Colt Trooper MK V Experimental Prototype

Most Colt collectors will go their whole lives without holding a factory prototype. This one is the real thing, documented in writing by Colt's Archive Properties as an experimental Trooper MK V built in nickel and retained by the factory. The accompanying letter spells it out plainly: experimental prototype, nickel finish with blue sights, kept in Hartford before shipping years later through Greg Martin Auctions. That paper trail is what separates a curiosity from a confirmed piece of Colt development history.

The MK V marked Colt's last major reworking of the V-frame action. Engineers shortened the lock time, lightened the moving parts, and tightened the whole mechanism in pursuit of a faster, more durable double action. This gun wears the markings of that program. Look closely at the sideplate and you'll find the Rampant Colt paired with a V, the lineage stamp that ties it to the series.

It's chambered in .357 Magnum with a 6-inch full-lug barrel and solid ventilated rib, rolled with standard Trooper MK V markings and the Hartford address. The nickel is bright and reflective, throwing light across the full underlug and the flats of the frame. The rear sight blade keeps its blued contrast against all that polish, just as the letter describes. Wraparound walnut target stocks, varnished and checkered, carry gold Rampant Colt medallions that warm up the bright metal.

The muzzle photos show the crowned bore clean and the rifling sharp. Handling marks are light and consistent with a gun that lived in a factory drawer rather than a holster.

It comes cased with the cleaning rod, brush, and the Colt factory letter. For the collector who already has the production guns, this is the layer underneath them. The piece that came first, before Hartford committed the design to the catalog.