Skeeter Skelton

[mrstang01]

tex_n_cal,

What does that purty scratching on that Smith say? I'd like a closer look if possible please.


Thanks,

Michael

 

[BigG]

I remember him writing about shooting jackrabbits with an old plowhandle over the flanks of a J. I. Case. From that moment, I was hooked. One of the truly great ones!

 

[Wil Terry]

THIS POST IS DIRECTED TO CHEYGRIZ, HIGH IN THE ROCKIES,

SIR,
I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE SINCE YOU HIDE BEHIND A NON DE PLUME, AND FRANKLY I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHO YOU ARE, BUT WHEN YOU CALL MY BROTHER JOHN A. TAFFIN A B S'ER YOU ARE EITHER AN UNINFORMED FOOL OR A DAMNDABLE LIER. THERE IS NO ONE IN THE SHOOTING SPORTS INDUSTRY WHO HAS EARNED A HIGHER REPUTATION THAN JOHN A. TAFFIN AND HE EARNED IT BY BEING SCRUPULOUSLY HONEST AND FORTHRIGHT.
YOU OWE JOHN A. TAFFIN AN APOLOGY AND YOU OWE IT NOW!

FURTHERMORE, COLONEL JOHN [ JEFF ] COOPER NEEDS NO LIP FROM SOMEONE LIKE YOU AS HE'S FORGOT MORE THAN ALL OF US COMBINED WILL EVER KNOW, AND HE'S STILL PERFORMING VERY WELL INDEED WELL PAST HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY. YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO DO THE SAME SOMEDAY.

BOB MILEK WAS A WONDERFUL MAN WHO ADDED MUCH TO THE SHOOTING SPORTS INDUSTRY AND WAS A HIGHLY RESPECTED GUIDE IN WYOMING. UNFORTUNEATLY BOB HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO BE A LIFELONG ALCOHOLIC AND WAS NEVER ABLE TO KICK THE BOOZE. DRUNK HE WAS ABLE TO OUTSHOOT, OUTCLIMB, AND OUT HUNT MEN HALF HIS AGE. HE DIDN'T HAVE A MEAN BONE IN HIS BODY AND HE WAS NO B S'ER EVER IN HIS LIFE EITHER.

 

[JMLV]

Terry You said it better than I ever could

Deaf smith
Sixgunner.com

 

[cheygriz]

Mr. Murbach,

You are fully entitled to your opinion, sir, AND I AM ENTITLED TO MINE!

 

[Walosi]

Cheygriz, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, as are we all...I hope, though, that you keep yours high in the Rockies. In warmer climes, it could become sticky.

Well said, Terry.

 

[Art Eatman]

A lot of us here have strong opinions on lots of subjects. However, there's no reason for a gratuitous dump on a bunch of folks, with no reasoning to back it up. The trouble, then, is that all the "reasons I don't like so-and-so" wreck the original thread...Bummer.

Dunno why, but I pay a lot more attention to content than style. Some folks are fortunate enough to have a way with words that is itself entertaining, along with value in the content. I've long enjoyed Skeeter Skelton's work--and also many others'.

I've only met Bart Skelton once; he seemed like a nice-enough guy. Regardless, he and Jeff Cooper are the mainest reasons I keep my subscription to G&A. Jim Wilson is not only a shooter and a writer; he also has a CD out of C/W songs, which I understand are his writing. I imagine you get him and LawDog together and you better bandage your ribs!

What it is, is, we're all richer for the opportunities to share in all these guys' lives--their experiences and opinions.

Art

 

[Gila Jorge]

Cheygriz: Its one thing to be ignorant and yet another to wallow in it. Don't slander honorable men. I too have communicated with several of the men you disparaged and you're absolutely incorrect.

 

[capnrik]

Met Skeeter once

in San Antonio at an NRA Convention. The 5 1/2 inch Colt SAA New Frontier .44 Special in my gun safe is largely his fault

He was the best of his time, and I miss him.

On a side note, Rich might have already closed this one.

Not that it matters.

 

[tex_n_cal]

Oh so YOU have one of those New Frontiers!

I too have long wanted one, ever since Skeet wrote about them. I've seen, I think, four of them in 20 years. The last was a couple months ago, on an online auction. I just didn't quite have the cash to get there:banghead: The same thing happened to me 10 years ago at a gun show - I hesitated - someone else grabbed it.

If I ever buy one I promise to take it out & shoot it with Elmer Keith Commemorative .44 Special loads.

 

[Still Learning]

"In the uncomplicated days before the Great Misunderstanding of December 7, 1941, no one I knew had a .44 Special because no one I knew could afford to buy a gun."--Skeeter Skelton

That opening sentence in a Shooting Times article read in the Student Union Bookstore wound up costing me a lot of time, travel and money trying to locate a Colt SAA or S&W Triple Lock. I was in college and never found one I could afford. Thankfully, S&W made a special run of Model 624s--largely due to Skeeter's pleading--and I was able to snatch one at a decent price.

I still read his stuff now and again. I find myself going through his books and articles as much for the pure enjoyment of his writing as for the technical information. I miss him, Elmer Keith, Bill Jordan and the other writers of my youth very much.

One of the things I really liked about Skeeter in particular was that he didn't seem to take himself too seriously and wasn't afraid to poke fun at himself from time to time.

BTW, that IS a darn nice looking M27, Tex. It's making me want one Bad!

 

[TheFrontRange]

What a gorgeous M-27, Tex. I let a five-incher like that (not engraved, though) slip away...ugh...those guns most of us have let go and wish we had back now...could be the start of a new thread

I came late to the writings of Skeeter Skelton but recently found on Ebay a copy of a magazine that's a compilation of his work...wonderful reading from cover to cover. I'd love to check out his books.

I also like Bart Skelton's work in "G&A"...I turn to his column and Jeff Cooper's right away. And Sheriff Jim Wilson rocks in my book!

Digging back into "Handguns" magazine from the late '80s and early '90s...what happened to a writer by the name of Clay Harvey? He had a good writing style but seemed to just suddenly disappear and I never read any follow-up about him.

 

[TheFrontRange]

Terry Murbach

I'm pretty new to these boards and have just realized that the Terry Murbach posting out here is THE Terry Murbach! Wow...quite an honor in my book! I used to read your work in "Handguns" magazine...one article of yours on ".22 Fun Guns" back in '89 or '90 or so inspired a thirst in me for a then-new Smith & Wesson Model 422...thanks for introducing me to what a blast a good .22 can be!

 

[JHP147]

Skeeter

I started reading him as a teen, lived close to where he lived/worked and now work where he did. He was the first writer that made me buy a magazine just because it has an article of his in it. His stories of "great misses" still make me laugh. I have a magzine compilation of his article out in my "don't throw away" box in the garage. This thread makes me want to dig it out. Whoever compared him to Mark Twain was on the money...always wished I could have met him.