diff --git a/benchmarks/seqperf.jl b/benchmarks/seqperf.jl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7eb8c7fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarks/seqperf.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+using PyCall, BenchmarkTools, DataStructures
+
+results = OrderedDict{String,Any}()
+let
+    np = pyimport("numpy")
+    nprandint = np["random"]["randint"]
+    nprand = np["random"]["rand"]
+    res = PyNULL()
+
+    tuplen = 16
+    tpl = convert(PyObject, (1:tuplen...))
+    lst = convert(PyObject, Any[1:tuplen...])
+    for (name, pycoll) in zip(("tpl", "lst"), (tpl, lst))
+        idx = rand(0:(tuplen-1))
+        results["standard get $name"] = @benchmark get($pycoll, PyObject, PyObject($idx))
+        println("standard get:\n"); display(results["standard get $name"])
+        println("--------------------------------------------------")
+
+        idx = rand(0:(tuplen-1))
+        results["faster get $name"] = @benchmark get($pycoll, PyObject, $idx)
+        println("faster get:\n"); display(results["faster get $name"])
+        println("--------------------------------------------------")
+
+        idx = rand(0:(tuplen-1))
+        results["get! $name"] = @benchmark get!($res, $pycoll, PyObject, $idx)
+        println("get!:\n"); display(results["get! $name"])
+        println("--------------------------------------------------")
+
+        if pycoll == tpl
+            idx = rand(0:(tuplen-1))
+            results["unsafe_gettpl!"] = @benchmark unsafe_gettpl!($res, $tpl, PyObject, $idx)
+            println("unsafe_gettpl!:\n"); display(results["unsafe_gettpl!"])
+            println("--------------------------------------------------")
+        end
+    end
+end
+
+println("")
+println("Mean times")
+println("----------")
+foreach((r)->println(rpad(r[1],20), ": ", mean(r[2])), results)
diff --git a/src/PyCall.jl b/src/PyCall.jl
index 37cd10c2..5225b345 100644
--- a/src/PyCall.jl
+++ b/src/PyCall.jl
@@ -10,11 +10,12 @@ export pycall, pyimport, pyimport_e, pybuiltin, PyObject, PyReverseDims,
        pyisinstance, pywrap, pytypeof, pyeval, PyVector, pystring, pystr, pyrepr,
        pyraise, pytype_mapping, pygui, pygui_start, pygui_stop,
        pygui_stop_all, @pylab, set!, PyTextIO, @pysym, PyNULL, ispynull, @pydef,
-       pyimport_conda, @py_str, @pywith, @pycall, pybytes, pyfunction, pyfunctionret
+       pyimport_conda, @py_str, @pywith, @pycall, pybytes, pyfunction, pyfunctionret,
+       unsafe_gettpl!
 
 import Base: size, ndims, similar, copy, getindex, setindex!, stride,
        convert, pointer, summary, convert, show, haskey, keys, values,
-       eltype, get, delete!, empty!, length, isempty, start, done,
+       eltype, get, get!, delete!, empty!, length, isempty, start, done,
        next, filter!, hash, splice!, pop!, ==, isequal, push!,
        append!, insert!, prepend!, unsafe_convert
 import Compat: pushfirst!, popfirst!, firstindex, lastindex
@@ -97,8 +98,12 @@ it is equivalent to a `PyNULL()` object.
 """
 ispynull(o::PyObject) = o.o == PyPtr_NULL
 
+function pydecref_(o::PyPtr)
+    ccall(@pysym(:Py_DecRef), Cvoid, (PyPtr,), o)
+end
+
 function pydecref(o::PyObject)
-    ccall(@pysym(:Py_DecRef), Cvoid, (PyPtr,), o.o)
+    pydecref_(o.o)
     o.o = PyPtr_NULL
     o
 end
@@ -130,10 +135,15 @@ function pystealref!(o::PyObject)
     return optr
 end
 
-function Base.copy!(dest::PyObject, src::PyObject)
-    pydecref(dest)
-    dest.o = src.o
-    return pyincref(dest)
+Base.copy!(dest::PyObject, src::PyObject) = Base.copy!(dest, src.o)
+
+function Base.copy!(dest::PyObject, src::PyPtr)
+    if dest.o != src
+        pyincref_(src)
+        pydecref_(dest.o)
+        dest.o = src
+    end
+    return dest
 end
 
 pyisinstance(o::PyObject, t::PyObject) =
@@ -170,6 +180,7 @@ include("pyiterator.jl")
 include("pyclass.jl")
 include("callback.jl")
 include("io.jl")
+include("get.jl")
 
 #########################################################################
 
@@ -753,27 +764,6 @@ macro pycall(ex)
     :(pycall($(map(esc,[kwargs; func; T; args])...)))
 end
 
-#########################################################################
-# Once Julia lets us overload ".", we will use [] to access items, but
-# for now we can define "get".
-
-function get(o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k, default)
-    r = ccall((@pysym :PyObject_GetItem), PyPtr, (PyPtr,PyPtr), o,PyObject(k))
-    if r == C_NULL
-        pyerr_clear()
-        default
-    else
-        convert(returntype, PyObject(r))
-    end
-end
-
-get(o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k) =
-    convert(returntype, PyObject(@pycheckn ccall((@pysym :PyObject_GetItem),
-                                 PyPtr, (PyPtr,PyPtr), o, PyObject(k))))
-
-get(o::PyObject, k, default) = get(o, PyAny, k, default)
-get(o::PyObject, k) = get(o, PyAny, k)
-
 function delete!(o::PyObject, k)
     e = ccall((@pysym :PyObject_DelItem), Cint, (PyPtr, PyPtr), o, PyObject(k))
     if e == -1
diff --git a/src/get.jl b/src/get.jl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0370faa0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/get.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#########################################################################
+# Once Julia lets us overload ".", we will use [] to access items, but
+# for now we can define "get".
+
+###############################
+# get with k<:Any and a default
+###############################
+function get!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k, default)
+    r = ccall((@pysym :PyObject_GetItem), PyPtr, (PyPtr,PyPtr), o, PyObject(k))
+    if r == C_NULL
+        pyerr_clear()
+        default
+    else
+        if r != ret.o
+            pydecref_(ret.o)
+            ret.o = r
+        end
+        convert(returntype, ret)
+    end
+end
+
+get(o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k, default) =
+  get!(PyNULL(), o, returntype, k, default)
+
+# returntype defaults to PyAny
+get!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, k, default) = get!(ret, o, PyAny, k, default)
+get(o::PyObject, k, default) = get(o, PyAny, k, default)
+
+###############################
+# get with k<:Any
+###############################
+function get!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k)
+    r = @pycheckn ccall((@pysym :PyObject_GetItem),
+                                 PyPtr, (PyPtr,PyPtr), o, PyObject(k))
+    if r != ret.o
+        pydecref_(ret.o)
+        ret.o = r
+    end
+    return convert(returntype, ret)
+end
+
+get(o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k) = get!(PyNULL(), o, returntype, k)
+
+# returntype defaults to PyAny
+get!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, k) = get!(ret, o, PyAny, k)
+get(o::PyObject, k) = get(o, PyAny, k)
+
+###############################
+# get with k<:Integer
+###############################
+function get!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k::Integer)
+    if pyisinstance(o, @pyglobalobj :PyTuple_Type)
+        copy!(ret, @pycheckn ccall(@pysym(:PyTuple_GetItem), PyPtr, (PyPtr, Cint), o, k))
+    elseif pyisinstance(o, @pyglobalobj :PyList_Type)
+        copy!(ret, @pycheckn ccall(@pysym( :PyList_GetItem), PyPtr, (PyPtr, Cint), o, k))
+    else
+        return get!(ret, o, returntype, PyObject(k))
+    end
+    return convert(returntype, ret)
+end
+
+get(o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k::Integer) =
+    get!(PyNULL(), o, returntype, k)
+
+# default to PyObject(k) methods for no returntype, and default variants
+get!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k::Integer, default) =
+    get!(ret, o, returntype, PyObject(k), default)
+
+get!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, k::Integer) = get!(ret, o, PyObject(k))
+
+get!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, k::Integer, default) =
+    get!(ret, o, PyObject(k), default)
+
+###############################
+# unsafe_gettpl!
+###############################
+
+# struct PyTuple_struct
+# refs:
+#   https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/da1734c58d2f97387ccc9676074717d38b044128/Include/object.h#L106-L115
+#   https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/da1734c58d2f97387ccc9676074717d38b044128/Include/tupleobject.h#L25-L33
+struct PyVar_struct
+    ob_refcnt::Int
+    ob_type::Ptr{Cvoid}
+    ob_size::Int
+    # ob_item::Ptr{PyPtr}
+end
+
+function unsafe_gettpl!(ret::PyObject, o::PyObject, returntype::TypeTuple, k::Int)
+    pytype_ptr = unsafe_load(o.o).ob_type
+    # get address of ob_item (just after the end of the struct)
+    itemsptr = Base.reinterpret(Ptr{PyPtr}, o.o + sizeof(PyVar_struct))
+    copy!(ret, unsafe_load(itemsptr, k+1)) # unsafe_load is 1-based
+    return convert(returntype, ret)
+end
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 3db84b83..cc56311e 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -284,9 +284,8 @@ pymodule_exists(s::AbstractString) = !ispynull(pyimport_e(s))
             @test o3[2,3,4] == 9
         end
     end
-
-    # list operations:
-    let o = PyObject(Any[8,3])
+    @testset "list operations" begin
+        lst = Any[8,3]; o = PyObject(lst)
         @test collect(push!(o, 5)) == [8,3,5]
         @test pop!(o) == 5 && collect(o) == [8,3]
         @test popfirst!(o) == 8 && collect(o) == [3]
@@ -294,6 +293,19 @@ pymodule_exists(s::AbstractString) = !ispynull(pyimport_e(s))
         @test collect(prepend!(o, [5,4,2])) == [5,4,2,9,3]
         @test collect(append!(o, [1,6,8])) == [5,4,2,9,3,1,6,8]
         @test isempty(empty!(o))
+
+        # get! with preallocated return object
+        res = PyNULL()
+        lst = Any[8,3,5]; o = PyObject(lst) # re-init since emptied
+        lpyo = map(PyObject, lst)
+        for i in eachindex(lst)
+            @test get!(res, o, PyObject, i-1) == lpyo[i]
+            @test get!(res, o, i-1) == lst[i] # PyAny default
+        end
+
+        # get! with default if key not found
+        @test get!(res, o, PyObject, 3, 12) == 12
+        @test get!(res, o, 3, 12) == 12
     end
     let o = PyObject(Any[8,3])
         @test collect(append!(o, o)) == [8,3,8,3]
@@ -301,6 +313,40 @@ pymodule_exists(s::AbstractString) = !ispynull(pyimport_e(s))
         @test collect(prepend!(o, o)) == [8,3,8,3,1,8,3,8,3,1]
     end
 
+    @testset "tuple get" begin
+        tpl = ("a","b","c"); o = PyObject(tpl); tpl_os = map(PyObject, tpl)
+
+        # get with PyObject key
+        @test ((get(o, PyObject, PyObject(i-1)) for i in eachindex(tpl))...,) == tpl_os
+        # get with PyObject key and default
+        @test get(o, PyObject, PyObject(3), "z") == PyObject("z")
+
+        # get with Integer key
+        @test ((get(o, PyObject, PyObject(i-1)) for i in eachindex(tpl))...,) == tpl_os
+        # get with Integer key and default
+        @test get(o, PyObject, 3, "z") == PyObject("z")
+
+        # get!
+        res = PyNULL()
+        for i in eachindex(tpl)
+            @test get!(res, o, PyObject, i-1) == tpl_os[i]
+            @test get!(res, o, PyObject, PyObject(i-1)) == tpl_os[i]
+            @test get!(res, o, i-1) == tpl[i]
+            @test get!(res, o, PyObject(i-1)) == tpl[i]
+        end
+
+        # get! with default if key not found
+        @test get!(res, o, PyObject, 3, "z") == PyObject("z")
+        @test get!(res, o, PyObject, PyObject(3), "z") == PyObject("z")
+        @test get!(res, o, 3, "z") == PyObject("z")
+        @test get!(res, o, PyObject(3), "z") == PyObject("z")
+
+        # fast unsafe_gettpl!
+        for i in eachindex(tpl)
+            @test unsafe_gettpl!(res, o, PyObject, i-1) == tpl_os[i]
+        end
+    end
+
     # issue #216:
     @test length(collect(pyimport("itertools")[:combinations]([1,2,3],2))) == 3