'Blue' Colt Pythons??
Were all 'blued' Pythons the 'Royal Blue' finish,or was there also another (lesser) grade of blueing?
0
-
The early Pythons had a much higher polish to their finish, but they have always had the so called Royal Blue. JudgeColt, who is our recognized expert on Colt DA revolvers, amongst many other guns, knew the exact details of the change over, but I can't recall the time frame. 0 -
Mr. Christian may be overstating my qualifications, but I will offer a comment on this issue.
The Colt catalogs have always identified the blue Python finish as "Royal Blue." It was Colt's best grade of blue (which really means the quality of the underlying polishing), which was also the finish on the Pre-Series '70 Gold Cups.
As with nearly all guns, older ones generally have better quality than newer ones. The Colt Python is no exception. I do not believe there was a "change over," and individual guns vary, but generally, the early Colt Pythons through the 1960s are higher quality than later ones.
The quality of the early polishing is far superior, but do not take that to mean that older Pythons are always "more shiny" than later ones. Generally, they are not, but their edges, flats and contours are perfect, whereas some later guns may be "more shiny," but will exhibit more rounded edges, more wavy flats and more dished-out screw holes. (All of those defects vary in degree and inclusion from gun to gun.)
Some say Pythons from the strike years in the 1980s are the poorest quality Pythons, but there are many excellent Pythons made during that time frame that match the quality of earlier and later Pythons.
The older the Python, the higher the price, to where early ones are five-figure guns, but just judge each Python on its own merits and chose your price point that buys you a Python that satisfies your desires.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
2 comments