Skeeter Skelton Stories

[usmc2427765]

Sadly, I never was able to meet Skeeter. I read everything he put on paper, and when I was working night shift patrol there was always a copy of Shooting Times in my briefcase that I would read when things on the street got quiet. Now to the point of this thread. Some of you may have been lucky enough to have met or even known him. You are probably a little "long in the tooth" like me and are few in numbers, but if you have some stories about him, put them on this thread so we can all enjoy.

 

[darmtn1917]

Here you go -all the reading you'll need
Skeeter Skelton

I still wonder who has the copyrights to his books - I'd buy a few sets as gifts

 

[WPWarhawk]

His son Bart has written a book called DOWN ON THE BORDER. I'm about halfway thru it, like it so far.

 

[Sevens]

I'd bet that I am one of the younger Skeeter Skelton fans, I'm 45 this month. And heck no, I never got to meet the man but I became very familiar with his writings because I was at a large outdoor swap meet... I wanna say it was maybe '89 or perhaps '91 and one of the vendors sold to me a lot of old gun magazines.

I say a lot... I had to borrow a wagon to drag this haul back to my car. The oldest of the magazines were mid-to-late 1960's but the bulk of them were 70's/80's.

I was an avid reader of Guns & Ammo in the late 80's so I had read my share of Jeff Cooper and probably my favorite-- Bob Milek, but once I got to read Skeeter, I very quickly had myself a new favorite.

You know who was lost on me? Bill Jordan. I read and read and read and still never saw the attraction to his articles.

Gun writers occupied pretty rarified air "back in the day" but if I had to pick one that I believe was wildly over rated, it was Bill Jordan.

Skeeter, though, he was every bit as good as he was billed. And better.

 

[Frank237]

I enjoyed reading Skeeter as soon as I read a few of his stories in ST. Simply enjoyed his stories and his writing style.

Back in the 1970's he wrote a series of articles regarding his Love of the .44 Special in an N frame gun. He went on to describe how to convert a M-28 to .44 Special with a replacement barrel and a rebore.

I ended up doing just that, built myself a 6" gun with a M-24 barrel from J&G Rifle Ranch.

Speaking of Bill Jordan....Years back we had a good gun shop/S&W authorized service Center, in Great Falls MT. Run by Mike Stuckslager who was a heck of a pistolsmith and generally a nice guy. Quite a few of the local cops and Hwy Patrolman spent our breaks in his shop.

One day I pulled up to the Shop and immediately got a call to a nearby injury accident, as I started to back out...There is Bill Jordan coming out the front door! I knew it was him as he was like SEVEN feet tall. It WAS Jordan...out to MT for some Industry ( IIRC Federal) sponsored prairie dog shoot. Never got to meet him.

 

[twodog max]

I have been a Skeeter fan a long time. I think he was the reason I subscribed to Shooting Times in the 70's and 80"s. Never met him but sure wish I could have. I have several of his old soft cover collection of stories and articles and I still read them at times and still enjoy the stories.
I did meet Bill Jordan at a gun show just a few years before his passing. He was selling his book and autographing it. Shaking hands with the buyers like me. The man was huge and his hands as well. No wonder he could shoot a revolver like he could. Maybe not the best writer that ever used a typewriter but a heck of an individual.

 

[kaaskop49]

There is a 1980 Shooting Times special Skeeter Skelton on Handguns dedicated to his articles including the "Me and Joe," "Jug Johnson," and "Dobe Grant" series. I'd love a hardcover copy of this; IIRC, they did publish one.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

One thing I liked about Skeeter was that he could poke fun at himself. In "The Mamma Mia Caper he wrote "Mighty hunter in magazine articles-dripping dud in wet forest."

 

[PALADIN85020]

I never met Skeeter, although I met his lovely wife at a gun show in El Paso shortly after he died. I remember complimenting her on her husband's fantastic writing abilities.

The only other guy that has come close in my opinion with the "Me and Joe"-type writing in recent years is John Connor, who writes for Guns magazine. His post-election article was an absolute classic. I e-mailed editor Roy Huntington that he doesn't pay Connor enough money. He has a real jewel there.

John

 

[ParadiseRoad]

One thing I liked about Skeeter was that he could poke fun at himself. In "The Mamma Mia Caper he wrote "Mighty hunter in magazine articles-dripping dud in wet forest."

...in one of his books he describes a little incident with an "unloaded" gun...he snapped off a quick shot at his reflection in a mirror...destroyed the mirror...and had to patch several holes in walls of his house...