I love 44 mag revolvers and was wanting to know how the Colt Anaconda stacks up against the Rugers and the Smiths. I have a Smith & Wesson 329PD Airlight, a Performance Center 629 Stealth Hunter, two Ruger Super Redhawks, and a Super Blackhawk. I was thinking of buying a Anaconda, thought they might be built with the same quality as the Python, my dad insist they are not in the same class. Has anyone had one that could tell me what they thought about them and how do the compare to the other name guns like Smith & Wesson and Ruger.

Dad's right on this one. It is more similar to the King Cobra than the Python.

No personal experience with the Anaconda, but I really like my Smith's and Ruger SA's. I like DA shooting and never cared for the feel of Colt's trigger. On the plus side, the people who I have talked to about the Anaconda absolutely love their Colt.

I own an Anaconda, a Diamondback, and a Redhawk. I do not have direct experience with the Python so I cannot comment there but I have shot model 29's a number of times.

I cannot discern a meaningful difference in quality between the Anaconda, the 29's I've used and the Redhawk I own. Having said that the Anaconda seems to be more finely fitted than either of the others, the 29's in the middle and the Redhawk a little rougher. They all work just fine although I get my best groups both single and double with the Anaconda.

If you want one I would say go and get it - you won't be disappointed. FME it is a well made, well finished and very accurate handgun.

Thanks for the replies, I think I am going to look for one at the next gun show.

I've had an Anaconda for 20 years now and have shot many a stout load from it .It's still just as tight as the day I took it out of the box . It'll shoot 6 in . groups @ 100yds. open sights all day long . I'm not overly fond of Smiths and Rugers grips are too small for my hands but that Colt fits like a glove , so I say buy the Snake and you won't be disappointed . Mine is a 6" brushed stainless and is buy far my favorite firearm in my arsenal.

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I know I'm biased but if you want to shoot really heavy loads on a regular basis, stick with your Ruger. The Colt can't even chamber the super heavy long bullets the Redhawk will. They are built like a swiss watch , but pretty delicate compared to Smith and Ruger. Ruger isn't the rougher finished or less accurate gun it was sometimes accussed of being years ago. The Redhawk is also getting on the pricey side!

So how do you come to a conclusion that an Anaconda "is pretty delicate compared to a Smith or Ruger"? I admit a Ruger has a slight edge on strength but an Anaconda is more than strong enough for any sane load.

My experience with the Colt Anaconda is that it falls out of time easily with heavy loads. Then it starts spitting out the sides. This is my recollection with some of the early models, so maybe they fixed the problem?? My thought was that the cylinder stop spring was not strong enough to keep the cylinder locked up under recoil. On the rental Gun where I worked, you could actually spin the cylinder manually without moving the hammer or trigger! This problem was at the time not related to just one or two guns, however Colt may have taken care of the problem.

I know for a fact that Colt or Smith & Wesson will not hold up to the pressures of the Ruger. I have a box of Buffalo Bore ammo that clearly states only to be used in Ruger Super Redhawks, Super Blackhawks, Dan Wesson, And Freedom Arms revolvers. Colt and Smith cant shoot this ammo.

My Redhawk likes the 300 gr. BT LMN GC crimped into the second groove with a good dose of 296.Clocks around 1421 fps.Stout load but a blast to shoot.It took a lot of work to get the single action pull on the Redhawk anywhere close to my Smiths.But the double action pull was always smoother.
I heard a rumor that Colt and S&W at one time quit selling to the civilian market in exchange for some goverment contracts.Is that fact or fiction?

It took Colt 30 years to come out with a 44mag, after Smith and Ruger did. It was only in factory production less than 9 years and a performance shop only option untill they hung it up in 2003. The early ones were very inaccurate so Colt stopped production and put better barrels on. After that they were real shooters and built like a swiss watch, but way expensive to build and had 'delicate innards'. Why do you suppose they aren't in production anymore? 'If' you you can find one you'll pay dearly for it! I'd be afraid to shoot a gun that collectors are hogging up!

I dont know about Smith but at one time Colt refused to sell thir AR rifles to the civilian market, now they are back selling after seeing how popular the AR platform has become. I guess they saw they were missing out on a lot of sales, for this reason I will never buy a Colt AR.

Ditto.

RJ

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I bought my Colt AR back in the 90's. Topped it with an original Colt 3x scope. I love it!

I've had a colt anaconda withan 8 Icnh barrel for several years and i love it. I can't comment on the S&W or thr Superredhawk. I do have the Redhawk and like it. to me the Anaconda feels better in handling and shoots better than I can. I will say that if you want to shoot the super heavy loads from Garrets or buffalo bore get the redhawk. the redhawk is an excellent revolver but for normal loads I like the anaconda better. I will say that either gun will be a good by it all depends on what you like.

Make mine a Ruger 45 Colt in a Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter, but then accuracy is everything to me, but I do like the extra power the 340 grain slug gives me!!