Skeeter Skelton's .357 to .44 Spl. article

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.45mtngun

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Gentlemen,
Recently I was reading John Taffins article about the one Skeeter wrote about converting .357 Ruger three screws and Highway Patrolmen 28's in the April 1972 edition of Shooting Times to .44 Specials. Does anyone know where a copy of that article could be found? Possibly one of you great members could post the pages from that article so that they could be copied. It would be a great read. I do have a 3-screw that Hamilton Bowden did for me that is super accurate. Any help locating a copy of that article or a reprint of it would be great.
Thanks for your time,

Jim
 
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fboyj,
Thanks for your post. I am aware of that web site and it has a lot of good articles in it. I'm glad it is still one that can be brought up to study. The Gun Digest Book of the .44 was published in 2006 by John Taffin. Chapter 10 "Skeeter Resurrects The .44 Special-Carrying The Torch" is where I saw the reference to the Shooting Times article. Thanks for your input.

Jim
 
Skeeter just influenced the heck out of me. Here's the result...

DSC00938-2021-03-28-15-09-59-UTC.jpg


Skeeter used MMC in Deming, NM, when I called them they told me they were a year out on those conversions and put me on a list. Not long after that I read an article in "Guns" magazine about George Matthews in Downey, CA doing this conversion. Called, sent it off and got back the most accurate Smith I own (and like all of us, I own more than a few). The optic went on it sometime in the 80's - first generation ProPoint when Tasco's optics were still made in Japan. The grip is a one off Hogue made of Micarta. I sent the gun based strictly on the article and my phone conversation with George - didn't realize he was a gunsmith of some renown. This has had many thousands of Skeeter's favorite load (7.5 grs of Unique behind a 245 - 250 gr Keith - usually a Lyman 429421) through it.

Adios,

Pizza Bob
 
My 28-2 to 44 special is sooo accurate. Don't know who did the conversion but he was good. He polished the whole thing bright except the bead blast areas so it looks like a shiny HP. Well, except for the serrated barrel rib.
 
I must be missing something---if it is a project exercise I get it, but if it is for the caliber why not just get a 44 magnum and leave the 357 as is?
 
Couple off reasons. At that time 44 specials or magnums were very hard to find. Another is if you used a model 28 barrel and had it reworked to 44 or a 1950 44 special barrel you end up with a much lighter barrel.

In fact while not 44s I have built 45 colts using model 28s way cheaper than buying a 45 colt. At least I could, until model 28 prices went nuts.
 
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Enjoyed the article about Pancho Villa.

When my wife an I were first married in the mid seventies we rented an apartment over some stores on Archer Ave in Chicago. Three apartments total above the stores. One was rented by an older couple, Paul and Anne. Paul was 90yrs old .. a retired machinist. Got to talking with him one day at length and he spoke of his time in the military. First assignment was his company waiting on a hill near Jaurez expecting Pancho Villa to raid over our border. He never showed after three days camped out. Paul remembered this like it happened the day before :)

He also spoke about his time in Europe in trenches dodging hand dropped bombs, from bi-planes, on their positions ... the mustard gas. Interesting talks we had.
 
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The whole caliber conversion thing got me going. I always thought I'd get a 44 Spl N frame built some day but some day turned into some decade!:(

Anyway, I eventually set my sights smaller and had a couple of custom K frames built in 32 calibers.;)

Sometimes, late at night, I still ask myself, "What if?" :rolleyes:

Froggie
 
.45mtngun said:
Gentlemen,
Recently I was reading John Taffins article about the one Skeeter wrote about converting .357 Ruger three screws and Highway Patrolmen 28's in the April 1972 edition of Shooting Times to .44 Specials. Does anyone know where a copy of that article could be found? Possibly one of you great members could post the pages from that article so that they could be copied. It would be a great read. I do have a 3-screw that Hamilton Bowden did for me that is super accurate. Any help locating a copy of that article or a reprint of it would be great.
Thanks for your time,

Jim
Click to expand...
Jim, I should have that issue if you are still wanting it. PM me your address and I will send it to you. It may take a while; my gun mags are in two steamer trunks which I haven't opened up this century. I have Shooting Times from the 1960s through the '80s. After Skeeter passed away I took it pretty hard and dropped my subscription to Shooting Times. It is because of Skeeter that I have 4 revolvers in .32/20!
 
taz666 said:
Enjoyed the article about Pancho Villa.

When my wife an I were first married in the mid seventies we rented an apartment over some stores on Archer Ave in Chicago. Three apartments total above the stores. One was rented by an older couple, Paul and Anne. Paul was 90yrs old .. a retired machinist. Got to talking with him one day at length and he spoke of his time in the military. First assignment was his company waiting on a hill near Jaurez expecting Pancho Villa to raid over our border. He never showed after three days camped out. Paul remembered this like it happened the day before :)

He also spoke about his time in Europe in trenches dodging hand dropped bombs, from bi-planes, on their positions ... the mustard gas. Interesting talks we had.
Click to expand...

When I was a teenager, there was a man who worked in the local gas station who had served in the Army in 1916 & had chased Pancho Villa. I carried a Boy Scout sheath knife back then. He said he and his fellow soldiers used to throw knives. He set up a piece of plywood in one of the bays & yes, he could still throw a knife.
 
I have the article scanned into a 1.6 MB PDF suitable for email.
Some others too.

It would fit here as an attachment, but there may still be issues with that.
 
taz666 said:
Enjoyed the article about Pancho Villa.
Click to expand...

As did I, but then Skeeter could have written an article about picking just the right garden bonnet and I'd have found it interesting.

I used to have a couple of the magazine/soft books of his stories that Shooting Times put out from time to time. My youngest son, who was about ten at the time, read them over and over, until they literally fell apart. At the time, who cared? They were just old magazines. I wish I still had them today, but I'm glad he got so much enjoyment out of them.

I did replace one of them years later, when I saw it on Amazon/Ebay, some such place. It was not cheap, but well worth it, just to be able to say I have it. Skeeter Skelton "On Handguns." It's safely stashed away in a drawer, protected except when pulled out once in a while when I need to hear from an old friend I never met.

I still blame Skeeter, and Bill Jordan, for a lot of my beliefs about handguns in general, and revolvers in particular.
 
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CajunBass,
I haven't been able to locate a copy of Skeeters book "On Handguns" as of yet. Last year i was able to get a first edition of "Captain M.T. Gonzaulls, Lone Wolf". It is a hard back copy that i don't think had ever been opened. I like reading about the Texas Ranger days during the early days about Frank Hamer, etc. Very rough times indeed.
Take Care,
Jim
 
Muley Gil said:
When I was a teenager, there was a man who worked in the local gas station who had served in the Army in 1916 & had chased Pancho Villa. I carried a Boy Scout sheath knife back then. He said he and his fellow soldiers used to throw knives. He set up a piece of plywood in one of the bays & yes, he could still throw a knife.
Click to expand...

When one of that generation said they could do something they meant it.
 
My dad never would talk about his experiences in WWII. I knew he was stationed at Wakde Atoll during the years 1942 - 45 and finally asked him about it.

He started by talking about the Seabees bulldozing Japanese bodies into a pile on the center of the runway so they could be burned more efficiently. I understood why he didn't want to talk about it and changed the subject.
 
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