Posted on 12/31/2016 10:32:10 PM PST by monkapotamus
To do this job right, one has to keep secrets. And Colt dropped the biggest secret of 2017 on me, then told me to keep my yap shut—until now. Finally, the biggest news in new gun introductions is out. Colt is back in the double-action revolver business...
If you haunt gunbroker.com, odds are you have seen the prices of Colt revolvers skyrocket. Anything with a snake name has been going for big money—sometimes ridiculous money. My friend Steve Fjestad from Blue Book of Gun Values recently wrote about this. While some of the lunacy has subsided, it is clear that the guns Colt used to make still have tremendous power in the consciousness of American shooters.
Colt spent some serious time trying to get this gun right. They knew they only had one shot after a decades-long double-action hiatus. Some changes include trigger geometry. When you look at the new cobra you can see that the trigger rides on a pin more centrally located in the frame. And it is straighter than one might expect. Colt wanted to use the trigger of the Python as the baseline for what it wanted in the new Cobra. They have graphs, charts other tests that resemble a pathological liar’s polygraph test saying that they have determined this revolver’s trigger is right in there with the well-regarded Pythons...
(Excerpt) Read more at americanrifleman.org ...
“I like my pre 60 colt det specials. They feel just right and are accurate as hell with a 2 inch barrel. No +Ps though for it.”
The last I heard Colt said even the 1st gen DS are fine with +P, but I understand not wanting to risk it with a classic.
Spot on post. I am not sure I will ever own a Colt nor do I care to do so after they way they have treated the civilian Market.
*yawn*
The Python had timing problems that developed over ...*time*. (ducking) I bought one in 1985 and promptly sold it.
Taurus never gave up making revolvers and they do a good job. I probably have half a dozen of them. Rugers, too.
Nothing other than many people don’t want one for whatever reason. Springfield Armory had to get away from a “1911 Only” pistol lineup themselves - their XD line of polymer pistols have proven wildly popular in the current marketplace as a result.
And, let’s be honest, the 1911 at over a century old isn’t exactly the most modern of handguns... Don’t underestimate the people who want ‘the new shiny’ no matter what it is. Colt did (among their many other mistakes) and look where they’re at now. Bankrupt and desperate.
Bookmarking for later - Colt’s name stamped on something doesn’t have the cachet it used to. Will revisit this when production examples actually appear on the market. Remember, Colt is now having to make $599 AR-15s to try to survive and there is NO markup on those in the marketplace.
I turned down $2,500 for my Python.
Bought back in ‘69 or ‘70...
It’s ugly.
L
Some reminders of how Colt’s screwed up repeatedly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_RoFTWKAoY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcNfHudHlF8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnY6FSLFy3c
Oh, and if the name of the gun writer in the whitewashing quote in the first video seems to ring a bell, it’s the same Dick Metcalf that back in 2013 decided to sell out gun owners and support more ‘reasonable restrictions’ on the Second Amendment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Metcalf
More on his stupidity here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3108779/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3089192/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3111775/posts
His career should have ended decades ago after the AA2000 whitewash.
I’ve got a 4 inch Blue and a 6 inch stainless Python and neither of these pistols are showing any timing problems. The 4 inch was built in 1970 and has around 1500 rounds through it with most of those during yearly qualifying when I was with the SO. Most of those were standard 38 special, my duty round was the 357 Mag 125 grain loads. The 6 inch I carry daily on the ranch and it see all the heavy use with 140 and 158 grains Mag loads. I’m guessing it’s seen close to 1000 rds. While I love the smooth double action on the Colts the single action goes to my 4 inch Model 19 and the 6 inch 686. The 686 is by far the more accurate of all the pistols mentioned, plus it’s built to handle the heavier loads that seem to be the rage.
My model 19 has about 60K rounds through it and it’s still in time.
Why not the 1911? A good 1911 is better than a great anything else heh.
“I am not sure I will ever own a Colt nor do I care to do so after they way they have treated the civilian Market.”
Funny how losing your military contracts will rekindle your interest in the civilian market. Not sure that introducing new revolvers will restore profitability in a world flooded with micro wonder 9’s, not to mention revolver competitors like S&W, Ruger, Taurus, etc.
Because what the majority of the market is buying is either modern high capacity pistols or compact concealment pistols, usually polymer framed. Colt has zero offerings in these categories.
The smaller segment of the market that would buy 1911s is saturated by better offerings at both higher and lower price points than Colt offers. Nobody buys Colt 1911s any more except a tiny tiny core group of mostly-older Colt fanboys. In a market where you can buy a 1911 pattern pistol brand new over the counter for $300 that is more reliable and more accurate than the Colt offerings... Colt is screwed if they think they can keep running on the 1911.
Put it to you this way. Colt’s offering is the equivalent of a new-build 1974 Chevrolet Vega (complete with union assembly ‘kwalitee’) for $60K in the car marketplace of 2016 where everyone has better options than they do.
And, to be completely clear - what Colt is offering these days is not a good 1911. It’s a mediocre at best 1911 at a premium price point. If you want a good 1911 from Colt, you need to pay out the arse and get one from their Custom Shop where they’ve fixed it.
And then the problem is that you’ve just paid $3000 for a Colt that’s got fewer features and is a worse shooter than a Springfield 1911 Range Officer that sells for $1300.
Ah yes, the idiot arguing for a government foot in the door on constitutional rights.
Yup. His history of idiocy was long established, as was his brown-nosing of Colt and other companies even when what he was reviewing was actually garbage.
I’m not surprised. 2500 is about starting bid for one. You can easily get 3000
The writer should know that Colt cylinders rotate CLOCKWISE.
Writers hate it when they make an error like that.
I will never understand the attraction for big, heavy, and over-priced six-shot revolvers. But then I regard handguns as tools and the Glock 19 is an excellent, well-made tool at a very reasonable price.
YMMV....
Ima get one if it comes in under a grand.
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