Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Price for a Colt Trooper 357 in the mid 1970s

The other night I was watching The Streets of San Francisco on DVD. It was the episode "The Albatross" where a father seeks revenge for his son killed by a robber. The father tries to buy a handgun and is offered a Colt Trooper MkIII. The vendor asks 120 $ incl. a box of ammo.

Is this the real price for a Colt Trooper in the 1970s? Does anyone of you have access to the old issues of Gun Digest of the 70s? My collection dates back to the year of 2010 only. BTW - the gun in the movie seemed to be NIB!

That sounds about right for the early 70's.

I don't have much Colt info, but have a 1975 dealer price sheet from Ruger. A blue Security Six had a suggested retail of $143.50 with a $109 dealer cost.

bought my first Colt 1911 back in the early/mid seventies ..........cost $180 full retail as I recall

had a Python I bought before that , used , around $140

From the 1972 Gun Digest:

Colt Trooper Mk III $135, with wide spur hammer and target stocks $142. This was in the section "Revolvers Over $90", i.e. the high priced zone.

In other news:
A Colt Python in royal blue would set you back the princely sum of $190 which was, in fact, a lot of money.
A S&W Model 29 was $181.

Lesser guns for the run of the mill shooter were:
Colt Mk IV series 70 was $125
Ruger Standard auto was $47.50, $53.50 if you wanted checkered walnut grips
S&W Model 41 was $131.50
Colt Detective Specials, Cobras, Lawman Mk III and run of the mill Smiths like the Model 10, 14 or 15 cost from about $110 up to around $135 with fancier options.

These are MSRP, of course, street prices would be lower.

The inflation of the late 70's drove all prices through the roof. A loaded Corvette in 1970 was around $4,000. My sister bought a three bedroom house in a nice neighborhood for $40,000 around 1972-73 and sold it in 1979 for $90,000.

Thank you for your informations. BTW: would an El Paso Saddlery 1920 holster made for a S&W L-Frame 4inch barreld revolver host a Colt Trooper securely? Or would the Trooper even fit into a K-frame T. Threepersons holster? The problem over here in Germany is the restriction to just two handgun due to silly gun laws. There are a few exceptions to legally own more than two but not for me. To many restrictions. I would like to get rid of with my Ruger NMSBH 44 Magnum with the 7.5" barrel to make room for a S&W or Colt DA revolver with a 4" barrel. I have a small collection of EPS holsters. The host is there but the guests are lacking.

Be advised that the Troopers up to the Mk III were essentially Python's without the frills. The Mk III had changed lockwork and is a different gun entirely-some say better overall, but different than the older Troopers which feature the same lockwork as a Python. A Trooper of any vintage is about the same size as an L frame and a bit bigger than a K.

Here’s my point of reference: I bought my first handgun, a Ruger Blackhawk, for $129 in 1978. Inflation was pretty high then so it would have probably been a bit less in the mid-70s.

I can remember in the early 80's when you could buy any Blackhawk you wanted for $137.50. That was Ruger's MSRP.

For years, the MSRP on a Ruger #1 back when they had fancy walnut, was $295.

Bought my first CF rifle in 1976. Brand new Model 94 30/30 in a big discount store in north Jersey.
$89.00 plus tax.

I paid $74.00 plus tax for one in 1972, ACE hardware ran sales on the 94's and 336 Marlins prior to deer season most every year. The Marlin was $84.00 IIRC and I believe the .35 Remington version was higher.

In 1975 a Salt Lake car dealer was offering a free Winchester Model 94 rifle or Winchester 12 gauge pump shotgun with every new Ford pickup truck.





I already had a Toyota Hi-Lux so didn't take advantage of that offer...

Jim do you remember those Weatherby schemes where you deposited money and got a rifle instead of the interest earned?

Now that you mention it, yes, I do recall seeing the ads.

in 1982 i bought a new s&w 586 6" with a holster and several boxes of shells for $275 OTD. still have the gun, box and receipt. that was a crap ton of money for me in those days because as an E2 under 2 i was clearing $199 every two weeks. still have some of those check statements too.

About that same time (early 80's) one of my friends bought a 686 6" with a adjustable front sight (silhouette). He thought it looked cool. He got it from a local S&W dealer that wouldn't display handguns, kept them in the safe. You had to ask him what he had in the safe.....

He had been a dealer for years and was primarily a bait and tackle shop.

When I graduated in '73, my parents let me buy a new Colt Trooper MkIII with money I got for graduation gifts. I paid $129 + tax for it. Traded it a year later for 6" Python. 3 years later the Python was stolen out of my apartment in Lakewood CO in a daylight burglary.

Late 70's I bought a trooper when I started working part time at the sheriffs office. Got a special deal since I was going to be a deputy and it was $100 out the door. Kept it for a couple years then sold it and bought a smith 27 for $150.

In my case if you deposited $10000 with them you got the rifle. I deposited the funds with them and was waiting for my gun to show up when the S&L bank scandals hit and that bank was one of them that went under. Lost the $10000 and the weatherby. Those banks were not FDIC insured.

Ugh, that sucks. I didn’t remember them being not FDIC insured but it shouldn’t surprise me. I guess scheme was a good description after all.