[cwill1]

I have a 1979 Trooper MkIII with 4" barrel and want to put an 8" on it. I have never seen this before but it is a factory barrel. Does anyone know if this Colt can handle hunting loads with this barrel?

[dfariswheel]

The barrel has little to do with revolver strength as far as that goes.

If you have a .357 Mark III and the barrel is marked as .357, its good to go.

Just one word of caution: Re-barreling a revolver is nothing you can do at home unless you have an expensive set of special pistolsmith tools. The old trick of shoving a hammer handle through the frame to unscrew it will almost certainly ruin the gun.

Most local pistolsmiths also will not have the special frame wrench inserts to fit the Mark III frame.
If you want the gun re-barreled, send it in to Colt and have the experts do it right.

[Walkalong]

Trade with someone who wants a 4" gun. I have a nice 8" Trooper Mk III, but prefer the 4 & 6" barreled ones. Mine has a mount for scopes/red dots and does not have the rear sight. Perfect for a hunting pistol unless one wants to use irons. I have thought about trading or selling it simply because it doesn't get shot much, but I may not.

Surely their are others out there with 8" guns they would trade. Just a thought. Surely cheaper than buying a barrel and paying someone to install it.

As dfariswheel posted, the barrel length has nothing to do with what loads it can handle. Trooper Mk III's are very tough guns that can handle any reasonable .357 loads.

[Landpimp]

I have a 8" nickle MkIII I was thinking of selling, its like new. But dont need a 4".

[PattonTime]

I have one of these , the barrel that is P.M. me if interested

[cwill1]

Never seen a nickel or 8" for that matter. I will probally buy something local instead of going with the .357. Sounds like the .44 is the way to go.