Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Colt Diamondback, what happened to it?

I looked at a used Diamondback and the salesman recommened a Smith instead of the Colt for various reasons. What is the scoop good and bad on the Diamond back?. I like my Python and thought two snakes would be a great combination

I have a Diamondback .22 and I love it. Shoots realy nice. Trigger is a mite stiffer than I usually find on my other Colts but quite useable nonetheless.

I had one, a .38. Pretty good gun, but there were complaints that the innards were way below the Python. Same complaints on the .357 Trooper. The Diamondback was a smaller frame size, of course. I don't think they wore well with hot loads, either.

Beautiful revolver, though, and when new a degree more expensive than a S&W SS equivalent to the Model 15, whetever the model number.

Have owned a 6 in 22 and a 4 in 38 diamondback. Both were nicely made although the frame is rather small. Eventually sold them as the grips were poorly shaped and way too small. Never tried aftermarket grips. I much prefer to shoot a m17 or m14 Smith. I would say Smith is the reason we don't have a diamondback today.
dan

I had a Diamondback in 4" .22... the only gun I ever truly wore out.By easy and very conservative reckoning I put well over 50,000 rounds through that gun. You can already guess I am biased in favor of the Diamondback... mine got used and abused, and never a bobble.
I have since acquired a couple others, but alas! my old eyes don't do well with those sights anymore, so I sold them off to someone who will hopefully get some good use out of them..
Pythons, in my experience are a bit fragile, Troopers are a real workhorse, and the Diamondback, at least in .22 I feel is probably the finest rimfire revolver ever made...( I am biased though...)
Ingwe

At one time the Diamondback was the most expensive revolver made in the U.S. There was the same hand fitting involved in it as there was in the Pythons. Don't think they were as tough and trouble free and the S&W 17 and 18. I have four of them and also the Smith counterparts, Both brands are great handguns and the high price of the DB probably killed it.

..It got 'snake bit' in the market!

I was looking at a 6" 38 Diamondback the other day at my local shop and the sticker stunned me. If they have problems the price sure doesn`t reflect it.
My dad had a 4" 38 my younger brother took over and I`ve always thought I`d like to pick a similar one up if the right one came along. The Diamond back and M17 (K22) are the two main pistols I grew up on and can`t say anything bad about either.

The Diamond back is , as I undestand it a scaled down python.
I bought and sold a few of them in years past. All .38s.
Wish I still had a snubnose I traded away.
The only weakness I ever recognized is the main spring.
The python has the same problem.
The spring is V shapped with the point in the corner of the grip frame , and the point will eventaully wear out. with experence you can feel it before it happens as the action starts to feel extreemly smooth.
It takes about 10 minites to change them and colt used to sell them prety cheap. detective specials have that same spring configuration ...tj3006

I've owned two about 25 years ago. A 2 3/4" .38 and a 4" .22. The .22 got outshot by my 6" K22 Masterpiece I had, so I did not keep it long, about 1-2 years. I kept the .38 longer, about 10 years, just because it was such a good looker.

Thinking back, that gun reminds me of a blonde I once knew back in Baltimore. Great to look at, and be seen with, but the whole total was a less than the sum of the parts.

I no longer have that gun nor the blonde. But I do have some fond memories of both.....

Bob

It seems the Diamondbacks were the victims of inflated expectations. Folks saw a cosmetic resemblance to the Python and transferred some the the same expectations to the Diamondback. The problem was that the Diamondback was not a scaled down Python, but simply a dressed up Police Positive with all of the limitations of its much smaller and less durable frame. Remember, this was the same frame and action used on thousands of Agent, Banker Special, Cobra and Detective Special pocket pistols. Sad development. When used within their limitations, they were fine guns.

I have shot them side by side with mine & other K 22,s and the
22 Diamondback was not as accurate. The rumor I had ehard several times that the Colt bore was made for the 22 mag? Any truth to that? The Diamondback sure looked good, and finish & fit was great.

I have a 4" 22 with stag grips. It is a fine gun, since I grew up with Colts I have been happy with it for the 20+ years that I have owned it. Around here a 22 Diamondback brings the same $'s as a python.

My 6" .22 DB came from the factory with no forcing cone. It really spit lead until that was corrected. Add a trigger job and it now is a fine shooting piece.

Thanks all for the information.
Phil