Not a Snake, but still a Prancing Pony

[CajunBass]

I managed to make a reservation to get into my LGS a couple of days ago (not too far from the truth these days.), While I was there, the fellow behind the counter starts giving me a sob story about a poor, homeless, Colt they had. "No one wants it. It's not a snake." Yea...yea...I've heard this song and dance before.

But being the "nice guy" I am, I agreed to bring it home with me and take care of it.

Colt Trooper, MK III, 357 Magnum. Circa 1969-70.





It's not a Python, but it's not too bad.

 

[shoebox1.1]

Beautiful!

 

[Cocked & Locked]

Nice! Great to see a 4" .357 Colt that is not a Python or any other Colt Snake for a change. Good looking revolver.

 

[CajunBass]

Nice! Great to see a 4" .357 Colt that is not a Python or any other Colt Snake for a change. Good looking revolver.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still looking for a 4.2 inch Python.

 

[Pat Riot]

Very nice.
That looks like a very balanced revolver.

 

[ontarget]

Very nice. I actually let one of those slip by recently. Thought I should sleep on it before I decided, next day it was gone. I shall never sleep again.
Damn I'm tired!

 

[bannockburn]

CajunBass

My first .357 Magnum was a Colt Trooper Mk.III! That gun was built like the proverbial tank being a bit "beefier" than a S&W K frame but not as big as a S&W N frame. A solid, well built gun that was very accurate and could handle the stoutest .357 magnum loads without any problem. Only downside with it was the DA trigger pull wasn't as smooth and light as a comparable S&W would have had. The only things I replaced were the grips (the factory wood ones were just too big for my hand; replaced them with Pachmayr Presentation grips), and the roll pin which held the rear sight on the frame broke in two (fixed it by replacing it with a section of a drill bit cut down to size).

Enjoy you new Colt!

 

[SwampWolf]

My first .357 Magnum was a Colt Trooper Mk.III!

I have one; a Buckeye Sheriff's commemorative model willed to me eighteen years ago by a dear friend, Captain Gaylord Ritchey of the Ashland County Sheriff's Department, following his untimely death. It came with a beautiful presentation case and has never been fired. But I've been rethinking this supposed "need" to keep the gun in a pristine, unfired condition. To what end? I'm giving serious thought to dirtying the bore of this old Colt come springlike weather. Any naysayers?

 

[WestKentucky]

A trooper mkIII is the most desirable colt revolver for me. It embodies everything that made Colt great for so long, and did so without the frills and fancies of the snake guns. Wonderful guns when measured by any yardstick. Well bought.

 

[ontarget]

I have one; a Buckeye Sheriff's commemorative model willed to me eighteen years ago by a dear friend, Captain Gaylord Ritchey of the Ashland County Sheriff's Department, following his untimely death. It came with a beautiful presentation case and has never been fired. But I've been rethinking this supposed "need" to keep the gun in a pristine, unfired condition. To what end? I'm giving serious thought to dirtying the bore of this old Colt come springlike weather. Any naysayers?

Since you will obviously never part with your inheritance, the monetary value is meaningless. I'm sure there is far more value in your case with an occasional range trip with your friends gun "in remembrance".
If it were mine, I'd be shooting it.

 

[entropy]

My first handgun of any kind was a Trooper MkIII, though 6" not 4". The rounds I loaded for it cracked the hammer of my Dad's Python, in the middle of him qualifying. (he was a cop.) He came home grabbed the Trooper, and finished qualifying with my hot, compressed Blue Dot 125 JHP loads! I had to order the hammer, and then install it.

 

[bdickens]

Very nice find!

 

[2ndamd]

Beautiful gun!

 

[silvermane_1]

Nice score there CajunBass.

 

[bannockburn]

SwampWolf

It came with a beautiful presentation case and has never been fired. But I've been rethinking this supposed "need" to keep the gun in a pristine, unfired condition. To what end? I'm giving serious thought to dirtying the bore of this old Colt come springlike weather. Any naysayers?

I second the notion of putting a few (or a few hundred), rounds through it. The one thing I always thought of when I had my Trooper Mk.III was that here was a extremely sturdy, maybe even over-built, for a medium frame .357 revolver that was truly designed and built to be used!

I vote "do it"!

 

[Speedo66]

It's not a Python, but it's not too bad.

I wonder if you could CNC or water jet machine slots into that raised barrel rib, just for weight reduction of course. Any resemblance to a Python would be purely accidental.

 

[DukeConnor]

I may be one of the few people that prefers the troopers over the snakes

 

[bannockburn]

DukeConnor

Count me in as well! Loved my Trooper Mk.III and Trooper Mk.Vs and would have liked to have had the Lawman Mk.III with the 2" barrel. Now that was one built for bear .357 snubby revolver!

 

[CajunBass]

I may be one of the few people that prefers the troopers over the snakes

I've never really thought about that. I like both. They're just different.

 

[nofendertom]

Was told many years ago that the Trooper was for shooting magnums while the Python was for shooting wadcutters.

 

[Old Dog]

Worthy.

 

[Rock185]

Over all, the MKIIIs are very nice revolvers. I bought a new 6" MKIII along about '72 or '73. Only gripe I had with mine was the very heavy DA trigger pull.

I've shot Pythons, but never owned a Python, or other snake gun. I'll just try to get along with an old 3 5 7 model. At least it has a prancing pony on it

 

[CajunBass]

Rock, among the many guns I kick my butt for selling, I had...and sold...a Colt 3-5-7 with a four digit S/N. First year of production.

Excuse me while to go over here and pound my head on the wall for a bit.

 

[Walkalong]

I prefer the Trooper Mk III over the Mk IV, the Python, the 3 5 7 etc.

 

[Gary W. Strange]

I have a Trooper mkiii, I bought years a go, used. Mine is a .22. I wanted a Diamondback, but couldn’t afford one at the time and have a hard time justifying what they are selling for now. The Trooper is big and heavy for a .22 but it is a nice range gun. One thing about a Colt made back then. The Trooper was Colt’s effort to make a double action revolver, that would sell in close to the same price range as Ruger and others. They were well made, finley fitted and finished revolvers. The bluing Colt used at that time was one of the prettiest ever. They are deep and appear black. You can tell they were well polished. Smith and Wesson was about the same through the 70s. You just don’t see that anymore. They are stout, heavy tough revolvers. Very neat guns.