Umarex Colt Python 6" (Polymer) Review
Mar 4, 2021 19:00:05 GMT
HeadHunter, Modski66, and 4 more like this
Post by twodoctors on Mar 4, 2021 19:00:05 GMT
Yes, the polymer version!
I have been eyeing up one of these for a while. There are very few reviews on Google or YouTube, and most are for the BB-only version.
I don't know when these "dual-fuel" version came out. I do know that they are not stocked in all good RFDs in the UK and there are hardly any on the pre-loved market. I had to buy this one new. Fortunately I'm able to get one from Toro, France, post Brexit as well. And it arrived!
TL:DR version: it's a great pistol for the price, if you can overlook the polymer frame and the very light weight feel.
Most important picture for some. This is 5m, weaver (of course!), literally first 10 shots, straight out of the box, no adjustment etc. It was getting a bit dark also. Shot it at about 1730 in a fairly shaded area. I had to aim lollypop style, and I was just able to make out the gap between the front and rear sights. I expect the group size to be smaller in better condition. Shot with Excite Econ II on the left, and Excite Smart Shot BBs on the right. Here it is:
Hopefully that settles 2 questions. Yes, this is fairly accurate, and will be fine for tin can up to 15m I suspect (assuming the group size is 3x size at 15m). And the 149 and 150 I did in the friendly comp are real!
The target on the right were shot with the copper-coated Excite Smart Shot. It was even darker by then so I'll give it another go tomorrow morning.
Let's start from the beginning again.
I'll leave HeadHunter to fill in the gaps about the history of Colt Python. He's the expert in this field.
Externally, yes, it is polymer frame. The grip is also polymer. (I hear someone at the back shouting "plastic!") Yes, plastics, polymer, call it what you want. It's not bad quality though. The trigger and hammer, other moving parts that I can see are metal, everything else is polymer. (I hear someone shouting "monkey metal"!). What did you expect for a budget gun?
The only thing I don't like about it externally is the Colt badge on the grip. It is a licensed product, but is that really the real Colt badge?
Finish-wise, there are visible joints all along the gun. It's just how it is with plastic. It's not like a massive step... and certainly not big enough for me to want to get my 1000grit paper out to smooth things out. It is what it is for me.
The grip is plastic, and just unclips like a SW 586 and DW715 (and I'm guessing SAA). It is secured by the clips at the bottom and the "hook" at the top. Making a new grip for it (why would I bother with a polymer gun?) would be a challenge.
CO2 capsule is secured by screw, and not the lever like other Umarex own-designed guns. The allen key is integrated into the grip as above. At this point I suspect this is another WinGun (but I have not seen another "Colt-like" version of it so far...).
What appeals to me over the Vigilante (or Triple Threat) is that this has a longer barrel, with the magazine inserted at the rear of the "cylinder". It also doesn't have a rotating cylinder like the Diana Raptor (and the Milbro version of the same). This means the barrel extends beyond "breech" and into the cylinder. It effectively has a longer barrel than most other 6" revolvers out here.
The most similar revolver I think think of is probably the Umarex Tornado, which has a WinGun equivalent. The difference between them, apart from the licensing, is the lack of adjustable rear sights. Internally I'm going to guess is the same gun. And no, I won't be buying a Tornado. There is also a 2.5" version of this Colt (but I already have a DW715 in 2.5"). I suspect it will be even lighter, and make it too toy-like, even for me. Rear sights adjustment is done by a screwdriver for elevation, and tiny allen key for windage. I can't see an allen key in the box for mine.
It comes with 3 magazines. 1 for BBs, and 2 for pellets. I bought some spare ones in the same shipment.
With the BBs, you just literally drop them in from the muzzle end. Note that it DOES NOT WORK with Dust Devil. It works fine with my Copper-coated Excite Smart Shot as above. But why would you want to use BBs with these anyway?
With Dust Devil, it will not seat securely in the magazine. So as soon as you are index/cocked, the BB will just roll out of the barrel.
With the Copper ones, I had 2 that won't sit as they were too small. I think this is probably more BB rather than magazine issue.
Drop them in:
Push them to fit:
Nothing falls out:
I will not be using mine with steel BBs. This gun has a rifled barrel...
With pellets, a different story. Like any other magazine, you need to seat them to a degree. For this, you don't want to press it all the way home.
Here, 5 are just seated with a size 3 pozidrive bit. The other 5 with something a bit smaller and pushed all the way home.
And as you can see, some have "gone through" the other side...
Use something bigger like a size 3 screwdriver bit to push them home and they will be fine
Trigger? Excellent for the money.
In DA, is hefty 8.75lb, but for some reason it didn't feel that heavy. It is very smooth, not that long a pull.
In SA, even better at 4.0lb. Short and snappy, with minimal overtravel. How did you think I managed to shoot like that in such poor conditions otherwise! In fact that the same weight as a SW586, which has a more spongy SA comparatively. I would actually say this is probably a bit better than the SW in SA. SW is still king in DA though, if that is your type of shooting.
Like the SW, I don't think there is anything to mod with this gun. The trigger is great. The only thing I guess is maybe painting the fake bullet in the cylinder gold or silver...
This would make a great pistol for the younger ones who are not as bothered by a gun not being a complete replica / polymer. It is light enough to hold, even 1 handed, for long period of time. It's probably no good for adults or true replica fans though. It's just too light, and probably not realistic enough. For the money, with that trigger and accuracy, I think it's a bloody bargain!
PS Yes, the workshop is always dusty... I was just making a new shell case for the DW shells...
I have been eyeing up one of these for a while. There are very few reviews on Google or YouTube, and most are for the BB-only version.
I don't know when these "dual-fuel" version came out. I do know that they are not stocked in all good RFDs in the UK and there are hardly any on the pre-loved market. I had to buy this one new. Fortunately I'm able to get one from Toro, France, post Brexit as well. And it arrived!
TL:DR version: it's a great pistol for the price, if you can overlook the polymer frame and the very light weight feel.
Most important picture for some. This is 5m, weaver (of course!), literally first 10 shots, straight out of the box, no adjustment etc. It was getting a bit dark also. Shot it at about 1730 in a fairly shaded area. I had to aim lollypop style, and I was just able to make out the gap between the front and rear sights. I expect the group size to be smaller in better condition. Shot with Excite Econ II on the left, and Excite Smart Shot BBs on the right. Here it is:
Hopefully that settles 2 questions. Yes, this is fairly accurate, and will be fine for tin can up to 15m I suspect (assuming the group size is 3x size at 15m). And the 149 and 150 I did in the friendly comp are real!
The target on the right were shot with the copper-coated Excite Smart Shot. It was even darker by then so I'll give it another go tomorrow morning.
Let's start from the beginning again.
I'll leave HeadHunter to fill in the gaps about the history of Colt Python. He's the expert in this field.
Externally, yes, it is polymer frame. The grip is also polymer. (I hear someone at the back shouting "plastic!") Yes, plastics, polymer, call it what you want. It's not bad quality though. The trigger and hammer, other moving parts that I can see are metal, everything else is polymer. (I hear someone shouting "monkey metal"!). What did you expect for a budget gun?
The only thing I don't like about it externally is the Colt badge on the grip. It is a licensed product, but is that really the real Colt badge?
Finish-wise, there are visible joints all along the gun. It's just how it is with plastic. It's not like a massive step... and certainly not big enough for me to want to get my 1000grit paper out to smooth things out. It is what it is for me.
The grip is plastic, and just unclips like a SW 586 and DW715 (and I'm guessing SAA). It is secured by the clips at the bottom and the "hook" at the top. Making a new grip for it (why would I bother with a polymer gun?) would be a challenge.
CO2 capsule is secured by screw, and not the lever like other Umarex own-designed guns. The allen key is integrated into the grip as above. At this point I suspect this is another WinGun (but I have not seen another "Colt-like" version of it so far...).
What appeals to me over the Vigilante (or Triple Threat) is that this has a longer barrel, with the magazine inserted at the rear of the "cylinder". It also doesn't have a rotating cylinder like the Diana Raptor (and the Milbro version of the same). This means the barrel extends beyond "breech" and into the cylinder. It effectively has a longer barrel than most other 6" revolvers out here.
The most similar revolver I think think of is probably the Umarex Tornado, which has a WinGun equivalent. The difference between them, apart from the licensing, is the lack of adjustable rear sights. Internally I'm going to guess is the same gun. And no, I won't be buying a Tornado. There is also a 2.5" version of this Colt (but I already have a DW715 in 2.5"). I suspect it will be even lighter, and make it too toy-like, even for me. Rear sights adjustment is done by a screwdriver for elevation, and tiny allen key for windage. I can't see an allen key in the box for mine.
It comes with 3 magazines. 1 for BBs, and 2 for pellets. I bought some spare ones in the same shipment.
With the BBs, you just literally drop them in from the muzzle end. Note that it DOES NOT WORK with Dust Devil. It works fine with my Copper-coated Excite Smart Shot as above. But why would you want to use BBs with these anyway?
With Dust Devil, it will not seat securely in the magazine. So as soon as you are index/cocked, the BB will just roll out of the barrel.
With the Copper ones, I had 2 that won't sit as they were too small. I think this is probably more BB rather than magazine issue.
Drop them in:
Push them to fit:
Nothing falls out:
I will not be using mine with steel BBs. This gun has a rifled barrel...
With pellets, a different story. Like any other magazine, you need to seat them to a degree. For this, you don't want to press it all the way home.
Here, 5 are just seated with a size 3 pozidrive bit. The other 5 with something a bit smaller and pushed all the way home.
And as you can see, some have "gone through" the other side...
Use something bigger like a size 3 screwdriver bit to push them home and they will be fine
Trigger? Excellent for the money.
In DA, is hefty 8.75lb, but for some reason it didn't feel that heavy. It is very smooth, not that long a pull.
In SA, even better at 4.0lb. Short and snappy, with minimal overtravel. How did you think I managed to shoot like that in such poor conditions otherwise! In fact that the same weight as a SW586, which has a more spongy SA comparatively. I would actually say this is probably a bit better than the SW in SA. SW is still king in DA though, if that is your type of shooting.
Like the SW, I don't think there is anything to mod with this gun. The trigger is great. The only thing I guess is maybe painting the fake bullet in the cylinder gold or silver...
This would make a great pistol for the younger ones who are not as bothered by a gun not being a complete replica / polymer. It is light enough to hold, even 1 handed, for long period of time. It's probably no good for adults or true replica fans though. It's just too light, and probably not realistic enough. For the money, with that trigger and accuracy, I think it's a bloody bargain!
PS Yes, the workshop is always dusty... I was just making a new shell case for the DW shells...
