Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why did Colt discontinue its revolver line of products?

And is there a planned return for the snake line of wheel guns? Seems as if these products were to make their way back to the shelf that Colt would be making a killing.

Quality Pythons and Anacondas are great products and being sold for obscene amounts of money. No doubt the 1911 demand was a deciding factor but Colt marketing has to be seeing this demand for the older gear. Yes? No?

Gunwriters?

No idea why they quit. Seemed in the late '70s the only new Colts I saw were 1911s and M-16s.

No doubt if they restarted production I wouldn't be able to afford them.

Colt's workforce has damned near placed anything that they might put back into production into the stratosphere of affordable firearms. For the last 20-25 years or so their products availability has been iffy due to labor issues and their unfortunate attempt to be PC. Hope that's fixed and that they're really back in the commercial firearms business.

According to the article in the American Rifleman, there are only 160 workers at Colt. Most of the old revolver hands are probably retired and gone, too, so the institutional knowledge may be gone forever.
Between the goobermint contracts and commercial sales of 1911s, there probably isn't much production capacity available.

Didn't they lose their exclusive contract for the M-16?

Colt's always had management problems. Been close to bankruptcy numerous time. I'm sure Union wages / workers have had a lot to do with that. JMHO, though.

if they made DA sixguns right now, they'd have MIM parts, still cost a grand or more a piece, and would be a shadow of the former Pythons, Cobras, Anacondas, et al. when you see a diamondback going for an exhorbitant price, it's probably still less than they'd sell a new one for, assuming the same materials and construction.

I think you nailed it.

The "bean counters" are now at the helm and guns like the Python are very labor intense, i.e., expensive to manufacture. They can spend those same resources on products with a much greater profit margin. It's all bottom line, corporate board room stuff.

DF

Two years ago or so, I asked the CFO of Colt if there was any hope of resurrecting Pythons, diamondbacks and so on. I was given a very decisive NO. I would not be surprised to see this change as many of us are unimpressed with S&W and the action lock, but that is just supposition and fond hope.

Rumor, I emphasize rumor and not knowledge, says the tooling is shot - and maybe was for a while before production ended - the upfront cost to get back into making designs from the 19th century is way too much for the expected return. I suspect and again do not know that much like the Automag or Jeff Coopers 200 mph motorcycle example there are a few who really want one or several; after that - or as Phil Condit more or less said of the market for a high speed civil transport - if they were free everyone would have one, at the current price of the Concord the market was a dozen - in between is anybody's guess.

The Python - most of the traditional Colt line - while admirable and amply strong enough for sustained .357 loads, as the Anaconda is for .44 and .45, is a fragile design in terms of lock work, timing and such - that is not robust under heavy use ICORE and other modern match style -notice the limited number of shops both able and willing to repair and tune the existing classic design Colt revolvers.

If I'm not mistaken they have the contract for M4's and FN has it for M16's.

IMHO the people paying the prices for Pythons and DiamondBacks are older collectors. Seriously ask yourself how many 22 and 357's would sell for well over $1000? How many 357's are sold anymore?

Even when I was in the Army ('77-'81) we had HydraMatic Transmission and H&R M16A1s, there are always alternative suppliers to military contract weapons (B-17 and B-24 ring any bells?).

The M16/M4s are no different. FN had the contract for awhile, but the quality control left a lot to be desired, from what I've read. With all the various AR makers nowadays, Colt is scrambling to get AND KEEP orders.

I have no doubt this is precisely correct - the market is folks who always wanted one and can now afford to indulge. There may be a few youngsters thinking it's a cool and different thing. IMHO the Python goes with the blue steel and walnut crowd and that market is going away - FWIW I think Colt is correct if they think the investment in tooling up machines and people would never be paid back with interest.

To my jaundiced eye the next question will be why doesn't S&W bring back the custom shop quality of 20 years ago?

I think you're correct. I never cared for the stainless Pythons but would love a blued one. Also agreed on the S&W thing, they already make the guns it would just require some skilled craftsmen to finish them to a higher standard.

First, a few debunks of common myths;

Colt did lose it's exclusive M4 contract a couple years ago and solicitations are out there for other companies to bid on to supply the Army with what it needs. IIRC, Remington got a limited qty contract to produce some.

On the Python etc; I had a very good friend who was one of the senior engineers at Colt who sadly passed away a few years ago. The simple answer to the issue with revolvers was that the tooling was getting worn out so production was stopped. In addition, in 2006, Colt had precisely two employees who knew how to work on Python's etc and they were due for retirement and no plans were made to train new revolver smiths. Hence, no new Pythons. I know because I saw the 50th anniversary Python at the SHOT Show that year and tried to contract with Colt to build me 50 more. They said no. I tried to buy 100, then 500 and then finally offered to contract with them for 1,000 revolvers and they still said no. It wasn't until I met my friend a year later and got the explanation that I understood why they had refused.

The myth of Pythons being much more delicate than S&W may have some small merit in that they are a little bit more complicated but many Pythons rode in the holsters of police officers for just as many years as revolvers by S&W. Plenty of New Service model Colts are out there from the war years and still shoot just as well as they ever did. The L frame S&W was the death knell of the Python because it looked very similar and cost much, much less.

In terms of quality of the revolvers of today from S&W? Revolvers are a very time consuming item to produce unlike the M&P auto pistol line or other guns like the Glock et al. Hence, some parts have to be made by MIM and some smaller steps of hand finishing eliminated or they would be priced out of the market. And indeed, the revolver market itself is relatively small compared to what it used to be.

I still miss my Ultimate S/S polished Python the British Government confiscated from me in 1997 and destroyed when the UK handgun ban occurred - Bastages!!!

There must be a story here on how the British government got a hold of your Python. Were you working in the UK or just passing through? Was the pistol legally in the UK or ????

Clark,

Good points. As much as they are revered, the Colt design isn't as good as the Smith design, IMHO.

The way to go is to buy used Smiths and Colts. I know the prices are going up, but so are the resale values.

Colts have already jumped. I think sleepers are the '50's five screw Smiths. Even those prices are starting to move. I don't think there are better revolvers than vintage Smiths.

Just saying.

DF

IMO the Anaconda and King Cobra were crap pieces when compared to the Smith they were trying to compete with. Didn;t like the action at all. Never saw where a Python ran any better than a far less expensive lightly tuned L-frame either. The now nUSFA SAA trumped the Colt SAA as well.

Ed,

Is USFA still making SAA?

DF

no, they have put all of their production efforts into the "zip gun." a shame if you ask me, but they apparently expect to run a more profitable business this way.