How Tight Is Too Tight?

My Colt Is Too Tight

Todd, for Christmas, my wife of 40 years gave me a new Colt Python. (Yes, she’s a keeper). When I took it out to shoot it, I had a few problems. When the gun was fired, the trigger would not return. I had to lift the hammer to get it to return. It did not do this when I was dry-firing the gun. Also, the gun shot to the top of the target with the rear sight all the way down. And the cases (brass) would not eject. They had to be hand pulled. The single-action trigger measured 7 pounds and felt gritty. Double action was more than 10 pounds (as high as my scale goes) and stacked.

Rather than return the gun to Colt, who put it out like this, I took it to my favorite gunsmith. I also purchased a taller front sight. I am still waiting to get it back. In discussions with the gunsmith, he told me there is not one problem. The entire gun is too tight. He is polishing all the working surfaces, so it’s taking a while.

This gives me a few insights. By the way, I am an MS Eng and have worked 40 years in industry. 

Colt is not doing QC on their guns. Or at least not on the correct sample set of finished products. This gun never would have passed a proper QC. They did not spend the engineering time necessary to do a tolerance study on the design. My gun is too tight. This likely means that some guns are going out too loose.

The gun shooting high I cannot address because I don’t have enough information to know what was wrong from several choices. 

My gun failure is a random occurrence. So the question becomes, how large a percentage of guns do not function correctly? Another possibility is that Colt is using you and I as QC and is willing to accept a percentage of failures.

I can only draw one conclusion. W. Edwards Deming is spinning in his grave. But it’ll be a while before I purchase another Colt. — Tom

A withering criticism, Tom, without being ill tempered. I admire that. I have never heard about this particular fault before, so I will be interested to hear from other Gun Tests readers if they have had similar issues. And, yes, I think we’ll all agree your wife is a keeper. — Todd Woodard. 

How About Compensated?

I was wondering if you have any tests of compensated pistols planned? There are a lot of manufacturers adding compensated pistol models to their lines. Springfield Prodigy, Echelon and Hellcat; SIG Sauer P365, Canik, and EAA all offer compensated models. I am sure there are others. It would also be helpful if you tested them against the non-compensated models to give people an idea if it’s a worthwhile investment to upgrade to a compensated pistol. Thank you for the honest, consistent and objective testing that you do. No other magazine does it as well, in my opinion. — TS

Yes, we periodically do exactly the kinds of tests you’re asking about, one of them being Robert Sadowski’s comparison of compensated and non-compensated Hellcats, one of the guns on your list. It was reviewed in the December 2024 issue. In the case of the Hellcat Pro, our team said, “The Hellcat Pro Comp OSP does a great job of reducing muzzle snap. Our times were faster, and we were able to keep groups more tightly clustered. Our one caveat is after prolonged use, the front sight and perhaps the lens of the Shield will need to be cleaned. In our opinion, the added cost of the Hellcat Pro Comp OSP is worth it.” But there were some readers who said they didn’t like comps because they don’t want to battle the upward report. And I have another Sadowski story in house about comped carry nines from Springfield Armory, S&W, and CZ, covering the CZ P-10C Ported, the Springfield Armory Prodigy 4.25, and the S&W Performance Center M&P9 M2.0 Compact Carry Comp. Thanks for the idea and the compliment. — tw

Re “DOJ Opens New 2A Civil Rights Section, February-March 2026

Todd: Your commentary about the DOJ’s 2A Rights Section in the current issue of Gun Tests was certainly interesting, but, ironically, it seems at odds now with comments from DHS, the FBI, and President Trump himself restricting 2nd Amendment rights. I, along with probably most owners of firearms, am more than a bit concerned about the view articulated by Noem, Patel, and Trump that it is illegal to carry firearms in certain situations (e.g., civic demonstrations). As someone at the tip of the spear on gun rights, this might be an interesting topic to explore in your next Downrange column. — John

Hey John: You’re right, the messaging out of all of those agencies and people isn’t as clear as any of us in the gunowners’ rights community would like. The Trump Administration has done a lot of good things regarding gun rights, but they’ve missed the boat, too, in particular about the right to carry. — tw

Test Guns for Sale

I have been a subscriber for years and appreciate your good work. I was wondering if your test guns are available for sale online after testing is complete. Thanks for your excellent advice. — Rick

Hey Rick: Yes, and no. FFLs in the various states where we test and evaluate may have some for sale locally, but the magazine doesn’t own the guns, so I don’t really keep track of them. Once upon a time we’d list guns that were being sold by FFLs through the national auction houses, but the quantity was never that great. Overwhelmingly, nearly everything is sold locally, and not very many Our Picks or Best Buys make it past the testers. Can’t imagine why. — tw

Re “S&W Wheelgun in 45 ACP: We’d Buy the M625,”

February-March 2026

The S&W 625, a smooth-handling 45-caliber revolver, will also fire 45 GAP rounds, if one can still find them. Moon clips in 1⁄3, 1⁄2, and full-size clips are still available at Ranch Products. I visited their website, and they make those clips in 9mm, 10mm, 45 ACP, and 38 Special. The 1⁄3 moon clips will lie flat in several belt pouches available in the market place. They are, of course, a tad slower to load than a full-moon clip but are more convenient to carry. — C.E.