Which is the better Colt Trooper?

[Bill B.]

Is a Colt MK III or a Colt MK V considered to be the better of the 2 revolvers? Got a friend who snagged a Colt Trooper MK V and from checking on GunBroker there sure isn't any for sale. Were these anything special over the MK III or just low production numbers have made them hard to find? Thanks!

 

[dfariswheel]

The Mark III was made from 1969 to about 1983.
The Mark V was only made from 1984 to about 1986, so production was lower.

The only real differences between the Mark III and Mark V is that the Mark III had a hammer and trigger made of sintered powdered steel, an early version of the current MIM.
The Mark V had a cast steel hammer and trigger, and these were converted to a short action with a shorter hammer fall, Colt's first.
The mainspring was longer and had a relocated seat in the frame.

Other differences were cosmetic:
A vented rib barrel on the Mark V.
The butt was changed to a rounded version with wrap-around grips.

The Mark V was upgraded to the King Cobra by changing to stainless steel and using a new profile barrel.

 

[Guillermo]

The Mark V was upgraded to the King Cobra by changing to stainless steel and using a new profile barrel.

admittedly "picking nits" and do not want to detract from an outstanding and detailed answer but they did make the King Cobra in blue.

I think that when the KC was introduced it was available in blue. They suspended production for over a year and when they started again in 1992 it was stainless only.

sorry for the tangent

 

[Bill B.]

Thanks and one more question ...........average price on the Colt Trooper MK V? My buddy got into his for $650.00 and it's in nickel with a 4" barrel about 98% shape wise. I actually thought he might have paid a little high at first but there don't seem to be any available for sale so he may have done better than I gave him credit for .................LOL.

 

[22-rimfire]

I very much like my Trooper Mark III in 357 mag. They are great revolvers.

 

[Bill B.]

I very much like my Trooper Mark III in 357 mag. They are great revolvers.

+1 .........I have the Colt Trooper MK III also in a 4" blue and it does feel like its had and action job straight from Colt! Fine shooting 357's! There just don't seem to be many of those MK V's around ...................

 

[welldoya]

I wonder if the Mark III's just have a great action ? I've got one in .22 LR and it's got the smoothest action I've ever felt. Better than the Python I had. I always wondered if it had been worked on.

 

[slick6]

I own Colt Trooper MK III's in .22 and in .357 magnum calibers. Although both of these revolvers have relatively nice actions, neither can quite match the slicker action of my recently acquired, NIB Colt Lawman MK V shown below:

 

[dfariswheel]

I think that when the KC was introduced it was available in blue

Rather famously, the Colt King Cobra was the first new model revolver ever introduced in stainless steel FIRST.
Prior to that, all new revolvers from Colt, S&W, Ruger, etc were first introduced in blued, then followed by stainless.
Colt did it backward by introducing the King Cobra in stainless with a blued version following about a year later.

 

[Walkalong]

I had the same question some time back. I bought a Mark V and then a Mark III. I have traded the Mark V and bought two more Mark III's since then. YMMV

 

[Ala Dan]

Wasn't the Colt Trooper MK-V's electro-nickeless finish actually referred to
as Coltguard~?

 

[dfariswheel]

At various times, usually later in production, Colt started calling satin electroless nickel "Coltguard".
In earlier production they just called it electroless nickel.

Over the years, Colt gave these types of names to other things.
As example, the plastic grips as used from WWII to the early 1950's was called "Coltwood", and the aluminum used in the Colt Cobra and Agent was called "Coltalloy".

 

[Guillermo]

dfaris

That is interesting that the King Cobra came out first in SS.

I wonder if that is why the blue did not sell well enough for them to bring them back when they resumed construction of the KC