Colt’s Snake Guns Strike
From the introduction of the great Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector 1st Model New Century, the mighty Triple Lock, S&W went on to dominate the double-action wheelgun market. They still are a Gargantuan presence in the market. I have a lovely matched set, my oft-mentioned favorite 1970s vintage N-frame 25-5 in .45 Colt, and a pre-Model 17 K-22 Combat Masterpiece, the K-frame .22 long rifle. Both have 4” barrels, both are polished blue, and both have ivory grips. Because if George Patton did it, it has to be cool.
While Smith & Wesson was going from success to success, Colt hadn’t given up. They had some hits; the Colt New Service was one such, a big, beefy double-action revolver that fired the .44WCF and .45 Colt rounds. This was one of the first true combat magnums, and the U.S. military adopted it for a while as the Model 1909. In this, the Colt sixgun serves as a stopgap between the anemic M1889 Colt and its .38 Long Colt round and the magnificent Colt/Browning 1911 automatic.
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But Colt’s greatest 20th-century double-action sixguns all carry one thing in common: They are named for legless reptiles. These are the Snake Guns.
The Design
The Snake Guns were, as you would expect, early 20th-century designs. They had Colt’s usual pull-back cylinder catch and a leaf mainspring, along with the clockwise-turning cylinder. Newer sixguns, like the Ruger RedHawk, have coil mainsprings, which I’m given to understand are more robust. But Colt’s snakes worked, and worked well; I’ve rarely felt a trigger on a sixgun as good as one on a vintage Colt serpent.
Here's the thing about the Snake Guns – they were rather more than variations on a single theme, as each was developed individually. Also, in the years these revolvers were introduced, Colt’s design and development was as much a skunkworks as anything. So let’s look at each gun individually.
The Guns
The first was the Cobra, a snub-nosed, six-shot hideout gun with an aluminum frame. The Cobra was something new; it was, essentially, the same gun with the same D frame as the famous Colt Detective Special, but lighter thanks to the frame. It was available in .22 Long Rifle, .32 Colt New Police, .38 Colt New Police, .38 Special, and a few were made in .357 Magnum, which must have been a handful.
Next was the gun that is often considered the Cadillac of double-action revolvers, the Python, built on Colt’s big I frame. This gun started in 1955, with factory gunsmith Al De John, and superintendent Al Gunther. Looking to improve a.38 Special Officer’s Match revolver, De John beefed up the cylinder and frame, thickened the top strap, all to deal more effectively with the high-pressure .357 Magnum round. Al Gunther was the one who suggested the Python’s iconic ventilated rib above the barrel and full underlug, adding that little bit of weight forward that, if you ask me, makes the Python a pleasure to shoot. This fine gun entered the market in 1955; the first-generation guns were made until 2005, with the second-generation guns still in production. The first-generation guns required a lot of hand-fitting; the second-generation used more advanced machining practices to lower costs of production.
Maybe it’s just me. I like the first-generation guns I’ve handled better.
Next, came the Diamondback. This gun is a sort of scaled-down Python, built on Colt’s D frame. The gun was available in .22 Long Rifle, .22 WMR, and .38 Special. The Diamondback was made from 1966 to 1988, and was immortalized by Steve McQueen in the 1968 film Bullitt.In 1977, for one year only, Colt built the original Viper, a limited run of the snub-nosed, aluminum frame Colt Cobra but with a 4” barrel, chambered in .38 Special. Not many of these were made, and they command some pretty impressive prices from collectors today. Colt has reintroduced the Viper since, and the new Viper can be had today in 3” and 4 ¼” barrel lengths.
Even rarer is the Colt Boa, made only in 1985, a special run for the gun distributor, Lew Horton Distributing Company. This was a V frame gun, the same frames used for the Colt Trooper, but with the same ventilated-rib barrel as the Python. 1,200 of these were made, all in .357 Magnum.
The King Cobra came out in 1986. Unlike the original Cobra, the King Cobra was a full-size gun made on the same frame as the MkV Colt Trooper. It lacked the Python’s ventilated rib, having instead a solid rib and a full underlug. This piece was only available in .357 Magnum, with barrel lengths ranging from 2 to 8 inches.
Finally, in 1990, Colt finally entered the .44 Magnum world, with the big MM frame Anaconda. The big gun was later made available in .45 Colt as well, and is still available from Colt today. Like the Python, the Anaconda has a ventilated rib, a full underlug, but is also has more modern lockwork that reportedly made it easier and cheaper to manufacture. This is, incidentally, the only one of the Snake Guns, other than the Boa, that I’ve never been able to shoot, although I’ve handled a few.
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What About Now?
The snakes are still out there, coiled and ready to strike. Well, not really, but you’ll forgive me the irresistible metaphor.
Many years back, a buddy of mine came across a 4” barreled, royal blue Python. We shot it a lot. It was a work of art; its double-action trigger was as smooth as two sheets of baby-oiled glass sliding past each other. It was handy, fast, easy to handle, and accurate to a fault. He eventually traded it away in one of those complicated gun deals we all get caught up in from time to time, and he still wishes he had it back.
Colt is still the oldest name in the American revolver business. It’s good that they still have their hand in. You can still buy Colt snake guns new from the factory, including the Cobra, the King Cobra, the Viper, the Anaconda, and, of course, the Python. Colt went in for bears on two other revolvers, those being the Grizzly and the Kodiak. But, while I’ve not handled a new Colt in some time, I’m told the new guns just don’t have the feel of the old. But then, there may be some nostalgia goggles involved.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go chase some kids off my lawn.
