Colt Trooper Mk III

[gamachinist]

Oh great gurus,
I come in search of knowledge!

Okay ,enough of that.

On one of my other haunts,someone is asking about a MkIII Trooper.

Did the sintered metal hammer and trigger start on the Mk V or did the Mk III have them too?

Thanks in advance for him and myself,
Robert.

 

[Old Fuff]

They started with the introduction of the Mark III series and continued on with all models using Colt's J-frame (not to be confused with the S&W J-frame which is something entirely different). This kind of lockwork was not my favorite, but I must admit it worked out O.K. although you could never get as high polish on the parts as you could on earlier models that had conventional steel lockwork.

 

[stans]

And the Trooper MK III is plenty strong. It is built on a hefty frame, fully capable of handling the 357 Magnum. It is not as refined as the Python, but it is still a very accurate revolver. The sintered metal hammer and trigger do tend to preclude a lot of trigger work. Sintered steel parts are case hardened and if you penetrate this thin layer, the metal underneath is softer and will not hold those nice, sharp angles and polished surfaces that come with a well tuned trigger. The Trooper MK III was intended to be a service weapon and it is excellent at that job. Some of the firing pins were over hardened and a little brittle, so dry firing without snap caps is not advised. Should the firing pin break, the gun must be sent back to Colt, they are the only ones with the know how and equipment to replace this part.

My local shop has one in stock now, can't remember if it was a six or eight incher. It did look to be in 100% condition and since the tag was turned over so the price wasn't visible, I figured if I had to ask, I really could not afford it. These guys tend be a bit on the high side anyway.

 

[Gordon]

I have three of these Mk III s : an Official police MKIII 5inch .38 Nickle, An early Lawman 2" .357, and a Trooper MK III .22 magnum. For some reason the .22magnum has a hard,though crisp trigger in DA, the others are smooth and not bad compared to the earlier guns. These guns I have date 69-73 and exhibit very nice finish work, better than the later Colts Ive seen. They ARE very strong like a Ruger GP100 IMHO and more accurate(Colt knew how to rifle a barrel!). You CAN put a spring kit in them to lighten the trigger in DA & SA , but as others have said , stoning the MIM parts isn't a good idea.

 

[gamachinist]

Thanks for the input so far guys!
Does anyone know about what year the sintered metal parts were introduced?
I was thinking it was with the Mk V series,but it must have been late in the Mk III's as Old Fuff noted.

I've had several Troopers myself.
All MK III's:
One early 4" 357 that had a great trigger (sold it and a whole bunch more when I was starting up a business )
Another early 4" 357 to repleace it that was a big disapointment in the trigger department so I traded it off (almost every gun I bought as a replacement never measured up)
One 6" 357 that I sold of when I decided to let go of most of the modern Colt Revolvers and needed money!
One used 4" 22 lr that I sold after I bought a Diamondback,
And on NIB 4" 22 lr that I traded off later towards a Low Wall Winder Musket.

They are built like tanks.The 22's were just a bit too heavy with that big cylinder and frame!

Thanks again guys,
Robert.

 

[dfariswheel]

The Trooper Mark III/"J" series Colt's were introduced in 1969, and the sintered steel parts were introduced with them.

The "J" series had the sintered parts from the get-go in 1969.

Starting with the Trooper Mark V, the hammer and trigger were changed to cast steel, and this was continued with the King Cobra.

 

[pythonguy]

The Trooper I bought was a Mark V and the trigger was sooo good in double action, I was wondering why it didn't stack, thanks once again dfariswheel for the info. The single action was sublime, so crisp and no creep or letoff, I bought the gun for $400.00 with no second thoughts, even though it is finished in nickel. The finish is at least 98%, I know the gun was fired some, but not much. I was browsing the S&W's looking for a .357 to use as a range gun, and came across the Trooper which blew me away. I know S&W makes/made a good product, but I lean heavily to the side of Colt because the feel better in my hand, I like the triggers better, and they overall feel more solidly constructed to me.

 

[Standing Wolf]

It's been my experience that the Mark IIIs were uneven. Both of mine were top quality guns with excellent triggers; I've encountered others over the years, however, that had sloppy, creepy, heavy, uneven triggers.

 

[pythonguy]

Hi Standing Wolf,

I picked up the Trooper Mark V last night, and brought it with me to work as there is a range 5 mins away from here. I went at lunch time and fired off 100 rounds through the gun, it was pure pleasure to shoot!! I wanted the range owner to check out the gun too as he was a gunsmith for the New York City police dept for many years. I did not buy this gun from his shop, so I knew he'd be impartial, he's knocked purchases before from guys at the range. He was impressed by the trigger in DA, and blown away by the SA pull. He thought the gun had a trigger job, although the screws are perfect with no marks or burrs. He even got a ransom rest out, needless to say I was late coming back from lunch, and fired a bunch of rounds at 25 yards. The groups were all in a bunch that a soda can could cover. It was so enjoyable to just shoot the gun, I use 38 specials not magnums because they are so much more relaxing to shoot.

 

[Jim Watson]

I once saw a Trooper III with excellent trigger pulls, comparable to stock S&W.
It had nickel plated hammer and trigger in a blue gun. I suspect the plating smoothed out the irregularities of the sintered surfaces.

 

[Standing Wolf]

He thought the gun had a trigger job, although the screws are perfect with no marks or burrs.

A good gunsmith never—ever!—damages screws. It's a function of having the right screw drivers and the willingness to use them carefully.

Some Mark III Troopers left the factory with truly outstanding triggers; some acquired them in guns shops. After the fact, it's difficult or impossible to tell the difference.

Congratulations, eh?

 

[pythonguy]

Thanks Standing Wolf, as you can tell I am really into Colt revolvers, and I have owned S&W and Rugers in the past. But after a range buddy let me try his Colt's, I was totally hooked! I sold the handguns I had and reinvested the money into two Pythons, some well timed bonus money provided the capitol for another Python and then the Trooper. My collection is rounded out with a Glock .9mm, Kimber gold match .45acp, and a Ruger govt model II .22 rimfire. I love them all and shoot all but the 2 Pythons that I bought unfired, I feel really lucky to own them all and will post some pics of the Colts on my next post. You have to admit that the Colt line are very classy guns, sturdy and fit the hand really well.