Colt .357 Trooper MKIII Stainless

[kielbasavw]

i see a "nickle strip" $30, is that the removal of the finish, or is that something different? so that would be $165, plus any other things they may charge for, plus shipping, ill take a wild guess at 300?

[efnick]

probably. and like i said, who knows the quality of their work. when it comes time to nickel (like chrome) the prep work is where the quality will show, in the finish and in the life span of the finish. i guess there is a lot of stuff like how clean the surface is and how well they put down the initial coating (copper?) and also, hope they dont mess up the engraving on the gun. if they dull it (like when an old blue colt 1911 has been re-polished and finished) that will totally mess up any value.

[morrcarr67]

send it to Colt and let them refinish it

Colt does a great job refinishing their guns. I'm guessing you plan on keeping this gun and maybe even handing it down to your son/daughter someday. Do it right.

[kielbasavw]

Would I want to refinish, or keep it ugly so it reminds me of how big of a tard my old man was... Haha

[morrcarr67]

I guess that depends on how you want to remember him

[ckprax]

If the gun has sentimental value and will be an heirloom I would send it to Colt and have them refinish it, you could go blue this time or stick with nickel. As it sits it is not worth that much, a refinish is not going to hurt the value but you wont get that money out of it if you did ever try to sell it.

[kielbasavw]

Your saying id never get its full value if it was refinished by colt? Is there a way to tell it has been refinished or just in *****en condition?

[ckprax]

Your saying id never get its full value if it was refinished by colt? Is there a way to tell it has been refinished or just in *****en condition?

What I'm saying is the gun in it's current state is worth lets say $400. You send it in to Colt and have it refinished, it costs you $300 plus shipping. Now it is a refinished gun, it is worth about $450-$500. Since you got it for free you may still be ahead but it is not a great financial decision; it cost you $300+ to increase the value by $100. I would only refinish it if you expect to keep it forever.

You can tell if a gun has been refinished because the markings will be less chrisp. The current finish will be stripped and the bare metal will be polished, this will affect the stamps on the gun. The average gun shop patron (or employee) probably will not be able to tell without comparing it to an original finish but collectors can tell.

ETA - Some guns are worth a heck of a lot more in an original distressed state than they would be if you refinished it. This gun is not really rare so a refinish should not hurt the value, it is not and will not be a rare collector's piece.

[kielbasavw]

I understand, thank you very much