Python

The Colt Python is the most accurate pistol and only revolver available in the GTA III Era series of games. It also shares the record for being the most powerful pistol with the Desert Eagle, although the Desert Eagle edges it out, being a .50AE instead of a .357. The Colt Python was first revealed in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and is available to the player on Vice City's main island, Ammu-Nation for $2000, spawnable in Vercetti Estate, and discoverable in several locations. The high cost of the revolver (compared to the M1911's modest $100 price tag) comes with the reward of it being almost guaranteed to kill any target with a single shot. However, the gun cannot be fired while running, and must be fired from a Weaver position (grasping the butt of the gun with the right hand, then cradling the right hand and gun with the cupped left hand, all while planting feet at a wide stance) due to the heavy recoil of the .357 Magnum cartridge. It also has a moderate cylinder capacity of 6 shots, making it excellent against small groups. The Python is also available in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and the version in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (named Equalizer) features a laser scope and a 6" barrel, although the scope cannot be used. The Colt Python is also a weapon in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and was named the Revolver. Although it cannot be visibly seen in the game, a HUD image of the weapon can be seen on the touch screen and on the Ammu-Nation website (strangely, it resembles a snub-nosed .38 Smith and Wesson or a Colt Detective Special).

"Dangerous peace-maker. One shot certain to put a man down. Approach with extreme caution."
-Vice City Bureau of Investigation file description.

Gallery

In-game model

GTA Vice City, and GTA Liberty City Stories.
GTA Vice City Stories.

HUD icons

GTA Vice City.
GTA Liberty City Stories.
GTA Vice City Stories

Real-life model

The Colt Python in real life.

Locations

GTA Vice City

In the record room of the Vercetti Estate after completing Keep Your Friends Close....
Available to buy from the Downtown Ammu-Nation for $2,000.
In an alley near the 'Welcome to Hell' billboard in Little Haiti.
Available at the Ocean View Hotel, Hyman Condo, and Vercetti Estate after finding 30 hidden packages.

GTA Liberty City Stories

At the Francis International Airport on a roof behind a billboard, the roof can be reached by a ramp.
Spawns at each safehouse after finding 50 hidden packages.
In the mission The Portland Chainsaw Masquerade, there is a Python spawning right before the staircase that goes down to trigger the mission.

GTA Vice City Stories

To the left of the Jetski that activates the Watersports courses, on the InterGlobal Films studio.
Hidden at the hotel not far from Lance's House.
Available at each safehouse after bursting 80 red balloons.
Available for purchase from Ammu-Nation, Vice Point Mall.

GTA Chinatown Wars

Available for purchase in the Ammunation website after the Fully Cocked upgrade is purchased.
Available during some vigilante missions.

Trivia

Rockstar Games renamed the Colt Python to .357 in later versions of GTA Vice City, possibly to avoid copyright and trademark infringements. This name is reused in GTA Liberty City Stories.
It was originally going to be featured in Grand Theft Auto IV, as seen in a beta screenshot.
In GTA Liberty City Stories, the spent shells are ejected while firing, which is impossible for any revolver.
Though the weapon itself doesn't appear in GTA San Andreas, the model from GTA Vice City is used for the giant Python at the entrance of the Los Santos Ammu-Nation.
The name Equalizer may be a reference to the Modesty Blaise comic "Top Traitor" as Modesty hands Tarrant a gun of similar model she mentions it will be a great equalizer.
The scope on the python in GTA Vice City Stories may be visually inspired from a gun used in the film "The Terminator" also set in 1984 although the movie was in Los Angeles not Miami (Vice City).
In pre-release screenshots, the Python is shown to have a much shorter barrel.