I remember reading that the original Pythons had a lot of hand fitting. Probably the reason they were such great guns and still command a premium.
What Price Glory?
- Thread starter Acmemfg
- Start date
I remember reading that the original Pythons had a lot of hand fitting. Probably the reason they were such great guns and still command a premium.
Yes, the older Pythons were hand fitted which is a partial reason for their premium price. However, modern CNC machines have largely done away with the need for that.
Very nice! I have a M66 with a 2 1/2 in barrel. I would love to have one in a 3 in. What barrel length is that?
- Thread starter
- #24
4"...this is an older one. Serial number indicated 1976
- Thread starter
- #25
True that. When I went to Beretta Armorers School, one part of the final certification exam was for each student to COMPLETELY disassemble the M9 pistol. I mean no two parts could be touching. Each part was placed in a separate bin; 25 pistols were taken apart like this. Then.....
each student was directed to retrieve the necessary parts from each bin and put the M9 back together. Of the 25 Berettas, some came from Maryland, some came from Italy. Their dates of production were all over the place.
All the pistols were manufactured on CNC machinery.
All went back together and functioned perfectly, save one extractor which required a single file stroke for proper fitment. I was pretty impressed.
Later on when attending S&W Armorers training, things were nowhere as smooth. Much filing and tedious hand fitting was the order of the day. Old school and no fun. I dismiss any argument that "hand fitting" is a better way to go than CNC for 99.9% of modern firearms manufacture.
This thread needs a little more Python in it. I am banging plates with this one right now.
Dayum! 
and I thought I loved K-frames ...
AA
and I thought I loved K-frames ...AA
- Thread starter
- #28
As Wayne Campbell may say....
"Oh yes...it will be mine."
And it is.
Cleanest 1976 vintage K frame I have seen maybe ever. Yay
A friend bought an anaconda right out of high school. Sold it because he's horrible with money. Great gun, when those came out I believe they had issues as well. Either way, I love think Colt is a day late and.a.dollar short.
The first run of Anacondas had accuracy issues, but that was fixed.
View attachment 1055566
As Wayne Campbell may say....
"Oh yes...it will be mine."
And it is.
Cleanest 1976 vintage K frame I have seen maybe ever. Yay
Well, that makes me feel a little better! Lots of fish in the sea.
Alas, I was going to find a Bo-Mar rib and affix it to my Colt Police Positive Special! Such is Python envy.
Jealousy is a snake! A Colt, in this case.
AA
- Thread starter
- #32
This K Frame has a side story. Back in March 1976 I entered the wonderful world of police work (I was a parole officer for 3 years before that...less than rewarding).
The sidearm I carried for many years thereafter was a S&W Model 19. Always wanted a Model 66, because they were totally cool back then. Stainless was very much in vogue. For whatever reason(s) one never found its way into my holster. The Model 19 got replaced after many years by a Model 28, which kind of went away later with the introduction of the 9mm auto pistol. Still kept an eye out for another K frame to add to the collection...just because.
Patience can be a virtue
The sidearm I carried for many years thereafter was a S&W Model 19. Always wanted a Model 66, because they were totally cool back then. Stainless was very much in vogue. For whatever reason(s) one never found its way into my holster. The Model 19 got replaced after many years by a Model 28, which kind of went away later with the introduction of the 9mm auto pistol. Still kept an eye out for another K frame to add to the collection...just because.
Patience can be a virtue
I still find the 28 to be just about perfect. My K frames are nice but the N/1917 frames are great. But then I really like the small Colt "D" frames and the medium "E/I/41" frames as well as the larger New Service frames.
Hickok45 broke one of these, yo!
See his Python2020 video...
AA
See his Python2020 video...
AA
I'm grateful Colt brought the Python back. It seems to be pretty nice. I'm pulling for ol' Colt.
A 6-inch blue Python lives here. I don't have a crying need for a new Python, but one of the 4.25-inch Pythons would be nice. It'd be nice to be able to again enjoy purchasing a new Colt double-action revolver and I would put the gun to work.
A 6-inch blue Python lives here. I don't have a crying need for a new Python, but one of the 4.25-inch Pythons would be nice. It'd be nice to be able to again enjoy purchasing a new Colt double-action revolver and I would put the gun to work.
Agreed but the CNC is only 50 to 90 percent of the equation. I can't tell you how many times I've been called out on the shop floor because a part didn't fit at final assembly. I always asked "Are you checking tool wear? Did you inspect the completed part? You had time while the machine was running its cycle". This is where CNC machinist differ from PhD's (Push here, Dummy). Thankfully modern machines have eliminated a lot of the checking with redundant tooling, probing capabilities, and in machine tool offset and broken/worn tool laser detection. Hence the 50 to 90%. Our shop still touches off by hand, etc and no one thinks about that chunk of remelt that might have a piece of carbide in it that just destroyed an insert while you were talking to your buddy instead of listening to the machine and watching spindle loads. Or my favorite... Dude starts a part, stops the machine mid cycle when the lunch buzzer goes off, comes back from lunch, un-chucks the partially completed part, chucks up on a new piece of stock (cause he already forgot what was going on), and hits the start button. Turret slams into metal that wasn't supposed to be there and the CNC is spread out on the shop floor for weeks! <sigh> Good operators plus good machines equal repeatably and close tolerances. Sadly only one is easy to find...
simon1
Self Ignored by Vista
Handle crankers rule.
Edit:
Computer program this, white lab coated CNC programer.
Just kidding.
Last edited:
And 90% of my operators would call the first a C-Clamp and couldn't operate the second!
simon1
Self Ignored by Vista
And 90% of my operators would call the first a C-Clamp and couldn't operate the second!
What would they think an ID mic. is...something for a colonoscopy?
What's scary is that I once failed to convince a "tech" that that was both an innie and an outie and the uses were not interchangeable.
Similar threads
