Back in the early 1990s I was attending a gathering of handgunners up in Colorado when I encountered one of the most interesting handguns I've ever held and fired. It was an Old Model Ruger .357 Magnum Blackhawk that had been converted to .44 Special. What is most significant about this sixgun is that it was built for Skeeter Skelton. Here is the story as told to me by John Wootters, premier gun writer and personal friend of mine and Skeeter's.

Skeeter's last .44, built on a converted Old Model Ruger Blackhawk, inspired the Sheriff and six friends to have their own copies of it made.

In the late 1980s Skeeter was hospitalized in Houston, Texas, being treated for the illness that would eventually take his life. Wootters, who lived in Houston, went to visit Skeeter as often as he could. On many of these trips Wootters also took along Bob Baer, an excellent pistolsmith and handgunner in his own right. As you can imagine, these three men spent most of their time talking about guns, hunting, and other important issues relative to things that go bang.

In the course of these conversations it was revealed that Skeeter wanted to build one more .44 Special revolver. And he wanted to use an Old Model .357 Blackhawk for this particular conversion.

Baer told Skeeter that he would begin looking for a suitable Blackhawk and that he would also be glad to do the conversion. Skeeter specified that he wanted the gun to have a 4 5/8-inch barrel, and that the action should be tuned for reliability and smoothness. In the course of time, a suitable Ruger was found, and the conversion work was begun. Unfortunately, Skeeter passed away before the work could be completed.

Some time after Skeeter's death, Wootters asked that the work be completed just as Skeeter had specified. For the grips, Wootters came up with a Dall sheep horn that he had found during a Canadian hunt that Skeeter had also been on. Wootters and Baer decided that this .44 should have a special serial number to commemorate their friendship with Skeeter. Working through Bill Grover at Texas Longhorn Arms, the gun was completed and marked with serial number "SS1."

Today, this .44 Special Blackhawk is one of Wootter's most prized possessions and is, in fact, the only handgun that I've ever seen him wear.

Shortly after seeing and shooting the Skeeter Ruger, I wrote the story up for publication in another magazine. And, as a result, several of us decided that this .44 Special tribute to Skeeter shouldn't end there. The group consisted of Wootters, Baer, Bart Skelton (Skeeter's son), John Taffin, Terry Murbach, Bill Grover, and me. We agreed that each of us would obtain an Old Model Ruger Blackhawk and have it converted. Part of the work on each gun would be done by Texas Longhorn Arms so that the revolvers could legally be given a new serial number. With Wootters owning number SS1, the subsequent guns would be numbered from SS2 to SS7. My gun is SS5.

I knew immediately that my Skeeter Skelton .44 Special was going to be built on a Ruger .357 Flattop. First of all, I think that those early Flattops are among the best single actions that Ruger has ever made. They had the fine XR3 grip frame that fit my hand perfectly. And these early Ruger Blackhawks came from the factory with a steel, adjustable Micro rear sight that continues to be one of the best sights ever put on a revolver.

Grover fitted a large-head cylinder pin to my gun, and he marked the top of the frame with "T.L.A. Inc., Richmond, Texas." The left side of the 45/8-inch barrel was stamped "Skeeter Skelton .44 Special."