*LIVE* Vintage 1998 Colt Python Elite .357 Stainless 6" -COLT CUSTOM SHOP MODEL-

Bryant Ridge's Analysis

The old Colt action design was a product of the late 1890's. It was complex and required that the action be literally hand fitted. The action was built using over-sized forged parts in which a fitter would assemble the action by filing, stoning, and even bending parts to get a working revolver. In line with the desire to make the Python the finest revolver ever made, Colt had the action even further polished and tuned to give the best possible trigger pull. So concerned was Colt that the Python would be the best ever made, for the first two years only Al DeJohn and one other man built every Python produced by Colt.

After they burned out from the demand for new Pythons, Colt put the Python into standard production using their best people. Colt was almost immediately flooded with demands that they offered the Python in a 4" barrel for police use, and the first 4" barreled Pythons were advertised as the Colt New Police Python, although that name was never stamped on the gun. Soon, Colt began to offer the Python with a 2 1/2" barrel. Colt legend says that the 2 1/2" Python started off as a joke by two Colt managers who wanted to play a practical joke on a senior manager. They had a Python shortened to 2 1/2" and showed it to the intended victim. At the time, the idea of a short-barreled revolver with the powerful, heavy muzzle blast of the .357 Magnum was considered to be ridiculous. Instead of laughing, the manager handled the snubby Python and liked the feel so well, that he ordered it into production. In time the Python would also be offered in an 8" barrel and in a short run of extremely rare 3" barrel versions.

Demands were made for other finishes besides Royal Blue, so over the years, Colt offered the Python in Bright Nickel, satin electroless nickel known as "Royal Coltguard", and in the early 1980s in satin stainless steel and in bright mirror polished stainless steel, variously known as Bright Polish or Ultimate Polish.

The Python was only sold in two calibers: the standard .357 Magnum and the Colt Python Target in .38 Special with an 8" barrel. Colt did make experimental Pythons in other calibers, including .22LR, .22 Magnum, .256, and .41 Magnum. None of these guns were ever made in more than a very few experimental examples, and none were sold as production guns. From time to time, Pythons in calibers other than .357 and .38 turn up, but these are invariably not factory guns but conversions done by gunsmiths. In the mid-1980s, Colt issued a catalog featuring a pair of .22 LR Pythons on the cover. Colt announced that they'd intended to produce .22 LR Pythons, but after the catalog was already printed, they'd changed their minds, and no production of .22 models was made. One knowledgeable collector says that Colt definitely made prototype Pythons in .22 LR and in .22 Magnum but thinks that they were not functioning revolvers.

Production of the Python continued as a production line gun until the late 1990s. With the Colt company in financial difficulties and losing some of their best craftsmen, Colt moved production into the Colt Custom Shop in 1997 and made it a custom order-only revolver. To highlight this move, the Python had the name "Elite" added to the barrel, and it became the Colt Python Elite. The Elite was exactly the same gun as the standard Python, with only the barrel stamp being different. Production of the Python finally ended in 2003-04. The Colt Python Elite was introduced to fill a void in the market after discontinuing the original Python. The name is synonymous with rigid construction and captivating styling.

Specifications

Manufacturer: Colt

Model: Python Elite

Serial: PE02133

Date of Manufacture: 1998

Caliber: .357 Magnum / .38 Special

Finish: Stainless Steel

Barrel Length: 6" full lug ventilated rib barrel

Optics/Sights: Orange Ramp Front with Adjustable White Outline Micrometer Click Rear

Stock/Grips: Laminated Wood with Finger Grooves and Silver Colt Medallions

Action: Double/Single Action 

Markings: Standard

Images