This shooter grade Python was produced around 1972. When I
purchased it, it was badly out of time, and would fail to lockup in double
action or single action. I took a gamble and purchased this pistol from
pictures only, and even after asking all the required questions through email
and phone conversations the buyer still failed to disclose that the pistol had
timing issues.
When I received the pistol through my FFL, I was pleasantly surprised, the bluing was better than pictured, wear was minimal and with the exception of the timing issues it was a really good deal for a shooter grade gun. It came wrapped in an old gym sock and was wearing a set of Hogue rosewood mono grips. I have smaller hands and those grips leave me feeling like I’m trying to grasp a fat baby’s leg. I left the grips on for the meantime and gave Colt Manufacturing a call.
For anyone who has heard horror stories about Colt Manufacturing, or has heard of substandard service, rest easy knowing that those stories are most likely the rare exception rather than the rule. I had a really good experience and I commend Colt for their patience in answering my questions each month, “Is it ready yet?” “any new developments, payments?” I waited a total of 140 days from sending it out through Fed-ex and its return through Fed-ex 4 ½ months later.
Here is a breakdown of my timeline.
Overnight - Sent to Colt Manufacturing through Fed-ex
Day 2 – Called to verify its arrival.
Month 1 – Called regarding status, was informed that an
estimate of repair, parts and shipping charges was in the mail. I went ahead and paid the estimate via credit
card. The paper copy of the estimate arrived 3 days later
Month 2 – Called regarding status, was informed that I could
expect repairs to take aprox 90 days from date payment of estimate was
received.
Month 3 – Called asking to place a hold on the return
shipment because I would be on vacation at the time of its return
Month 4 – Called to remove the hold, was told that the
pistol would ship in 2 days time now that hold was removed.
I
was pleased that the whole thing took only 140 days, I know people who wait as
long as 6 months to a year or more to get their firearm serviced from the
manufacturer, and Colt estimates 90 days from receipt of payment. They were
accurate on their estimation and very helpful on the phone when I called. I
highly recommend their service department.
When I got my Python back I noticed immediately how good the
action felt. I think the action this recently serviced python is better now
than the action on my lightly used 1980 Python. I even contemplated boxing up
my 1980 python to have the same factory tuning completed.
I threw a set of old vintage smooth python target grips on,
and I bought a separate set of really nice vintage Second Generation Python
target grips for display purposes. This is really a classy shooting iron and it
was much more accurate at the range than I was. It ran smoothly with
everything from .38 special to full power Buffalo Bore 180 grain .357 Magnums.
