They cost too much in comparison to their competition.
The S&W 586/686 is superior and 30% less.
Yes, the Python is legendary...after a $400 trigger job on it's weird internals.
The S&W is thee right out of the box, new, for $800.
Still, EXPENSIVE for a revolver.
No, Back in the early 70s, the Colt Python out of the box was by far smoother and better than the S&W. it was the Smith's that need the expensive re-working of the internals to lighten the pull and make it acceptable. The Pythons, although more expensive, was by far the better firearm.
That being said, we did occasionally get in a Python that looked as if it was made by a high school drop out who came to work drunk. I recall one with a finish that was so bad the bluing was purple and the side plate had a fingerprint in it, and the polish job left it looking distorted it was so cupped from over pressure on the polishing wheels. I don't know how it passed quality control by any stretch of the imagination. We speculated the finish work was done by a new hire from the Winchester Commemorative Department. We shipped it back with a nasty letter.
S&W in the same period shipped some pretty bad workmanship weapons in the same period as well, but nothing that bad.