Sidearms & Scatterguns Has the Bloom Come Off Early Pythons

Q

Quarter Horse

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Supporter
    • Apr 17, 2010
    1,285
    498
    78
    Carlton, OR
    #1
    I've got two Pythons from the 1970s era. A 4" and a 6". The 4" has its' original box but not so for the 6". Neither gun has two hundred rounds through it and they are principally HBWC. Both guns have less than a handful of .357Mag if any.

    Of recent I have noticed about a drop of about 10% on a couple similar Pythons. Want to hear your thoughts. Is it time to let them go?
     
    #2
    I am reminded of the rush for M1's and 1903's post Saving Private Ryan. I even considered selling my 03A3 for about 2 seconds and maybe for 15 seconds I considered selling the M2 22LR (they were up to $3000!!!) I have never considered selling my Garand. The rifles I have will likely never be worth what people were paying shortly after that movie but I didn't sell them then and I probably won't ever sell them.

    Now, if I were to have had several, I might have sold a couple.

    The prices on Pythons have likely peaked and are not likely to go back to what they were a couple of years ago. If you are not attached to these Pythons and want to sell for more than you paid, now is probably a good time.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: secondofangle2, 1911hombre and Quarter Horse
    #3
    Quarter Horse said:
    I've got two Pythons from the 1970s era. A 4" and a 6". The 4" has its' original box but not so for the 6". Neither gun has two hundred rounds through it and they are principally HBWC. Both guns have less than a handful of .357Mag if any.

    Of recent I have noticed about a drop of about 10% on a couple similar Pythons. Want to hear your thoughts. Is it time to let them go?
    Click to expand...
    I’d say they are on the decline too. They went up with the popularity of The Walking Dead, but I’ve noticed the prices steadily going down. Especially with the 2020 python being released (I know it’s not apples-apples)
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Quarter Horse
    #5
    I bought a 5" blued model back in the 90's only paid 350.00 for it , someone had done a trigger job on it that was borderline dangerous, almost shot my big toe off once , ended up trading it for a kimber custom 2 45cal , I got screwed on the deal but I really like the Kimber so not that bad , the kimber was brand new and has the best trigger I've ever pulled on a semi auto pistol.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Quarter Horse
    #6
    All the crap new Pythons/King Cobras did was drop the bottom out of the market.

    I sold a bright stainless 6" unturned (hangtag in the plastic) to build an MPA rifle for $4K in 2017? or abouts there. Now that same gun sells for about half. The new ones aren't hand polished and hand fitted and only look like the originals. I still have several in boxes bought in the late '70s/early '80s. I wish I would have bought one of the 8" .38s, but nobody wanted them back then...

    It wasn't just Walking Dead. I also heard there was some first person shooter computer game(s) (have no idea which one(s)) where "The Python" was a one shot kill pistol, so all the gamers thought it was all powerful.

    They'll always be worth much more than they were new, but that whole Colt craze was tulips there for a while. I'm glad I cashed in a little at least. I guess I should have sold them all and bought them back now for half, but I honestly think they're a superlative pistol, and love taking my shooter to the range. It's lost a lot of blue to the holster, as it sat on the hip of a PA State Trooper for 23 years, but it's a straight shooter. Still has the nail polish and white out on the sights. I've never messed with it.

    All good condition Colts will go up and down in price, but stay gold coins. I only shoot the one pistol, but I keep the rest for an off the books rainy day fund. There will always be people who will buy new/old stock iconic pistols.

    IMO the old Colts are better than the old S&Ws out of the box, but the smoothest, best shooting pistol I've ever shot was and N frame and the duty pistol of a retired FBI guy that "had some work done to it". I never found out what that meant, but the DA pull was like a longer, but just as pure and glassy break, SA pull. It was a dream to shoot it either way.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Quarter Horse
    #8
    steve123 said:
    The geezers, ha I'm one, are dying off, and the youngers don't see the appeal when there are so many other modern cool guns out there nowadays.

    I always liked S&W's more as far as action cycle feel but I was never all that much into revolvers anyway.
    Click to expand...
    I recently pulled the trigger double action on a real tuned up S&W....smoothest thing I've ever felt. Just incredible. I have a few revolvers and now I'm looking at tuning them up. Maybe find an old S&W in 44 Mag and have my friend tune it up.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: diggler1833, Fig, Quarter Horse and 4 others
    #9
    Fig said:
    All the crap new Pythons/King Cobras did was drop the bottom out of the market.

    I sold a bright stainless 6" unturned (hangtag in the plastic) to build an MPA rifle for $4K in 2017? or abouts there. Now that same gun sells for about half. The new ones aren't hand polished and hand fitted and only look like the originals. I still have several in boxes bought in the late '70s/early '80s. I wish I would have bought one of the 8" .38s, but nobody wanted them back then...

    It wasn't just Walking Dead. I also heard there was some first person shooter computer game(s) (have no idea which one(s)) where "The Python" was a one shot kill pistol, so all the gamers thought it was all powerful.

    They'll always be worth much more than they were new, but that whole Colt craze was tulips there for a while. I'm glad I cashed in a little at least. I guess I should have sold them all and bought them back now for half, but I honestly think they're a superlative pistol, and love taking my shooter to the range. It's lost a lot of blue to the holster, as it sat on the hip of a PA State Trooper for 23 years, but it's a straight shooter. Still has the nail polish and white out on the sights. I've never messed with it.

    All good condition Colts will go up and down in price, but stay gold coins. I only shoot the one pistol, but I keep the rest for an off the books rainy day fund. There will always be people who will buy new/old stock iconic pistols.

    IMO the old Colts are better than the old S&Ws out of the box, but the smoothest, best shooting pistol I've ever shot was and N frame and the duty pistol of a retired FBI guy that "had some work done to it". I never found out what that meant, but the DA pull was like a longer, but just as pure and glassy break, SA pull. It was a dream to shoot it either way.
    Click to expand...
    I agree with just about everything you posted, but man... shoot those pistols!. The same goes for leaving your sports car in the garage. As the saving (sort of) goes... would you save your girl so the next dude can bang her! There are much better investments out there. And, a unfired pistol won't have that much more incremental value over one that has been used but well cared for and not abused.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Tcorb734
    #11
    As a collector of old wheelguns, I definitely think that the market segment that enjoys them the most (old dudes) are dying off.

    The next generations of shooters are much less into them. Most of the guns too aren't rare or expensive enough to be true investment items...those are still going to rise (like the limited original Pythons in short barrels etc...).

    *Edited to add an old photo of my Python. I put some Culina's on it, but kept the original grips for collector value.
    IMG_7333.JPG
     
    Last edited:
    • Like
    Reactions: FWoo45, JFR, Rookie and 3 others
    #12
    Aftermath said:
    I recently pulled the trigger double action on a real tuned up S&W....smoothest thing I've ever felt. Just incredible. I have a few revolvers and now I'm looking at tuning them up. Maybe find an old S&W in 44 Mag and have my friend tune it up.
    Click to expand...

    A worked over S&W is sure a pleasure to shoot. I had a side hustle for several years working on them. I learned the hard way - bought a couple of falsely advertised junkers on GB. :LOL: By the time I sourced the correct parts and got them to fit right, I had learned a ton.

    It isn't hard to do man, just takes time. Probably some decent videos on YouTube where you can kind of teach yourself. Go slow, stay away from power tools, and enjoy it.

    I think I have 27 or 28 older S&W revolvers in the safes now. Wish I had as many old Colts.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Aftermath, steve123 and Fig
    #13
    NIB old stock will always have value, as will Gen 1 SAAs. They're just made better than anything out today. They will always be collected and coveted even if only because they are hand made, like a $25K original Hawken Rifle. Almost no utility at all, and of the few people I know who have them (or a few of them) they would never even consider shooting them.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: diggler1833
    #14
    FriscoKid said:
    I agree with just about everything you posted, but man... shoot those pistols!. The same goes for leaving your sports car in the garage. As the saving (sort of) goes... would you save your girl so the next dude can bang her! There are much better investments out there. And, a unfired pistol won't have that much more incremental value over one that has been used but well cared for and not abused.
    Click to expand...
    They're gold coins. It's not interesting for me to shoot most of them anyway, and the ones I like shooting I have non-investment examples that aren't in pristine condition that I do shoot. They're the same pistols in different colors, grips, etc. I bought a new/old stock, Colt, full rebuild kit (all the wear parts) and a new cylinder (the original one is getting a little worn) in case my shooter Python ever goes down.

    Say you have five '69 mustangs. Four are Pebble Beach perfect, and one your drive the hell out of. My kids can do what they want with them when I'm gone, and maybe they decide to shoot all of them. I could care less, I just want them to have them. If they sell them for a down payment on a house or something I'd be just as happy as if they decided to shoot them.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Quarter Horse
    #15
    NIB collectors items are always going to fetch a premium. I did that with some of the more rare (1of 100) items from Colt's custom shop when Colt was still an American-owned company.

    Commemorate guns are almost always a poor investment. Not always though.

    Most of my other "collectable handguns" (collectable to me only probably) are items that are "as new", but have seen a few rounds. I really take pleasure in shooting a few magazines/cylinders through them each year, and they don't plummet in value 25% or more if you fire them. Most still actually increase in value a little...at least enough usually to keep up with inflation.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Quarter Horse and Fig
    #16
    True, but they're not "unturned", NIB. It's not THAT big a difference in price, but why if I have the same thing that is worn and has a ton of bluing off from years in a cop's holster but shoots the same.

    If I only had a single Python I'd shoot it for sure. But when you have several it makes no sense.
    All the old Winchesters I have don't get shot, just because I'm not that interested.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Quarter Horse and diggler1833
    #17
    Fig said:
    True, but they're not "unturned", NIB. It's not THAT big a difference in price, but why if I have the same thing that is worn and has a ton of bluing off from years in a cop's holster but shoots the same.

    If I only had a single Python I'd shoot it for sure. But when you have several it makes no sense.
    All the old Winchesters I have don't get shot, just because I'm not that interested.
    Click to expand...

    Yep. I have an unturned Colt SAA, and one that I know has been turned at least once (couldn't help myself). Both are ca 2007, but one is a "Z" suffix model out of the custom shop.

    I'd bet the unturned one would fetch a good 10% more, even though it is a production line revolver.

    I need to get off my butt and shoot the other one.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Fig and Quarter Horse
    #18
    If Colt made the new guns to the old standards it would be a much better revolver, the lockwork on the old ones kind of sucks. They updated the bolt stop to a S&W-ish configuration and got rid of a lot of small parts in the lockwork. They lock up better and aren't nearly as prone to stacking thru the trigger pull.

    So, there is a lot of potential. They did a custom 3" round-butt for Ken Hackathorn and it was outstanding, but it was also hand built. As for the rest, "they don't build 'em like they used to."

    A lot of people wanted them and paid a ton of money because they had been out of production. You have three camps:

    1. Kids that wanted one from playing Resident Evil or whatever that were born to late to get one. They'd pay money for old ones before, but a new one for ~$1200 scratches that itch.

    2. Old dudes who wouldn't afford one back then and have enough money to buy one now. They might still want an old one, but some of them will be just fine with a new one also.

    3. Collectors that are already invested and want them old ones.

    TL;DR supply went up, price went down.
     
    Last edited:
    • Like
    Reactions: Quarter Horse and Fig
    #19
    There's no question the S&W designs are way more robust. The Colts are much more delicate and go out of time/break much easier. The whole stacking thing only lives in the minds of production Smith "just as gud" owners. The PPs, PSs, DSs, Cobras, Officers, etc. stack so little it's hard to even notice unless side by side. The Snake guns you're imagining it. The pull on a Python or Anaconda is buttery smooth, and you would need some machinist instruments to detect stacking.

    That said, the S&Ws can be made just as smooth (maybe smoother) with some ju-ju I know nothing about, but I've felt DA pulls on custom S&W that will beat a production Python...just my opionion.

    Honestly, if they made them today like they did in the '60s and '70s they probably would cost more than $10k. I can't find it online (maybe in one of my dad's many $200 coffee table books) but I remember a series of pictures of them making pistols in the Colt factory. The first series were of a wall of like 30 polishing wheels with thirty guys sitting in front of them, and each one a little finer grit. When the first guy was done he'd pass it to the next, and the last guy would pass off a frame with a mirror finish to the guy who started the bluing process. The next series was the guys putting the guts of the pistols together (also with polishing wheels and tiny files), hand fitting all the parts together. It was insanely labor intensive. Would make any LEAN Mfg. guy puke.

    They gone, and they gona stay gone. All my Dad's collection will maybe go up and down like stocks, but the trajectory will be up, because no one would manufacture like that again. You would go broke.

    I have a couple of Korths too (Kombat, Klassic, Sport) used but boxes and paperwork. Think Snake Gun beauty with S&W robustness. They're stupid expensive for a new one, and the new ones are fugly, but they're still making them one at a time by hand like that.

    Honestly, the '60s and '70s were a golden age of firearms production in America, and I doubt we'll ever see the like. I do think that the better and cheaper CNC we get we will see quality go up, but we're still gona pay for it...
     
    • Like
    Reactions: M4guru, fanninland and Quarter Horse
    #20
    I have a 6" 1974 that gains 2.27# consistently through the pull on a fixtured commercial trigger gauge, and an 1993 Kodiak that gains slightly less. I've got a 4" Python from the mid-80's that is absolutely the whole way through, and my new ones are fine also. To your point about the older ones, I've got a 1917 that straightened the hook on the force gauge it's so bad from the beginning. Ben Forkin looked at the 6" about 4 years ago and thought he could fix it (begrudgingly), but I elected to keep it factory because I'll never shoot it anyway. So...it definitely exists, but not on all of them. I'm super autistic about wheelguns, that's my love in life. At this point I could take or leave Colt and Smith for new guns. Rugers aren't the prettiest, but holy shit they're tough. I had Hamilton Bowen do a a .44 Mag Super Redhawk conversion to a 45 Colt with his Kodiak package and I don't shoot much else for non-big bore DA guns. It's beautiful and mechanically flawless...but you get what you pay for.

    Hell, Smith couldn't even afford to do Triple Locks after 1915. I bet you could build new Pythons to the old standard for $7500, at least they're starting with more consistent parts. :ROFLMAO:
     
    #21
    Wood and blue guns are dieing off in popularity with their owners.

    There's few that are willing to pay or see the value in old unshot guns. They want the latest and greatest and they want to shoot them.

    The other thing I've noticed is the older collectors tend to have huge collections. The younger generation buys 1 very nice expensive brand new gun to fit their need. And they only end up with 3-4 of them.
    My Dad has a room full of guns. He finally started selling off a few he hasn't shot in 20 years. I only have a few dozen, and there's always one for the task at hand. Enough so that I don't really look at the gun counter because there's nothing I want or a need to be filled.

    Every time I see an old timer with a large collection die, it's other old timers buying it up. The younger crowd doesn't see value in a 100 year old Winchester lever gun or pre-64 model 70. They can go buy any number of brand new rifles with zero wear for sub $1k.
     
    #22
    The python market has been going down since just before the release of new ones. I saved only one python out of my collection. It's a nice boxed stainless from 1983. I could get my money back, but I would have gotten more 5 years ago. Colt dropping them in the early 2000's and then twd gaining popularity 10 years later really picked up the desirability of them. The craze died when colt announced the new releases. I would still rather have an old one than the latest version.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: M4guru
    #23
    Fig... you are correct. I turned down $2,500 for a mint with box early 90's Stainless 6" King Cobra in 2018.

    Now I can't get close to that.

    All I hear now is, "new ones are less money than your old one."

    I think it's a buyers market at the moment.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: M4guru
    #24
    I am reviving a four-month deceased thread. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been bit by the original Python bug again. I have one of the strike-era blued Pythons that is 98% with box... but it is a 1986, and every collector knows that it isn't worth as much. It is a decent shooter and smooth as any other, but the barrel-cylinder gap is too close. I end up having to clean it every 100 or so rounds, otherwise it will gum up around the forcing cone and cylinder face and impede the action. The factory also managed to dog-ear one of the screws holding the side plate on.

    I've been looking at acquiring an early 80's stainless with six-inch barrel, to use as a shooter. Perhaps I may try to add a four-inch Nickel example over the next year or two as well.

    From my observation of Gunbroker over the past few weeks: Prices have definitely softened. I'd say in the neighborhood of 10-20% in the last couple of years. Clean, boxed examples that were bringing $3K+, are now selling at $2,500. There are still several larger sellers that are trying to get $3,500 - $4K out of used models with no box... but those dudes have ZERO bids on their stuff. Well used examples are dipping below $2K now.

    BSTS and Elite models are still commanding a premium, but I just lost an auction for a clean 1988 (strike year) BSTS in box... it sold for $2,205.

    You can get a new one for half of what the old ones are still selling for... So I don't blame the interest in the new models and their superior durability over the old ones and their reputation to fall out of timing etc...

    The market base for these original guns is slowly dying off. I only see it coming back if legal issues (semi-auto bans) make revolvers the only viable option again. Or if another Walking Dead franchise comes out showcasing the Python again.
     
    #25
    The new ones are a pale visage of the originals. I sold a LNIB, bright, stainless for $4K to build a precision rifle, and it's one of only three guns I've ever sold. I think I sold at the height of the market. I have no regrets. I actually shoot the rifle.

    That said... I will not be selling any more of the snake guns for the foreseeable future, as not only has the price dropped, but inflation must also be considered when the value of a gun is going down as everything else goes up.
    python.jpg

    My shooter was bought new in 1968 by a newly minted PA State Trooper who wore it every day for 27 years. He pulled it a few times, but never had to shoot anybody with it. I have a hand written letter from him as providence. He did practice with it quite a bit as is evidenced by the cylinder marks and holster wear. I have a new , old stock cylinder for it, but this one still works fine. It has been worked on and made even smoother than it was originally. There is absolutely no stacking at all, which is the S&W guy knock on them. Honestly the second smoothest DA I've ever felt. #1 was a heavily worked on S&W, K masterpiece that a retired FBI guy sold to my buddy, and it had been completely reworked, and felt nothing like a factory S&W. He also told him that it had never seen anything but a .38, which is probably why it was still so cherry.

    This is the most accurate handgun I own, and I can put them on a paper plate @100 yards no problemo. It also feels realy good in the hand.

    IMO they are superlative, hand made, hand polished revolvers, that will always have value. The new ones aren't going to have half the collector value of the old ones.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: fanninland, E. Bryant and diggler1833
    #27
    FWIW, in 2016 leading up to the election when things were peeking, it was August, I sold a 1962 4 inch blue python without boxing with only about 20 rounds through it for $2400 in Salt Lake City. Was glad to get out from under it

    That year I also sold about 24 pre-ban blue label colt AR 15s because my wife is pregnant and I needed to declutter. That was about the peak of the prices for those things when everyone was terrified Hillary was going to snatch them all so I struck the jackpot there too. What was then a $2000 rifle was now a $1000 rifle so you never know but prices can come down when old trends fade away.

    On the other hand, top end Machine Guns like HK Sears and Colt M16A2s continue their inexorable rise of between 5 to 7% per year
     
    • Like
    Reactions: diggler1833
    #28
    Fig said:
    Lol. I made almost the same post at the beginning of this thread...but no pic. Perhaps I should read the whole thing before commenting...
    Click to expand...

    There's no shame in this if you were at least consistent with your prior post. It's when someone contradicts himself in the same necromanced thread that things get a bit awkward for everyone.
     
    #30
    Softening prices are effecting all collectable guns, IMO. As said above, collectors are aging out and we just don't have new young shooters (and not enough of them) wanting (or able to afford) this stuff. Collectors I know are selling and not buying because they have gotten quite old.

    Same is happening for collectable shotguns like Win 2-pin Model 12's. Just a reflection of the changing demographics.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Kwtaylor and Modoc
    #32
    I bought one of the new 45 Colt Anacondas, and I gotta say it's perfect in every way except for the rubber grips, but that's an easy enough problem to solve. I cannot believe how good it is mechanically. Cylider gap is super tight, bore isn't constricted, perfectly timed, no endshake, trigger is consistent and smooth, the finish is very clean and even...I can't find anything wrong with it. I think they're honestly better guns, certainly a better value if nothing else.

    Given the simplified lockwork and lower costs, I'm really happy with the new ones in general. While I agree with the guys saying they won't ever have collector's value of the old ones, I don't agree with the guys saying they're not worth owning.

    @Fig the Python was revitalized in the late 90s by the Resident Evil game, it would decapitate zombies with a single shot.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.

    Similar threads

    ClangClang
    Pouring a 30"×40" concrete pad on top of concrete floor?
    Replies
    69
    Views
    2K
    Sean the Nailer
    Sean the Nailer
    ut755ln
    Review Walther PDP Pro 5" Polymer
    Replies
    29
    Views
    1K
    LeftyJason
    LeftyJason
    C
    6 Arc Gasser Glass, Must be clip on compatible
    Replies
    1
    Views
    206
    Franko
    F
    mark5pt56
    Successful day with the Cortina V2 Tuner, V22
    Replies
    2
    Views
    223
    mark5pt56
    mark5pt56
    sirhrmechanic
    Hegseth is off to a great start!
    Replies
    6
    Views
    1K
    232593
    232593
    Top Bottom
    Back
    Home
    Forums
    Merch
    Alerts