Colt Lawman Mk. III Snubby. 1st gun in SEVEN MONTHS!

H

Hand_Rifle_Guy

New member
Right. Unemployment STINKS! :(

Had a Parker combo gun on "layaway". Darn thing was $1300. Been sitting around since the first of the year, getting token bits of spare change chucked at it. Finally, some guy offered my dealer $200 MORE than I agreed to pay for it, in cash right then if they would sell it to him.

They asked me about it. I'm not in a position to pay for that Parker right now, so I told 'em to sell it. It's been too long. :(

BUT, that left me with a nice refund. And sitting in the case was a Colt Lawman Mk. III with a snubby barrel. It was used, brought in by this retired cop. He was going to give to his son, but the guy didn't want it around, as he had a new baby, so Dad sold it.

I SAY it was used. It's not. It's NEW. Not a scratch on the grips or finish. Barely even a drag-line. Nice trigger, too. And I like Colt wheelguns. I was going to get a S&W M-19. Prolly still will, at some point, but this one was not to be missed. It's NEW!

Shiny blue. Six-shot medium-frame snubby, (2"?) with a full shroud. A recessed cylinder, even. I didn't HAVE a snubby .357 yet. So for the first gun I've actually purchased in half a year, at least I got a prize.

The price? $225, plus tax, fees, and a stupid certified gunlock. $267 out the door. That amounts to almost free, by my standards.

I used to buy guns every five minutes. Then I lost my job. The gun withdrawl has been SEVERE. I had to give up that Parker combo gun, the closest thing I've seen to a double rifle that I could afford. But of course, I couldn't ACTUALLY afford it, or I'd have had it already.

So I'll just have to be satisfied to have this EXCELLENT snubby. I suspect I won't regret it.

And the gun withdrawl is a lot more bearable, for the moment. ;)

So I'm fishing for opinions, I guess. Did I get a good deal? All the rest of my Colts are old-school, the latest being from 1921. How do these new-fangled modern contrapulations with the new lockwork compare to the older guns? Is this the same action as the Python? (This is a fairly early-generation Lawman, if there is such a thing. It has a low serial #, I think. 90,6XXL. Anyone know when it was built?) How are these guns for durability? Colts are a pain to work on for most people, as I understand it, so I'm wondering about hard service.

Found a NIB Coonan, but couldn't begin to afford it at $800. But this Lawman I can take home. It better shoot nice, I put off getting a Glock 29 for this. But I couldn't afford the Glock, either.

I hate being unemployed. But I love buying good guns.
 
lawman snub...

Decent revolvers, all in all. They were durable enough, generally shot well, and these were among the few fixed-sight Colts that anybody made any real effort to regulate- that is, get them to shoot where the sights looked. The old dick specials, army specials. official police etc. were USUALLY pretty good in this regard, as were the MKIII's. The single actions and 1911's were apt to shoot about anywhere.

I think you did OK, provided that the gun shoots/works allright. I bid on one of these in an auction last year and held my bid to about what you paid. I didn't win it, and bought a Ruger SP-101 instead, which has turned out to be a superb revolver.

I do admit to an affinity to the old MK III Colts, however, as well as the speed six/service six line of Ruger .357s. ABout the only difficulty with the MKIII that I can speculate on might be replacement parts, should it ever need them.

Congrats on your find; believe you have yourself a fine revolver there.
 
Rats. No camera, so no pic. Sorry. Once I get a camera, you can bet I'll smear my WHOLE COLLECTION around for all to see. Got some goodies, me.

Invssgt, I have been looking at SP-101's for quite some time. I'll probably get one at some point. I have other Rugers, and they have engendered respect for the marque through positive experience. I must admit to an appreciation for things older, or non-connformist in nature, thus my admiration for Colts, and odd wheelguns of all stripes.

And I have a Service-Six .38 special, of the older series. It's a great gun, for all it's lack of general acclaim. I like it better than my GP-100. It's more acurrate, too.

Here's hoping that my first medium-frame .357 proves to be a good gun. I think it will, but I'm optomistic about every gun I buy. :)

It'd better. I've been postponing the ".357 service gun" purchase for way too long. The GP-100 failed to fill this role, as it's really too big. I regard it as a .44-sized gun. AND it has a six-inch barrel.

And I have THREE .38 special service guns, if you count a Police Positive as a service gun. They're all good, but none were a .357 magnum. I have finally filled the space on my acquisition list for a .357 police revolver. Its only been on that list since I started MAKING these lists in the first place. That started at gun #3, and I'm up to sixty, now! Been slackin' off, I guess.

I REALLY gotta buy some more guns.
 
That brings back fond memories,when I went to to the Warrant Squad for the Sherrif,that was issued to us.was a great 2" Gun,handled the recoil better then the mdl-19 S&W,and with the fixed sites it didn't dig into the jacket linings. IMO-I'd say you did fine
Good shooting
 
If your Lawman Mark III uses the same frame as the Trooper Mark III, you've got a champion.

I bought a six-inch Colt Trooper Mark III in the late 1970s because I couldn't afford a Python. It was a very straight shooter with a rock-solid action. A friend helped me slick up the single action release a very little bit, and it was definitely match quality, although my eye sight wasn't then and isn't any better today. Its rib was solid rather than ventilated, and it had a coil rather than leaf spring; for all practical purposes, however, it was as good a gun as the Python.

I'd have kept it, but my ex-wife and I decided to go separate ways, and she wanted it for her purse gun. It wasn't my idea of an easily carried revolver, but that and the K-22 were her favorites.
 
Ya done good!
The Lawman is the Colt "J" frame. Guns in the series were the Trooper MK3, Trooper MK5, and the King Cobra. Also limited production guns in the Mark 3 series, like the Official Police MK3, Metro Police, and Officer's Model Match MK3.

These are not the same action or frame as the Python. The "J" frame guns are very tough, strong guns. Unlike the "I" frame guns like the Python, they don't have any reputation for going out of time.
They usually don't "tune" quite as well as the Python, since it's an entirely different action. Internally, they are much simpler and stronger than the Pythons.

I'd recommend getting a copy of Kunhausen's book on Gunsmithing the "J" frame Colt's, Volume Two, which covers all the MK3 series guns. This will give you full info on improving trigger action, and disassembly. Money well spent, and not expensive.
 
invssgt

Hand-rifle, I would indeed call the police-pos a carry gun- and I have packed one for plain-clothes duty, stoked with FBI loads. Sure carried nice.

Those old Speed/Service six Rugers were some fine revolvers, and like you, I'd not trade a good one for two GP's. I had a 4" .357 Speed-Six w/stags years ago that thought it was a rifle out at 75-100 yards, with CCI's old 140 grain load. I should never have parted with it, but who would'a thought Ruger would ever discontinue them? This was one of the few totally screwed-up management decisions that came out of Southport over the years. I suspect that the GP, with it's cruddy trigger, probably don't sell like the 'sixes' did, and I wish Ruger would just acknowledge their mistake and re-introduce the old DA guns. They could even put a crane lock in them this time if it made 'em feel better.

That being said, the SP is as good as the GP was mediocre. I love mine, and it is the softest-shooting .357 I've ever fired. It really only has one problem. The pretty little redheaded 120-pound fireball I'm married to shot up a half-box of my 125 grain Federal flame-throwers before I got it away from her- and she shot it real well out to 25 yards. I just wound up giving it to her, so maybe I'm in the market for another....

Lemme know if you tire of that old Colt lawman, amigo. Take care-
 
Bought one over 20 years ago. Still have it, still trust it. It's in my nightstand loaded with 158g .38spl HPs. Good gun.
 
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