Skeeter Article

[Walt]

Years ago I read a story by a young Border Patrolman on meeting his hero, Skeeter Skelton. I searched, trying to find the story again but to no avail. Imagine my surprise this morning looking through the latest issue of Guns Magazine; there was the very story I had searched for!

[Sixgun]

Yeppppp…Skeeter was one of a kind and is the main reason why I have so many 44 Specials.

[samsi]

Yep, it started with Skeeter for me as well, but I need to add Taffin and Pearce. The Sixgunnin' Trinity of 44 Special Enablers.

Despite being a faithful reader of Skelton in Shooting Times back to the early 70's, I didn't acquire a proper .44 Special until around 2000. I found a NIB Model 24 for sale and snatched it up. The fellow also had a NIB 25-5 that I went back for later, but he wouldn't sell it to me when he found out I'd taken the 24 out of the box and was actually shooting it!

[piller]

Yep, it started with Skeeter for me as well, but I need to add Taffin and Pearce. The Sixgunnin' Trinity of 44 Special Enablers.

Despite being a faithful reader of Skelton in Shooting Times back to the early 70's, I didn't acquire a proper .44 Special until around 2000. I found a NIB Model 24 for sale and snatched it up. The fellow also had a NIB 25-5 that I went back for later, but he wouldn't sell it to me when he found out I'd taken the 24 out of the box and was actually shooting it!

He is crazy. Nice guns should be used and appreciated.

[Sixgun]

Yep, it started with Skeeter for me as well, but I need to add Taffin and Pearce. The Sixgunnin' Trinity of 44 Special Enablers.

Despite being a faithful reader of Skelton in Shooting Times back to the early 70's, I didn't acquire a proper .44 Special until around 2000. I found a NIB Model 24 for sale and snatched it up. The fellow also had a NIB 25-5 that I went back for later, but he wouldn't sell it to me when he found out I'd taken the 24 out of the box and was actually shooting it!

That dealer was an idiot….a NIB 1950 Target I can understand but there’s way over 10,000 1980’s model 24’s with three different barrel lengths along with 624’s……..let’s pretend you pay $800 for a NIB specimen…..40 years from now you may get your inflation back…..unlike 1950 Target 5 screws or early late 50’s, early sixties Model 24’s.

[samsi]

Yep, it started with Skeeter for me as well, but I need to add Taffin and Pearce. The Sixgunnin' Trinity of 44 Special Enablers.

Despite being a faithful reader of Skelton in Shooting Times back to the early 70's, I didn't acquire a proper .44 Special until around 2000. I found a NIB Model 24 for sale and snatched it up. The fellow also had a NIB 25-5 that I went back for later, but he wouldn't sell it to me when he found out I'd taken the 24 out of the box and was actually shooting it!

That dealer was an idiot….a NIB 1950 Target I can understand but there’s way over 10,000 1980’s model 24’s with three different barrel lengths along with 624’s……..let’s pretend you pay $800 for a NIB specimen…..40 years from now you may get your inflation back…..unlike 1950 Target 5 screws or early late 50’s, early sixties Model 24’s.

I wouldn't say he was crazy, or an idiot, but he did have some...peculiarities.

[Sixgun]

Peculiar? Not on those guns, even the 25-5. I’ve owned a few of those 25-5’s and looked at a lot more…everyone had cylinder throats that were .456 or more…. He did you a favor……well, they are his guns so I guess that’s his business.

One of most accurate Spls ….well, they are all accurate.….is a 624….430 throats and groove diameter…..Smith did those guns right but sure messed up on the 25-5 in 45 Colt……never could figure that out on why they cut the throats so big……—6

[Walt]

Colt claimed they made their throats oversize to reduce chamber pressure. As thin as Smith .45 Colt chamber walls are, they may have done it for the same reason.

[Walt]

I sent a New Frontier in .45 Colt back to the factory eight or ten years ago to have the cylinder replaced because the chambers were oversized and unequal in diameter as were the throats. I requested that they send the new cylinder with .452 diameter throats but it didn't happen. Although the chambers and throats are now each of equal diameter, the throats were sized .454".