Bitten by a Colt, Now I have the Python fever. The iconic "COLT PYTHON" .357 Magnum



I'll try to keep this one fairly short, and try to let the pictures speak for themselves... ok, ok, I said I'll "try" to keep it short...

Someone once told me that every person should own three nice things at some point their lifetime

A nice automatic watch.

A nice fountain pen. 

and 

A nice classic pistol...

I don't know what it is about revolvers, but I just can't seem to get enough of them, going back for as long as I could buy firearms. I used to be restricted to what my wallet could afford, old junker S&W Model 19's and the odd rough and rusty Harrington Richardson Saturday night special. My first break in decent revolvers came with my Taurus Raging Bull 8 3/4 inch ported .44 Magnum, an excellent piece of steel, even if it did weigh 5 lbs and need a chest rig to tote it around, it was a well made, accurate shooting iron and I will miss it.

Well this revolver is in a bracket well above any of those previously mentioned... 

I guess it's about time I bought a gun or two that has some real appreciable value, and will continue to gain in value as it ages.

The Venerable COLT Python, the Rolls Royce of revolvers. 

For those of you who haven't yet caught Colt Python fever (Rick carries this gun in Walking Dead), it was introduced in the early 1950's on a gamble that the .357 Magnum cartridge would become popular, this is Colt's top tier revolver (The design is virtually unchanged since its introduction). Painstakingly hand fitted and hand polished, it was designed to be the best production revolver known to mankind. When properly tuned and timed, cocking the hammer feels like snapping a thin glass rod folded in a silk scarf, the cylinder locks up tighter than a bank vault and the trigger break is gin and tonic crisp. The finish on these guns was referred to as Colt Royal Blue, and is arguably one of the finest finishes ever given to a production firearm. From the gold medallions on the American walnut grips to the full underlug of the barrel this revolver screams Handmade in the USA! 

Sadly, the Python is a relic, an endangered species which is becoming harder and harder to catch in the wild, production of these revolvers has ceased (Forever, production stopped in early 2000) and the equipment, gunsmiths and technical skills that produced this gun have since been disbanded. Mine was built sometime in 1979 and is as solid and crispy crunchy as the day when it left the factory. 

This gun may be pretty but it's no safe queen. It was built to be fired, and I doubt I'll ever be able to wear it out from use. I think that may be its major attraction, it was built for function first and foremost, but no-one can deny that it has the form to follow.

Want one of your own? Well this one cost about as much as the car I drive to work. (kidding... it was about half that) No doubt that my wife will never let me forget this fact, and one does not "kid" about such matters (Wince!, sorry Honey).
Is it worth that much you ask? In truth I doubt it, but I ain't selling mine, and every day the market price for one of these goes up... check Gunbroker, prepare to be shocked (Then bid... if your significant other lets you)

I remember a couple years ago I saw a Colt Python, New In the Box, going for $850 at a local pawn shop... and at the time I thought that was a bit high... I kick myself every time I think about it.

Colt Python Fever, a passing fad? Only time will tell, but this one's been going strong for 60 something years, call me if your Pokemon collection, PT Cruiser, or Beanie Babies can claim the same stamina.

Dirty Harry carried a S&W Model 29, not the same, repeat, Not the same.

All seriousness aside, I'm not as obsessed as I sound. Take my above statements with a grain of salt, and remember that I kept tongue in cheek as I wrote this. I'm pleased as punch with this pistol, and it's nicer than I deserve, it's not for everyone, but if you want to dive into a fantastic; pass down to your grandkids, blast away at the range, and make your neighbors jealous pistol... look no further than the Colt Python.

They made them in 2.5" 3" 4" 6" and 8" inch versions in Nickel, Royal Blue or Stainless Steel. You pick which one suits your fancy. Or just like Pokemon... "Gotta catch em all!"

Hey, if nothing else I'd rather have this in my hand than a Rolex on my wrist during a potential mugging, but you may draw some strange looks at your next office board meeting... does one wear a black or grey suit with this accessory?

This is my BOOMSTICK!, Benelli M2 w/Tactical Barrel

I recently came across a very nice used Benelli M2 barrel for a couple hundred under the price of a new one. I have a 28 inch smooth bore skeet barrel which was original to the gun, it is less than ideal for home defense or hunting with slugs/buckshot because of its length and its lack of solid iron sights. When I saw the tactical barrel listed online I jumped at the offer. I went to the range a few days ago and the results are better than expected.

I used some old Wolf 2 3/4 rifled slugs that were swimming around in the bottom of my ammo drawer, and I had surprisingly good accuracy for offhand shooting with iron sights at 50 yards. If I can achieve this shot placement at 50 yds, home defense ranges should be no problem.

12 ga (Big Holes) VS. .223 (little holes)

I like these clear shells, they allow me to see what each shell has inside before I add it to my setup.

Now it's time for my soap-box...

I've heard the following disturbing/incorrect statements during the recent gun craze

"I want a pump shotgun because the sound alone is a enough to deter criminals..."
"Semi-auto shotguns are unreliable and often jam, pumps never malfunction"
"Why use a rifle for home defense? I can just fire from the hip with my shotgun"
"I'll just load it with rocksalt, to scare em'" (Rocksalt loads will kill just like birdshot at close range, don't be a dummy)

Be wary of anyone who tells you that a shotgun with slugs or buckshot is a point and shoot weapon for home defense. You can't just point it in a direction, squeeze the trigger and expect results. It also won't blow bad guys through walls or destroy everything in a 9 foot radius. With that being said it is a devastating weapon if used correctly (Those small holes on the target are .223 (AR-15) ). The combat shotgun puts a heap of power into each shot, and if "Wound Cavitation + Bullet Penetration = Cessation of Hostilities" then the shotgun can be a clear winner.

I'd like to take a moment to discuss my thoughts on Semi-auto (Shells are loaded into the chamber automatically by the internal mechanics of the shotgun, and one shot is fired every time the trigger is pulled until the shotgun is empty) vs. Pump (Shells are loaded into the chamber by the action of "pumping" the shotgun, and one shot is fired every time the user pulls the trigger then "pumps" the shotgun to eject the spent shell and insert a new one). There are advantages and disadvantages to each, I will highlight them and explain.

Semi-auto:

Pros:
- Fast/nearly instantaneous reloads, when you pull the trigger, before you can physically pull it again you already have another shell in the chamber.
- Lower recoil, some of the recoil is mitigated through the ejection of the old shell and the reloading of a new shell. This can have a very positive effect for smaller shooters. I can easily shoot several boxes of slugs from my semi-auto.... I usually limit myself to one box of slugs through a pump gun. With less perceived recoil, the shooter can usually make faster follow-up shots.
- Reliability, the higher end semi-autos are very reliable, you take away some of the problems of user error, ie. short stroking or forgetting to pump under stress.

Cons:
- Expensive, A well built reliable semi-auto will most likely cost you twice that of a reliable pump gun. With the price of a Benelli, I could have bought three reliable pump shotguns.
- Finicky, I say this only because there are numerous semi-auto shotguns that will not function reliably with all shell types, my Benelli M2 will eat anything I feed it, but this isn't the case with all semi-autos.

Pump

Pros:
-Reliability, most all pumps, from the pretty cheap bargain basement, to the high end tactical pumps, are reliable, they will digest any load that they are chambered for and if you do your part they will do theirs.
-Price and availability, almost anyone can afford a good pump shotgun, a nice Remington 870 Express Home Defense can be had for about $350 and a Mossberg  Maverick can be had for about $200. There are plenty of used guns on the market and I've bought several very nice home defense shotguns for less than $200.

Cons:
- Training, while having more training is not a bad thing, the pump shotgun does require more muscle memory and user interaction to operate. Sure everyone says that the sound of a pump shotgun being racked is a universal deterrent, but under stress if you fail to make sure the pump is fully forward, or short stroke the next shell into the chamber, you just lost precious seconds in a dangerous situation.
- Recoil, some home defense pump shotguns can be deceptively light weight, I won't be an armchair commando and tell you that after a box or two of heavy slugs my shoulder isn't sore (This can lead to an aversion to training with your shotgun). I'm no glutton for punishment and in the realm of home defense I want lighter recoil for a faster followup shot.

In my situation the win goes to a well built Semi-auto, I prefer Benelli, but Remington, Beretta, and Mossberg as well a quite a few others make a fine home defense semi-auto. I find nothing lacking with a good pump shotgun for home defense, and I have owned several in the past, but you need to make an informed decision. I do not rely on "the sound of a pump shotgun being racked" as a home defense measure, and neither should you! If the bad guy turns and runs from the sound that's a plus, but I won't base my shotgun choice on that factor by any means. I think this rumor was started by the pump shotgun industry to shore up sales lost to semi-autos. If you are confident that the sound alone will deter a home invasion, I suggest you save your money and purchase an audio track of the sound to play when you feel threatened, or better yet get a police siren to deter violent attacks.

Don't get duped, the shotgun is a powerful, awesome home defense weapon, but it won't work like in the movies, and it isn't a carpet bomb that needs no aim. It will punch some really big holes, but only if you get the shells on target...Train like you fight, so test your setup before you need to use it in a bad situation.

Battle Belt (AKA, SHTF Light Fighter Gear): VTAC Brokos Belt, Emdom-MM CM Belt, FAST mags, Maxpedition dump pouch, ITS Tactical IFAK, SERPA Holster, and Night OPS Gladius.

Its been a while since my last post, and I've saved up my pennies to purchase a "Battle Belt", it's a bit intense in its final form, so I'll try to explain my thinking behind it.

Basic Concept: I wanted a setup that contained most of what I would need to defend/conduct myself in a bad scenario, yet also sustain me should I become separated from the house or my gear in other parts of the house. Say for example, I wake up in the middle of the night to an active home invasion... or I wake up in the middle of the night to an active home invasion going on at my elderly neighbors house... (you can pick scenarios all day). I want to be geared up and on the move to stop the threat in a minimal amount of time (lets say under 1 min and 30 sec, preferably in about 30 to 45 sec. I can always just go in about 3-5 sec in my underwear with the pistol and flashlight in my night stand, but I don't fancy defending anything attired this way)

I have an old set of coveralls and some slip on steel toe boots that I can put on in the blink of an eye, and with the battle belt I can clip it on and be out of the bedroom almost as fast as if I had worn my bathrobe.

From my battle belt I can sustain my primary weapon (Rifle) and I have my secondary (Pistol) if I need to transition. I have avoided adding anything I don't immediately need, no water, matches, energy bars, portable hair dryers, fishing tackle... you get the point. No man vs. wild here, just enough defensive persuasion to hit first, hit hard, and hit fast.

Here is a rundown of what I'm running on the belt currently:

VTAC Brokos Belt -
Excellent construction, the padding is a mesh honeycomb material that won't soak up and hold water/sweat, and looks pretty resistant to abrasion, it isn't bulky and I don't feel like I have a pillow around my waist (it's hard to explain or photograph, trust me or just buy one and see). All the seams are sewn and tacked. I ordered a Medium and as you can see it fits my size 30 waist pretty good, (In ordering belts that fit over your pants/clothing, you need to measure first. To measure just put on your clothing, and wrap an over-sized belt around your waist and mark the length you need, take off the over-sized belt and measure it while it's laid out on the ground. My measurements came to 34-36 depending on my clothing. Yours will vary depending on how tight you like your belt, I usually want it tighter because I don't want to look like John Wayne and have my belt slide off my hips when/if I need to run) The sizing is important for the Brokos belt because the larger the size the more attachment space you have. When I was looking online at others who had bought this belt I saw them running 4 AR-15 mags, 8 pistol mags, canteen, etc... If you are small like me you will be surprised at the lack of space that you end up with, its important to remember, between a 30 and 40 waist, that's ten extra inches of belt space. I picked the Multi-cam camo pattern, you pick what suits you.

I like how everything is attached using the MOLLE system and the inner stiffener of this belt keeps it from rolling over. All my gear hooked right up, I threaded the inner belt out and over the MOLLE section where ever I wanted to use a belt attachment vice a MOLLE strap. All my gear clipped on without much hassle, the belt is sewn to tight tolerances but not so tight that you can't thread and attach your gear. Nothing leans out from the belt or feels loose. I'd plan on leaving the side with the pistol free of everything but a holster, I tried a couple different setups and I just don't like bashing my loaded pistol into things when I draw or holster; again, you may want a different setup.

Emdom-MM CM Belt (Inner belt for the Brokos) -
I really like this belt, it's also patterned in Multi-cam camo and I like the buckle attachment. It's stiff enough to be worn on its own or inside a battle belt. The construction is solid and the price is really good, it has features that make it a great duty belt if you want to go that route as well. Sizing is true so my medium ended up fitting perfect when used with the battle belt, but I don't have a lot of room to go any bigger, if I were a 32 waist I'd step up to the large belt if I was going to use it as the inner belt on a battle belt.

S-biner clip

Mechanix gloves

BLACKHAWK! SERPA Holster, Fullsize 1911 on a Belt slide Holster

Kimber Eclipse Target II

Maxpedition Rollypoly Dump Pouch -
Nice well made dump pouch, it folds up small so it's out of the way and it deploys quickly for use, it opens wide enough to take several AR-15 mags and it stays open for easy "dumping". I wish it was available in Multi-cam camo, but the Coyote color is OK (If you are a stickler for matching colors, it isn't the same shade as FDE (Flat Dark Earth)), it doesn't matter much to me but it would be nice to see Maxpedition get up to speed on the current color schemes.

ITS Tactical IFAK Pouch with ETA Kit and SOF Tourniquet

EMT Shears - These are a better option to cut off zip ties than a knife, just try to cut off Flexi-cuffs with a bowie knife. These shears are cheap ($7) and can cut most anything from sheet metal to seat belt material. they fit nicely behind my IFAK.

2 FAST Mag 5.56 Rifle mag holders - These are made from a rigid plastic with a thick rubber band to hold the mag tightly (although they will still retain a mag without the rubber band), they can be pricey when compared to cloth mag pouches, but I like the ability to quickly reinsert mags one handed. They also have the advantage of not getting soaking wet in the rain, a big factor here in Washington State.

2 Lancer 20 rd L5 mags - Good mags, and with the disappearance of the P-Mag (lets hope its just endangered, not extinct in the upcoming days) these are still available, I like the 20 rounders and they lighten my belt a smidge.  I can plus up with my 30 rd P-Mags if I feel like I need that option, but for home defense I hope I won't need that much ammo.

3 FAST Mag Pistol mag holders - These are constructed the same as the rifle mag holders, but they allow for a far greater range of mag options, I can use these to hold almost any type of double stack or single stack pistol mags. I'm using mine for my 1911 mags, and while they are slightly more bulky than the cloth mag pouches, they hold the smooth slim 1911 mags exceptionally well. I was worried when I first put them on and was practicing drawing and reloading, the mags seemed to stick and hold with more retention than I would have liked, but when I was at the range moving and shooting I didn't notice any issues. It just goes to show that your living room is not an adequate test facility.

3 Kimber, Kimpro TAC-MAGS

Night OPS Gladius Flashlight in a BLACKHAWK! Belt slide Holster


Sizing: I am a 30 waist, (5' 11'', and I wear a 30X32 pant) don't be fooled by other opinions on the internet, too many people are either fatter or skinnier than they want to admit, and everybody wears it differently. One thing I have found as a common theme as a skinnier guy is that rarely are clothes I purchase too small. If you are slight of frame only you can judge what is going to fit you.

Of all the clothing and gear I have bought I find it most often to be correctly sized to the manufacturers advertised sizing. Yet I constantly read reviews of gear that people claim is too small..... I guess manufacturers all just use incorrect measurements... rolls eyes.

Weight: All loaded up it weighs 10.5 lbs..... That's a lot for a duty belt... which is why I went with the battle belt setup, and even with all that weight its' still significantly less weight on my hips than a fully loaded hiking pack with a hip belt would exert.

Comfort: I wore the belt for an hour and a half at the range doing some reactive shooting and it wore really well, much better than a duty belt would with all that gear on it. Its not cumbersome and  It didn't ride up drawing the weapon, or pulling out the mags, I did experience some riding up when I was bending over and kneeling down to pick up my spent brass, but it wasn't affecting the function of the belt and I'd say the impact of it riding up a few inches was minimal. It was a fairly cool day with temps in the 50's so overheating wasn't a factor. Overall it was comfortable and functional; I don't test my gear by low crawling, jumping out of planes, combat rolling, or otherwise exerting myself. I also don't plan to test its function riding in a Humvee in the desert of Iraq or manning a door gun on an SH60 in a sandstorm. It worked perfectly for running, kneeling and shooting on the move, don't make your life harder than it needs to be, if you are Spetsnaz and only buy gear that is designed to endure a backflip while throwing a hatchet... the battle belt is not for you.

From everything I have read people have really mixed views on the battle belt setups, some people hang all their bug out gear off them, others load their entire setup with an armload of extra rifle mags, some people run them with a drop leg holster, or with suspenders. I don't think there is a right way or a wrong way to set up your belt. If it works for you, run it.

Remember, The best setup in the world won't do you an ounce of good if you don't have it with you, I have a chest rig and I can only imagine trying to sort that out and get it put on in time to respond to a threat in the middle of the night... in the dark.... under stress. Mall ninja and Tacticool Armchair Ranger talk aside, I don't realistically think you can expect to have time to get your gear on if it involves more than a few steps, keep it simple, keep it mobile, keep it real.

Note: I love this multi-cam camo pattern, it works well everywhere, its good in the front yard, the scrub brush in the open field, the deep woods, and well.... just about anywhere. It reminds me of a lighter version of the german flecktarn camo. The pants I have on are Vertx (designed by Arcteryx) and they are awesome, the fit and feel is top notch, and they aren't overly baggy like a lot of the BDU type pants you come across.