1972 Colt Official Police MK III

[1srelluc]

I picked-up a 1972 Colt Official Police MK III today, it's in excellent condition. It's chambered in .38 Special.

The MK III series debuted in 1969 and was produced until 1982. Intended to be the first major advancement of Colt’s designs since the beginning of the 20th Century, the MK IIIs used the new ‘J’ frame and had no interchangeable parts with older models. The new revolvers were considered groundbreaking as they were the first modern revolver designs to employ a state of the art transfer-bar lockwork system. The revolver was designed so it could only be fired if the trigger was deliberately pulled completely to the rear. It also vastly improved on the earlier design in durability, and offered the advantage of harder and more wear resistant internal parts. The springs used in the Mark III internals were also an improvement. Unlike the older flat style, they were coiled and made entirely of corrosion-resistant stainless steel.

Sadly it was introduced too late and sales were not all that great due to most departments buying .357s around the time of it's introduction. The Colt Trooper in .357 far outstripped it in sales.....I gave $400.00 for it and to be honest it's not really worth much more than that.

 

[The Duke]

I picked-up a 1972 Colt Official Police MK III today, it's in excellent condition. It's chambered in .38 Special.

View attachment 677776

The MK III series debuted in 1969 and was produced until 1982. Intended to be the first major advancement of Colt’s designs since the beginning of the 20th Century, the MK IIIs used the new ‘J’ frame and had no interchangeable parts with older models. The new revolvers were considered groundbreaking as they were the first modern revolver designs to employ a state of the art transfer-bar lockwork system. The revolver was designed so it could only be fired if the trigger was deliberately pulled completely to the rear. It also vastly improved on the earlier design in durability, and offered the advantage of harder and more wear resistant internal parts. The springs used in the Mark III internals were also an improvement. Unlike the older flat style, they were coiled and made entirely of corrosion-resistant stainless steel.

Sadly it was introduced too late and sales were not all that great due to most departments buying .357s around the time of it's introduction. The Colt Trooper in .357 far outstripped it in sales.....I gave $400.00 for it and to be honest it's not really worth much more than that.

I'm thinking you could get $850 for a revolver like that here.

(that's top dollar, but people pay it)

What does it say on the inside on the right if you have the cylinder out? What model? Oh! It's Colt, nevermind. Idk about that.

 

[1srelluc]

I'm thinking you could get $850 for a revolver like that here.

What does it say on the inside on the right if you have the cylinder out?

Just the J prefix serial on the frame/crane.

Now if you had one of the one of the limited production METROPOLITAN POLICE MK IIIs those are true collector pieces, same revolver but with a heavy barrel.....Those bring north of 2K in like condition.

To be honest in Colt collector circles the O-P MK III is sort of the red-headed stepchild of the later Colt revolver line....Not a "snake gun" and sorta homely.

I went with it due to it's condition and it's reputation as a solid shooter.....That and I wanted it's silver medallion stocks for my Trooper MK III .357 with the Colt Guard finish....They just look right when compared to the black factory rubber grips that they came with.

I already ordered as set of Colt OEM walnut "low-profile" stocks made for the O-P MK III. I'll mate those with a Tyler T-Grip I have squirreled away.

I'm not real sure if those target stocks were the issue OEM stocks on that particular O-P MKIII anyway as the "target" stocks did not show up on them till the late years of production but they were available as a option/purchase from Colt. By then the stocks were not numbered to the revolver so there is no real way to tell.

 

[Seymour Flops]

Just the J prefix serial on the frame/crane.

Now if you had one of the one of the limited production METROPOLITAN POLICE MK IIIs those are true collector pieces, same revolver but with a heavy barrel.....Those bring north of 2K in like condition.

To be honest in Colt collector circles the O-P MK III is sort of the red-headed stepchild of the later Colt revolver line....Not a "snake gun" and sorta homely.

I went with it due to it's condition and it's reputation as a solid shooter.....That and I wanted it's silver medallion stocks for my Trooper MK III .357 with the Colt Guard finish....They just look right when compared to the black factory rubber grips that they came with.

View attachment 677800

I already ordered as set of Colt OEM walnut "low-profile" stocks made for the O-P MK III. I'll mate those with a Tyler T-Grip I have squirreled away.

I'm not real sure if those target stocks were the issue OEM stocks on that particular O-P MKIII anyway as the "target" stocks did not show up on them till the late years of production but they were available as a option/purchase from Colt. By then the stocks were not numbered to the revolver so there is no real way to tell.

Very nice gun for every day carry.

 

[The Duke]

Idk. I'm not much of a pistol man. I do have a Model 10-7 that puts the bullets where they're supposed to go every time. I'm happy with it. It's one of my top 3 favorites, I know where the bullets are going to go with it. As far as guns go, I really like rifles. I have shot many other other pistols that performed worse. This thing puts the bullets where they're supposed to go. Even some rifles don't do it that good, so yeah, it's a good gun. You gotta know how to aim it, though.

 

[1srelluc]

Very nice gun for every day carry.

LOL....It's weird, when I'm out and about on my property I carry a 1928 Colt Police Positive Special round butt in .38 special. The round butts were mostly made for export....Most were equipped with lanyard rings.

It was exported out of some South American shit-hole by CAI in the 90s and it had no finish left but was tight as a tick. I swear it's one of the best shooting fixed sight revolvers I own.

I Dura-Coated it when I was doing another gun for a friend.....It serves.....No external rust worries anymore.

I was lucky and found a NIW set of walnut stocks for it at the flea market for $10.00. The original stocks were beat to shit.

IMHO it's the perfect balance of size/weight for a .38 special field revolver....It weighs 9 ounces less than the
O-P MKIII and overall it's about 25% smaller with the same barrel length.

 

[The Duke]

I notice a lot of your pistols are Colt and look the same. Which one is the best shooter?

My model 10-7 is a shooter. Right next to the .06 and Model 60 that puts bullet on bullet. Top 3 is good. As good as my rifles are, the 10-7 is, too. It shoots .38 Special.

 

[1srelluc]

I notice a lot of your pistols are Colt and look the same. Which one is the best shooter?

My model 10-7 is a shooter. Right next to the .06 and Model 60 that puts bullet on bullet.

Far and away my Colt Officers Models (.22 and .38 special).

 

[The Duke]

Far and away my Colt Officers Models (.22 and .38 special).

Man, that's a long barrel for a pistol. A .22 in that would be sweet!

 

[1srelluc]

Man, that's a long barrel for a pistol. A .22 in that would be sweet!

The top one is a .22 but I have a S&W K22 Masterpiece that is almost as good.....All are 6" barrels.

 

[Seymour Flops]

LOL....It's weird, when I'm out and about on my property I carry a 1928 Colt Police Positive Special round butt in .38 special. The round butts were mostly made for export....Most were equipped with lanyard rings.

View attachment 677824

It was exported out of some South American shit-hole by CAI in the 90s and it had no finish left but was tight as a tick. I swear it's one of the best shooting fixed sight revolvers I own.

I Dura-Coated it when I was doing another gun for a friend.....It serves.....No external rust worries anymore.

I was lucky and found a NIW set of walnut stocks for it at the flea market for $10.00. The original stocks were beat to shit.

IMHO it's the perfect balance of size/weight for a .38 special field revolver....It weighs 9 ounces less than the
O-P MKIII and overall it's about 25% smaller with the same barrel length.

It sounds perfect for that purpose.

When I was in the Army during the eighties, I was in a weird little unit where the operations soldiers wore civilian clothes and did not conform to grooming standards. Our standard Issue was a colt .38 snubbie, much like a j-frame smith but with six rounds. Except the commander's, who looked a lot like that, but with a shorter barrel.

On the range, it was very accurate by army standards, which meant that it knocked down human sized targets from distances of two meters to twenty meters. I never was able to fire groups to see exactly how accurate it was. When we drew down, due to Reagan's destruction of the Soviet Union w/o firing a shot, we had to "de-militarize" them, i.e. destroy them. Broke my heart.

 

[fncceo]

Police issue 1892 Winchester rifle in .44 cal ...

 

[1srelluc]

Police issue 1892 Winchester rifle in .44 cal ...

View attachment 678156

.44-40

Spain manufactured a '92 clone called the El Tigre' for police, civil guard, prisons, and were even pressed into service during the Spanish Civil War.....The Spanish designation for the .44 WCF/.44-40 was .44 Largo. Same cartridge.

In fact most of the '92s you see in the old westerns are El Tigre' rifles as they were much cheaper to buy than Winchesters.....They were of very good quality.