Sure Looks Like It

Og says the Colt Python will not suit his manly shooting needs. I put a photo of the Python up, before I learned of its shortcomings.

I was reading about the Python today, and it seemed like many gun enthusiasts were so excited about it, their zeal was pretty much sexual. It was worse than Chris Matthews and Barack Obama. They practically squealed. One noted guru called it “the Mercedes-Benz of revolvers.”

Funny thing, saying that about a gun which, I later learned, isn’t strong enough to put up with prolonged shooting of real-world loads. The Python has a wimpy frame. Seems like a major design flaw to me. Would you want to worry about the size of your bullets every time you shot your expensive pistol? I sure wouldn’t.

Weirder still, Colt used to make a “budget” .357 which was actually tougher than the Python. I am referring to the mighty King Cobra, which has the guts of the .44 Magnum Anaconda. Apparently, the King Cobra was not as slick and polished as the Python, so it sold for less. And it’s cheaper, used. But the up side is that it won’t shake itself apart when you use it for the thing it was designed to do.

Seems to me–I am guessing–that the smart Colt revolver buy, for a person who actually shoots, is a King Cobra. If you want it pretty, you spend three hundred bucks having it customized. Buy it in stainless, get a trigger job, crown the barrel, put grips on it, have it refinished, and be done with it. Or you could get a Python and shoot quasi-squib 38 Special loads. Or just polish it real nice and put it in your safe. No way do I want a Python now. If it can’t stand up to real ammunition, it’s junk. Or…let’s be nice…it’s an excellent .38 Special, mislabeled at the factory. A marvelous, attractive pistol. For old ladies.

And for some reason, people are paying a thousand dollars apiece for used ones. I guess when someone tells you he paid a grand for a gun that won’t do its job, you know he’s a collector, not a shooter.

My Smith & Wesson 686 Plus is supposedly tougher than a Python, but the 8-shot Model 627 has a heavier frame and ought to last for eternity. And it has that sweet 5″ barrel. A 6″ barrel is heavy. A 4″ barrel has a shorter sight radius than 5″. I think 5″ is the way to go. It’s just a feeling.

Colt worship is really something to behold. If it can make you ignore a gun with an inadequate frame, it must be pretty powerful.