“Competition” in the 1950s came in one of two forms: Bullseye or PPC. The Python came with an adjustable rear sight, and this was for the competition shooters. Here you can see the offset cylinder bolt, to give the chamber more steel in its cylinder wall. The frame in the grip area of the Official Police was much better proportioned for the human hand than that of the New Service, no doubt a big part of the law enforcement interest in the Official Police. 38/.357 frame) it was much handier, and easier to shoot, than Colts New Service, that one a real brute of a revolver. 41 frame (actually, pretty much the same size as the S&W K frame, seen only ever as a. Built on the medium-sized “I” frame, which Colt referred to as a. The Python was the epitome of the DA revolver from Colt.

The new rear sight is more robust than the one on the old Pythons (it would be hard to make one more fragile) and promises to stand up to use better. The Python was given the expected Colt blue, with an even finer grade of polish as the last step, to produce the Royal Blue Colt finish. The ejector rod was now protected from the outside world. The slender barrel was replaced with one given a vented rib and a full-length underlug. In 1955, Colt decided to offer an updated Official Police for target competition and law enforcement use. The cylinder still opens by pulling the latch to the rear. I was still in my 1911 phase then, alas.) The Colt pony is there, we would not settle for less. We had one of those pass through The Gun Room back in the early 1980s, and even the old-timers and collectors remarked on not having seen one before, nor having seen one in such pristine condition. 38 Special for wartime use, and called it the Commando. There’s a serial number on the right side of the frame, and a punched 2D code ahead of that.ĭuring WWII, Colt made the Official Police in.

22LR, which were done in a special, separate serial number run, and I cannot remember how it came to reside with me. 38 Special are rare, but I seem to have acquired one sometime in the dim past. Official Police marked Colts in calibers other than. This change also had the effect of most of the Official Police production being in. The Colt Python, at 46 ounces, does not hammer you even with hot loads. A medium-sized DA revolver, (it seemed big at the time) it sold well, and in a couple of decades Colt finally figured out that much of the sales were not going to militaries, but going to law enforcement, so they changed the name to Official Police (OP). The story begins back in 1908, when Colt finished the improvements they had been doing almost annually to their medium-sized double-action revolver, and combined them into one package called the Colt Army Special. The Colt Python has a long and tortured history.

Colt python serial numbers