Today we are 1000 rounds down the road with a low serial number 2020 Colt Python. It's a beauty but it's not without its flaws. Bring MOAR to the channel! / hangfiretv
My 2020 Python crossed the 6,000 round mark last week. Almost all my own .38 Special reloads with both Bullseye and Accurate No. 2, but some factory .357 and .38 as well. I’ve used it for ICORE Classic and a few Steel Challenge matches along the way. I can’t speak highly enough about this gun. The barrel/cylinder gap has remained .002 in that time. The DA trigger is a work of mechanical art.
Brent, while your .38 loads are light, the fire in the 1.3 + chamber exists at the 1.2 length of each chamber in the cylinder that has the propensity to erode the chambers with a permanent ring. Although since you have shot so many I am hoping you reconciled that when you found the .357 rounds no loading or extracting easily. Your explanation seems your experiences seem this issue may be moot in your case, however worth mentioning. The DA trigger is an excellent improvement, although the original Colt DA design more than 130 years can be made lighter reliably as there is no transfer bar to transfer energy to firing pin. Appreciate your testimony to SUCESS in recreational use of firearms. Jerry Moran
@@jerrymoran8323 I download 357 mag to 38 spl pressures to avoid the ring. 357 Brass handles it just fine as it’s designed for much greater pressures and can get more reloading cycles without loose primer pockets or cracked necks. Can anneal your 357 brass to get even more life.
Over 4,000 rounds through my 6" Python, most .38 Special loaded with 700x and 158 grain lead bullets. Very accurate, outstanding revolver. No erosion, ring of hard crud or anything as I regularly clean after shooting. Shoots well with stout .357 loads but kills paper targets so much better with .38's...
@@jerrymoran8323 hey, just read this reply. would you be willing to explain more as i am knew to this knowledge or even link something for me to read? I don't want to ruin a .357
@@kingaklubs James as I pointed out in the the past the King Cobra is basically a scaled down Python. Shooting heavy doses of .38 special without brushing the cylinder will cause difficult extraction due to the length difference of cases 1.3 for .357 and 1.2 for 38 special. When 38’s ammo is fired in a .357 chamber, .100 ( difference of brass length) is exposed to the fire from 38 rounds as well as lead lube ( shooting reloaded or factory lead rounds) I found Winchester white box least build up as opposed to others. Remington 130 gr plated bullets were satisfactory. Always follow through on trigger pull so the hand carries the cylinder to rotation in alignment with bbl. even a slight wear in the hand will not keep the gun from going to home locked up with bolt in cylinder notch, if the trigger is followed through in engagement with finger. Just shoot it for smoother action for parts to wear in, complementing each other. Enjoy you firearm safely.
Something to note about the MIM parts that Colt does use: They are manufactured by an aerospace company that uses a patented process. The parts exhibit uniform core hardness and an oriented granular structure. Quite impressive.
In it rotating clockwise, the hand is also holding the crane/yoke closed in the frame when the trigger is held back...while the bolt is keeping the cylinder indexed/locked. If it rotated counter clockwise, it would need another lock . There's no hand pushing against the crane/yoke...the hand is pushing it into the frame....unlike my Smiths.
Wow, thats a man with a respectable technical understanding. Thank you for sharing. You answered a couple questions I had to that revolver, that no other review covered, and you did this in a very decent way and I 100% agree.
I have all three and by far the 2020 Python is superior. My Trooper MKV is built like a tank, but has that terrible hand spring that breaks and is made of unobtianium. I liked my 4.25 so much, I snapped up a 3" the instant one became available and it was $150 over retail with no regrets.
Nice video. I have several of the new Pythons in addition to small collection of old Pythons. The new revolver design is excellent. Build quality and finish on my new revolvers is excellent. I purchased them Q2 2022 and have had zero issues with any of them. Accuracy is excellent. Single/double action is buttery smooth. I've looked over them with a jeweler's loupe and absolutely no external manufacturing flaws unlike I've heard about with early production models. The Python is the most beautiful revolver ever produced. For $1500-$1600 per copy, probably the best revolver value today. I have a new sport Manurhin MR73 that I paid $3,800 plus tax for and though a step above the Python, the Python fit, finish, quality, aesthetics is not all that far behind. Update to comment: The single biggest complaint I have about the new Python is the rear sight. Seems to be very cheaply made, specifically the windage adjustment. There is a lot of slop between turns of the windage adjustment screw and the actual rear sight blade movement. To compensate for this, Colt added a small set screw to lock the sight blade in place once you get the revolver sighted in. I would have gladly paid more for the revolver if they had supplied an Elliason rear sight as OEM.
I have a stainless steel and a blue python; the blue gun does not have the rear sight issue like you see on the stainless steel one. I expect it is related to the bluing process added a thin layer on the surfaces tightening up stuff a bit.
Because cylinder is rotating and cylinder hand/pawl is same as single action revolver, lock up points are not that critical. If you said already disassemble few times, pawl is double notch that upper notch to advance cylinder and lower notch is to lock up the cylinder against cylinder stop. At the point of bullet is leaving the barrel, I think colt double action lock up is tighter than other double action revolver with cylinder spinning opposite side with single notch cylinder hand/pawl.
Beautiful firearm ! I have a 1996 4 inch stainless. It does look like you have a bent ejector rod. Sometimes it can happen with several hard hand hits ejecting cases. Have a Blessed Day !
I love mine. Haven't had a problem. I have half a dozen or more holsters for it. Just love to carry and shoot it. Nothing compares to it. I would buy a 3 inch, but I have other guns that fill that role. It's worth every dime.
Beautiful handgun. It is surprising that the Colt Python had been around since the mid 1950’s. And in many films and television shows like Starsky & Hutch, A Man Named Hawk, Magnum Force, The Walking Dead, Black Dynamite, Truck Turner(Isaac Hayes), Harlem Shuffle, Detroit 9000, The Enforcer(Tyne Daly’s 2 1/2 inch Python),the City Hunter anime series (4 1.25 inch barrel and a 6 in barrel in a film called City Hunter: .357 Magnum), Iron Eagle 2( Louis Gossett , Jr. carried a 6 inch Python in a hip holster and a shoulder holster)and so many others I’ve lost count. The old 70’s versions were blue steel and nickel plated. I don’t think Colt will show any signs of slowing down.
Good review. I've got three of the 2020's. One with a 6" and two with 4" barrels . I love 'em. I too am a "Smith and Wesson guy" but I recently sold off most of my revolvers. The Pythons I kept. I've got about 1000 rounds through the two of them. Had to tighten the sideplate screws up on one, S/N < 3000, so it was an early one. The gun started to bind up, but I noticed the screws were loose. A couple mins with a screwdriver and I was back in business. They've never worked loose again. I doubt I'll ever shoot mine enough or hard enough to worry about the issues you pointed out, but they seem like they should be corrected to make a great gun even better.
@@ostiariusalpha Some folks act like there is some sort of magic inside you might allow to escape… they’re pretty simple revolvers. One of the easier ones to detail strip.
@@ColterBrog Most of them seem to be absolutely paranoid that Colt has the supernatural ability to know whenever the plate is removed, and will ruthlessly void their warranty. 😂
@@ostiariusalpha If Colt really didn’t want people servicing their revolver, they’d offer a warranty longer than a single year. It’s a joke, especially the way most people shoot and the way ammo availability is. There are probably quite a few folks who never shoot their revolver until the warranty is already exhausted.
The new Colt Python is a better gun than I thought I would ever see produced by a modern manufacturer again. Most guns today are adequate in quality and function, but this gun is a work of revolver art! My only complaint is the shity rear sight. A gun of this quality and class deserves better.
I just put the Wilson Combat U notch rear sight and green fiber optic sight. Now I can see again! Over 50 eyes need help. Wilson sights are overbuilt and solid. Very happy with them.
I love my colt python. Smooth as glass on DA, Great SA, accurate and gorgeous. No regrets on my purchase. Looking forward to getting the anaconda next.
The SA pull on my new Python was horrendous. I sent it to Mike Heffron and he got it to where it is the equivalent to a really good S&W SA let off. And that means it's as good as any in the world. The DA pulls in now very light with absolutely NO stacking. This gun shoots as good DA as it does SA. It is worth way more than a 686 to me. It's even a little better than my old but perfectly smooth S&W M-28.
Bought my Python today, and after years of shooting 9mm, I was in for a sticker shock at the price difference between 9mm and .357. While purchasing the python, I bought several boxes of 9mm for $15 for 50 rounds. Picked up some .38 to shoot in the Python at $34 for 50 rounds, and bought the last 357 box at $60 for 50 rounds. I know, I know, I just dropped $1300 on a revolver, I should stop complaining about the cost. LOL
Have you tried Freedom Munitions? Right now they've got 50-round boxes of 125-grain XTP hollow points for $36.99. They have other options for even cheaper, but most of them are sold out(!).
You are correct.. fast DA work beats guns to death. Notice the factory rounds are much milder today than back in the day.. Shot some 'vintage' (not gonna name brand)) that runs 1550 fps in my chrono.
I have two new ones. a three inch barrel and one with a six inch barrel and I have one with the four and a quarter inch barrel on the way. Love my Colt's
I literally WORE-OUT one of the prior-version 6" blued Pythons. I was NOT complaining. That beauty had routinely been being subjected-to 450 rounds of HOT (but not irresponsible) .357 Magnum rounds, in each-afternoon range session, and, running it double action, even-WITH the acknowledged end-of trigger-stroke "stacking" phenomenon, it was STILL so-smooth, that it was "Oh, come-ON" accurate, especially running, if can recall, over forty years, later, semi jacketed Sierra bullets. These only had jackets on the relative BASE of the bullet, so that, when loaded-into the brass, they LOOKED-like plain lead semi-wadcutters. You literally couldn't miss. Those rounds were ridiculously-accurate. Seriously. These rounds were SO-accurate, that you couldn't really "take-credit," for what they could accomplish, downrange. I'm just-sayin'. No, I'm not "rich," but, back-then, my friends and I were able to buy components WHOLESALE, and in-bulk, which helped keep the cost-down. BUT, insofar as abusively-heavy usage, there really IS just a LIMIT, to what you can expect. I am SO-glad to see that they've ironed at least SOME, or MOST of the bugs-out, because I just HATED-to see the folks who'd bought the earlier ones, on which there were problems, which I felt was heartbreaking. SINCE it's not been all that uncommon to see multi-thousand dollar asking prices, for original Pythons, in decent condition, I'm just happy to-see a finally-squared-away update. No, it's NOT going to be quite-as pretty, as the originals, BUT, let's be fair, and let's be-REAL: the current Smith & Wesson stainless magnums like the excellent 686 are NOT as-beautiful as the gorgeously-blued Model 19 that my DAD had, or the similarly-gorgeously-blued Model 27 that my old college room mate had, but that was then, and this is NOW, so let's be glad that we can embrace a new, different, and probably-more-DURABLE sort of double actions. I'm glad that you got yourself one of these, and that you are, by and large, happy, with it. I think that the updated trigger-stroke, without (AS-MUCH) "stacking," at the end, will be easier-for most folks to use, even-though I simply got-USED-to the old Python's stacking. The 686 much-less "stacking," but I love either ONE of those revolvers, and I find the Colt's cylinder-release more-positive, and easier-to-use. I do NOT know-why the Smith & Wesson changed-to a "slanted" shape, to their cylinder-release. For accommodating Speed-loaders? I used Speed-loaders, for YEARS, on an couple of different S&W Model 29 .44 Magnums. Does anybody know anything about that?
I love the look of a Python or Anaconda. I can see that the bolt is small. Nothing is ever ideal, right? But I have much more confidence in my Rugers regarding this area. Don't forget about the bolt window itself...the batter that that window can take too. I like how the Ruger pushes the bolt flat up against the frame (as seen from the inside) unlike a S&W revolver, and maybe the Colt? The Ruger bolt sits deeper in the cylinder and is wider than a typical S&W. Honestly, I have never had a Colt wheel gun apart...Maybe the Colt's are still 'target' pistols, and I'll consider Rugers as SHTF pistols... To hell and back. Nice honest thoughts... Thank you
Good on you. Would of been nice to see before and after endshake and cylinder gap specs along with timing and hand ratchet ware if any. Keep shooting and enjoy.
My ejector has some wobble as well. I haven’t looked at it under video but it doesn’t seam to be as bad as yours. I was like wtf when I noticed it. My rear sight is loose to like many of the others. I knew that was an issue and was fine with it as I am planning on putting Wilson front and rear. I actually found a rear and gold bead set this am.
I have a second generation colt python that I bought back in June 2023… So far I have sent it back to colt for a bent ejector rod and misfiring. I got it back and while they replaced the ejector rod and said it didn’t misfire for them, it’s still misfiring for me, not only light strikes, but also now the firing pin didn’t strike at all. I really want to like it, but so far I’m disappointed… I’m going to send it back and if it’s not right when I get it back again I’m gonna ask them if I can just return it and pay the balance for a single action army.
Just curious if the 2020 Python has any plastic parts? When I look behind the cylinder release I see a small button that appears to be plastic - tell me I'm wrong please.
Love the aesthetics, the weight, the trigger and the fit and finish of the Python. My own personal bugbear is the cylinder release. I hate the pull-back mechanism. Surely, in this day and age, Colt can come up with a push-button release like all the other manufacturers. I'd love to see a 7 shot version of this gun as well (and an 8 shot, 357 Anaconda).
...I never thought I would want an Anaconda, but an 8-round .357 variant would definitely do the trick. While we're on the subject, how about a new Diamondback that mates the Python's barrel with the new King Cobra?
Of note the latest Pythons with the unfitted cylinders look great but you cannot remove the cylinder for cleaning by just taking out the cylinder screw.. You have to take the cylinder apart from the crane first. Other than that Ilov the new Pythons.
I had to replace the sights on mine because I could not see the factory ones well. That was a couple hundred bucks that Colt should have fixed in pre-production.
I couldn't stand not owning one and I went ahead and went to the bank. It has had only 12 shots go through it so far and the trigger is great! My only quirk so far is the pull back cylender realease is stickey and sometimes I cant pull it and release with one finger. I oiled it first off, still sticky, My best hope is this slide might break itself in with some use.
Have a 21 Anaconda, it is maybe the best wheel gun from colt just yet. This gun is flawless, and I look forward to seeing how it holds up. I have a Ruger Redhawk that I have had for years, and if the colt measures up on quality with the Ruger, this is a home run for colt. The colt has better finish and a better trigger.
i also got a Python. Have 300 rounds through it and no problems at this point. Great gun too. None of my guns have the run out on the ejector rod as in this video.
Mine works perfectly. Hang fire my fanny. Quit trying to stage the trigger in double action. Almost all revolvers can stumble at the rear of hammer movement during slow double action fire. Try shooting in double action-mode with a smooth and direct pull of the trigger to the rear the way double action fire was intended. It will clean up your firing. If you have time to stage the double action trigger, you have time to thumb-cock and fire in single action.
I have a full set of the new Pythons and Anacondas. (Plus a target King Cobra and .22 King Cobra.) I have only one issue with them and that is the cheesy rear sight. (Wilson has corrected the issue.) I have a more than a few of the old Pythons also. I have had failures with the old Pythons so they claim to be failure-free. What I like best about the old Pythons is that royale blue finish! Both generations shoot very well and are a pleasure to handle. (Although I don't take my blue Pythons out any more.) Of the new Colt line I think the best improvements were in the Anacondas. The old Anaconda I have has problems which Colt would not fix. (When it starts to get dirty the cylinder binds on the forcing cone.) The new Anacondas have the Python lockwork and are much better quality in my opinion.
The cylinder rotation being clockwise it doesn’t need detent on front because it’s closing itself in rotation compared to s&w counter clockwise rotation wants to open cylinder needs front detent to hold close lol don’t know about that but I’ve heard it more than once I love both colt s&w
Crane detents are used with two benefits; to take “chatter” out of the crane / yoke during firing and so the cylinder pops into your hand upon opening.
We offer tuning for these (along with many other revolvers) and have tune in excess of 1,000 new Pythons. They are very durable revolvers. My personal Python has been fired approx. 18,000 rounds needing no repairs. An old Python would have needed re-timing 4-5x over by now. Mike Heffron- Heffron Precision
They don't have the skilled technicians to polish and blue to such high standard. They are going to have to develop new techniques or train new people to do it.
@@coltknight3945 People said this for years about even building the gun again. All those skilled workers are gone that hand fitted the cylinders, precision cut the rifling and blessed each firearm with a burning of the sage. Then they brought it back and nobody can actually tell a difference and it probably has better tolerances. Something tells me they could figure bluing out.
Having rebuilt and redesigned revolvers over decades and shot hundreds of thousands of rounds in the original design, it was refreshing for your acknowledgement of the frailty of the bolt/cylinder locking mechanism waving out in the air unsupported during extended firing of factory and heavier hand loaded ammunition with 180 gr + bullets. ( my experience is that the original bolts held position for tens of thousands of rounds.) Additionally a comment made here details the two stage hand operation in most SA and Colt design for over 100 years. The ability of the follow through trigger pull that facilitates the tightest lock up available, even with significant wear on hand length from heavy recoil with loads in the 35k + range. Your mention of the single lock up is incorrect, considering the aforementioned hand/ cylinder/trigger follow through. Your recognition of the poor cylinder bolt design will probably be exposed during the heavy testing of the Anaconda in the future; as it has the same design mechanical components as the King Cobra, and Colt Python 2020. Frank Glenn, expert in firearms tuning and design improvements, used a ball and teardrop detention nearly 50 years ago to satisfy the front of cylinder crane retention on the original 55 COLT PYTHON. ( major release in ‘56) First Pythons built by Al DeJohn of Colt Firearms. Often reported that Al Gunther was the individual, since his input and relationship with King Gun Works aka King Sight Co. Of California. They had originally installed an underlug and ventilated rib with flat back rear sights in the 1930’s Officier Model Match Colt Revolvers. They also installed the spring loaded ball detent at the from of cylinder crane. As Solomon wrote “NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN” I find your passion and enthusiasm to share your Python experience with you son and those who read comments, and watched your videos refreshing. Someday I may also invest a few hours in producing videos that open some broader thing and perspective on Firearms prototype design and design for manufacture with highest reliability and safety at the for most engineering goals and business plan combined. TRJM THE REAL JERRY MORAN Servant of the King
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Enjoyed your comments. I purchased the 4” King Cobra “Target” model as I already have the vintage Python, and view the King Cobra as a Python Jr. Curious to your thoughts on the new King Cobra as well.
Python's ARE beautiful. But considering the price point and quality control issues. I will take my S&W 686+ (which was $500 less than a Python), over the Python. 🤠
On a scale of 1 to 10 for quality fit and finish, I'd rate my new stainless steel Charter Arms Undercover a solid 5. The new $900 S&W Model 66-8 Combat Magnum 357 I inspected last week I'd rate a 7 (bead blasted finish, cast trigger, hammer and cyl release = junky). This new Python sets the bar @ 10. You get what you pay for.
