts out of the financial meat grinder has been Colt Defense. Basically every AR-15 / M-16 that Colt makes is manufactured by Colt Defense, a separate division. They are a good product, and fortunately for the civilian market, all the parts in a Colt AR-15 are the same Mil-Spec as the parts that go into all of their government M-16's, save of course the full auto sear along with it's accompanying "happy switch". When Colt makes something good it almost seems like it's by mistake. Even their 1911 models are not used much, if at all by steel and IDPA competitors. Most shoot Springfield's, Wilson's, STI's, and a ton of other aftermarket 1911's.

They did have a market for the Single Action Army with the explosion of Cowboy Action Shooting, along with the giant success of SASS. Then they came out with a grade "B" version of the SAA called the "Colt Cowboy". A somewhat semi-polished turd that never sold very well. They seem to just flounder along, surviving on whatever scraps Colt Defense allows them to have. It's really too bad because at one time they produced some of the finest guns on the market. They just could never seem to keep a good thing going.  Bill T.