Competing With a 2020 Python

I shot a combat match with my new (to me) Python. It was about a half-match as far as the number of stages goes.

What I liked: The double-action trigger pull and the Wilson sights with a red fiber-optic front. The sights were very fast to line up and the trigger pull was smooth and even. I put Pachmyer Gripper grips on it and they felt just right.

What I didn't like: The face of the trigger. The day afterwards, I had a slight sore spot on my finger from the serrations.

The range holster that I use for K-frames worked OK. I got the proper Safariland Comp IIs for it, but I suspect that the ones for either a Security Six or a L-frame might have worked. HKS 10A speedloaders also work, but I've found that the HKS ones are a little more tolerant of "this ain't the gun I was made for" fitment than do the Safariland speedloaders.

A 2.5" S&W 686 from the Performance Center has a MSRP of $1,209. A 3" Python has a MSRP of $1,499. The Performance Center does not seem to currently have a Model 66 in its offerings. A generic Model 66 is nowhere near the build quality of a Python.

This is worth a look:

The aftermarket score is a little low for Colt, because there are now over a quarter-million of the 2020 Pythons out in the wild. No doubt that a lot of the first ones were snapped up by collectors, but that has to be a long-term bet. It took decades for the originals to become venerated collectors' guns.

Another point: Those who tinker a lot with revolvers to lessen the double-action trigger pull soon learn that the lighter the trigger pull gets, the more likely it is that a shooter will run across a brand of ammunition that will not be reliably ignited. When you pull through the trigeger, you are working against two springs-- the trigger return spring and the mainspring. Trigger jobs often involve lightening one or both of them. If you lighten the mainspring too much, the hammer's fall will be less foreceful, which means less of an impact on the primer. One fix for that is putting in a longer firing pin so the pin is pushed in further, but it's not at all uncommon for guns tuned for competition ("race guns") to be limited to firing ammunition with Federal primers, which are, by reputation, the easiest to touch off.

There is nothing wrong with a good 686 or a GP100. But the Python stands above both for fit and finish. If you have the funds for one, you probably won't be disappointed. "Buy once, cry once."