Colt Trooper questions

[jdmb03]

I saw a nice Trooper for sale and wanted to find out what year it was made, SN J124XX. It has the factory target grips. I've also seen Trooper models with smaller factory grips, how many different size grips did they make? Thanks for the help.

 

[dfariswheel]

You actually have a Trooper Mark III. This is an entirely different gun than the original Trooper model.

J124XX was made in 1970. The serial numbers that year went from J8601 to J50200.

The Trooper Mark III was part of a series of guns, all based on the Colt "J" frame.
Colt had two styles of grips for these, a target style, and the small "service" type grips that left the frame edges exposed.

The target style grips were made in two types.
The early to mid-production grips were a square butt design.
The later production grips were the same type grip only with the butt rounded off slightly.

The Trooper Mark III was only fitted with the two types of target grips, which had Gold Colt medallions.

Other guns in the "J" frame series were also occasionally fitted with target grips, but these "usually" had Silver medallions, and were "usually" made of a hardwood instead of the walnut used on the Trooper Mark III.

Early to mid-production Trooper Mark III Target grip.


Late production Trooper Mark III Target grip.

 

[Ala Dan]

Colt also produced the Trooper MK-V in .357 magnum.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[jdmb03]

Thanks for the great info. It was an MKIII model I saw. I really didn't like the large target grip so I passed on buying it.

I found this Trooper MKIII online and just purchased it. It has the service hammer and grips. The seller said that it barely has a drag line. The SN is J13XX. I called Colt, they said it's from 1969.

Not bad for a 35 year old Colt.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I predict you're going to love that Trooper. They were excellent, rugged, accurate revolvers.

 

[jdmb03]

I haven't had a blued Revolver since my S&W 586, that was 10 years ago. I traded that for a King Cobra and years later traded that towards a Sig P225. I still miss my Colt. This will be the perfect replacement. I'll take more pics when it arrives.

 

[jdmb03]

I've noticed something odd about my gun. All the Trooper MKIII models that I've seen have two pins on the right side under the cylinder, mine doesn't. Could this be because it's a first year production model?

 

[MikeIsaj]

An Old Trooper?

I just bought a Colt Trooper .357, Serial #84482. Can anyone tell me how old it is? I suspect it is an early model. The extractor is not shrouded. I know it was a service revolver and it is in excellent condition mechanically. I am certain that the action has been worked. The bluing is worn in the normal places for a holstered weapon. It is great to shoot. Anything anyone can tell me will be appreciated

 

[dfariswheel]

jdmb03:
Sorry I missed this until now.

The two pins on the side are the hammer pin and the trigger pin.
They're both there, it's just that on these Mark III guns, Colt sometimes over-polished the frames and the pin head was blended in so well, that your can't see it.

Mike Isajewicz:
#84482 is an original Trooper model.
That serial was made in 1969, the last year of production for the old model Trooper.

The original Trooper was developed in 1953-4 as one of Colt's first new post-war revolvers.

It was to be the "budget" version of Colt's 357 Model. The 357 (Both the caliber and name of the gun) was to be Colt's premium holster gun.

The Trooper was to be the cheaper adjustable sighted holster gun for police and sportsmen.

The Trooper was basically just the old Officer's Model Match with a lesser grade of finish and a different barrel.

The Trooper was available in blue or bright nickel, barrels of 4" or 6", and was available with target hammer and grips, or service hammer and grips.
Calibers were .38 Special and .22LR.

The Trooper was very popular with law enforcement agencies, especially Sheriff's departments.

The early guns had the firing pin mounted on the hammer like the Officer's Model and Official Police.

When Colt introduced the Python in 1955, this left the 357 as the odd man out.
People wanting a cheaper gun were buying the Trooper, and people wanting the best were buying the Python.

So, in 1961 Colt discontinued the 357 model.
Colt added the .357 Magnum caliber to the standard Trooper .38 and .22 guns. The center fire Trooper had the firing pin changed to mount in the frame like the 357 and Python.

The original Trooper line was discontinued in 1969, and was replaced by the Trooper Mark III, an entirely different design of gun.

The Trooper is often known as a "poor man's Python" since the Python is basically a Trooper with a super blue job, the famous lugged barrel, and a hand fitted and tuned action.

In fact, in the late 1960's, Colt's were very hard to get, so several custom gunsmith's offered "Troop-On's" or "Pooper's": A Trooper with a Python barrel.

These guns were made up by welding up the bevel in the top front of the frame to match a Python barrel, a Python barrel was fitted, the action was tuned and the gun was given a Python-quality blue job.

I had several cases of people who thought they had an early Python, actually had one of these phony Pythons.

The Trooper is a fine quality revolver.

 

[tc300mag1]

Just hope the trigger dont break seems searching after mine did that it seems to be common on the mk III