Colt Trooper MK III or Dan Wesson?

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Huntolive

Huntolive

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Could buy used Royal Blue Colt Trooper MK III or Dan Wesson 357 both 4" barrel.
Both are shooter grade, decent, but not museum pieces.
Colt $700
DW $ 400

DW is made in M.Mass.

What are relative value and quality?
Trigger, accuracy, etc?
What would be good price?
Advice?
Also considering New 4" Ruger sp 101 Match Champion $590
 
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If the MKIII is anything like my 1966-67 4" .357 Trooper I'd pay the extra $110 on the Trooper vs the SP 101 which I also own. My Trooper's trigger and accuracy are very good although I've never handled an MKIII or Dan Wesson.
 
Sounds like a Monson DW, and they were really amazing. TA few questions. Does it come with the wrench for the barrel shroud and is it the solid or vented rib shroud? Does it come with just one grip or does it have both the wood and Pachmayr grips?
 
stonebuster said:
If the MKIII is anything like my 1966-67 4" .357 Trooper I'd pay the extra $110 on the Trooper vs the SP 101 which I also own. My Trooper's trigger and accuracy are very good although I've never handled an MKIII or Dan Wesson.
Click to expand...
The J-frame Mk3 is a much different animal than the original I-frame Trooper, as it uses a coil mainspring, transfer bar FP, and sintered metal pressings for the internal lockwork. Folks will argue which is better, my feeling is that the original is stronger, but the Mk3 looks better- I went with the original, lol.
20190404_224140.jpg
I shy away from any of the Mk3 Colts because I have actually seen two with broken triggers and at the time finding replacement parts was nigh impossible- though apparently Jack First is now making these, but they aint cheap!
 
I have owned a Trooper III and a Dan Wesson, the Wesson is a 44 Mag. The Trooper was a good looking and smooth working gun, but the one I had was not as accurate as other 357's that I owned.
The Dan Wesson is the most accurate revolver I own. The Wesson is still in the safe, the Colt has long since been traded off.
I would buy the Dan Wesson and spend the extra money on a holster and ammo.
 
I've got a MK III Trooper that I bought a few weeks ago. About the same price. I haven't had a chance to shoot it, but I liked the MK III Official Police 38's I've owned

I've never owned a Dan Wesson 357, but have owned a couple of their 22's. Great shooters.

I guess I'm not sure which I'd buy. I'd have to see them, but they're both good guns IMHO. Given equal condition, I'd probably go with the DW .
 
Hi...
I have a couple of Colt Troopers, a MkIII and a Mk V both are fine revolvers. No complaints whatsoever...they are accurate, look good and have stood up to several thousand rounds each since I have had them.
I much prefer my S&W 686 Silhouette Model but I wouldn't want to part with the Colts, either.

No experience with Dan Wesson .357Mag revolvers but I do own Dan Wessons in .44Mag and .375SuperMag. I think they are excellent revolvers, strong and accurate.
If it were me, I would buy the Dan Wesson but that's only because I have two Troopers and no .357Mag Dan Wesson. Both are excellent revolvers, IMHO.

Nearly forgot but I also have a Dan Wesson .22LR revolver. Very nice revolver...accurate as well. Big and heavy for a .22, but the weight and long full lug 8-3/8" barrel contribute to making it accurate and easy to shoot.
 
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I would go with the Dan wesson. I have two of the 357 dans, one with a four inch and one with a eight inch barrel, two of their .22s and one of their 44s and they are all good guns. The Colt is not worth the extra 300$ in price over the Dan IMHO.

IMG_20190427_125243611.jpg
 
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Thanks guys I really appreciate the quick responses. I was actually turkey hunting when I sent that out, but not hearing any gobbles.
I'm leaning to the Dan Wesson myself.
I could also get a GP100 with 5 inch barrel for $475 in decent condition. But I already have a Smith & Wesson performance center 5 in 8 shot, and I'm kind of trying to replace a Ruger LCR I'm thinking of selling although I'm not sure I actually want to sell that they're kind of convenient guns to have around easy to pack with me for example when I go bow hunting.
Do you think I'd be silly to sell my excellent condition lightly used Ruger LCR hammerless snub y for $475?
After all I can't have everything. I've kind of shifted to semi-autos for concealed carry in 40 Cal 10 mm or 9 mm. I rarely carry the Ruger but it is so light weight and easy to pack and packs a punch, yet I've never been able to be accurate with it to my satisfaction.
 
As to your first question, I'd choose the Dan Wesson. I personally think the quality is equal and at half the price, you can't go wrong. That is a great price for a DW. Obviously they don't have the same collector value as Colts but the DW was one of the most under rated guns ever produced. Not sure about the recently reintroduced models. Probably my biggest gun blunder of all times was selling a DW Pistol Pack some years ago. Don't remember the price, but it was less than half of what a set would cost me today. Only thing I didn't particularly like was the cylinder release but it just took some getting used to. As far as the SP101, it is one of my least favorite guns out there. In my opinion, there are a lot of better choices out there. If I wanted a Ruger, I'd go with the GP100. If I was mainly interested in a 3" gun, I'd either go with an older S&W K Frame or if you don't mind the lock, the Model 19 Comp Carry from the Performance Center is a fantastic gun. I just turned down a slightly used one and would have bit the bullet and tried to ignore the lock, but the previous owner had bobbed the hammer and that turned me off.
 
Thanks, planning to I DW today, it does come with the barrel tools original wood grips and Hogue grips.
Actually not sure of the ribs Style.
What difference does the ribs style make both value-wise and functionally?
Yeah I know what you mean the cylinder release it's a little weird on The Dan Wesson guns.
My other option is a series 4 pre lock 686 Smith & Wesson heavily used but in good condition 7 shot for $750 I fired it yedyester at owners range, works great, good lock up
 
I have a hard time paying the premium for the Colt name. The Dan Wessons are good guns and the .357's are easy to find barrels for. However, the 5" half lug GP is a great configuration.

GP%20walnut%2001.jpg


SPW1 said:
I would go with the Dan wesson. I have two of the 357 dans, one with a four inch and one with a eight inch barrel, two of their .22s and one of their 44s and they are all good guns. The Colt is not worth the extra 300$ in price over the Dan IMHO.

View attachment 838646
Click to expand...
Where'd ya get them swanky grips?
 
Craigc,
I got them from a guy that would make grips for Dan Wesson's over on the Dan Wesson's forum 5-6 years ago. They were a steal at the time, like sixty bucks a set, so I got a couple. I know they later went up in price a lot and I'm not sure if he makes them anymore. The one one the 357 is spalted maple and this one on the 44 is American Holly.
IMG_20190428_114906448.jpg
 
I have had both revolvers and while the Colt Trooper Mk.III was built like a tank the trigger on it wasn't all that great.

I would go with the Dan Wesson and start looking for extra barrels and shrouds, a barrel wrench, and different grips.
 
Lone Star Custom Grips. Not sure if he's gonna offer them though. There's a lot of variation between guns.
 
I've got a DW 715. I've had it for many years. Sent it to CZ-USA for a rebuild a few years back, after abusing it with loads that competed with rifles. They are strong guns. Strong enough to survive my abuse.

They are accurate. The barrels are in tension. There is no POI drift as the barrel warms up.

There is a fellow who is making barrels, wrenches, and shrouds for these. CZ-USA has re-released the Model 15, (blued model .357), so there is support for these guns.

Go with the DW.
 
Huntolive said:
Actually not sure of the ribs Style.
What difference does the ribs style make both value-wise and functionally?
Click to expand...

Just below your post is a response with a picture of a DW with the solid sight rib and below is my DW 15-2 with the vented rib. Functionally the only difference might be a slightly increased accuracy with repeated distance shots. Pricewise, the vented rib models generally seem to run $50-100 more than the non-vented. With my DW I have a vented rib on the 6" and a solid rib when using the 2" barrel.

standard.jpg ​
 
The Colt is nice but Dan Wesson is hard to beat for accuracy. The other nice thing about the DW is if you need any parts, they are still being made. We currently have 5 Dan Wessons that shoot much better than their affordable price would indicate. Highly recommend the Dan Wesson.
 
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