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December 8, 2009
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As per a request, here are some pictures of some of my Colt revolvers.
First picture: Standard barrel lengths offered for the Bright Stainless Pythons.
2nd picture: Standard barrel lengths offered for the Colt Diamondback.
3rd picture: You know the King Cobra, but what about the Custom Cobra ?
Colt made only 200 of these. All where bright Stainless with blued hammer, trigger and cylinder release. The 6 inch gun came with checkered target grips/stocks, while the 4 inch gun came with smooth combat style stocks/grips. All grips had a viper looking medallion.
Pics 4,5 &6 Here's a rather unusual revolver. Actually, a one of a kind factory experimental prototype of a semi-automatic 22 revolver that Colt was working on many years ago. Notice the barrel sleeve. That would move back & forth when firing the gun which in turn worked the levers attached to the springs that you see which actually rotated the cylinder for the next round.
Pics 7 & 8: At one point in time in Colt's history, they considered making a cheaper version of the Colt Python. As you can see by the following sample revolvers, they (Colt) toyed with the idea of making a Python MKIII which is actually a Python style barrel on a Trooper frame.
Here's a couple Factory samples out of the Colt vault.
Pics 9 & 10:The longest factory barrel ever offered on the Colt Python was the 8 inch tube. Several variations were offered. Some were designed with the hunter in mind and came as a scope/revolver combo as can be seen by the following pictures.
The scoped one you see here was made in a very limited production of only 200 pieces. It's the Stalker and these all came in stainless only with a Leupold scope and mounts and very large holster.
That's a few of the Colt's in the Gunkwazy collection.
Hope you enjoyed the tour.
Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
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January 24, 2009
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That's a pretty neat batch of rarely seen Colts, thanks for showing them off!
I lurk on the Colt forum now & then, and am always impressed by how diverse your collection is. The standard Colts are almost reduced to being mundane, when you pop in with some truly unique & one-off examples of Colts history. They made some pretty neat stuff through the years & always seemed to be testing new ideas.
Go ahead & show off some more, if you're up to it...I know these are only the tip of the iceberg.
July 25, 2008
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Thanks for the pictures, you have some nice Colts.
Pikepoola1racer
December 8, 2009
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Pics 1 & 2: Colt only made "50″ of these Pythons in 1994. They were part of the Serpentine Series. It consisted of an Anaconda, a King Cobra and the Python. All of them had this special roll mark.
Pics 3 & 4: Colt made a "1000″ Double Diamond sets for their 150th anniversary. They consisted of a Python and a Officers model 45 all were done in bright stainless. Here's a couple of the Pythons from those sets.
Pics 5 & 6: A lot of collectors did not know that Colt made a very small run of 5 inch long Anaconda's and also a ported 6 inch limted edition Anaconda called the Kodiak. I still don't think the 5 inch gun is even mentioned in the Blue Book today.
Pics 6 , 7, & 8 : This is what seems to be the very first Colt Trooper Mark III ever made. It's an experimental prototype revolver as can be seen by the "X" serial number. The guns grips are marked Delta/Trooper. The hammer spur looks different than the production revolvers as do the early style checkered grips/stocks that never showed up on any factory produced Troopers.
Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
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May 17, 2009
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Whew, beautiful stuff.........
thanks!
January 22, 2008
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Jeff,
Thanks for posting the eye candy 
Some of us can only dream of owning such a fine collection.
So far, only a pair of Cobras have followed me home. One of these days I'll find the right Python
I confess to being the one who asked Jeff if would be kind enough to post the pictures.
-Wayne
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November 17, 2008
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of an awesome collection.
LB
Wisdom is merely the realization of how little one knows, therefore I am wise.
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January 24, 2009
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wdelack said:
I confess to being the one who asked Jeff if would be kind enough to post the pictures.
I'm glad you did, these are some real beauties.
My little Colt Lawman two gun collection isn't anywhere near the same league as the guns posted here. I'm not worthy!
Keep 'em coming, I've just double Saran wrapped my keyboard.
December 8, 2009
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Well, OK, now that I know that the Drool is taken care of, here's a few more.
Picture 1: A pair of Colt Salesman samples done in Nickel & Blue. The story I was told was that Colt made only a handful of these Pythons to shop them around to test the water. I obtained them from an ex-Colt employee that purchased them through an employee only sale.
Picture 2: Factory engraved nickel 6 inch Colt Python.
Picture 3: Factory engraved Blue 6 inch Python.
Pics 4 & 5. I have yet to see another one of these. I'm not sure if it was just a sample gun from Colt or if they actually made a run of them. Please let me know if anyone else has one, or has seen one somewhere. I purchsed it through the Colt archive collection. It's lettered, but it does not say if any more were ever made. Thanks.
Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
January 22, 2008
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Awesome pictures Jeff! So how long have you been collecting Colts? I have thought seriously about a Colt Anaconda in 45 Colt but read some mixed reviews on it. Something about bore diameter or something. What's your thoughts on the Anaconda specifically in 45.
December 8, 2009
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I've been collecting maybe around 8 years now.
As far as the 45LC Anaconda goes, most people are not shooting them anymore, they're making them safe queens. The 4 incher 45 is really pricey due to the difficulty to find them. The 6 inchers are out there and generally don't bring much more than a 44 mag version. They are however much less common than the 44 mag version.
I read several years ago about the bores on the first ones being too large and accuracy was poor. I'm not sure when that was corrected or which ones to look for. Sorry.
There's no publicized born on dates for the Anacondas, so you can't just look that up in a book to see if you're buying an early or later version. The only thing you can do is call Colt defense at their 800 number and they will give you the born on date over the phone free of charge. That goes for all Colts. The over the phone service is free, but if you want it documented, it's a much more detailed process and it will cost you starting at $75 and going up from there for a Colt historical letter.
Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
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February 9, 2009
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Gunkwazy,
Beautiful stuff you got there. Always wanted to have a Python, just didn't get it done yet. Thanks for sharing
A man cannot have too many SuperMags
January 22, 2008
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I know Colt revolvers and the Python in particular have been on the collectors' radar for a very long time. To build such collection in only 8 years is impressive.
Maybe if I skip pizza night each week....
-Wayne
December 8, 2009
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Thanks again guys.
You know you're just asking for more.
Pics 1,2 & 3: Colt experimented at one time with the thought of installing a hammer lock on the Python. Here's the Experimental Prototype of this idea. Notice that the upper part of the grips have been altered for the swing of the locking lever. Glad it never caught on.
Pics 4 & 5: Here's a couple limited production police dept Pythons.
Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
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January 24, 2009
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I'm glad DW didn't try (or maybe they did, hmmm...) those hammer locks either. At least it looks like it's positioned in a good spot, from a functional standpoint.
January 22, 2008
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The hammer lock takes away from the nice lines of the Python! Those grips in photo 4 are very nice looking.
Range Officer
Range Officers
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February 28, 2009
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What an incredible collection of Colt's. When I decided to get some serious handguns, what I wanted was a Python. The gun store owner pointed out the advantages of the DW's and I bought my first 2 that day, both in SS, a 715 and a 744. I believe I actually paid less for the 2 Dan's than one Python would have cost. Maybe it was more, but not by much.
-Mike
December 8, 2009
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This one's a very unusual gun. As you can see by the historical letter, it's serial number "3". It's an Experimental prototype of the Colt Python. At this point it looks as though Colt wanted to do something different with the barrel, but at this point it was a custom tooled top rib (not vented yet) and the ejector rod was now shrowded. Before the Python came out, Colt's 357 guns did not have any top rib on the barrel and had exposed ejector rods.
Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
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January 24, 2009
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Gotta love that single digit serial number. Neat top rib, too.
It's also great that you can have Colt run the history on their guns...I wish a certain other manufacturer we all know would do that.
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