I've been gradually adding to my collection of Colt handguns, and picked up this nice specimen today: the Colt Lawman Mark III.
The revolver is chambered in .357 Magnum, and came with those Pachmayr grips, which should soften the recoil a little. I did a serial number look-up, and this one was manufactured in 1971, two years after the gun was introduced (I think production ceased in 1983). The early models, as you can see, had exposed ejector rods. The picture doesn't do justice to the beautiful bluing job, at which Colt excelled. The action feels absolutely first rate, and is typical of the "old" Colts (I have no experience with the "snake" series reintroduced in 2017).
Heritage Guns in Wilmington, which is where I do all my buying these days, had several other items I would have loved to own, including a late model Colt Detective Special and a S&W Model 36, but if I spend all of my money on these things we might wind up having to live at a KOA campground - and Mrs. Paco hates camping - so I figured I'd better just stop at the one purchase (today, anyway).
Nice! Although I expect you'll have to ride that piece like a bronco, what with the short barrel.
ReplyDeleteI'm told that the reintroduced "Snake" series aren't as good as the old series. Part of the reason is that a post-strike union contract required Colt to hire machinists as well as gunsmiths to assemble firearms. Hence, the quality fell.
Yeah, I've read about people having problems with the newer models; very disconcerting if you're looking to spend between one and two thousand dollars on a handgun.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably just run .38 Specials through the Lawman, for the most part.