Hey you guys. I just recently traded in my s&w 6906. I didn't see much need for a 9mm ccw weapon so i got rid of it. They gave me a good trade in price for and i decided to get a Colt Trooper MK3 which i purchased at half price. The original price was $350. It was in good condition and is very well crafted to me. I'm not too fond of the wood grips though, they might be a little rough on the hands shooting 357's. I'll probably be shooting mostly 38's through it. I was just wondering what is yall's take on the Colt Trooper MK3. Also the serial # is 67220j. Could anyone tell me when it was manufactured?
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- Thread starter 8mman
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Your Trooper MkIII was made in 1975. They are durable and accurate revolvers with most having good triggers. Those who own them (me being one of them) seldom have anything bad to say about them. You will find that there isn't a large selection of stocks/grips for them. When looking for stocks/grips they are made on Colt's J-frame. One word of caution is to not make a habit of dryfiring one without snapcaps. They are known to break firing pins when dryfired without snapcaps and replacement means a trip back to Colt (it's not a replacement that can be done without the special equipment).
My thoughts and opinion....
These revolvers are truly an abomination made by Colt. The engineeers leaped from an expensive and difficult action to manufacture to the least expensive to make in one leap. Take the side plate off and have a peak inside. None of the innards will look "Colt-ish" and will have machine marks with a rough finish. The actions on these revolvers have none of the smooth characteristics of previous Colts.
Having said all of that..... these revolvers are what they are and don't command the big bucks of the more traditional Colt revolvers. They are a good bang for the buck. Too bad that they didn't have a smaller grip frame for the short bbl'd version as the big plow handle kind of disrupts the concealability of the rest of the gun.
These revolvers are truly an abomination made by Colt. The engineeers leaped from an expensive and difficult action to manufacture to the least expensive to make in one leap. Take the side plate off and have a peak inside. None of the innards will look "Colt-ish" and will have machine marks with a rough finish. The actions on these revolvers have none of the smooth characteristics of previous Colts.
Having said all of that..... these revolvers are what they are and don't command the big bucks of the more traditional Colt revolvers. They are a good bang for the buck. Too bad that they didn't have a smaller grip frame for the short bbl'd version as the big plow handle kind of disrupts the concealability of the rest of the gun.
pierrebazukhov
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I own a 4" Trooper MK III. I love mine.
I'll admit it's not a Python. It was never intended to compete with the Python, and was meant for the "masses." The insides are what today would be called "MIM." I got mine in excellent condition without the box for $300.
BUT, my $300 special used bottom of the line Colt Trooper MK III is still very nicely finished compared to any of the new "stuff" I see at the usual big box places, and feels/looks very nice to me. It's about the size of a S&W "L" frame, so it soaks up recoil nicely.
Bottom line, you should feel good about the trade. I like the S&W you had, but Trooper MK III's are worth more to me, personally, just to have around the house.
I'll admit it's not a Python. It was never intended to compete with the Python, and was meant for the "masses." The insides are what today would be called "MIM." I got mine in excellent condition without the box for $300.
BUT, my $300 special used bottom of the line Colt Trooper MK III is still very nicely finished compared to any of the new "stuff" I see at the usual big box places, and feels/looks very nice to me. It's about the size of a S&W "L" frame, so it soaks up recoil nicely.
Bottom line, you should feel good about the trade. I like the S&W you had, but Trooper MK III's are worth more to me, personally, just to have around the house.
pierrebazukhov
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I wouldn't think that riding the hammer back down would cause any problems if you did it once in awhile. FYI, the internal pieces of the MK III series (of which the Trooper MK III is a member) were made from what was called "sintered steel." They have a hard coating on them to protect them, but will wear out very quickly if any action work is done on them (stoning, grinding, etc.) dfariswheel could explain this a lot better.
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
Both of my Mark III Troopers were excellent revolvers. One had a single action pull every bit as good as a top class Python's; the other's single action pull was just pretty good.
P95Carry
Moderator Emeritus
I am no Colt fan overall but I sure miss the very tidy MkIII Trooper I had back in the 80's - 22 cal and a great practice gun because it had the weight of a 357.
Still tho - found that cyl release was always ''wrong ways around'' LOL!
Still tho - found that cyl release was always ''wrong ways around'' LOL!
22-rimfire
Member
I love my Tooper Mark III in 357. Shoots well. Functions very smoothly. Recommend the gun to anyone wanting a 357 revolver. Many who shoot the revolvers take the woods Colts off and and put other stocks that they prefer. But save the factory ones to put back on the gun in the event you sell it.
You did ok, even the less glamarous guns like yours instead of the Python and such are quite stout and are still good guns and collectible as most everything with that little horse stamped on it is.
To let you know, you are almost always better off selling a gun privately than trading it to a dealer but if you are happy with your deal thats all that matters.
Rubber grips of various sorts by Pachmayr and others would probably be a good idea but surely don't misplace the original Colt grips. I just love when I buy a 1915 vintage S&W or something and it had Pachmayr grips
To let you know, you are almost always better off selling a gun privately than trading it to a dealer but if you are happy with your deal thats all that matters.
Rubber grips of various sorts by Pachmayr and others would probably be a good idea but surely don't misplace the original Colt grips. I just love when I buy a 1915 vintage S&W or something and it had Pachmayr grips
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