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by North Country Gal » Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:58 am
Mark, the difference is really the way the vintage Colts were produced versus a newer model of DA like a Smith 686.Vintage Colts like the Python and even vintage Smiths were made with a lot of hand fitting of parts. This has always been part of the attraction of vintage guns. Folks like the idea of guns made this old way. But hand fitting of parts has always been the Achille's heel as far as being able to make a gun folks can afford and still being able to make a profit. A lot of gun companies have gone belly up, trying.
The Colt Python was Colt's flagship 357, just as the Model 27 was Smith's. Both got the best in terms of fitting and polishing from their respective makers. The Python, though, depended more heavily on parts being specific to the Python, whereas S&W used many of the same parts, across the board, for so many of their revolvers, keeping model specific parts to a minimum. This gave S&W a huge advantage as to servicing their guns and keeping things profitable. In fact, you can still gets parts and service from Smith on a vintage S&W Model 27. You can keep those old vintage Smiths running for just about forever. Not going to happen on parts and service from Colt on Pythons. That shipped has sailed. If you do buy a Python and it needs work, you better darn sure find a real gunsmith who knows vintage Colts. Not a gun you turn over to Bubba.
By the time the 686 rolled around, Smith was still in the black and making a profit, but Colt was struggling. Smith did a much better job of transitioning into modern production methods than Colt. In fact, you can still buy a CNC produced Smith Model 27 that will shoot right there with the old ones. May not have the allure of the vintage Model 27s, but it is still very much a Model 27. The Colt Python, though, is now history and only available as a very highly priced collectible. Oh, yeah, you can spend the big bucks to get a piece of that history and that vintage Colt name, but don't make the mistake of thinking that money is necessarily going to get you a better shooting gun. That's not what the collectible market is all about.
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