Thanks for sharing your experience with your Python….

 

Dang it would really would have been nice to see inside the new Python. But thanks for the description regardless.

 

Pictures added.

 

Still have to stick with the original Pythons that I have shot and collected for 40 years!

 

Here you go! They apparently kept all the good parts and now the main spring is a U-shape versus V.
Colt Python Revolver Review: The Return - Firearms News

I handled the new Python in the store last week and it is without any doubt a better gun than my old Blue 4" model. The DA pull is light and smooth and I could not feel it stacking at any point. I found the SA let off pretty crisp and clean, and though I keep reading it's anywhere from 3 to 5 pounds, it didn't feel anywhere near that under my finger. Fit and finish is excellent and I really prefer the new stocks versus the old ones and I now prefer the shape of the new trigger to the old after having sampled it in person. I go back to pick it up on Tuesday.

 

Pictures continued:

Trigger and transfer bar flipped to show the pivot where they connect together.

Transfer bar backside that rides in the frame and opposite side of trigger showing hole transfer bar pivots. You can see the edges of the transfer bar where I have knocked off the sharp edges and smoothed the surface. The back side of the bar has a bit of a concave surface and the sharp edges do drag in the frame.

Trigger and transfer bar in the frame moved to upper position such as when the trigger if fully pulled back.

Trigger and transfer bar in trigger fully forward position. You can see how these parts and surfaces can significantly impact the feel of the action.

Hand, main spring, stirrup, and rebound lever. Lots of parts eliminated versus the old Pythons.

Hammer. Nicely polished surfaces.

Firing pin and transfer bar area. I have not figured out how the firing pin is removed. I think it is permanently held in by the pressed in round part on the opposite side where the cylinder rides. Likely would need to send the gun back to Colt should you have a broken pin.

 

What a great thread! Thanks for posting these

 

The terminology of parts has changed from the older model Colt's.

The lever is no long a rebound, since the gun no longer uses a rebounding hammer.
I don't know what Colt has named it, but it's actually a trigger return bar.

The firing pin is the same design as all Colt's since the Mark III of 1969.
It's pressed in and requires a special press device to remove and install.
Using a punch and hammer can ruin the frame.

For that reason, to dry fire safely use snap caps.

Colt's doing a superior manufacturing job on these. The internal parts and frame are smoother then the older forged and machined Colt's.

 

Well Done Sir...and awesome pics make the case.

Thanks for the tutorial schematic ...!!

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Great information. Also, the link provided in post #5 is worth the read.

 

Have to say the new internals are better than the originals( to work on). May have to reconsider the new Snake.

 

I concur. It's smoother inside than my 1936 Officer's Model Target or my 67 Officer's Model Match. In fact, it's smoother and better finished than any other revolver I own.

But still, it has the worst SA trigger of any revolver I own.

 

Single action is not bad but it could be better. You can blame Commi-fornia and Ass-achussets for that.

 

First time seeing the inside of one of the new guns
Nice.

 

Hope you can get that back together, lol.

 

Was actually very easy. Internals have been much simplified.

 

OP did you remember to put loctite on all the sideplate screws? A necessity for this model.

I wonder what this action could be if it were fine polished internally like the oldest Pythons.

 

Indeed I did use a very small dab of Loctite.

I have several S&W's that have very nice, smooth DA triggers and my new Python beats them. Most of the internal parts have a very high polish on them. Likely from being put in a mechanical polisher with ceramic polishing stones. But the stirrup and transfer bar are unpolished MIM parts which definitely could be improved with some hand fitting and polishing. The rebound lever (or whatever its called now) also is another area for improvement.

 

As a mostly retired gunsmith, I really like what I see under that hood. They look like they'll be very easy to work on. Now I kinda want one.

 

We (at Heffron Precision©) offer Precision Action & Trigger Tuning© for $195. All contact points are polished in jigs we designed and built to keep the parts true. We do alter part geometry in a couple of locations. We do NOT alter or replace springs. When the gun is complete it offers much smoother action cycling, a 2.75 - 3.00 lbs SA trigger pull that is CRISP. Zero creep. The DA trigger pull runs around 8.75 lbs. We have tuned well in excess of 1,000 2017 and later Colts with Pythons taking up 600+ of those. We constantly hear how our tuned 2020 Pythons are better than the originals in EVERY way. Check us out www.heffronprecision.com.

 

While it's impressive to see the inside of any revolver, and I'm glad Colt it doing them again, I'm not sure I'm so enthusiastic of the interior finish. Geometry and function, maybe. What I see is a lot of CNC routing chatter marks at worse, or unsmoothed interior at best. I see lots of mold marks from sintered metal castings. And I see a pebbly finish on the hammer and trigger that are visible to the handler. This from taking cast/sintered/rough parts and throwing them in a tumbler to kind of polish the flat places, while also rounding off the edges.

Compared to a pre-war New Service, or Army Special, or Officers Model, or legacy Python....a lot less hand finishing and fitting in these modern Pythons - built to be assembled with little human touch.
New Service:

New Python:

 

Have you compared it to a vintage Python? That would be interesting!

 

Based on what I've seen in more than 32 years of working on Colt double-action revolvers, the new Pythons exhibit a better internal finish than the old Pythons. I have included a pic that is very typical of old Pythons with their wood-rasp internal finish. The old Pythons are beautiful guns, but the new Pythons are higher

tolerance, more consistent, have improved internal finishing, and are stronger. The few MIM parts that are used in the new Python use new technology so the hardness goes completely through the part instead of residing only on the surface. The design changes were done to improve strength and in my opinion, were long overdue. The new Colt Double-Action Lineup is a big leap forward. I just finished working on a 1957 Python. Nice, but not finished internally like the new Python.

 

I showed an old Python that looks better than the one you show.

 

Did you actually touch the parts? I said that they are smoother on the new one. I'm not sure that you can tell that just by a picture. The parts and the frame are without a doubt smoother on the new ones. They are likely all polished by machine.

That doesn't mean that the trigger pull is better or whatever else, although I do think the DA pull is better and the design overall is more robust.

 

I think we need to remember the early Pythons were built by only a very few masters who made them as true custom guns rather than assembly line guns. When demand went up more and more assemblers built Pythons...maybe Colt's better and more experienced assemblers but still production line guns that might show more internal machining marks than the early examples. To compare against an older Python maybe we need to know what time period it came from.

The new Python is designed to be built by using machinery that is far more accurate dimensionally than most older guns by any maker and requires less fitting.

 

Does it really matter? The past is the past... Change is constant and, for me, it's a matter of hoping that Colt offers a blued Python. This is not a desire for the past but simply that I prefer blued over stainless, nickel, etc. Since I collect Colts by decade and it's 2021, I have 8 more years for it to appear... 😂. In the meanwhile, I'll shoot the '78 and '81.

 

I agree...nothing beats the appearance of a Royal Blue finish...superior durability of stainless notwithstanding. If Colt would release a new Python in ordnance steel with Royal Blue rather than a coating over stainless I'd rush to be first in line (at MSRP).

 

The problem is shiney stainless looks pretty good no matter how well it's polished. Even if polished in a glorified rock tumbler, as the new ones allegedly are. But their current polishing is not up to the level needed to created a "Royal Blue" (which is all based on the polish quality, not the chemistry). Close, but you'll have very rounded "melted lozenge" look of the last of the legacy Pythons at best. And at worse, the orange peel look of the hammer, trigger, and other parts is going to show up horribly in blue. The reason they don't make blue very often anymore - it shows every flaw. Nickle doesn't, and stainless steel certainly doesn't unless you look closer than most people that just see the "bling".

 

For the people who complain it's not like old Colts. You need to realize...

YOU are NOT Colt's target market. They know you're not going to be happy with anything new, and they also know you're rather unlikely to buy any new revolver because you prefer the vintage revolvers.

Now I personally have no issue with new revolvers; they're just not what I'm interested in. But I'm glad they're out there, and I'm glad Colt is back in the revolver business. You can't fail if you never step up to the plate.

 

For the people who complain it's not like old Colts. You need to realize...

YOU are NOT Colt's target market. They know you're not going to be happy with anything new, and they also know you're rather unlikely to buy any new revolver because you prefer the vintage revolvers.

Now I personally have no issue with new revolvers; they're just not what I'm interested in. But I'm glad they're out there, and I'm glad Colt is back in the revolver business. You can't fail if you never step up to the plate.

Well said 👏

 

Great thread OP. Did you add any oil or grease when you reassembled it ?

 

Just a drop or two here and there using the included Lucas Oil gun oil. The internals were well oiled/lubricated from the factory already.

 

My 2021 Python has the SA movement as well. Coming just under 6lbs too. Will get the rectified down the road as I am an accuracy buff and trigger snob. Hoping to get a taller serrated partridge type front sight blade too. Still love it though. Of course I tinker/change every gun I own, this will be no exception.