Colt Combat Python 3 Inch Lew Horton Distributor Revolver

Colt only built 500 Combat Pythons, and this is one of them. It's a 3 inch gun, which is the detail that pulls collectors in. The standard Python catalog never offered a 3 inch barrel, so these short-barreled guns came out of a 1980s special order through Lew Horton Distributing. Roughly 300 of the 500 went overseas, and this one made the trip. The Colt factory letter ties it down. It shipped April 14, 1988, to Raiffeisenverband Salzburg in Austria, part of a 30-gun consignment, and the import mark under the barrel backs up that European journey.

The barrel carries the COMBAT PYTHON / 357 MAGNUM CTG. roll mark with the star flanks Colt used on this run. German proofs are stamped into the metal, confirming where it landed. The finish is Colt's Royal Blue, deep and mirror bright, and roughly 99% of it remains. You'll find only light cylinder draglines and the kind of minimal handling marks that tell you this gun saw a safe more than a holster.

The grips are the checkered walnut service panels with gold Colt medallions, sharp at the diamonds and full of warm color. The vent rib barrel, full underlug, and ramped front sight all read as classic Python. The adjustable rear sight clicks crisp, and the action runs the way a good Python should, with that smooth double action pull and a clean single action break.

What sets this one apart is the paper trail. The factory letter, the Austrian shipping record, and the import-marked frame turn a scarce variant into a documented one. It comes with a Colt 150th Anniversary box, the Python manual, the Colt Companion, the service station listing, and a reproduction end label matched to the gun. For a Python collector chasing the short barrels, the documentation is what closes the deal.