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

it does surprise me seeing the KC commanding such high prices these days, because I clearly remember that they weren't particularly popular when they were available due to being such a cheapened version of the python.

Yeah, people want what they can't have.

DF

Only if the can sell that ugly "Zip gun", which to me is a real POS.

They won't make any money off me...

I don't understand everything I know about that deal...

DF

I'd love to have a Python. Prices are out of my range. I'm sure the Smiths are great, but there's just something about a Python that I like. I'm not a revolver expert, but the Pythons I've shot seemed buttery smooth compared to other revolvers. I do have an older Colt .357 with a 4 inch barrel that is marked just that, .357 Magnum. Not sure of the model, but it is a pleasure to shoot. mtmuley

I grew up with K frame S&W's, never owned a Colt revolver until I was grown. I bought a Python from an Army buddy back in the '70's for $185. He later wanted to buy it back, but I didn't want to sell it. My son ended up with it and it's worth around $1,400 today. It is buttery smooth and very accurate.

I still prefer a good 60's vintage Smith K gun to about any revolver I can think of.

Guess it's what you're used to.

DF

I wonder what that unmarked 357 is? Maybe a diamondback? Curious.

IIRC Colt did at one time market a revolver on the Trooper frame again IIRC that was simply the .357 Magnum. Of course, memory at my age is somewhat suspect.

The market for revolvers is dying, thus it makes no sense for Colt to invest in a revolvers.

I believe the one I have is what Skidrow is describing. It has what seems to be an unusually light trigger pull. Out of all the revolvers I've handled that belonged to friends when we shoot, that Colt is the smoothest. I don't shoot it much, it is kind of a family heirlom, but I rattle some .38s through it once in a while. I have some Rugers when I need my revolver shooting fix. mtmuley

If reproducing Colt revolvers was profitable, the Chinese would be doing it now.

To much involved to build one....even for Chinese slave.

For a very long time Colt was a gun company, then they became a finance driven organization. The Magnum carry was the best small, powerful carry revolver ever made. Therefore they had to0 disappear.

Colt management was and remains abysmal, crawling with incompetents who lasted long enough for the old timers to die and then taking their empty positions.

It is sad that a great company, with the history and intrinsic value of Colt has been gutted and left to rot on the gut pile of firearms history. Last time I looked Uberti was doing just fine - and making damn good guns.

Colt teamed up with Cooper for a bolt gun here recently. mtmuley

There are a number of factors that led to the decline of Colt's revolvers. In Massad Ayoob's book Greatest Handguns of the World he lists a number of them. Among these,

1) the fact that the double action pull on a Colt has a "step," "hitch" or "stacking" in it compared to the straight through pull of the S&W, which makes the latter easier to shoot DA as cops started to practice after WW II,

2) the backstrap shape of the Smith which was more conducive to fast double action shooting than the more rounded Colt shape,

3) the fact that Smith cost less after the war,

4) the short-cuts in action and frame finishing by Colt to try to stay price competitive, which put off buyers,

5) the fact that Colt substituted cheap plastic "Coltwood" grips for wood grips which put off buyers,

6) the fact that Smith built a new plant with new machinery after the war and Colt didn't,

7) the fact that Smith was managed by gun people whereas Colt was managed by people who, as Bill Ruger observed, preferred to play golf to shooting.

You'll notice that I did not mention unions in the above. Remember that the Colt plant is in Connecticut and the Smith plant is in Massachusetts, both blue states with similar labor environments as best I can tell. If Colt had more union problems than Smith I would attribute it more to bad management than bad unions.

I am also under the impression that the Colt action needed more handwork than the equivalent Smith, which is why Smith was able to undersell Colt, at least after WW II. Back in 1980 the Colt Police Positive Special, a fixed sight 38 revolver, cost $225, whereas a Smith model 13 fixed sight 357 cost $135. The Colt Diamondback cost $400 whereas a Smith Model 15 cost $220.

In addition to the better stock DA pull of Smiths compared to Colts, pretty much any gunsmith who works on revolvers can do an action job on a Smith, whereas the number of gunsmiths who can do a good action job on a old Colt action (e.g. Detective Special, Police Positive, Official Police or Python type action) is much rarer, and the factory workmen who built those old actions are either retired or dead.

I am sure it was money and management. Friday I bought a used Trooper MKIII right next to it in the gun case was a new S&W 27 Classic. At half the price the Colt was mine. S&W is not as it was either. The MKIII and the MKV were some of the strongest Mid frame revolvers ever made. To many more so than Ruger's. The Colt's are smaller lighter and look better, no to mention triggers. I am a S&W guy, the Colt DA is different and perhaps more weight but not as bad as Ruger. There would be a market, for a close to Python revolver, who knows. The local LGS had new Colt 1911's, a very full market for them, they seem to sell all of the SAA's they can build. If they brought back a good SA/DA revolver I think there would be a market.

I think the King Cobras would sell. I mean Ruger sells their GP 100s......

Bottom line...poor management for years. They never tried to fix their problems.

Tons of great feedback in return comments. Thanks! I do agree with Smith over Colt. Especially, based on price. Python prices are silly-sick right now.

Anyone had any experience with the Rossi .357 line? Or the Ruger SP101?

I like what I read and see at the counter.

Rossi and Taurus are about the same to me, not in the same league as the Colt and S&W. Ruger's are good, but chunky and the triggers not as good. All can be fixed, but at the end of the day the Colt and a S&W will be worth more.

I guess I will buck the trend. For my money the Colt snubbies were the best ever made. I have a DS and a Cobra. If I ever buy another revolver it will be a Diamondback.

Back in 1968 I purchased a Colt Trooper (the Old Model, not the MK III) 6" .357 Magnum with the wide hammer and target grips for use as a duty revolver. My hands are huge, and the Colt fit just fine. I took it up to San Francisco to F. Bob Chow and had him do a complete action job. When I picked it up the double action was very smooth and functioned like a dream. If I recall, Chow would recontour the mainspring slightly improving DA pull without reducing reliability. Single action pull was light and crisp. I won several matches with that old gun, and regret selling it years later.

Purchased a new S&W Model 29 back in the early '70's from the S.F.Gun Exchange. Right off it had a problem in that the trigger wouldn't return after firing. Took it to my local gunsmith, a S&W repair station, and had it fixed while I waited. Later on a fellow came into the Coyote Point Rifle and Pistol Range where I worked with his brand new shiny S&W .41 Magnum. He came back to the control room and asked if I would shoot his revolver because he couldn't hit the target. When I looked down at the revolver I immediately noticed the barrel was engraved .44 Magnum, but the cylinder was chambered for .41 Magnum and the box was labeled for a .41. No need to shoot it.

In owning S&W, Colt and Ruger revolvers, among others, they all have good and bad things about them. Some came defective out of the box, some broke while being used, but the Anaconda in .45 Colt I purchased is still going strong, as is the New Frontier. Through it all the Rugers, both SA and DA, with the esthetics of a Wilton vise, have been remarkable for reliability, with only a single broken transfer bar to mar the record, and I changed that in a few minutes. Would I purchase a new Colt revolver? Probably not, because I really don't need another revolver, or any handgun for that matter.