Guns 2012-08.pdf - Jeffersonian

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I traded Chubby Hueske, the custom
knife maker of Bellaire, Texas, some of
the horn material for his work and skill
in flattening and rough-shaping a pair
of single-action grip blanks from it. I’ve
been saving them for the right gun for
15 years.
“This is the right gun. Baer fitted
and shaped the grips to my order, leaving
the aluminum XR3-RED grip
frame bright-polished—which was the
way Skeeter liked them. That sheep
horn is spectacular, a beautiful, creamy,
smoky gray with subtle striping. Bob
says it’s harder than ivory! Now the
gun went back to Grover for marking
and polishing. The only markings are
‘.44 SPECIAL’ on top of the barrel,
‘T.L.A., INC. RICHMOND TEXAS’
in two lines on the topstrap, a tiny, stylized
longhorn-steer head on the right
side of the frame (Grover’s logo), and
the serial number ‘S.S. 1’ (for Skeeter
Skelton), on the underside of the
frame. Finally, Grover’s man, Lee, did
an inspired job of polishing and bluing.
“The little .44 is a sweetheart, quiet
and pleasant to shoot, accurate (naturally,
in that chambering), light as a
feather, and pretty as a yellow cactus
Blossom. It leaps to the hand of its own
will, and seeks a target with the eagerness
of a pointer pup. I will cherish it
’til the day I die, and I may even have it
buried with me!
“I think you’d like what I’ve come
to call ‘Skeeter’s Gun’. I know Skeeter
would have loved it… it’s his kind of
sixgun… and mine. It’s also a sort of
tribute to an old and dear friend. He
comes to mind every time I buckle it on,
which is daily when I’m at my ranch on
the border. He’d have liked this memorial
better than any other kind, I expect.
Baer told Sally and young Bart about
it, and they agree; they’re touched.”
This could have been the end of the
story, however Bill Grover, who is now
also gone home, had a great idea. This
was the first Skeeter Skelton Sixgun
and since Bill was a manufacturer
he could change the serial number
to S.S.1. He contacted several of us
and the end result was a few more,
six in all, Skeeter Skelton Sixguns.
They went to Bill Grover himself and
Bob Baer, Terry Murbach, Bart Skelton,
Jim Wilson and myself. Mine is
numbered S.S. 4. Only the theme of
a Skeeter Skelton Sixgun and the S.S.
serial numbers are of the same style
and sequence as these sixguns are not
identical as each man incorporated
their own ideas into what they wanted
their Skeeter Gun to be like.
All seven of the Skeeter Skelton
Sixguns came together in 1992
as we all gathered, including John
Gathering to remember Skeeter and shoot their Skeeter Skelton Sixguns was (above, from left) Bob
Baer, John Taffin, John Wootters, Bart Skelton, Jim Wilson and Terry Murbach. Serial number S.S. 4
(of 7) became John Taffin’s Skeeter Skelton Sixgun (below).
Wootters, and held a memorial
service for Skeeter in the mountains
of Colorado each of us firing off a
.44 Special salute to our friend. As
I said, although all seven of us have
SS Sixguns they are all quite different,
revealing the individual taste
of the owners. My particular S.S. 4
started life as a .357 Magnum Ruger
Flat-Top Blackhawk from the 1950s.
Grover and I worked out this project
together. The cylinder was re-chambered
to .44 Special tightly to allow
the use of .429" diameter bullets but
to minimum dimensions for long
case life. The barrel/cylinder gap was
set at .0025", and the Ruger XR3
grip frame and steel ejector housing
were not discarded but put back for
use on another .44 Special Grover
was building for me. In their place
Grover fitted steel Colt parts, a Colt
backstrap and triggerguard and a
Colt ejector rod housing along with
a Bullseye ejector rod head.
With the installation of the Colt
backstrap and triggerguard, it was
necessary to machine a special hanger
to accept the Ruger mainspring and
strut. Grover also replaced the trigger
return spring with a new coil spring.
The stocks were walnut but are now
heart-stopping, creamy 1-piece ivories
by Tedd Adamovich of BluMagnum.
The front sight is a TLA Number Five
front sight, bold, flat, and black and
a Number Five basepin with a large
easy to grasp head was also installed.
The finish is high-polish blue and the
gun is marked “SKEETER SKEL-
TON .44 SPECIAL” on the left side
of the barrel and “TEXAS LONG-
HORN ARMS INC., RICHMOND
TEXAS” on the topstrap. The serial
number, S.S. 4 is marked in the same
three places as original Colt Single
Actions. I think of Bill and Skeeter
every time I shoot it.
S.S.1 was the last sixgun Skeeter saw
and handled, at least in the beginning
stage as the three good friends planned
it out. However, unbeknownst to him
Ruger was also working on a special
Skeeter Skelton Sixgun while he was
in the hospital for the last time. In
2006 Ruger celebrated the 50th anniversary
of the original Flat-Top .44
Magnum Blackhawk with the issuance
of a 6-1/2" New Model Flat-Top.
Nearly 20 years before Ruger had built
the first 6-1/2" New Model Flat-Top .44
Magnum especially embellished and
to be presented to Skeeter. He passed
before it was finished and this sixgun
was then presented to Skeeter’s wife
Sally and his son Bart.
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