Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Shot The 1961 Colt Model 357

I've had this revolver for about fifteen years, but I bought it without the factory original grips. I got a huge bargain on it, even considering the non-original grips, because the gun store had it marked as a Colt Trooper, when it was actually the significantly upgraded cousin of the Trooper, i.e., the Model 357 (similar to labeling an S&W Registered Magnum as a Highway Patrolman), which ended production after 1961. Mine's a last year of production gun. So I got a Colt Model 357 for a Colt Trooper price, and back fifteen years ago Troopers weren't going for all that much. I think I paid like $450.00 for it.

Anyway, back then, I figured it would be no great problem finding factory original grips for it online, but in all these years, on the rare occasion a set came up for sale, they were priced higher than what I paid for the gun.

Finally, a few days ago, someone at the Fire clued me in on where I could get high quality reproductions of the originals, so I bought them. And since I had the gun out of the safe to put the new grips on it, I figured I'd take it to the range.











This gun shoots like a dream. Manipulating it, cocking the hammer, opening and closing the cylinder, puts one in mind of a Swiss bank vault. You can tell they put great care in its manufacture.

As to the new grips, I think they look great, and very much like the factory originals, illustrated below (picture found online):



I prefer their feel over what I was using for it all these years, i.e., a set of rubber Hogue Monogrips. And that checkering really locks the gun in your grip. Painful, actually, when shooting full house .357 Magnum. Feels like someone is applying a wood file to your hand while shooting it, but no blood was drawn, so that's okay.

Here's a fast, offhand, six shot group fired double action at fifteen yards.



PS The Python, introduced soon after the Model 357, was merely the Model 357 with a target style barrel featuring a full underlug and ventilated rib. Otherwise, including the level of fit, finish, and hands-on attention at the factory, the two guns are identical.