45 Colt Made for Skeeter Skelton by Smith & Wesson.

[Poohgyrr]

Awesome. Thank you very much for sharing, and Big Congrats on this. A piece of history.

 

[Malpasowildlifer]

WOW thanks for sharing

 

[Sprefix]

THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!!! Best gun in best caliber......JMO......Thanks for sharing

 

[opoefc]

Skeeter left us much too soon, of course. I met him a couple of times at NRA & SHOT shows. Usually in the Hospitality Rooms. Skeeter was known to take a small libation occasionally, perhaps more than occasionally! However he was a great gun writer.
Jim, Did you get this gun from Bart?
Ed.

 

[STCM(SW)]

Skeeter's writeing is what got me to convert a M28-2 to .45 Colt back then.

I miss his storys & saved many of them.
Had an old 1917 Colt made up like in one of his stories.

 

[bmg60]

Hi
Here are a couple more pictures of Skeeter.

 

[rck281]

Jim,
What an outstanding gun! How do you find these trearures? A great addition to your fantastic collection.
Dick

 

[Jim Watson]

If I recall the old article correctly, Skeeter considered it a combination of 1950 (tapered barrel) and 1955 (3Ts) characteristics. No reference to cylinder and extractor.

 

[153]

Skeeter was IMO the absolute best of the "handgun writers" and a fine storyteller. I sure do miss him, thanks for posting the pictures of his S&W!

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Fascinating....

Funny thing, my "collection" is aimed at .38 and .357 caliber S&Ws but when I looked at that picture I thought to myself, "Self, you still need to get a Model 25 in .45 Colt".

***GRJ***

 

[27 Man]

Wow! What a treasure to find. I have been a Skeeter fan since I first read his stuff in a borrowed 1971 issue of "Shooting Times". After his passing, the magazine just wasn't the same. Because of him, I discovered the M27 and have several, including a 5 incher. Brian Pierce could be his successor. Thanks for sharing.

 

[semperfi71]

Congratulations on an excellent purchase and thank you for sharing.

It is primarily Skeeter Skelton as to why I became a "handgunner". And it is his fault alone that I have .357s and .44 Specials.

When he left Shooting Times so did I.

His writings were, to me, more in line with "story-telling" than the minutae of handgun collecting or the deeper technicalities of reloading. But everything he wrote was interesting, informative, and colorful. He wasn't trying to sell you a product he was selling you a life-time passion. As such his became mine.

I think I actually missed meeting him a few years before he passed away. I was in the shopping mall in Albuquerque and a man who looked exactly like him, all the way down to the boots, was standing inside the door of a toy store as what appeared to be the wife was shopping. I stood a distance away and intently scrutinized this man trying to decide if he was Skeeter and if I should dare walk up and ask if he was. At the same time he noticed me and was "scrutinizing" me as a retired lawman would probably do. I still think it was him and was too intimidated to ask.

 

[Joe in SC]

This reminds me of why I keep coming back.

 

[andyo5]

Very interesting and well done.
Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Texas Star]

Congratulations on an excellent purchase and thank you for sharing.

It is primarily Skeeter Skelton as to why I became a "handgunner". And it is his fault alone that I have .357s and .44 Specials.

When he left Shooting Times so did I.

His writings were, to me, more in line with "story-telling" than the minutae of handgun collecting or the deeper technicalities of reloading. But everything he wrote was interesting, informative, and colorful. He wasn't trying to sell you a product he was selling you a life-time passion. As such his became mine.

I think I actually missed meeting him a few years before he passed away. I was in the shopping mall in Albuquerque and a man who looked exactly like him, all the way down to the boots, was standing inside the door of a toy store as what appeared to be the wife was shopping. I stood a distance away and intently scrutinized this man trying to decide if he was Skeeter and if I should dare walk up and ask if he was. At the same time he noticed me and was "scrutinizing" me as a retired lawman would probably do. I still think it was him and was too intimidated to ask.

If he was watching you, too, it was probably him.

I once asked if Sheriff Jim Wilson was at the Shooting Times booth at the SHOT show. Someone said that he was around and to hang out awhile and he'd be back.

A few minutes later, he walked over and greeted me. He had been studying me from a distance. People like that are cautious. They tend to have enemies who don't wish them well.

Most writers are willing to meet fans. One exception may have been Robert B. Parker. A fan wrote soon after his death a couple of years ago that he'd seen Parker in a store, but the man glared at him, as if daring him to approach. He didn't. But Robert B. Parker had a huge following for his crime novels. No gun writer has that large a fan base, although some have thought they did.

And who the fans are determines whether an author wants to meet them. Good Lord, John Wootters, Jr. had readers who couldn't even spell his name correctly. Look how some on this board spell and the way they use language. It plays right into the gun owner stereotype the anti-gunners treasure and promote. Most of these good folks are nice people, but they lack polish and refinement and often aren't too easy to have a stimulating conversation with. And writers are real people, with the usual priorities and limited time as anyone else has. But I think that most gun writers I've met would be willing to talk briefly with a reader if they didn't stay overlong or sic anyone else on them when they were shopping with their wives.

I've met a couple who seemed elitist and one who preferred privacy, perhaps because he didn't seek the limelight and probably wrote mainly because he needed the money. He was also dying with cancer. Two who left Africa when living there became intolerable seemed unhappy with the need to promote products and the glamor image that some writers cultivate. Both struck me as very deep men who had vast experience, but who shunned self promotion. I think they were uncomfortable around the peacocks among their peers. I never saw them interact wih fans; just in the Press room or hospitality suites at shows.

If you approach an author respectfully and don't bluster or seem a bore, many will talk to you. David Lindsey and Suzanne Arruda both spent considerable time with me answering questions after I mentioned aspiring to write mysteries. Mrs. Arruda even asked me about suitable rifles for her heroine and was kind enough to credit me for that advice in her most recent books. I was proud to show that acknowledgement to my children.

Skeeter impressed me as being pretty down to earth and relatively approchable. You should probably have asked if the man you saw was him and mentioned that you were a reader. He might have been relieved that you weren't watching him for a more sinister purpose!

 

[Muley Gil]

Reading Skeeter's articles influenced most of my handguns purchases, like my .32-20s, a few M19s, a M24-3, a M25-5, and a 5" M27.

Now this M27 didn't stay a .357 for very long after I bought it. I found a 1950 .44 Special barrel and had the cylinder rechambered. I carried it as a young sheriff's deputy and as a city cop. I later had it cut to 5" and reblued. It ain't for sale at any price.

 

[Frank237]

Add me to the list of M-28-2 "converters" as well. I did a .44 Special.

Bought a 1950 barrel from J&G Rifle Ranch in Turner, MT for the Princely sum of $39. Sent the whole shebang to IIRC Dave Woodruff? He installed the barrel, reamed cylinder to .44.special and returned it in about 2 weeks.

The gun shot brilliantly. So of course in a few years I sold it.

FN in MT

 

[model70hunter]

Congratulations. Thanks for sharing. Skeeter had tremendous impact on a whole Generation of readers and hand gunners. I read everything I could by him, and yes subscribed to Shooting Times to get his articles. He enjoyed putting together or upgrading an old SAA out of parts in his "War Bag". One gun he mention as probably his favorite if he had to choose one may have been a 27 with a 5" bbl. Someday I'll find one in the right deal. I pulled out a Skeeter book a few months ago and reread it. I always thought he would be a good one to ride with. Thanks again.

 

[semperfi71]

If he was watching you, too, it was probably him................. He might have been relieved that you weren't watching him for a more sinister purpose!

The first line is the reason I seriously suspected it was Skeeter.

The second line is why I later on felt bad about not approaching him, he might have been a bit concerned. I wasn't trying to stare or ogle but then again I was looking at him...........pretty suspicious behavior I would think for a lawman to see.

 

[BUFF]

Skeeter Skelton was approachable. I met him at the NRA convention when it was in Salt Lake City back about 1978. He was sitting in the SHOOTING TIMES magazine booth Sunday morning, looking a bit worse for wear (due, doubtlessly, to the previous night's honors). I walked up to him, reached in my pocket and handed him a handloaded .44 Special cartridge with a cast SWC in it. He eyeballed it, looked at me, looked around, stood up (he was a lot taller than I had pictured him) and we went and got a coffee and a coke together. He talked to me for over a half hour, asking me about what I liked to shoot as much as he talked about what he liked.

Great story teller, which made him such a great writer. We won't likely have another like him if just because the world today doesn't offer the kinds of experiences that shaped writers like Skeeter Skelton, Bill Jordan, Jeff Coooper and others from that select pool.