John Taffin Remembered
- Jim Wilson
- Mar 12
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 12
by Jim Wilson
John Taffin passed away on March 10, 2025. He was 85 years old.
John invited me to the Shootist Holiday in the early 1990s...It must have been 1991 or 1992. We shared a love of revolvers, especially single actions, in calibers that started with a “4.” We also shared an admiration and enjoyment of the writings of Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton. We hung out together at SHOT Show and writers’ events...and he visited me here in Texas on several occasions. I was pleased to make him an honorary Crockett County deputy sheriff.
At one of the Shootist Holidays Bob Baer approached me with a very special Ruger Blackhawk. It had started life as a 3-screw .357 with a 4 5/8-inch barrel. It had been converted to .44 Special and it was done for Skeeter Skelton.
Skeeter was in a Houston hospital and John Wootters and Bob Baer were visiting him on a regular basis. During a conversation, Skeeter mentioned that he had traded off his custom Ruger .44 Special and wished that he had another one. Wootters and Baer found a suitable 3-screw gun and Baer agreed to convert it to Skeeter’s exacting specifications. Sadly, Skeeter died before the conversion could be completed. John Wootters instructed Baer to finish it just as Skeeter had instructed and he, Wootters, would pay for it. This is the gun that was handed to me for examination.
Subsequently, I got with John Wootters and, with his permission, wrote up an article about this gun...and Skeeter...and Wootters...and their friendship. The article appeared in the Guns & Ammo Annual and was the beginning of my very close friendship with John Wootters.
Now this is where John Taffin enters the story. Taffin contacted me after he had read the story and suggested that we needed to do a few more guns in this vein to honor Skeeter Skelton’s memory. I agreed and contacted Bart Skelton, and his mother Sally, to get their permission which they graciously granted.
John Wootter’s gun had been run through Texas Longhorn Arms so that the serial number could be legally changed to “SS1.” So we engaged Bob Baer and TLA honcho Bill Grover in our plan. The idea was that each one of us would acquire our own 3-screw .357 Blackhawk and they would be converted to .44 Special by either Baer or Grover and have the serial number changed through Texas Longhorn Arms. Six guns were done one each for John Taffin, Bart Skelton, Terry Murbach, Bob Baer, Bill Grover, and myself.
I was fortunate enough to find an original .357 Flat Top to send to Bill Grover. Bill did a great conversion job, action job, and blue finish on the gun. In addition, he mounted a King Mirror Ramp front sight which had been Skeeter’s favorite front sight along with an improved cylinder pin and a steel ejector-rod housing. I subsequently fitted it with a set of stocks from Tru-Ivory. My gun is “SS5.”
For a long time, I shot the gun very little and mostly just admired it. Then I got to thinking how much Skeeter would have laughed at me because I don’t think he ever owned a safe queen. So I have been carrying it and shooting it a lot and it has become my favorite single action. It’s a favorite because of my admiration for Charles A. “Skeeter” Skelton, and for my group of friends in the project, and because it is just a damn fine shooting sixgun.
There won’t be any more of the “SS” guns. But you can own a John Taffin gun that is mighty close. Just a few weeks ago, Lipsey’s...along with Ruger...announced a stainless Bisley Flat Top .44 Special honoring John Taffin. It’s a dandy sixgun and one that John Taffin would heartily approve of.
There were once seven of us and now there is only one. But I am a better man for their friendship and especially that of John Taffin.
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Several years ago I was prowling the brush country several miles out east of Laredo one day acquainting myself with a part of the county I wasn't real familiar with. I was the supervisor of a newly formed Border Patrol station called Laredo South Station. I happened onto the ranch and headquarters of Mr. John Wootters. Just my luck that he and his wife were at the ranch. A more accommodating and friendly man could not be found. He told me to come onto his ranch any time I or my men were in the area. He showed me inside his ranch house and I remember what an impressive home it was. I wish I had met up …
First class article and a first class revolver. Quite an honor to have one I'm sure. I must say I do miss reading the " Old-timers" and I wonder, like the song, " Who's gonna fill their shoes?"
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Sheriff, in this article about John Taffin, you talk about John Wootters and his attachment to Flattop Ruger Blackhawks. That reminded me of an article I read years ago that tied into that issue, so I dug around and finally found it. It was in the 1985 Skeeter Skelton Handgun Tales magazine and the title of the article was Favorite Loads of the Top Handgunners. John Wootters made the list and it talks about his favorite handgun being an old Flattop Blackhawk in 357 and mentions several of his favorite loads. Good article. Took awhile, but I had to have one. Got one with a 4 3/4” barrel…wish I still had it :(