.357 4” colt trooper mid 60’s SN.

Anything I need to look out for?

(First colt)

A Mk. III wouldn't be mid sixties.  First year of production was 1969, first full year was 1970.  A mid sixties Trooper would be the old style.  The Mk III is an absolutely rugged beast.  The older Troopers are something of a poor man's Python.

I don’t know the sn yet, just going off what the seller thought.

It is a mk3 though.

Make sure it’s not mine, that I sold to a gunsmith in 1980.   I shot the snot out of it, till I was running some gunshow reloads fast DA.
Bang,Bang, Pop,BANG!  Squibbed one and followed up.  Big ring behind the front sight.  He was going to cut it back to a 4”.

It was a nice shooter, abused by a young dumb kid. Me.

Looks gtg from the pics, and for the price I think I’ll be pleased.

Like I said the Mk III is rock solid and unlike a lot of Colts can still be found for decent money.   Considered by many to the toughest 357 ever built.

The Mark III was designed specifically to shoot unlimited amounts of full power .357 ammo, and it's a tank of a revolver.
Master gunsmith Jerry Kuhnhausen thought the Mark III through King Cobra were the strongest medium framed DA revolvers ever made, including the S&W 686 and Ruger GP.
This was due to Colt's massive forged and heat treated frame and cylinder.

The only real "watch-out" for these later Colt DA revolvers is to not dry fire them without using snap caps.
Once in while a firing pin may have been too hard and can break.
Since Colt no longer works on any of these older models that's going to require finding a pistolsmith who has the special press device and contoured support dies to press out the firing pin and bushing, and properly press and stake a
new one in.
DO NOT try to drive a Mark III or later firing pin out with a hammer and punch, you can easily ruin the frame.

Second "watch-out" is that there's a Allen head screw on the back side of the trigger.... DON'T MOVE IT.
It's not really a trigger over-travel adjustment screw.
It's a factory adjusted screw to allow just the right amount of clearance between the hammer sear and the trigger sear in double action.  Change the screw setting and you can cause a bad trigger pull or even a broken hammer or trigger.

Third "Watch-out" is NO "POLISHING" of the action parts.
These later Colt's have sintered steel (powdered) action parts with a very thin case hardened surface to prevent wear.
Any attempt to polish the parts is likely to break through the thin glass hard surface and destroy the part.
In any case, since the parts are cast they have no machine marks that can cause roughness.  The internal parts are already as smooth as will do any good.
Just apply a dab of grease to the hammer and trigger interfaces and you're good.

The only trigger tuning allowed is to install a spring kit.
These kits usually have several different power mainsprings, and a reduced trigger return spring.
Wolff Gun Springs sell a kit.

Thank you, I don’t plan on messing with it besides shooting it.

So what kind of value do these bring?

Chinook3

Picked it up today.

Serial number is ‘78 from colt site search. But the serial is off from some of the data sheets online.

33XXL

Nice shape, has holster wear, nothing I wasn’t expecting from a 40yo pistol.

Bonus cool factor, my stepdad was a state trooper for a bit during a break from active duty while he was in the reserves, had enough civilian life and went full time after a few years of writing tickets

Issued this exact model, he’s pretty excited to shoot it.

Very nice!

I have a 4 in MkIII Trooper and Border Patrol. I also have a MkIII Lawman Snub.

Still looking for a nice 6 inch variant. I also want to add an Agent to the collection.

One of the best revolvers I had ever owned. Great gun . I wish I didn't let it go, but it happened a long time ago and I cannot do anything about it. Enjoy it . Very nice

You did good, o.p.. Here is a pic of mine. A 6" 357, and an 8" 22.

I hate the grips, and can’t decide what wood hogue grips to get. Color or design

But I love the gun, shoots great.

A .40 cal bore brush is great for cleaning the cylinder.