What model Colt is this?

[awp101]

Local shop has a 4" .357 labelled as a "Colt's MFG Model 357". I can't find a "Model 357" under any listing of Colt DA revolvers. It has an adjustable rear sight, ramp front, no under lug, exposed ejector rod and what looks like moderate holster wear to the finish

Looks like I could get it for $675 OTD (maybe $650) but I'm not a Colt guy so I don't have any frame of reference as to what I'm looking at or if it's worth the asking price so any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

[kooz]

Trooper maybe ?

[bushog]

Colt made a "357 " before they came out with the python.

www.coltfever.com/The_357_Model.html

[awp101]

That’s it bushog, thanks! Now I need to decide if it’s worth the asking price. It’s wearing Goodyears and I can’t imagine originals are cheap and easy to find.

[halfmoon]

Jul 25, 2018 18:29:31 GMT -5 awp101 said:

That’s it bushog, thanks! Now I need to decide if it’s worth the asking price. It’s wearing Goodyears and I can’t imagine originals are cheap and easy to find.

Well if you're OK with repro service grips here at least one option:

www.gunpartscorp.com/products/195600B

[sheriff]

It's the '.357', fore runner to the trooper and is built on the .41 frame, same as the Army Special, and Official Police.

[oddshooter]

You've hit upon one of my favorites. I have 5 of them.  I bought them as inexpensive Pre-Pythons (rumor #1).  

The history is variable depending on who you are speaking to.  1953 3 5 7,  1954 for the Trooper, and 1955 for the Python.

My take is that the name is "Three Five Seven". Not three fifty seven. There is space between the numbers when numbers are used. 3 5 7   It originally was the 357 S&W Magnum. The rumor was that Colt said they would never put S&W on a Colt gun. That 3 5 7 on the gun is the meant to be the name, not the caliber; or maybe both.

It is its own new frame and is not the trooper III, or official police.
The internals look like my pythons, not my trooper III's or op's.  The trooper is much closer.
The 3 5 7 can interchange grips with pythons, not troopers. Although I have read that the Trooper V is different and may fit a python as well.  I love the grips.

I love my 3 5 7's. They don't have the top rail or the full lug enclosed extractor rod, like Colt snake guns, but the triggers are exceptional like the Pythons. They also don't have the liquid glass bluing like the snakes, at least not my examples.
I got mine several years ago when the prices were still under $500. More people have begun to recognize what a sleeper this gun is and the prices have moved upward. I still see them around $700 occasionally.  

OP's $675 sounds good. Like always, check the timing, trigger pull, b/c gap, crane fit, and the barrel.

I would love it if someone would challenge me on this history. Too many versions for me to sort out.  


Prescut

[Snyd]

I researched this a couple years ago when a friend had one to sell along with a minty S&W 27-2 8 3/8 . I had to choose one, I chose the smith.

The 357 is a Python without the bling. Here's some info...

www.coltfever.com/The_357_Model.html

[bradshaw]

Jul 26, 2018 10:14:59 GMT -5 Snyd said:

I researched this a couple years ago when a friend had one to sell along with a minty S&W 27-2 8 3/8 . I had to choose one, I chose the smith.

The 357 is a Python without the bling. Here's some info...

www.coltfever.com/The_357_Model.html

*****

Snyd.... thank you for link to Colt 357 info. While good, information provided certainly is incomplete. I, for one, would like to know more about Colt’s post-war steps and missteps in trying to catch up to civilian demand for handguns after WW II. To start, is there parts interchangeability between the 357 and the Python? (I recall NRA bullseye shooters referring to it as “the Three Fifty Seven.”) The old Officers Model and Python used lockwork developed early in the 20th Century. Colt and Smith & Wesson each had taken their own path in refining double action revolvers for smooth shooting in both double and single action. Very different designs, yet both reflect commitment to serious marksmanship with the handgun. S&W clearly won the contest to lower tool time & assembly time. When Colt tried to shortcut the old lockwork, it showed in some of its snubnose junk, especially the aluminum frame pocket guns.

Worst revolver accuracy I witnessed on the IHMSA silhouette firing line came from a Colt Trooper .357 Mag. (I watched, coached, and shot this Trooper MK III in IHMSA competition.) I have shot revolvers which would have done worse, but did not put them on the tournament firing line. It is important to distinguish differences in Colt models & lockwork. Perhaps more than any other gun, the S&W M-28 Highway Patrolman forced Colt to develop a lower cost alternative to their historically smooth lockwork. By eliminating fine polish and fine checkering on the topstrap and barrel rib of the M-27, S&W saved big----without tainting trigger action. Colt’s maneuver was to go cheap, as in CHEAP, with lousy guns which accelerated the downward spiral.

When Bill Ruger stepped into DA production, he wasn’t concerned in the least with Colt products. Bill took aim at Smith & Wesson, namely durability issues with the Model 19, and blue-collar pricing of the Model 28. Speer/CCI was the first to thoroughly prove durability of the Security-Six, pouring thousands and thousands of .357s through the gun at its plant in Lewiston, Idaho. For reasons I cannot grasp, Speer had used a Model 19 for production testing, of course suffering beaucoup downtime. (Perhaps Speer reasoned as relevant the huge distribution of the M-19.)

Perhaps CNC machining could put the old Colt lockwork on parity with S&W, but I doubt it. And Colt would still have to grind its teeth in the face of Ruger durability.
David Bradshaw

[awp101]

Stopped by the shop on the way home and it was already sold. Problem solved! Still, this is good knowledge for me to have as I try to branch out just a wee bit.

Thanks!

[rjm52]

It was my understanding that a Python was just a gussied up 3 5 7... Same action parts.

The 3 5 7 came first and I believe shortly thereafter the Trooper... The 3 5 7 was in .357 Magnum and had more polish whereas the Trooper was .38 Special and .22 only. In 1960 the lines were consolidated... The .22 and .38 Troopers were discontinued as was the 3 5 7 and all rolled into just one gun...the Trooper which was now just in .357.

Last year I bought a .22 Trooper from a friend and decided to buy a matching .357 as it was the one Colt DA revolver I really liked. Found a mint one of GB and paid $650. The serial numbers were very close indicating a 1968 vintage gun not long before Colt discontinued the Trooper and stated the Trooper MKIII line. Problem was I could find no listing for .22 Troopers so I asked over on Rimfire Central.

Turns out .22 Troopers were never numbered as Troopers...they were numbered as Officer Model Match guns...so what I thought was a 1968 Trooper turned out to be a 1954...

Original Target grips for 3 5 7s or Troopers are the same as those for a Python but have silver medallions instead of gold. They now bring BIG money as in $2-400.00. Not as bad as a set of S&W Cokes but if ones gun doesn't have them good luck finding a reasonably priced set. When the Troopers were originally made they came with Service Stocks or for an additional $5.00 they came with Target stocks and a wider target hammer. Colt never had a wide Target trigger. The early 3 5 7 stocks were fully checkered. Later ones have a border. Interesting way one can tell what kind of grips came on the gun from the factory...it the upper left sideplate screw domed, the gun came with Service stocks. If flat, Target stocks...

Just saw a nice 3 5 7 sell on GB...with box was I believe $1400...

Bob