It's in pretty rough shape. Rust and some pitting. I cleaned it real quickly and got lots of funk and grit out of it. Trigger is smooth and lockup seems tight.

Any idea what it's worth? Is it worth having refinished, or just use it as it is?
I just picked up a very nice 18-3 and this does not compare really, but I think it could be a nice shooter..


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I have one, and I love it.

Yours is a little rougher, but would be a good shooter. I'd guess even in that shape its an easy 500 buck gun.

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IMG_0931.JPG (37.0 KB, 37 views)

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I owned a Colt Trooper MK III back in the late 70's, early 80's and always thought my cousin's S&W Model 19 outshot it. I traded it used straight across at a local gun store for a brand new Ruger SS Security Six and felt I got the better end of the deal.

I don't see any reason to spend the money to refinish a gun and decrease its value. Shoot it as is with no worries. What did you pay for it?

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They are great heavy duty revolvers. I have one also. I have read that you shouldn't dry fire them because of the sintered metal hammers. I would leave that one alone and use it as is.

Now you tell me! Just dry fired it probably 25 times. The trigger was gritty and awful when I first got my hands on it. It is very nice now, although I find the general condition of it bothersome. But for what I have invested in it ($0.00) I suppose I can make do. If I didn't break the hammer....


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Its not so much the hammer as the frame mounted firing pin. Repeated dry firing can push it out of its moorings, and a special tool is needed to get it back where it belongs. I just use snap caps. I'm sure you're fine.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I bought a cleaner 6" one at a pawn shop for $400 and sold it at a gun show for $800.

You can use this page to look up its age:

Colt Firearm Serial Number Lookup - Year of Manufacture

It's a nice, big, solid .357, larger than a K and smaller than an N frame S & W. Note that parts and gunsmithing support for these are not easy to find.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Didn't find it in the database, but found something on another forum indicating it's a 1981 model based on the U suffix this revolver has.


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Back in the early 80's I had a Border Patrol, which was the exact same gun with a different roll mark, matte finish and produced for police sales. A couple of buddies had Troopers at the same time.

Do not dry fire it. It's one of the few guns that will indeed break it's firing pin if you do dry fire it. From what I understand, it takes a special machine to replace the frame mounted pin, and there's only two or something like that in existence. Colt had one, and my buddy dry fired a ton and he broke the pin. This was back in the days before the internet, and information like that wasn't as free flowing back then. So he dry fired a bunch, the pin broke, and he had to send it back to Colt to get it fixed. Colt no longer does work on it's previous revolvers. I don't know who would actually be able to fix a broken firing pin on one. I wouldn't worry about the 25 times you've dry fired it, but I'd invest in some snap caps for future practice.

I broke the trigger return spring in mine. I got a new one and popped it in. No drama there.

None of the three of ours were particularly babied. Mine had been a duty gun, and all three of us shot the **** out of them. I look at the trigger spring as a normal wear item that was probably due to it's LE previous life.

They're good guns overall. I'd just shoot your's as is. It doesn't look anywhere near as worn as mine was.

I have a pair a 6" that has Been shot thousands of times and a 4" that mostly stays in the safe

that old 6" gun has only gave me one problem after a lot of firing during a match one day on the range, it backed the ejector rod back into the underlug and locked up the cylinder to the point it would not let the cylinder swing out,

not a major problem and a little lock tight and screwing in the pin solved the issue, but it cost me the match that day at our local gun club

its been a great old gun and it fit my hand better than a k frame

I'm in California and our prices generally run on the high side, but if your gun were LNIB it would probably fetch $1000 - $1200. As for refinishing it looks to me like some of the blemishes on yours would require a lot of buffing, and that would round off a lot of corners and dull the edges. They are great shooters so I would just enjoy it as-is. Everyone needs a good gun they don't need to worry about getting scratched!

My nickled Trooper

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Thanks for the pics and info everyone. Looks like I have a shooter/truck gun that I don't need to overly concern myself with as it pertains to cosmetic care.
I've got snap caps for a couple other calibers, I will grab some in .38 spl this week.


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