Colt Trooper MKIII opinions?

Old Dog said:
Wow. I am in awe. Amazing deal.

(We should run year-long threads, 1 January to 31 December, in the revolver, auto, rifle forums for "Deal of the Year," members post pics of their most recent great score, with a copy of the store receipt, and then in December we could all vote for who got the best deal -- it's only April, but @vanfunk would appear to be a front-runner.)
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I dunno.........brand new Ruger GP100 model 1759 for $695 on a penny start auction is pretty close.........
 
This never happens to me! I mean, I am occasionally able to negotiate semi-decent deals but I never “get away with it.” I found this one in a gun store that sells predominantly tactical stuff - AR15s, AR10’s, plastic pistols and high speed, low drag operator stuff. The owner got this on trade and just threw it in the case. I’m sure he could’ve gotten $1200-1300 or more for it if he’d have tried. For me it was just right place, right time. The 50 foot test target is one ragged hole with wadcutters. Hopefully I can do the same!
 
vanfunk said:
This never happens to me! I mean, I am occasionally able to negotiate semi-decent deals but I never “get away with it.” I found this one in a gun store that sells predominantly tactical stuff - AR15s, AR10’s, plastic pistols and high speed, low drag operator stuff. The owner got this on trade and just threw it in the case. I’m sure he could’ve gotten $1200-1300 or more for it if he’d have tried. For me it was just right place, right time. The 50 foot test target is one ragged hole with wadcutters. Hopefully I can do the same!
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You did well for sure. I sure like mine, and i know youll like yours.Now get that thing out there and punch some holes
 
vanfunk said:
View attachment 1206323View attachment 1206324Well with this kind of resounding endorsement, I had to buy it! Thanks for all the info and pictures of yours!

So a closer look in the store today revealed a turn line on the cylinder but no evidence of firing. It still has what looks like factory oil in the crane and on the cylinder/charge holes. By the way, I didn’t know these were recessed! Very nice. It’s just perfect, really. The box is in great shape, with one corner torn a bit but everything else is good. The included factory test target is in excellent condition and reveals 1970 as the born-on date. So, basically, I got a LNIB Trooper .357 for less than a new S&W 686. I love it! It’s ALMOST too nice to shoot. Almost. But shoot it I will! I am not going to change the grips; the factory ones feel great and look nice with the blue. The blue, by the way, isn’t the high-lustre royal blue of it’s sister Python of course but it is still superb. Amazing that this was once a “budget” service revolver as it is finished and assembled to such a high standard.

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here that Super Clean Lawman at my Local shop. $1200! But I’m gun Broke till July! Just drewling

IMG_1055.jpeg IMG_1054.jpeg
 
vanfunk said:
Well with this kind of resounding endorsement, I had to buy it! Thanks for all the info and pictures of yours!

So a closer look in the store today revealed a turn line on the cylinder but no evidence of firing. It still has what looks like factory oil in the crane and on the cylinder/charge holes. By the way, I didn’t know these were recessed! Very nice. It’s just perfect, really. The box is in great shape, with one corner torn a bit but everything else is good. The included factory test target is in excellent condition and reveals 1970 as the born-on date. So, basically, I got a LNIB Trooper .357 for less than a new S&W 686. I love it! It’s ALMOST too nice to shoot. Almost. But shoot it I will! I am not going to change the grips; the factory ones feel great and look nice with the blue. The blue, by the way, isn’t the high-lustre royal blue of it’s sister Python of course but it is still superb. Amazing that this was once a “budget” service revolver as it is finished and assembled to such a high standard.

View attachment 1206295View attachment 1206296View attachment 1206297View attachment 1206298
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Such A SCORE! Excited about a nice gentle range report
 
Considering the quantity of federal reserve notes created since that Trooper originally sold for $99, I think it's a bargain.

Think of it in term of gold. $35 oz back then and it's almost 3 ounces or $105. Today that same 3 oz would be overr $6,900. At less than $1k, that's not even half an ounce of gold today so it's cheaper now that it was in the olde days.
 
I have a shooter 4", they are nice guns and feel very solid. Mine has locked up on me for unknown reasons twice now, but a little fiddling with the cylinder release and hammer cleared it up each time. Removing the side plate showed no obvious issues and its not debilitating or frequent enough to warrant further scrutiny so far.
 
4v50 Gary said:
Considering the quantity of federal reserve notes created since that Trooper originally sold for $99, I think it's a bargain.

Think of it in term of gold. $35 oz back then and it's almost 3 ounces or $105. Today that same 3 oz would be overr $6,900. At less than $1k, that's not even half an ounce of gold today so it's cheaper now that it was in the olde days.
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I like this math in Gold Standard! Great way to reflect on the true cost of something
 
Love this gun. LOVE. It’s just as accurate as my 2020 Pythons in my hands. Slow fire, single action at 25 yards with milsurp Winchester 130 grain .38 Special ball (I know, all I had on me) were 3 X’s and 3 just into the 10 ring for a cylinderful). I didn’t have my phone so no pics but I’ll do a more formal review next week when I can take a few different handloads.

Also… LGS called… they have a 6” S&W 19-2, LNIB, nickel…. Ugh. It never ends.
 
vanfunk said:
Love this gun. LOVE. It’s just as accurate as my 2020 Pythons in my hands. Slow fire, single action at 25 yards with milsurp Winchester 130 grain .38 Special ball (I know, all I had on me) were 3 X’s and 3 just into the 10 ring for a cylinderful). I didn’t have my phone so no pics but I’ll do a more formal review next week when I can take a few different handloads.

Also… LGS called… they have a 6” S&W 19-2, LNIB, nickel…. Ugh. It never ends.
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Excellent......I might step out back with mine this evening
 
My first centerfire .357 was a 4" Trooper Mk.III. It was built like a brick house , accurate as all get out, and had a pretty decent trigger on it. Only problem I had with it was the roll pin that held the rear sight in place broke in two and caused the sight to move around under recoil. Replaced the roll pin with a drill bit that I cut down to size. No problems after that.
 
Bannockburn, that roll pin seems to have been the bane of many an existence with those old Colt (Accro and/or Elliason?) sights. I will keep an eye on mine and might just proactively replace it; I have a ton of extra-heavy-duty roll- and solid-pins for these kinda jobs. It’s been ages since I’ve had a blued Colt and I am really happy to have one again.
 
The counter sunk cylinder was only used on the very early Mark III revolvers.
They quickly changed to a "fenced" cylinder with a ring around the outer rim to serve the same purpose......

One of the greatest revolvers to learn double action shooting with is the Colt Trooper Mark III in .22LR.
It's the strongest .22 revolver ever made since it used the same heat treating as the Magnum versions.
I had several 6 inch and one 4 inch.

CLmZrHW.jpg

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Love it, Dfaris! Thanks! I was struck by the fully recessed charge holes (chambers?) on my example as I had only previously seen the “rebated” cylinder such as in the picture you posted. Question: since mine is one of the early examples (1970, 2nd year of production), do I need to be concerned about the durability of sintered metal trigger parts? BTW I’d love to find a .22 companion for my .357 Trooper. Simply splendid.

Thanks!
 
vanfunk said:
Love it, Dfaris! Thanks! I was struck by the fully recessed charge holes (chambers?) on my example as I had only previously seen the “rebated” cylinder such as in the picture you posted. Question: since mine is one of the early examples (1970, 2nd year of production), do I need to be concerned about the durability of sintered metal trigger parts? BTW I’d love to find a .22 companion for my .357 Trooper. Simply splendid.

Thanks!
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Although the problem is probably less severe than the Internet makes it out to be, consider this- would Jack First have bothered tooling up to produce the parts if there were no demand?

I have personally seen and replaced two broken triggers, and there are Youtube videos of folks replacing broken triggers. It was over 20 years ago, so no idea now of the production dates, however when Colt went from the Mk3 platform to the Mk5 and eventually the King Cobra they dropped sintering and went to regular cast parts like Ruger and Dan Wesson were using successfully, so I can only surmise they were never happy with the sintering technology.

I've never seen, nor can find any images of broken hammers, but there are threads on other forums of owners stating that they broke them, usually after dropping the gun.
 
Pops shot an 8" Trooper in .22 lr and an 8" Python .357 for IHMSA.

Hunted w a 6" .22 magnum (groundhogs).

Ultimately he went with an 8 3/8" Smith 48 for chucks.
IHMSA was later done w 8 3/8" model 617 and 686 (Millet rear sights for better clicks).

The Colts were cool though.
 
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