Ran across something I used to read way back in the mid 60's, wonder how many of you did the same. Skeeter started writing for Shooting Times and was the magazine’s Handgun Editor for 21 years. I used to subscribe to Shooting Times back then when I was younger. I completely forgot about him till I just happened to do a search on some old and well known Sheriffs and their guns, that lead me to a site "http://www.darkcanyon.net/skeeter_skelton.htm" Boy did that bring back old memories of
days gone by. Thought I would share it with you fellows who like reading old Gun magazine articles.

Skeeter was & still is one of my all time favorites....loved reading his articles and his stories, especially the "Me and Joe", "Jug Johnson" & "Dobe Grant" stories.

Still miss his writing.....very knowledgeable and entertaining at the same time.

I have a couple of his books (in paperback) that I bought and have kept from many years ago. It's hard to find hardback copies, and when you do they are asking premium prices.....I would still probably shell out the $$ for one.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

Am I the only one that has gone to Dark Canyon and made copies of all of those articles, and have them on my hard drive?

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I always take precautions

Nope, I did the same thing. What really intrigued me is reading over again all the old Skeeter stories, and realizing that I live and play in the places he wrote about all those years ago. It wasn't intentional, but he had a huge influence on me as I grew up. I wish Dark Canyon was still alive, that is a very cool site.

i used to read skeeter in my dads gun mags back in the 80s. i still think about the model 57 in the shooters bible i wanted so bad back then.

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the rules? there are no rules

Skeeter was, and will always be the best. Through his great stories, I felt that he was a good friend, and when he left, I must admit, I shed a few tears. I miss him.

Dark Canyon's site has an incredible archive to enjoy and revisit. Sadly, I believe he passed on a couple years back. He was a very passionate man about firearms writing and archiving some great material.

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I'm with the banned ...

Do a search here on the Forum for Skeeter Skelton. You will find a bunch of info.

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WAR EAGLE!

I have read all the Dark Caynon postings, and they sure bring back a lot of good memories. Still use his hand load recipies, they still work great.
A lot of wisdom from Skeeter, and a good laugh to boot.

I still use Skeeters method to lighten S&W double action trigger pull.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Skeeter was one of my favorite gun writers.
He cost me a lot of money over the years 😁

If I remember right he started writing for Guns Magazine before moving to Shooting Times. He wrote some of the early articles under the name of Charles Skelton and other under the name Alan Skelton.

One of his things NOT on Dark Canyon. Skeeter's Dream Gun.

Skeeter's Dream Gun

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I always take precautions

There's also the FIRST of the Jug Johnson stories.
The Jug Johnson Saga

And a purty good Dobe story.
Dobe & Skeeter...Guided By The Light

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I always take precautions

I know I'm not alone here in saying that if it wasn't for Skeeter Skelton and Elmer Keith, I wouldn't own guns like these two .44 Specials, and would be over at the Glock or Needlepoint Forums right now instead of here.

Hi
here a picture of the display I had at the NRA in Houston.
the gun is a smith & Wesson in 45 colt and 4 inch barrel
Made for Skeeter by S&W.
Jim

Re reading those old Skeeter stiroes has med me to the conclusion that if the L frame had been around in Skeeter's heyday, he would have left the model 27 in the dust. The few complaints he had with the 27 was the light weight barrel and the extra mass in the cylinder. I imagine that if the man had a 4" barrelled 586/686 he would have never looked back.
Interesting to ponder the stories with today's weapons in mind.

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I think his son carried a 4" 586 as a LEO.

Skeeter and elmer were the two that mostly influanced me into my main lifelong hobby. They both were there at the right place and right time. I still say that there probley are some reading this that have actualy matched by now or even overtook them in experimenting just as a hobby.
Their styles had very much to do with their success.

I still look at my beat up thirty three year old "Skeeter Skelton On Handguns". I showed this many times, I know, but one article abour guys who own only one gun had an anecdote about a Portales, N.M. merchant who only owned a Colt Bisley and showed a young Skeeter Skelton how to open Budweiser bottles with the hammer spur. After I picked up this Bisley I gave it a try...once. It worked like a dream.

Although I never met Skeeter, I did meet his wife at a gun show in El Paso not long after he died. Very nice lady. She was selling some of Skeeter's books. I wish now I had bought one or more; they are quite valuable when you find them now.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

.

I never met Skelton, but remember him feedin some cattle down

there between Hereford, TX and Clovis, NM once upon a time.



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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

I had not thought about it before, but now that you bring this point to light....I have to agree. I think had he lived longer he would have become a proponent of the L-Frames.

On a side note .... I wonder what Ol' Skeeter would have thought about the new "plastic" semi-autos!!!!

Don

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Don, I have an old gun magazine, one of those thicker specialized one that I think is called "Magnums" right when the L frame came out and there's a Skeeter article about them where he test shoots a few and gives them rave reviews.

I think he died about 1988-89 and could easily have owned a gun introduced in 1980 or 81. I think he found the L-frame barrels too heavy. So do I. I sold my M-686 for that reason.

My Ruger GP-100 has a better balance to it.

He carried a M-19 in his patrol car trunk in hs later career, and either a Walther PP .380 or a Colt Govt. Model .45 on his person. Often had a Thompson in the trunk of the car.

I met him just once, and he was cordial. He was already suffering from the throat cancer that soon killed him.

You think he got his the same way Michael Douglas got his'in

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I hope so.....if you're going to get it, can you think of a better way!!!

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

Sure would be nice if Shooting Times would reprint the Old Books, I'm glad they are posted on Dark Canyon... But I'm not 100% sure that's all legal. A few years back I emailed the editor at Shooting Times and asked if they had thought about reprinting Skeeters Books. The editor was quick to reply back. I was quicker to cancel my subscribtion to Shooting Times. I asked a simple question and got an Smart answer back. Ain't no reason for a feller to act that way.

I'd have to add Jack O'Connor as well.

I enjoyed that Dobe Grant story--vintage Skeeter.

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Oh well, what the hell.

That ruger you have is one I wouldn't mind owning. We have a single woman friend who carries just such a gun in her purse a lot. I surprised her with a holster for it. I'm surprised you find it better balanced than an L Frame. That's interesting. Here's her gun...

We'll just leave it at that

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Skeeter could spin a grand yarn and could also dispense a lot of basic knowledge, sometimes both at the same time.

The ones I found most influential in my experience were:

1. Jeff Cooper
2. Elmer Keith
3. Skeeter Skelton
4. Bill Jordan
5. Charles Askins Jr.
6. George Nonte
7. Dean Grennell
8. Jack O'Connor

When any of these guys spoke, I listened. All were knowledgeable and articulate, with the exception of Elmer, who was knowledgeable but the word "articulate" missed him by a mile. His proofreaders and editors had their hands full getting his writings into readable form. No matter; he somehow managed to get his very valid points across.

All of these men are gone and sorely missed.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Yep, you are correct. ... All those guys were good ones. Who is Who today?? Any modern fellows out there who give good advice and write good articles these days?

I am also one of the folks who was, and is a fan of Skeeter's writings. One of my most treasured times was an hour or so I got to visit with him. I would lots rather been standing there talking to him than any musician or movie star who ever walked.

My wife thought I was losing it a few years ago when we were in New Mexico, and I detoured out of the way over into Texas, went down a country road, and stopped on the edge of a stream that was almost dried up and got out.

After I got back in the car she asked where we were and I said a place some friends of mine used to hang out a long time ago.

Rabbit ears, Rattlers, and Tap Ramsey.

Tierra Blanca Creek, Deaf Smith County. Texas.

Brian Pearce at Handloader and Rifle. John Haviland is also good there, with rifle info. John Barsness writes very informative articles, but for some reason, I can't form any bond with him as writer and reader.

Col. Askins commented to me that Skelton might have lived longer had he been more moderate in his smoking and drinking. He put that pretty bluntly, in a way that I won't quote here. But anyone to whom it might apply should take heed. I don't know if that's what killed him or not; didn't know him that well in person. Askins did know him and was convinced that was the cause of his death, so young. Don't overindulge, and if you can quit smoking altogether, do. Quite a number of famous gun writers have been serious drinkers, alas. That has applied to a number of authors in other fields, too, for some reason. Maybe the pressure of deadlines has something to do with it, and being really creative in print isn't easy. I understand that one gun writer was dismissed from his academic job at a famous prep school for alcoholism. I think he thought that writing for an outdoors magazine was a step down and may have suffered a self esteem problem from it. That's just my feeling from what I know of him; I wasn't his shrink.

The list of gun writers above should have included Warren Page at Field & Stream. His use of 6mm and 7mm Magnum ctgs. was largely the stimulus for the commercial 7mm magnums and the .243 and 6mm Remington. Page also largely founded NSSF. He was not always as nice in replying to reader letters as was Jack O'Connor, but was a good writer who had useful things to say. But O'Connor's droll wit set him apart from most gun scribes. Too many today are basically shills for the manufacturers and the ad managers at the magazines. Quite a few are also peacocks, pretty self impressed.

One very famous gun magazine sent three examples of a new Star pistol to their reviewer and none worked right. But that gun wound up on their cover. Ad revenue talks, and it speaks loudly.
But listening to that voice too much is driving away readers in droves. And the Net has also cut into gun magzine sales.

I'm one of those who hasn't had much use for, "Shooting Times" for years. They really need to be less commercial and find another Skeeter Skelton.

Since we're on the subject of these guys, one of my favorites from Guns magazine in the 80's was/is Mike Nesbitt (might still be writing). He was very fond of Savage 99's and Hawken type rifles among other guns, of course. I don't read gun magazines anymore but Mike Venturino is a favorite. We had mutual friends and I met him when we went to Livingston, Mt. in 1988. He showed me a bunch of guns I've seen in print, and since this is the S&W Forum I'll mention his Triple Lock Target and a K-.32. He was a great guy who invited this stranger into his house. I had a couple great references, though, both dead now. RIP.

"The few complaints he had with the 27 was the light weight barrel and the extra mass in the cylinder."

As I recall his writings, Skeeter prefered the heavy cylinder of the M27 over the lighter M19, as he felt that the heavy cylinder had more inertia and made DA shooting faster.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!