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There is the much discussed California Combat 3 inch Pythons sold by West Coast gun distributor Pacific International.
Some people think these were made up as 3 inch guns by Colt, most agree they were sold as 8 inch guns by Colt to Pacific International because the 8 inch barrel vents and stampings would allow cutting to 3 inches without interfering with the vents or having partial stamps left.
Pacific International converted them to 3 inch guns, but a question is WHO did the actual conversion.
From another forum, we have an answer:
"These guns were built by Davis Company in West Sacramento back in the day. Bill Davis was big in PPC guns and also built a ton of Smolts (Python barrels on Smith frames). It was a great shop with excellent gunsmiths. I remember being in the shop one day and one of the guys I knew there showed me one of these guns in progress. The barrel had been cut to 3", recrowned and the sight was mounted but it had yet to be engraved and refinished. He said as many have, they started out as 8" guns, basically because the 8" guns weren't big sellers. I can't recall the price but it wasn't that much more than a standard Python."
Some people think these were made up as 3 inch guns by Colt, most agree they were sold as 8 inch guns by Colt to Pacific International because the 8 inch barrel vents and stampings would allow cutting to 3 inches without interfering with the vents or having partial stamps left.
Pacific International converted them to 3 inch guns, but a question is WHO did the actual conversion.
From another forum, we have an answer:
"These guns were built by Davis Company in West Sacramento back in the day. Bill Davis was big in PPC guns and also built a ton of Smolts (Python barrels on Smith frames). It was a great shop with excellent gunsmiths. I remember being in the shop one day and one of the guys I knew there showed me one of these guns in progress. The barrel had been cut to 3", recrowned and the sight was mounted but it had yet to be engraved and refinished. He said as many have, they started out as 8" guns, basically because the 8" guns weren't big sellers. I can't recall the price but it wasn't that much more than a standard Python."