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Reviews
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Date of last review
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1
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42201
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9/11/06
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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£100.00
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8.0
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Misopethamenos
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Shao14
Misopethamenos
Registered: September 2004
Posts: 306,044
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Review Date: 9/11/06
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £100.00
| Rating: 8
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Positive aspects of the product (pros):
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beautiful finish, solid, accurate, powerful
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Cons:
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hard DA pull, light trademark, finish still has room for improvement
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Introduction
If you are familiar with the Japanese comics, City Hunter, then the 4" Colt Python .357 Magnum needs no introduction. The real steel Python is often over-shadowed by the more powerful .44 Magnums, but if one looks for a balance between accuracy and power, the Colt Python will be a primary candidate. The distinctive vented upper rib and full-length bottom rib also make the Python aesthetically pleasing in my opinion.
Tanaka made the Pythons in various barrel length and finishes before, but those early models were reportedly plagued by some performance issues. Tokyo Marui and KWC also make some replicas, but neither of their offerings pays nearly as much attention to details as Tanaka's, nor does their gas revolver system gives much of performance. There are other brands like KOKUSAI, which I have no knowledge of. In any case, I was praying for Tanaka to re-release the Python series with their improved quality, and one day, I spotted the new 4" heavy weight Colt Python in silver finish on WGC's website, I snatched it up in no time. In the rest of this review, I'll use Python to refer to the Tanaka 4" silver heavy weight Colt Python airsoft revolver unless otherwise explicitly specified.
A Word About WGC
WGC had been one of my favorite Hong Kong retailers in the past. They offer a huge selection and competitive prices. They used to carefully cover the unlicensed trademarks with tape for US orders, but recently, they started to permanently scratch off the trademarks by default. One can ask WGC to use alternate preparations for US orders, but WGC give offers no delivery guarantee for any alternative preparations. As you can see in the pictures, the Colt logo on the gun has been scratched off, albeit carefully not to affect the rest of the gun. A revolver is almost always a display piece, and the permanent deformation of the Colt logo is really disappointing. Furthermore, WGC took off the medallions on the grip, and didn't include them with the gun, but WGC has agreed to send them to me separately. WGC used to flip them over, so the trademark does not face out. In short, if trademark is important to you and you are in the US, you may want to think twice when you order from WGC or any overseas retailers.
Build and Finish
The Python is a big gun. Although the barrel is only 4", the overall length of the gun's about an inch longer than a regular 1911.
Being a heavy weight model, it feels quite good and balanced in the hand, though not as heavy as my WA Kimber TLE/RL II (then again, few airsoft pistols are heavier than my Kimber). If you are used to an semi-automatic, you may not feel comfortable with the curves of a revolver. Well, your loss. 
The silver finish on the Python is quite good. Similar to WA's silver finish on some of its GBBs, but unlike the polished finish on the Tanaka S&W M60, the Python has a dull grainy texture.
The paint is even and smooth throughout. I really have no way to tell which part is metal and which part is plastic. I believe the cylinder is metal simply because it is the gas reservoir, and it often feels cold. The trigger and hammer seem to be metal too. The under side of the gun is near perfection with absolutely no trace of seam line. The top side of the frame and barrel has a coarser metal finish that's a bit different from the smooth finish of rest of the surface.
I know some real steel revolvers do have a coarser finish on the top side, but since I have never seen a real steel Colt Python, I do not know if Tanaka made an accurate replica in this regard. A couple places Tanaka should touch up some more are the edge of the tip of the barrel and the place where the barrel joins the frame.
Overall, the Python is beautifully made.
The Colt logo on mine has been scratched off, so no comment on that (except cursing WGC, or maybe the US trademark laws). On the left side of the barrel, the markings "Python .357 *.357 MAGNUM CTG.*" are fairly light, but still clearly visible. On the right, it says in small font "MFG TANAKA WORKS JAPAN -ASGK". The medallions on the grips are also currently missing in mine
The sights are metal. The front sight is fixed with a red plastic insert for easier aiming in low light. The rear sight is fully adjustable for windage and elevation. The grip is plastic, but it has a rubbery look and feel to it. It actually exceeds my expectation. Now only if I can get the medallions back somehow, or I can get a real Colt Python grip to put on.
Operation
If you have used one of Tanaka's gas revolvers, the operations of the Python is really no different. If not, to load the Python, you pull back (as opposed to push on most S&W revolvers) the cylinder release on the left side of the frame, and swing the cylinder out to the left. On the back of the cylinder, there are 5 fake brass shell caps with R-P 357 Magnum written on each, and another fake brass with an opening (total 6 fake brass caps), which can be lined up with the gas inlet by rotating the cylinder. The gas reservoir inside the cylinder does not rotate when one rotates the cylinder. Once the opening lines up with the gas inlet, one needs to use the gas nozzle adapter to extend the gas can nozzle to fill gas. It's not as hard to do as it may sound, and with a bit practice, one can have minimum gas spills, but the nozzle and the adapter does get pretty cold.
The BBs go into the front of the cylinder, and can be easily pushed in by hand. There are six holes in the front of the cylinder, and there's also a hidden slot behind the holes that can hold 8 more BBs, giving a total capacity of 14 rounds. The hidden slot is spring loaded, and the BBs will be loaded into the front holes as the cylinder rotates.
The Python has both single action and double action. To shoot on SA, one pulls back the hammer by hand, and the hammer in turn pulls the trigger back to the SA position. On SA, the trigger pull is very short, just about a millimeter, but it does require a deliberate pull to fire.
On DA, the trigger pull is quite long and hard. In fact, the Python's DA pull is the hardest among all the gas pistols I've used. The first half of the pull will cause the cylinder to rotate (clockwise from the shooter's perspective, opposite of that for the S&W M60) and the hammer to travel back. At the end of the pull, the cylinder rotates into position and the hammer falls to fire. One can also decock a cocked hammer by hand.
Performance
After the Python is lock n loaded, I set up my target trap, and fired away. The sights are easy to line up, and the SA pull is short and sweet, but the DA pull really requires some effort, but is still controllable.
It seems Tanaka has ironed out the alignment problem it had with its old productions. The Python is actually very accurate, on par with my GBBs. The following shows my test shooting results using the small TM target at 15 feet, room temperature, controlled shooting, .2g BBs with propane, unsupported, standing, two-hand grip, one using DA and the other using SA, 6 rounds each. The grouping is around 3 inches, which is not bad for my unsupported shooting.
The fixed hop up with the above set up makes the BB fly low at this range, but can be either compensated easily with the adjustable rear sight, or just aim a bit higher.
The power is on the high end as most medium or large Tanaka revolvers. At point blank range with propane and .2g BBs, it shoots right through both sides of a regular Coca-cola can. It can even pierce, but not penetrate, the bottom of the can. Definitely not recommend for CQB games, or at least I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it.
Conclusion
The Python is a beautiful, solid, accurate and powerful airsoft gas revolver. It does still have some room for improvement in terms of the finish, and the DA pull can be a bit more smoother (the DA on the Tanaka S&W M60 is much smoother), but it's a solid 8 out of 10.
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Registered: September 2004