Colt .357 Trooper MKIII Stainless

[kielbasavw]

Okay, my dad gave me his guns quite a while ago, and in the small collection was his colt .357. the problem is, unfortunately, he let it sit in the garage in its soft case, and well it formed some rusty pits in the stainless. i cleaned it up as best as i could, with a help of a friend, we got the rust out, but left behind blotches of dark grey blackish pits. the barrel is okay.

now im not planning on selling it, but i am curious of what its worth in its condition, and if it would help at all, having it bead blasted, or any other typical fixes in this situation.

Also i would like to know if you guys can give me a year, or date from the serial# 62057L. any info on this thing would be nice to have, so please share your input!

Did i mention this thing shoots like a bat out of hell ;-)

[efnick]

ouch. probably lucky to get about $400 if its mechanically perfect.

[pyromensch]

stainless, are you sure it isn't brushed nickel? i don't believe they made a stainless MK3

i'd also pull the grips, there could be more ddamage under them

[efnick]

i thought the nickel models came with black or case hardened hammer/ trigger?

[pyromensch]

[QUOTE=kielbasavw;7901232]Okay, my dad gave me his guns quite a while ago, and in the small collection was his colt .357. the problem is, unfortunately, he let it sit in the garage in its soft case, and well it formed some rusty pits in the stainless. i cleaned it up as best as i could, with a help of a friend, we got the rust out, but left behind blotches of dark grey blackish pits. the barrel is okay.

now im not planning on selling it, but i am curious of what its worth in its condition, and if it would help at all, having it bead blasted, or any other typical fixes in this situation.

Also i would like to know if you guys can give me a year, or date from the serial# 62057L. any info on this thing would be nice to have, so please share your input!

Did i mention this thing shoots like a bat out of hell ;-)

does that mean the bullets go any which way? kidding. i have a blued MK3, 6", and a mk5 peacekeeper

[pyromensch]

i thought the nickel models came with black or case hardened hammer/ trigger?

maybe right, and this one does look more like SS, but i don't recall there being any at the time

[AVID HUNTER]

Figure out a fair price and I'll buy it from you. I'll also let you buy it back when you decide that you shouldn't have sold it. I don't know if your dad is still with us, but if he passes, you'll be pissed that you sold it.

[kielbasavw]

he's around, he just doesn't shoot, so he gave it to me. and i HIGHLY DOUBT i will ever sell this thing, just curious of what the value may be. he bought it way before i was born. 22+ years ago. it seems stainless, but i could be wrong, my buddy said it was stainless. stainless still does rust, but id expect colt to use a better blend of CRES. this did sit out for quite a while though... is there any info about the serial number?

[efnick]

oops yup, thats electroless nickel. that will be a mess to re-finish. keep a good layer of oil on it and shoot the living crap out of it, they do very well!

[Andy Taylor]

No Troopers were ever made in stainless. King Cobras were the only guns of the Trooper line (KCs were essentially Trooper MKVs with a different barrel profile) to be available in stainless. If you wish to refinish, Colt will do it, and not much value will be lost compared to someone else doing it.

My info on S/N doesn't go up that high. 1001L was the last gun made in 1978, so yours is post '78.

[kielbasavw]

so nickel it is. thanks for that, also i noticed the ejector rod is tweaked just a hair, any fix for that, or just replacement, does it hurt value to have that replaced? or is it just a matter of re tweaking it.

[efnick]

value should remain the same as i dont think the ejector rod is numbered or anything. just make sure to get the exact length and finish as on your gun, and dont loose the little cap on the end. ive heard theyre threaded on and come off with much shooting. if you do try to straighten it, completely remove it from the gun and cylinder first so you dont tweak anything else. also make sure the cylinder yoke or whatever its called isnt bent, who knows how the rod got bent in the first place.

[RealBarber]

send it to Colt and let them refinish it

[kielbasavw]

any idea what a refinish would run?

[efnick]

http://www.mahovskysmetalife.com/PriceSheet%20Page%205.htm

remember their price is only to apply it, you have to pay to have the old finish removed, who knows how THEY prep the gun, and you WOULD want to have colt do it, so probably a lot more for just the coating. will probably cost as much as the guns worth.