.png)
The First 100: Excerpts From Our First Year
- Matt Covert
- Jan 4
- 49 min read
⭐ NEW! You can refer a friend. ⭐
Share that link, and when someone signs up through your link, you’ll get a free hat—and your friend gets 50% off their subscription. TODAY ONLY!
No points, no tiers—just a thank you that you can actually wear.
⭐ All the best, ⭐
Jim, Shane & Matt
by Matt Covert
It seems that time can be a tricky thing to master. I very specifically remember that when I was a kid, time was stubborn and had little to no interest in passing. It didn't seem to matter if I was waiting for the morning to arrive, or waiting for the summer school break. Time could not be rushed, and no amount of begging could convince it.
Fast forward thirty-seven years, and I'm starting to realize that everything is relative. In my childhood, a year was a tenth of my life and carried great magnitude. Now, it's merely a thirty-seventh. No wonder time now feels like it's rushing by like a runaway train. Every year that passes becomes a smaller sliver in comparison to what I hope will be a humble legacy remembered.
All that to say that the last year raced by like a...well...insert your favorite flat-trajectory round here. But I've been waiting to say this next part for quite some time, and the moment is finally here—today is the one-year anniversary of Gun Tales. And with it, our 100th article. We can hardly believe it.
As the years pass, it becomes easier for the shine of accomplishment to lose its luster as it blends in with all the other day-to-day things. But I refuse to let this momentous day pass without celebration.
So, to commemorate our one-year anniversary, I took it upon myself to review all 100 articles and pull the best passage from each one—and add a little reflection as well. I can hardly describe how enjoyable it was to review all these memories in a single afternoon.
While time will always carry some amount of uncertainty, one thing will always be true: we are truly grateful to you, our reader, and will continue the preservation of this precious art known as gun writing. Thank you so much for your attention, support, and camaraderie.
And so, without further ado, please sit back and enjoy a small highlight from each of our first 100 articles. —Matt Covert
Date: Dec 4, 2024 Article Title: Handgun Hunting the Majestic Kudu
“For me, the greater kudu is one of the most impressive and beautiful of all the antelope species found on the continent of Africa, or anywhere else for that matter. The long, spiraling horns of a big bull are a marvelous sight. The gray coat of their powerful body, roughly the size of a big cow elk, fades into tawny brown from mid-leg and carries down to the hoof. Sporadic white stripes follow the rib lines, and a ridge of hair forms a thin strip of mane on their muscular necks. A long fringe of hair runs from just below their noble chin, extending down the neck to the brisket and a white chevron rests under their keen eyes.”
REFLECTIONS: This is the kind of writing that slows you down whether you planned to or not. It reminds us that a hunt worth remembering starts with respect and observation, not inches and numbers. That quiet appreciation is the backbone of Gun Tales and always will be.
Date: Dec 4, 2024
Article Title: Smith & Wesson’s Workhorse: The Model 28 Highway Patrolman
“Smith & Wesson’s Model 28 Highway Patrolman is a no-nonsense, stout sixgun. The matt-blued Model 28 was designed to be a working man’s gun. It was offered as a less expensive alternative to the highly finished Model 27, the near identical twin of the 28.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage gets straight to the heart of what made the Model 28 matter. Not polish, not prestige, but work. It stands as a quiet tribute to tools built for men who used them hard and trusted them completely.
Date: Dec 7, 2024
Article Title: Hell Paso: Dallas Stoudenmire
“Folks can talk all they want about how tough the old west towns of Dodge City, Tombstone, and others were. My pick for the toughest town in the West goes to El Paso, Texas. It was as tough as the others but its toughness lasted a lot longer, from 1880 until 1934, when Prohibition ended.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening doesn’t ask permission, it makes a case. It reframes El Paso not as a backdrop for gunfights, but as a sustained pressure cooker that forged hard men over decades, not moments. That long view of violence, law, and consequence is exactly what separates history from legend.
Date: Dec 8, 2024
Article Title: A Trio of Colts
“My first centerfire handgun was a used 4-inch Colt Official Police in .38 Special. And, already having some idea of the proper way to do things, I ordered my very first holster from S.D. Myres; naturally it was a Threepersons model. In reflection it was probably just blind luck that caused me to select this outfit but it was a joy to shoot and a good deal of comfort when it came to personal defense.”
REFLECTIONS: This is how lifelong gun stories usually start, not with a purchase, but with a first real choice. There’s humility and humor here, along with the quiet admission that luck sometimes masquerades as wisdom. Every seasoned hand recognizes this moment instantly.
Date: Dec 22, 2024
Article Title: Hell Paso: The M’Rose Incident
“Instead of El Paso, this story actually starts in southeast New Mexico near a town called Eddy, now known as Carlsbad. And the central character is a gambler/gunfighter/cow thief, a Scandahoovian known as Martin M’rose.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening line tells you immediately that this won’t be a clean story with clean hands. Jim has a gift for introducing men who live at the intersection of bad judgment and bad endings. In Hell Paso, even the beginnings carry the weight of what’s coming.
Date: Dec 24, 2024
Article Title: Six Decades with the 41 Remington Magnum
“The grand 41 Magnum turned 60 years old this year. Originally it was designed to bridge the gap between the 357 and 44 Magnums, and that’s exactly what it did.”
REFLECTIONS: This line neatly captures why the .41 Magnum has always lived in the shadows and the sweet spot at the same time. It was never meant to shout, only to work. Like so many good tools and good men, its value shows up over time, not in headlines.
Date: Dec 30, 2024
Article Title: The Smith & Wesson Combat Magnum
“The revolver truly became the darling of American law enforcement. Several departments, including the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Border Patrol, ordered them as issue guns. At the same time, many individual lawmen scrimped and saved their hard earned cash in order to afford one.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage explains the Combat Magnum’s legacy better than any spec sheet ever could. It wasn’t just issued, it was earned. When a gun becomes a symbol of competence rather than status, it’s already passed the test of time.
Date: Jan 4, 2025
Article Title: Giraffe Hunting: One Hunter's Thoughts on Game Management, Trophy Hunting, and the Opinions of Others
“It is important to remember that the wild bush is very different from the man-made zoo. In the wild the animals compete for food. After all, they all must eat. Nature’s ways of herd management are far crueler than a hunter’s bullet or arrow.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage cuts through sentimentality and gets straight to reality. It draws a hard but necessary line between how wildlife looks to us and how it actually survives. Gun Tales has never shied away from saying the quiet parts out loud, and this is a perfect example of why that matters.
Date: Jan 10, 2025
Article Title: Bad Guys and Buckshot
“Jack always prided himself in wearing a 3-piece suit while working. And one of the reasons that he did was because the suit vest did a good job of covering up the Smith & Wesson .44 Special that was stuffed in his waistband in front of his right hip.”
REFLECTIONS: This line captures an entire era in a single image: dignity on the outside, readiness underneath. It’s a reminder that competence didn’t announce itself back then, it simply stayed prepared. Quiet men, serious tools, and responsibility taken personally.
Date: Jan 12, 2025
Article Title: Asian Buffalo Hunting: An Australian Adventure
“Australia has never had a native herd of cattle, deer, or other cloven-hoofed animals. And this created a huge problem for the British military when they began to build forts in the country, back in the early 1800s.”
REFLECTIONS: This quietly reframes the entire hunt as consequence rather than conquest. It reminds us that history, policy, and unintended decisions shape the landscapes hunters inherit. Good hunting stories often begin long before the hunter ever shows up.
Date: Jan 14, 2025
Article Title: Hunting Camps and Gatherings
“Hunting camps and the folks we share them with are as important as the wildlife we see and hunt, oftentimes they are the most important things. The first hunting camp I can recall was a small, old wooden camp house on a ranch in Southeastern Texas. If memory serves, it was covered in green roll roofing material. It had no water or electricity and couldn’t have been more than 15x20 feet in size.”
REFLECTIONS: That’s four sentences and somehow an entire childhood. This is the kind of opening that smells like smoke, coffee, and time you didn’t know was precious until it was gone. If Gun Tales ever needed a mission statement, it’s sitting right here pretending to be a memory.
Date: Jan 19, 2025
Article Title: Ruger’s Original Flat Top .357 Blackhawk
“In the 1950s, all should have been well with the world if for no other reason than that blasted world war was over. But such was not the case in the shooting world. You see, Colt had discontinued the Single Action Army at the beginning of the war and still hadn’t brought it back out. Old Colt sixguns were getting hard to find and they were bringing a premium when located.”
REFLECTIONS: This is Jim Wilson doing what he does best: setting a whole era on the table. It reminds you how deeply equipment, culture, and timing are tied together in gun history. The Flat Top didn’t just fill a market gap, it answered a restlessness a lot of shooters felt in their bones.
Date: Jan 25, 2025
Article Title: Adios, Red
“Then, armed with a ‘95 Winchester and two automatic pistols, Red headed for the hills. In the ensuing manhunt, Red Lopez shot and killed five lawmen, the worst law enforcement tragedy in Utah history. And then Red Lopez disappeared. At various times, it was reported that he was seen in just about every part of the West and Southwest.”
REFLECTIONS: This is fictional border lore done right, grounded in real tensions and dressed in believable detail. The power of the piece isn’t in pretending it’s history, but in how convincingly it feels like history. That’s the sweet spot of good frontier fiction, where myth carries truth even when the names are invented.
Date: Jan 25, 2025
Article Title: Gun Tales From SHOT Show 2025
“Well friends, once again the SHOT Show has flown by! What starts out as ‘an entire week’ is gone in the blink of an eye. The best part is seeing friends and meeting folks. I received some very positive feedback from people regarding Gun Tales and those comments are very much appreciated.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage captures what SHOT Show actually is for the people who belong there, not a product dump but a reunion. Beneath the booths and buzzwords, the real currency is relationships and shared taste. That quiet gratitude is exactly why Gun Tales resonates in a sea of louder voices.
Date: Feb 2, 2025
Article Title: The Always Gun
“However, the simple fact is that we can’t predict when violence will get in our face and that is why smart folks carry a gun whenever they legally can and some do even when it is not quite so permissible...that being their business and decision. Some years ago I started calling the gun that you should always have on you an Always Gun, the title being self explanatory. So my idea of an Always Gun is a small gun that is easy to conceal even when lightly dressed in warm weather. And my choice is a small revolver since over the years I have found them to be far more reliable than small autos.”
REFLECTIONS: This is old-school practicality with zero romance and zero apology. It reflects a mindset shaped by experience, not trends or gear hype. The Always Gun isn’t about heroics, it’s about quiet responsibility carried every single day.
Date: Feb 8, 2025
Article Title: Good Friends, A Good Aoudad, and Bad Turrets
“I knew something had gone wrong and Jase did too. Looking at his windage turret told the story. It was well off the base setting where it should have been. By the time he corrected it the ram was gone.”
REFLECTIONS: Every experienced hunter has a story like this, and every one of them hurts the same way. It’s a reminder that modern gear doesn’t eliminate mistakes, it just creates new ones. The honesty in admitting it is what gives the lesson weight.
Date: Feb 9, 2025
Article Title: The Legend of the Murder Steer
“And then, because Henry Powe was so well thought of, another cowboy picked up a heated running iron and branded ‘MURDER’ in big letters all along one side of the calf. At that point the calf was turned loose and allowed to run free with the agreement made that no one else would ever claim him. Several days later, Deputy Sheriff Thalis Cook and Texas Ranger Jim Putman were riding north, into the Glass mountains, out of Marathon. They were on an assignment after some missing horses but, of course, were talking about the murder of Henry Powe and the warrant that had been issued for Fine Gilliland.”
REFLECTIONS: This is where the story crosses from incident into legend. Branding the steer wasn’t justice in a legal sense, it was a permanent memory burned into the land itself. Old ranch country has always had its own way of remembering right and wrong.
Date: Feb 15, 2025
Article Title: Smith And Wesson’s Heavy Duty
“I think the thing that made the .38/44 Heavy Duty so popular was that it was a reasonably priced handgun, chambered for one of our most popular cartridges, and was hell for stout. The fixed sights and the shrouded ejector rod made it just about indestructible. A lot of American peace officers appreciated those features. It was a lawman’s classic.”
REFLECTIONS: This is a reminder that real working guns aren’t defined by hype or fashion, but by trust earned the hard way. The Heavy Duty didn’t need refinement or flash, it just had to survive bad times and worse decisions. That kind of reputation doesn’t come from the factory, it comes from the street.
Date: Feb 23, 2025
Article Title: Javalinas: Pigs of the Desert
“I regret that attitude of my youth. Javalina deserve better. I no longer kill them for sport, only to eat. And the key to eating javalina is to carefully get rid of that musk gland.”
REFLECTIONS: This is one of those quiet admissions that says more than a lecture ever could. Experience didn’t harden Shane, it refined him. Respect earned late is still respect, and it counts.
Date: Feb 25, 2025
Article Title: Winchester’s Model 1886 and the .33 WCF Cartridge
“The Model 1886 Winchester was the first John Browning-designed repeating rifle to be manufactured by Winchester. The classic lines and stout makeup of the 86 make it widely recognizable. The sliding vertical locks of the 86’s action work exceptionally well and were employed in Browning’s other famous lever guns that followed. The big action of 1886 is strong and housed powerful black powder cartridges of the time.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage reminds you that some designs are born right the first time. Strength, simplicity, and purpose tend to age better than trends. The 1886 earned its reputation honestly, and it’s still collecting interest more than a century later.
Date: Mar 2, 2025
Article Title: Courtright VS. Short: A Fort Worth Gunfight
“On the night of February 8, 1887, Longhair Jim Courtright got fortified with “Who Hit John” and went down to get Luke Short straightened out, once and for all. He sent word into the White Elephant that he wanted to see Short and would wait for him on the sidewalk. During the course of their short conversation, Luke used both hands to adjust the drape of his suit vest. Before Longhair Jim Courtright could get a shot off Luke Short shot him four times, bringing the ex-lawman’s worldly concerns to a screeching halt.”
REFLECTIONS: This is one of those Old West endings where reputation collides with reality. Alcohol, pride, and miscalculation have ended more gunfights than poor marksmanship ever did. History has a way of being very efficient about such lessons.
Date: Mar 9, 2025
Article Title: Smith & Wesson M&P: Fighting Gun of Yesteryear
“There was a time when every detective worth his salt carried some sort of snub-nosed revolver. And, naturally, a lot of citizens who felt the need to be armed copied the police. They generally chose between Colt and Smith & Wesson, simply because there weren’t many other choices worth looking at, with the most popular caliber being .38 Special.”
REFLECTIONS: This piece captures a forgotten truth about early fighting guns: simplicity, familiarity, and constant carry mattered more than innovation. These revolvers weren’t glamorous, but they were always there, and in hard times that counted for everything.
Date: Mar 12, 2025
Article Title: John Taffin Remembered
“John Taffin passed away on March 10, 2025. He was 85 years old. John invited me to the Shootist Holiday in the early 1990s, where we discovered a shared love of revolvers, especially single actions in calibers that started with a ‘4.’ We also shared a deep admiration for the writings of Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton.”
REFLECTIONS: This is less an obituary than a quiet roll call of friendships built around good guns and better men. It reminds us that the real legacy isn’t the hardware, but the relationships forged over it. That kind of history doesn’t get manufactured anymore.
Date: Mar 16, 2025
Article Title: Colt Trooper: The Python Understudy
“The Trooper then became the less-expensive understudy to the Python, now chambered in .357 Magnum, firing pin in the frame, but maintaining the less fancy finish. Colt marketed the Trooper as a law enforcement gun to compete with the Smith & Wesson Highway Patrolman and the .38/44 Heavy Duty. It was a popular gun with the U.S. Border Patrol, New York State Police, and many other law enforcement agencies. Its size put it right in the middle between Smith & Wesson’s K-frame guns and their N-frame guns.”
REFLECTIONS: This piece does a fine job of reminding readers that fame and quality are not the same thing. The Trooper earned its reputation the hard way, through service rather than polish. Quiet competence tends to age better than flash.
Date: Mar 22, 2025
Article Title: The Springfield .30-06: A Cartridge That Gets It Done
“Blue wildebeest, eland, gemsbok, greater kudu, impala, lechwe, springbok, white-tailed deer, and zebra. Right off the top of my head these animals of various sizes have all been taken with the 119-year-old .30-06 Springfield. For a little, ‘why’s it called that?’ trivia, the cartridge gets its name from the facts that it’s a .30 caliber adopted in 1906. Voila, thirty-aught-six!”
REFLECTIONS: This is the rare cartridge introduction that reads like a roll call instead of a sales pitch. No hype, no theory, just a quiet stack of animals that answer the question before it’s even asked. Longevity like this doesn’t happen by accident.
Date: Mar 23, 2025
Article Title: McMeans VS. Hamer: The Sweetwater Fight
“As McMeans fired his first shot, Hamer slapped the gun down causing the bullet to hit him in the right leg, just above the knee. As Hamer grabbed him, McMeans fired a second shot, this one hitting Hamer in the left shoulder, breaking bone and driving part of Hamer’s watch chain into his chest. Hamer, however, was still on his feet and started pounding McMeans in the face with his good right hand. Apparently, in the midst of all the scuffle, McMeans’ .45 auto had malfunctioned and it would not fire.”
REFLECTIONS: This is where legend separates from reputation. The passage shows Hamer absorbing chaos, injury, and bad luck without losing forward motion. That combination, more than marksmanship alone, is what made his name last.
Date: Apr 2, 2025
Article Title: Single Action Revolvers For Hunting
“Long ago I quenched the need to shoot something just for the sake of shooting something. These days I carefully select an old deer if possible, preferring to take a buck who is past his prime and often on the downhill slope of life. Occasionally, at first glance these deer appear to be young, having smaller bodies than other mature bucks. It’s because their teeth are worn, and they aren’t receiving sufficient nutrition.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage captures the moment when hunting stops being about action and starts being about judgment. It’s the voice of someone who’s learned restraint the hard way and values stewardship over excitement. That shift in mindset is what separates experience from enthusiasm.
Date: Apr 3, 2025
Article Title: A Special .44
“More importantly, Skeeter was a huge fan of the .44 Special cartridge. And he was man enough to point out that one did not always need the boom and blast of a .44 Magnum. A properly loaded .44 Special could get most any job taken care of. That’s what Skeeter said and we soon realized that he was telling the truth.”
REFLECTIONS: This is the quiet heresy at the heart of good gun writing. Bigger isn’t always better, louder isn’t always wiser, and experience tends to sand the sharp edges off bravado. The .44 Special endures not because it screams, but because it works.
Date: Apr 5, 2025
Article Title: Salute to the Old Single Action
“For many of those old timers, there were two kinds of handguns...Colt single actions and all others. I once asked Captain A.Y. Allee about Colt single actions since I knew he had carried one for years. He said, ‘Son…If you can’t hit him with five .45 slugs…just throw it in the river and run!’ Allee also showed me the trick of slipping your little finger under the bottom of the grip frame to better control the gun in recoil and bring it back down on target.”
REFLECTIONS: This piece captures something modern debates always miss: confidence matters more than capacity. These men trusted simplicity because they trusted themselves. That kind of certainty doesn’t come from gear, it comes from years of doing hard things the hard way.
Date: Apr 12, 2025
Article Title: Small-Town Gun Show Treasures
“You just never know what you’ll see at a small-town gun show. Walking by one table, a 3.5-inch stainless single action caught my attention. Then I looked more closely at the price tag. The name ‘John Wootters’ was written at the bottom. I was really intrigued.”
REFLECTIONS: This is exactly why the little shows still matter. No velvet ropes. No hype machines. Just folding tables, sharp eyes, and the occasional piece of history hiding in plain sight. Provenance like this doesn’t announce itself loudly. It waits for someone who knows enough to notice.
Date: Apr 17, 2025
Article Title: Ruger’s Original Flat Top .44 Magnum
“The .44 Magnum is one of my all-time favorite cartridges, but it wasn’t always that way. Shooting full-house magnums pounded my hand so badly that I couldn’t concentrate on the basics. It finally became clear that toughness alone wasn’t the answer. Finding the right revolver made all the difference.”
REFLECTIONS: This piece isn’t about chasing recoil or living up to someone else’s legend. It’s about learning your limits, listening to experience, and choosing equipment that lets you shoot well instead of proving something. The Flat Top earned its place because it worked, not because it impressed anyone on paper. That kind of lesson tends to stick.
Date: Apr 23, 2025
Article Title: The Gunfight at Holbrook
“In studying the gunfights of the Old West it becomes clear that the smartest men preferred a rifle whenever they could get to one. Sheriff Perry Owens followed that rule and carried it to a ruthless conclusion in Holbrook, Arizona Territory. In a matter of moments, he faced multiple armed men at close range and never missed. Every shot counted, and every one found its mark.”
REFLECTIONS: This fight is a reminder that gunfights weren’t about speed tricks or bravado. They were about preparation, decisiveness, and using the right tool without hesitation. Owens didn’t survive because he was flashy. He survived because he was deliberate and utterly committed once the moment arrived.
Date: Apr 30, 2025
Article Title: Colt’s New Service
“During its 43-year life span, the New Service has seen hard use and has been around the world. These guns saw action on battlefields abroad, fought smaller wars on the Mexican Border, and saw continued action from the holsters of lawmen across the United States. They also found a home with outdoorsmen who cotton to things that are durable. As a testament to their toughness, they can still be found in good shooting condition.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage captures what older shooters understand instinctively: reputation is earned through use, not marketing. The New Service wasn’t pampered, it was worked hard by people who depended on it. That kind of track record still matters to men who believe tools should prove themselves over time.
Date: May 2, 2025
Article Title: Some Old Bastard
“He handcuffed the young man to the windmill and went and got his horse. Then he loaded his horse into the trailer and his prisoner into the pickup. He left the dead man and his gun where they were lying. Somebody else could come clean up the mess and haul the body off.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage lands because it’s blunt, efficient, and utterly uninterested in applause. It reflects a time when responsibility ended with doing the job right, not explaining yourself afterward. Older readers recognize this tone instantly because they lived under it.
Date: May 7, 2025
Article Title: Ain’t No Expert
“When I mounted the sight everything seemed just right. The only minor problem was that there was no red dot. I checked the battery. I checked the instructions one more time. Still there was no red dot. When I got to the ranch where we were going to hunt I told Larry Weishuhn about my problems. Larry quietly examined the gun and the sight, then said, “Sheriff, let’s just turn it around the other way and I believe it will work just fine.”
REFLECTIONS: This piece is a reminder that real knowledge is usually built on error, humility, and a willingness to admit when you’re wrong. The gun world, like most others, is full of loud certainty and thin credentials. The men worth listening to tend to speak softer and laugh at their own mistakes first. Expertise, if it exists at all, is something others decide about you long after you’ve stopped claiming it yourself.
Date: May 14, 2025
Article Title: Gemsbok of the Southwest
“Lying there that night under the vast clear sky crowded with stars, I was content with life and simply enjoying the adventure. There’s so much more to hunting than shooting. Roaming through magnificent country, companions sharing the adventure, and all the other experiences that intertwine and carve the memories that remain long after the hunt is over. That’s what it’s all about.”
REFLECTIONS: This is the kind of reflection that resonates with readers who’ve been around long enough to know what actually lasts. The animal matters, but the shared ground and shared time matter more. It’s a sentiment earned through years, not learned from gear catalogs.
Date: May 16, 2025
Article Title: Packin’ Iron
“As a life-long western historian...with amateur status...I’ve always loved to look at the old frontier photos. But one thing that will kind of ruin your appreciation of cowboy movies and TV shows is the lack of guns showing on regular citizens. Of course, with pictures of frontier lawmen you saw all kinds of sixguns, cartridge belts, and rifles. And when an early photographer managed to get a dude into his studio, he was usually decked out in all sorts of cowboy gear, including guns…it was just usually painfully obvious that said dude was from the West...as in western New Hampshire.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening neatly punctures the Hollywood version of the Old West without lecturing. Older readers will recognize the difference between lived history and staged mythology. It sets the tone for a piece that values how things actually were, not how they were filmed.
Date: May 21, 2025
Article Title: The Special .41
“In spite of the poor reception, the idea of a .41 Special just won’t die. The cartridge as envisioned by Taffin, Bowen, and others was reported to be quite accurate and effective. And it lacked the blast and recoil of the more powerful magnum cartridges. More importantly, it could be chambered in medium-frame revolvers without having to make 5-shooters out of them, something that couldn’t be done with the .44 Special, .45 Colt, and other big-bore cartridges.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage will resonate with readers who’ve always favored balance over excess. It reflects a long-standing frustration with sensible ideas being ignored because they don’t fit mass-market thinking. Many experienced handgunners will nod along, having reached the same conclusion decades ago.
Date: May 23, 2025
Article Title: “Cap” Barler: Legendary Border Lawman
“W.L. ‘Lee’ Barler was born in Llano, Texas in 1874. The Terrell County history book says Barler’s father had worked as a lawman, fought outlaws and Indians and served as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. It seems that stories of these escapades shared with his son might have inspired Lee Barler to seek out a life of adventure as a peace officer. He served as a deputy sheriff in Llano for a few years before joining the Texas Rangers in 1915 where he patrolled the border in the Del Rio and Eagle Pass areas.”
REFLECTIONS: This reminds readers that men like Barler were shaped early by example and expectation, not by ambition alone. Law enforcement in that era was often a family trade carried forward by necessity and grit. It sets the foundation for understanding a career built quietly over decades, not loudly in hindsight.
Date: May 28, 2025
Article Title: Fighting Iron
“As you can see, the front of the trigger guard has been cut out in a manner made popular by J.H. FitzGerald, a Colt employee of the time, although I don’t think that Fitz did the work on this particular Colt. Askins owned several New Service revolvers that had the trigger guards cut out. Bill Jordan, who had hands big enough that a grizzly bear would have been proud of them, showed everyone that the cut away trigger guard was not needed for fast revolver work. If Bill didn’t need it, us regular humans certainly didn’t.”
REFLECTIONS: This captures the intersection of fashion, function, and myth that surrounded fighting guns of the era. It reminds readers that not every popular modification was truly necessary, even if it looked the part. Experience, not trendiness, ultimately separated what worked from what merely looked fast.
Date: Jun 11, 2025
Article Title: Proper Care For Wild Game Meat: From the Field to Table
“The more we hunt, the more wild game meat we accumulate for the freezer. We enjoy eating what we’ve killed and sharing meals with family and friends makes the memories of the outdoors even more special. I’ve not encountered a game animal yet that isn’t tasty, if it’s handled and cooked correctly. Old wives’ tales of ‘gamey, skunky’ flavored meat can most likely be traced back to a carcass that was improperly processed.”
REFLECTIONS: Let’s cut straight to a truth experienced hunters already know but rarely say out loud. Good meat starts with respect in the field, not tricks in the kitchen. It also quietly defends hunting as something meant to feed people, not impress them.
Date: Jun 14, 2025
Article Title: Cleaning Up The Kitchens Gang
“It was over...no bank robbery...no wild shootout or horseback chase...just one dead outlaw and another in handcuffs. The other two outlaws never showed up around town. Later on a posse out of Seymour chased Elfego Salinas down and shot him to doll rags. Tom Tate was never heard from again.”
REFLECTIONS: Here is the dime-novel version of frontier justice in a way older readers will appreciate. Most real endings were abrupt, unromantic, and final. It’s a reminder that good police work often ends quietly, not theatrically.
Date: Jun 15, 2025
Article Title: The Myth of the Buntline Special
“For those of us who habitually carry guns, the idea of a revolver with a 12-inch barrel never has made sense. Hell, you’d need a court order just to draw the damn thing! And Wyatt Earp, when he wasn’t wearing a badge, liked to keep his gun concealed. How the hell do you hide something like that?”
REFLECTIONS: Why don’t we cut through legend with plain common sense, which is something seasoned readers tend to trust more than folklore. It reminds us that real gunmen cared about practicality, not theatrical props. Myths survive because they’re entertaining, not because they hold up under experience.
Date: Jun 16, 2025
Article Title: Tales of an Old Colt Single Action
“I love guns with stories. Tales of firearms that belonged to folks of note, guns used in interesting events, or those that came from fascinating places are intriguing to this writer. They bring a particular firearm to life, even though we all know quite well that they are just mechanical devices, right? A died-in-the-wool gun guy will bow-up and snort at that last statement!”
REFLECTIONS: This opening lays bare why certain firearms matter long after their working days are done. Utility fades, but memory and association give an object weight. For readers who grew up around handed-down guns and handed-down stories, this rings true immediately.
Date: Jun 22, 2025
Article Title: Cape Buffalo: The Ultimate Game
“Tracking cape buffaloes is the ultimate form of hunting. It can also be the ultimate form of frustration! More often than not, fickle winds will blow stalk after stalk. You will carefully follow the tracks, painstakingly maneuver wait-a-bit-thorns and acacia, and if you are very lucky, spot a bit of pitch black camouflaged in the thorns ahead.”
REFLECTIONS: This captures why dangerous game hunting separates dreamers from practitioners. Success depends on patience, humility, and accepting that the animal usually holds the advantage. Experienced hunters will recognize the respect embedded here, earned the hard way.
Date: Jun 23, 2025
Article Title: Winchester Model 94 .30/30: America’s Carbine
“In the late 1800s, John M. Browning was on a roll. He designed the robust 1886 Winchester that was chambered for big-bore cartridges. Then, in 1892, he brought out a scaled down version that would handle various popular handgun cartridges. Later, we got the Model 1895 Winchester which was a whole new design for high-velocity ammo.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening frames Browning as a working problem-solver rather than a romanticized genius. Readers who value practical design over flash will appreciate how each step built naturally toward the next. It also reminds us that great tools are usually the result of steady refinement, not sudden inspiration.
Date: Jun 29, 2025
Article Title: Stories Over Steel: My Way of Collecting Guns
“I buy what I like and shoot it. Some of my guns get shot plenty, others only occasionally, but they are all using guns, even the fancier ones. For example, I once bought a new-in-the-box special edition Colt Commander from Joaquin Jackson with carved ivory stocks. My provisos for buying the gun were, one, Joaquin would write a letter to go with it so whoever this gun goes to when I’m an old man will have a little piece of history.”
REFLECTIONS: This gets to the heart of collecting for reasons other than resale or status. Use, memory, and people are what elevate an object beyond steel and wood. That mindset will feel familiar to anyone who learned early that stories outlast shine.
Date: Jul 3, 2025
Article Title: Why Would You Want To Carry A Revolver?
“Why would you even think such a thing? Don’t you know that plastic pistols and high-capacity magazines revolutionized the world? Where have you been? Are you some sort of Daniel Boone throwback? Well, I can share my thinking on the subject with you although I have to tell you right up front that I’m not an operator...don’t have any tattoos...don’t even have any tactical underwear or other super-hero outfits. But, if you asked me that question I would reply with three words...Reliability...Accuracy...and Power.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening sets the tone with humor and a bit of pushback that longtime shooters will recognize instantly. It frames the debate as cultural as much as technical. For readers who’ve watched trends come and go, the skepticism feels earned rather than reactionary.
Date: Jul 4, 2025
Article Title: Reflections on the Smells of Licorice, WD-40, and the Colt Woodsman
“It’s funny how we associate certain smells or things with memories and people. Having spent a lot of time around my mother’s parents as a child growing up, it’s not surprising I have plenty of fond recollections of them. My granddad and I had a special bond, and we grandkids all called him Pawpaw. I was the oldest grandson, and he never treated me like a child.”
REFLECTIONS: The opening immediately grounds the story in family, memory, and lived experience. Many readers will recognize their own upbringing in these lines, even if the details differ. It sets the stage for a story where objects matter because of who stood behind them, not because of what they cost.
Date: Jul 11, 2025
Article Title: The .44 Special: A Real Classic
“The road to the .44 Special cartridge is really a story of evolution. It began in 1869 with the introduction of the .44 American cartridge by Smith & Wesson. Their single-action breaktop revolvers were chambered for this early black-powder cartridge. The .44 American had an outside-lubricated 205 grain bullet that ran about 680fps.”
REFLECTIONS: This lays out the lineage in a way that reminds readers how little truly appears out of thin air. Cartridges, like good ideas, are refined over time by people who actually use them. That kind of history still matters to shooters who value substance over hype.
Date: Jul 16, 2025
Article Title: Chico & Joe
“The area where this story took place is some of the most remote country in the American Southwest. On a Texas map, find the border town of Presidio. As you look upstream on the Rio Grande, from Presidio, you’ll notice that there’s just a whole of nothing for several hundred miles until you get almost to El Paso. When this story took place there were a number of little villages along the banks of the river.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening firmly plants the reader in a hard, unforgiving landscape where distance and isolation shaped every decision. It reminds us that law and order in such places were personal, physical things, not abstract ideas. Stories born in country like this tend to end badly for someone.
Date: Jul 17, 2025
Article Title: Colorado Pronghorn: High & Tight
“The pronghorn is America’s colloquial antelope. He’s known far and wide as the fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere. They say he can run at speeds up to 60 MPH, reaching velocities that only a cheetah could surpass. This trait has earned them the name “speed goat.”
REFLECTIONS: This is the kind of plainspoken introduction that immediately reminds you why pronghorns command respect on the prairie. Speed defines the animal, but so does the challenge it presents to the hunter who has to close distance in wide-open country. Anyone who’s chased them knows that reputation is well earned.
Date: Jul 23, 2025
Article Title: One Handgun For Personal Defense
“Tim Sundles and I were prowling around his beautiful Buffalo Bore Game Preserve and talking about guns and hunting and the usual stuff like-minded folks discuss when we get together. Tim posed one of the age-old questions, ‘if you could only have one handgun for personal defense, what would it be?’ ‘One that does it all, hunting and personal defense?’ I asked, with the wheels already turning in my head. His reply, ‘Just personal defense.’”
REFLECTIONS: This is how real discussions about defensive guns actually begin, not with charts or marketing slogans, but with a friend asking a hard question. The framing matters because it forces priorities instead of fantasy. Readers who’ve carried a long time know that narrowing choices is where honesty starts.
Date: Jul 24, 2025
Article Title: An Unexpected .41 Special
“At any rate, I couldn’t make the annual gathering this summer. I was spending time with my dentist, letting him see how many ways he could hurt me. But a few weeks ago, Mark Hargrove came down to pick up a new saddle from Big Bend Saddlery and we gathered for supper at the Reata. As we finished, he casually mentioned that he had something in his car that might interest me.”
REFLECTIONS: These four sentences work so well because they ease you in before the hammer drops. The tone is casual, almost throwaway, which makes the gift that follows land harder. That rhythm is exactly why Jim’s writing works so beautifully.
Date: Aug 1, 2025
Article Title: Single Actions For Defense
“It may come as a shock to some but, in this day of high-cap plastic guns, there are quite a few savvy handgunners who prefer a good single action when their life is in danger. They like single actions and shoot them well, so why not carry one for defensive purposes? Farmers, ranchers, and other folks who spend most of their time out of doors in rural country have reason or opportunity nearly every day to shoot a handgun and many prefer a single action. The handgun hunter, who is dedicated to his craft and practices regularly, hunts with a single action and that is probably what he is going to be most efficient with.”
REFLECTIONS: This tact was chosen because it forms the spine of an argument. It moves cleanly from provocation to justification without wandering. That kind of structural discipline makes the rest of the article feel earned instead of argumentative.
Date: Aug 2, 2025
Article Title: A Perfect-Packing-Lever-Action Rifle: The Model 1892
“Some guns need a little tweaking to make them look ‘right.’ A slight change to the grip frame or a more graceful hammer spur added to a single action or a figured piece of walnut bolted on a plain-stocked rifle and voila, perfection! Then there are a few guns that are ideal as-is from the factory. To my eye Colt’s Single Action Army is good from the get-go. Heck, I even like the plastic grips that come on them. The same goes for a 4-inch Smith & Wesson N-frame. Everything is in proper proportion to those revolvers, they just look right to me. Another firearm of factory perfection is the Model 1892 lever-action rifle.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening sets the tone perfectly for anyone who appreciates proportion, balance, and restraint in gun design. It speaks to a lifetime of handling firearms rather than chasing trends. The Model 1892 belongs squarely in that small category of guns that didn’t need fixing in the first place.
Date: Aug 6, 2025
Article Title: Why the “Fitz”
“Recently, there has been a lot of interest and posts on ‘Fitz’ revolvers on social media. I simply shake my head at the level of pontification and commentary by folks who have absolutely no concept of the reason they existed and what the intent was in their creation. There is a huge disconnect, so I thought I would do a post to explain the historical significance of these guns. The ‘Fitz’ Revolvers were the brainchild of John Henry Fitzgerald.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening cuts straight through modern noise and plants the reader firmly in historical reality. It reminds us that tools are born from real problems, not internet opinions. Context matters, especially when judging the men who were figuring things out the hard way.
Date: Aug 6, 2025
Article Title: The Gunfight At Los Tomates Bend
“Finally Delgado made his move, crossing where Sheriff Vann’s team was set up. Delgado was walking well out in front of those packing the mescal, with his pistol in his hand. His job was to deal with lawmen, if any were nearby, thereby providing time for the packers to get the booze back across the Rio Grande. The liquor lords didn’t care about getting their men shot up but they sure hated to lose a load of liquor.”
REFLECTIONS: This section captures how calculated and transactional border violence had become during Prohibition. It shows that the gunman wasn’t a hothead, but a deliberately placed piece on the board. That reality explains why hesitation often carried such a terrible cost for the men wearing badges.
Date: Aug 9, 2025
Article Title: Blue Rockets of the Trans-Pecos: Chasing the Scaled Quail
“Living in the rough country that they do, a lesser ground dwelling bird would roll over and die, but the hardy blue keeps plugging along! I can attest that our once thriving wild turkey population on the ranch is almost non-existent since the drought of 2011, but the blues quickly repopulated once the rains came. The blue’s tenacity is what makes hunting them so enjoyable. Rarely, if ever, will they hold and flush like their stately cousin, the bobwhite.”
REFLECTIONS: This excerpt nails why scaled quail inspire so much respect among serious upland hunters. They are not delicate game birds waiting politely to be shot, but survivors shaped by heat, thorns, and bad odds. That toughness is exactly what turns a handful of blues into hard-earned trophies rather than easy limits.
Date: Aug 13, 2025
Article Title: Remembering John Wootters
“The title of the 1960s Outdoor Life magazine article was ‘The Art of Brush Hunting’ written by John Wootters. I started reading and quickly realized it was written about hunting near Sheridan, Texas, a small community twenty-five miles south of where I lived and where I hunted. I committed to memory everything Wootters wrote in that article. I was truly impressed that a writer, obviously from ‘my part of Texas’ had an article in Outdoor Life and was writing about the hunting I did.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening captures exactly why John Wootters mattered so deeply to so many hunters. He didn’t write from a distance or from theory, but from the same dirt, brush, and senderos his readers knew firsthand. That sense of shared ground and shared experience is what turned admiration into lifelong loyalty.
Date: Aug 19, 2025
Article Title: The Crossing
“He had ridden southwest out of Marfa, down through Pinto Canyon. Once he hit the river, he headed upstream, through the little village of Candelaria, to a river crossing called Capote. His horse was hobbled back in the brush, and now he sat in the early morning darkness, Winchester across his lap, waiting to kill a man who had once been his best friend.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening does exactly what good fiction should do. In four clean strokes it establishes place, movement, tension, and the emotional stakes without explaining itself. By the time the rifle settles across his lap, the reader already knows this story isn’t about gunplay but about history, loyalty, and the cost of choosing a side.
Date: Aug 21, 2025
Article Title: The Working Gun
“The working gun is many different things to many different people. But amidst the sea of usin’ guns, there are a few constants that I believe all should adhere to. Reliability, accuracy, and sufficient power for the intended task. Now, before we jump in with both feet, I’ll have you know, dear reader, I am not in law enforcement nor private security and have no background in any such profession.”
REFLECTIONS: This quote sets the tone the right way, grounded and honest, without posturing or credentials shopping. It speaks from experience earned by daily use, not theory cooked up behind a desk. That kind of voice still matters to men who expect tools to work and words to mean something.
Date: Aug 24, 2025
Article Title: A Youth Well Spent With Guns
“There wasn’t no place I couldn’t go with a 22 rifle and a fishing pole.” Y’all remember that old Don Williams tune? I suspect we all look back on our younger years and remember them as a better time. Whether they always were or not doesn’t matter if we choose to remember the best of times.
REFLECTIONS: This opening lands because it leans on shared memory instead of argument. It reminds readers of a time when freedom, trust, and responsibility were learned early and carried forward. That kind of upbringing didn’t require explanation then, and it still doesn’t now.
Date: Aug 27, 2025
Article Title: Old Broken Tail: A Spiritual Journey
“I have spent a vast majority of my adult life tracking and hunting down felons and criminals in the urban environment as a police officer, private investigator and providing protection from the criminal element as a security contractor and protective agent in the private sector. I grew up doing a ton of fishing and mountain biking as my outdoor pursuits and simply missed the hunting of game. I did not need to hunt for food and after tracking armed criminals I found there was no greater dangerous game, and I was never driven to hunt typical game. I always loved reading the great books about hunting and was certainly never against it, I just did not partake in traditional hunting and instead focused on the mastery of capturing dangerous humans.”
REFLECTIONS: This quote matters because it comes from a man who understands danger at a level most never will. It frames hunting not as sport or nostalgia, but as a deliberate shift toward something older and more grounding. For readers who value earned perspective over romanticism, this opening rings true.
Date: Aug 30, 2025
Article Title: Sam McKone and Rifle Marksmanship With A .38 Special Sixgun
“One such man was Sam McKone. That name will ring a bell to devoted readers of No Second Place Winner, authored by famed Border Patrolman Bill Jordan. Pages 105 and 106 of my copy of that compact book on gunfighting tell how Sam’s cool head and expert marksmanship took out a sniper at 200 yards with his .38 revolver.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage earns its place because it immediately anchors the story in documented history, not campfire exaggeration. By tying McKone’s feat directly to Bill Jordan’s work, it reminds the reader that extraordinary handgun skill once lived inside ordinary service revolvers, carried by men who didn’t talk much about what they could do. It sets the tone for the entire piece: quiet competence, proven under pressure, with no need for embellishment.
Date: Sep 1, 2025
Article Title: John Wesley Hardin: Prince of Pistoleers or King of Killers
“John Wesley Hardin was born in Bonham, Texas, in 1853. He grew up during the War of Northern Aggression and the subsequent Reconstruction era. For whatever reason, Texas was not hit very hard by the actual war; not a single major battle was fought in the state. However, Reconstruction hit Texas with both feet...with the boots and spurs still on.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening does the heavy lifting the right way. It places Hardin firmly in the violence and resentment of Reconstruction Texas, reminding the reader that men like him didn’t spring from nowhere, they were forged in a brutal, lawless aftermath. By framing the environment before the man, the piece quietly strips away the romance and makes it harder to excuse what followed.
Date: Sep 5, 2025
Article Title: Arvo Ojala: Legendary Coach of the Hollywood Stars
“He very likely was the most witnessed actor getting killed on screen. Ironically, it was the victims coaching which allowed Marshal Matt Dillon to outdraw the unknown man in black, pulling his ‘peacemaker’ smoothly and quickly, shooting his adversary. Fast is smooth, smooth is fast. Saturday nights were special.”
REFLECTIONS: This quote perfectly captures the strange blend of Hollywood myth and real skill that defined Ojala’s career. It reminds us that behind the flickering black-and-white gunfights were men who actually knew how to run a sixgun. There’s something satisfying about knowing the same hands that trained the stars also took the fall, episode after episode, to make it look right.
Date: Sep 10, 2025
Article Title: Subtle Slicking-Up for Sixguns
“Trigger pull weights are a personal thing. While one shooter prefers a four pound trigger, another likes his as near sixteen ounces as he can get. Trigger pull weight can be adjusted by the honed craft of the skilled gunsmith and the addition of spring kits. While some will argue that good sights are primary to accurate shooting, I’ll go on record for saying a crisp trigger is essential.”
REFLECTIONS: This cut goes straight to a truth most experienced shooters learned the hard way. A revolver that breaks cleanly inspires confidence and consistency in a way gadgets never will. It’s a reminder that fundamentals still matter more than fashion.
Date: Sep 18, 2025
Article Title: Boys & Their Toys: “Enjoying” the 50 BMG
“Boys! Boys!!” The words, spoken sotto voce, but with a hiss at the end, came from the lips of my normally kind-hearted wife. Were her expostulations justified? I’ll let the reader be the judge. Frances hissed while handing me a tissue so that I could staunch the blood dripping from my nose and splattering down between my booted feet."
REFLECTIONS: This opening tells you everything you need to know about the tone of the piece before a single ballistic detail appears. There’s humor, domestic realism, and the unmistakable scent of gun smoke all wrapped together.
Date: Sep 20, 2025
Article Title: Leather For Single Actions
“Make no mistake about it, good single actions deserve good gun leather. By the way, anyone who would carry a classic single action in a kydex holster clearly has loose morals, does strange things to innocent furry creatures, probably has outstanding warrants, and votes Democrat. But, I digress. We are extremely fortunate that here in the 21st Century we still have some useful and classic gun rigs to choose from.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening sets the tone immediately, mixing provocation, humor, and a clear declaration of values. Jim establishes that this is not a sterile gear review but a personal essay grounded in tradition and opinion. It also frames leather not as an accessory, but as a moral and cultural choice tied to the revolver itself. Whether readers agree or bristle, they’re committed by the end of the fourth sentence.
Date: Sep 24, 2025
Article Title: Starting Out with Sixguns
“I expect a lot of us can relate to starting our adult lives with meager earnings. The first year or two that my wife, Jill, and I were married we didn’t have a lot of extra money. Jill was going to college, and we had a brand-new baby girl. Her grandmother watched the baby during the day so Jill could drive seventy-four miles each way to attend the University of Texas Pharmacy School in Austin.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening grounds the story in lived experience rather than nostalgia-for-sale. Money is tight, responsibilities are heavy, and the reader immediately understands that firearms here are not trophies but companions carried through real life. By anchoring the narrative in marriage, work, and sacrifice, Shane frames every gun that follows as earned, not accumulated. It’s a reminder that for many of us, sixguns came into our lives alongside adulthood, responsibility, and commitment, not after them.
Date: Sep 26, 2025
Article Title: Paul & Charlie Pirtle: Friends, Hunters, & Legends of the Southwest
“I have little doubt most readers of this post have heard of Charlie Pirtle. He was well known in the revolver competition communities of days gone by, and a winner of who knows how many shooting awards during his time on the U.S. Border Patrol Pistol Team. One of the best man trackers I have had the fortune of ever being around, well known lawman, outstanding Dutch oven cook, dedicated hunter, outdoorsman and true gentleman. In short, Charlie was one of the most influential friends I ever had the pleasure of knowing.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage establishes Charlie Pirtle not through a single accomplishment, but through a lifetime of competence, skill, and character. The sentences move naturally from reputation, to ability, to personal impact, which mirrors how legends are actually formed.
Date: Sep 28, 2025
Article Title: The Mystery of Billy the Kid
“His name was Henry McCarty. His favorite alias was William Bonney. We knew him as Billy the Kid. Beyond that, just about everything you knew, or thought you knew, about him is not true or are claims made without supporting facts.”
REFLECTIONS: Most of us grew up thinking we already knew this story, usually from a movie or a paperback rack at the drugstore. Reading this makes you pause and realize how much of the Old West was shaped by repetition, not proof. It’s the kind of thing that makes you lean back in your chair and rethink a legend you’ve carried around for decades.
Date: Oct 4, 2025
Article Title: Meaningful Trophies
“As a group, outdoorsmen in general and hunters in specific tend to be decorative in their remembrances of how much fun they had. A hunter’s home decor typically involves pictures, sculptures and especially taxidermy that celebrate past experiences. However, occasionally a well executed shoulder mount of a game animal is no more effective at stimulating a memory than a relatively anonymous artifact such as a rock, or in my case, a spearhead. Spearhead? Let me explain.”
REFLECTIONS: This hits home for anyone who’s ever looked at a wall full of mounts and realized which ones really matter. Most of us have a small object tucked away that carries more weight than anything expensive or impressive. It reminds you that the story is the trophy, not the horns.
Date: Oct 5, 2025
Article Title: Jim's Canyon
“I’ll soon embark on a pronghorn hunt with my friend Terry Nelson up near Roswell, New Mexico and this will be my first official hunt of the season. Later, my wife has an elk hunt near Raton where she’ll hunt a bull. I’ll be there for moral support and the required physical labor when she gets one. I’m not sure which one of us is more excited!”
REFLECTIONS: This sounds like the kind of fall planning most folks recognize right away. You can feel the mix of anticipation, obligation, and shared excitement that comes with hunting season and family. It reads like a calendar penciled in by someone who knows these days matter.
Date: Oct 10, 2025
Article Title: A Salutation to Single Action Sixguns & Skeeter
“When it comes to shooting, nothing fits the hand, or points more perfectly than single action sixguns. Single actions are safe too, so long as you heed the age-old adage of load one, skip one, load four, cock the hammer, then slowly let it down so the hammer rests on an empty chamber. If your single action has a transfer bar safety, like Ruger New Model Blackhawks, you’re good to go with six rounds. Many people fail to realize how dangerous loading six rounds in traditional sixguns (without transfer bar safeties) can be.”
REFLECTIONS: This feels like sitting on a tailgate listening to someone who’s learned a few things the hard way and doesn’t want you to repeat them. Nothing preachy, nothing fancy, just practical wisdom passed along the same way it always has been. You can almost hear an older hand nodding along, thinking, “Yep…that’s exactly right.”
Date: Oct 13, 2025
Article Title: One Shot: The Ruger No. 1
“Some rifles just look and feel ‘right.’ I’m not a hunter or shooter who only uses one style of firearms. While I do enjoy hunting with handguns, particularly single action revolvers, I don’t only hunt with them. I have some scoped handguns chambered in rifle cartridges that are occasionally hauled to the field, and I suspect any notoriety I might have in the writing world, albeit minor, is associated with revolvers. I don’t mind this, as it is largely true that I do like and use them. However, in my beating heart rests a soft spot for fine rifles of blued steel and figured walnut, as well as a deep interest for the iconic lever action rifle. One of my all-time favorite rifles is the Ruger No 1.”
REFLECTIONS: This reads like a man easing into a story at the kitchen table, setting the scene before he gets to the good part. A boomer nods along here because it sounds familiar. He’s thinking about his own safe, his own favorites, and how liking one thing never meant turning your back on the rest.
Date: Oct 15, 2025
Article Title: Long Range Sixgunning
“Some years ago, Ed Martin, cow boss for the Shannon Estate Ranches, and I were taking a bit of a noon rest in the ranch’s Elk Horn pasture. My attention was drawn to a pretty good sized rock over on the side of a hill, about 175 to 200 yards away. Naturally, that got me to thinking about long-range shooting with a handgun. I asked Ed if he had ever read ‘Sixguns’ by Elmer Keith.”
REFLECTIONS: Every fellow who’s spent time outdoors knows how this starts. You sit down, let your eyes wander, and something off in the distance gets your gears turning. Someone reading this is smiling already, because he’s been there, leaning on a fence post and wondering, “Reckon I could hit that?”
Date: Oct 18, 2025
Article Title: Heavy Bullets for Sixgun Defense
“Over sixty years ago a cowboy from Idaho began writing about his use of heavy bullets in single action revolvers. It has taken nearly that long for the idea to become generally accepted among the shooting public and the ammunition manufacturers. And truth be told, there are many who still have not gotten the message. At least now there are some ammunition companies who regularly produce heavy bullet loads for the big-bore sixguns.”
REFLECTIONS: This feels like an old hand shaking his head and telling you how long it takes for common sense to catch on. You might be thinking about lessons learned the hard way and how fashions come and go. There’s comfort in knowing some ideas stick around because they work, not because they’re new.
Date: Oct 23, 2025
Article Title: Halfway There: The Half-Fitz Modification
“Darryl Bolke’s recent and magnificent piece on the Fitz Special not only educated me, but also reminded me of one of my favorite revolver modifications. While most people associate the Fitz Special solely with cutaway trigger guards, that’s not correct. It was a package of modifications, with the cutaway feature already being somewhat commonplace. The cutaway remains, however, the most notable and controversial of the alterations, and has inspired a safer—and surprisingly durable—version of the speed-oriented modification.”
REFLECTIONS: This is the kind of opening that makes a fellow sit up a little straighter. Someone reading along is thinking about all the half-remembered gun lore he’s heard over the years and realizing there’s more to the story. It feels like listening to a knowledgeable friend clear up something that’s been misunderstood for decades.
Date: Oct 27, 2025
Article Title: Showdown At Chinati Peak
“That’s when old Dunny tripped on a rock or something, went rolling, and dumped me hard on the ground. I knew right quick that my leg was busted because I nearly passed out from the pain. Knowing I couldn’t stay out in the open, I drug myself and my Winchester over behind some rocks and mesquite brush. And there we were.”
REFLECTIONS: This is the moment where the story stops being about pursuit and turns into survival. Anyone who’s spent time horseback, hunting, or working rough country knows how fast things can go sideways. It’s plain, honest writing that doesn’t need polish to carry weight.
Date: Oct 28, 2025
Article Title: Musings On Pocket Guns
“We’ve all heard it, ‘Rule One of a Gunfight: Bring a Gun.’ In a perfect world we always pack a full-sized handgun and plenty of ammunition that could thwart a hostile takeover launched by enemy invasion. (If we knew this was coming, we should be using a rifle!) Let’s be realistic.”
REFLECTIONS: This opening line sets the tone by cutting through theory and getting straight to lived experience. Most men who’ve carried a gun for decades recognize the gap between ideal gear and daily reality. It’s a practical mindset rooted in honesty, not fantasy or bravado.
Date: Nov 5, 2025
Article Title: The Gun Trading Blues
“But one of the deals that made me the sickest when looking back occurred at the Fort Worth gun show many years ago. I had been at the right place, at the right time, to buy a very late model, first generation, Colt Frontier Six Shooter. This 4 3/4-inch .44-40 had 95% of its blue and case coloring intact and was in perfect shape in every way. On top of that, I had bought it at a very good price.”
REFLECTIONS: Every man who’s been around gun shows long enough has one like this. It isn’t about the money, it’s about letting go of something you knew, even then, you shouldn’t have. Regret ages better than most trades, unfortunately.
Date: Nov 5, 2025
Article Title: Our Gift to You: Best of 2025—In Classic Magazine Format
“Just over a year ago, Shane Jahn and I began discussing the possibility of creating an internet magazine. Our thought was that gun folks read magazines to be entertained as well as informed. And it just seemed like too many of the current print magazines had become vehicles for product reviews and not much else. We remembered the days when we looked forward to the latest article from John Wootters, Bill Jordan, Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton, and a few others.”
REFLECTIONS: This explains the why without apology or marketing varnish. A lot of readers felt the same quiet loss when good writing gave way to endless gear talk. This is a reminder that magazines used to be something you sat with, not skimmed past.
Date: Nov 6, 2025
Article Title: On Long Range Sixgunning
“So what cartridge should you be shooting? I will tell you up front that I’ve had great success with everything from the ever popular .38 Special, all the way up to the big ol’ .475 Linebaugh. I truly believe that the cartridge you’re using matters little, as long as you are shooting bullets of a good design in regards to long range stability. Heavy-for-caliber bullets are a fine choice, as they carry energy and velocity further than their lightweight counterparts.”
REFLECTIONS: This is the kind of hard-earned perspective older shooters appreciate: stop chasing novelty and start mastering fundamentals. The emphasis on bullet design and consistency feels like a quiet rebuke to the modern obsession with “the latest thing.” It’s also a reminder that skill has always mattered more than caliber arguments at the coffee counter.
Date: Nov 10, 2025
Article Title: The Bull Elk of Willow Canyon
“Jill said she was ready and Eric instructed her to shoot. “CLICK!” The loudest dry fire any of us have ever heard echoed through the mountain air. And before we knew it the bull turned and walked over the ridge. We didn’t know it then, but we would never see him again.”
REFLECTIONS: Every seasoned hunter knows that sick little feeling when a “small detail” turns into the whole story. This passage nails the mix of confidence, pressure, and instant consequence that separates a camp tale from a clean victory. It’s also a quiet reminder: gear and grit matter, but attention wins hunts.
Date: Nov 12, 2025
Article Title: The Way the Wind Blows
“Sometimes the wind blows like hell there. It blows the hardest when it comes from the west, across Devil’s Hole and the top of the South Branch Mountain, and then down the steep eastern slope into the bowels of Pot Lick Cove. When I was younger, I never paid much attention to the wind. I was more interested in poking a stick in the fire and smelling the grease, as it softened and seeped into the leather of dad’s boots he’d placed close to the flame.”
REFLECTIONS: This passage puts you right where memory lives, before lessons had names and before you knew you were learning anything at all. It’s the kind of sensory writing that men recognize because they lived it, not because they were taught it. Wind, fire, leather, and time all working on you at once.
Date: Nov 15, 2025
Article Title: Tom Threepersons & His Holster
“Regardless, the Threepersons holster is just a holster that immediately caught on with savvy lawmen everywhere. To borrow a current cliché, it is everything you need and nothing that you don’t need. It is a slim shuck that rides high on the belt and tilts the gun butt slightly forward for quick work. The good ones are molded to the shape of a particular model gun.”
REFLECTIONS: This explains why the Threepersons endures without leaning on myth or romance. It speaks to function first, the same way working men have always judged their gear. If something still works a century later, there’s usually a reason that doesn’t need embellishment.
Date: Nov 21, 2025
Article Title: Just An Old Tackle Box & Ramblings of A Different Time
“Our fishing tackle wasn’t state of the art, but it worked just fine. Zebco spinning reels were the norm. I can still hear the “click—ziiiing” cadence of pushing the release and slinging a lure across the water. The thrill of a bass striking a top water bait is something I miss.”
REFLECTIONS: Most men of a certain age can hear that sound without trying. This isn’t nostalgia for gear, it’s memory tied to time, place, and people who shaped you. Simple tools, used well, tend to leave the longest marks.
Date: Dec 1, 2025
Article Title: The Other Skeeter Sixgun
“One of my favorite authors in Shooting Times was a Texan by the name of Charles A. “Skeeter” Skelton. He was the Handgun Editor with a monthly column, and he also did feature articles for the magazine. I went to college in 1972, studying for a degree in Criminal Justice, and as Skeeter was a lawman, his articles led me into centerfire sixguns. I also enjoyed the stories he wrote about his youthful escapades in Me and Joe, and both serious and entertaining pieces featuring Dobe Grant and Jug Johnson.”
REFLECTIONS: This is how influence really works: quietly, over time, through good writing and lived experience. Many men found their way into sixguns and law work through Skeeter’s words, not advertising or trends. That kind of legacy can’t be manufactured, only earned.
Date: Dec 8, 2025
Article Title: Handling the Big Bore Revolvers
“If you play the handgunning game long enough, sooner or later you are bound to delve into the realm of the powerful big bore revolver. For many it’s a gun that is worked up to over time. Some shooters will go a lifetime shooting the “normal” cartridges, and that’s fine. Most of our handgun hunting can be done with the good 41 Magnum, 44 Magnum, and 45 Colt.”
REFLECTIONS: This is a sensible opening that respects experience rather than ego. It reminds readers that power is something you grow into, not something you rush toward. There’s quiet confidence here, and that’s usually a sign the advice is worth listening to.
Date: Dec 11, 2025
Article Title: The Smith & Wesson Model 3: The Other Frontier Sixgun
“My guess is that when most of us imagine the old-time gun toters of the frontier we unconsciously assume that they were packing Colt single actions. And, while that might have been true for a slim majority, the Smith & Wesson Model 3 single action was always running a close second to the venerable Colt. The guns had a reputation for accuracy and a lot of shooters liked the fact that, being a break-top, you could pop it open and throw out all of your empties at once...made it a little faster to reload...which was a good thing.”
REFLECTIONS: This gently corrects a common assumption. It reminds us that frontier history was practical first, romantic later. Speed, reliability, and accuracy mattered more than legend when lives were on the line.
Date: Dec 18, 2025
Article Title: Ruark’s “Dog”
“Once we confirmed the riflescope’s alignment, Dylan and tracker Albiñio taped a piece of foil to the paper target. The foil acted as a heat sink and was thus warmer than the surrounding paper. Warmer objects appeared white when seen in the Luchs-1 thermal optic made by Liemke. Two shots later, with both impact points in the center of the aluminum square, and touching, I felt encouraged, and yet nervous.”
REFLECTIONS: Here is captured the uneasy blend of modern technology and old-fashioned nerves that every hunter recognizes. Confidence built at the range never fully quiets the voice in your head once the hunt turns real.
Date: Dec 21, 2025
Article Title: The 44 Remington Magnum: 70 Years Young
“In the past few days, we’ve seen that the 44 Remington Magnum has been around for seven decades. That fact alone tells us how important this fine cartridge is to the handgunning world. The sheer power of the 44 Magnum is one reason; another is its versatility. Nostalgia plays a role too.”
REFLECTIONS: This is a clean, honest framing of why the .44 Magnum refuses to fade away. It acknowledges power without chest-thumping and nostalgia without slipping into myth. That balance is exactly why the cartridge still earns respect from shooters who’ve seen trends come and go.
Date: Dec 22, 2025
Article Title: Reader’s Revolvers 2025
“It was Thanksgiving day when I first asked the Gun Tales community to share photos of their favorite revolvers. I imagined we all shared the same purpose at that moment—sit around and wait for the pie. I thought it would simply be a fun, short-lived moment on Facebook where a few loyal readers would share ten or fifteen photos. Little did I know that asking this question would start a week-long scurry to submit hundreds of photos in the comments section on our Facebook page.”
REFLECTIONS: This perfectly captures my surprise of discovering just how deep the revolver runs in people’s lives. What started as a casual holiday prompt turned into proof of shared values and long memory. Communities don’t form around trends, they form around things that matter.
Date: Dec 25, 2025
Article Title: The Brite Raid: Christmas 1917
“The tale I’m about to share with y’all will sound a little like one of Jim Wilson’s fiction pieces, but it’s not. There are slight variations in accounts of the incident. What follows are some of the common reports gathered from multiple sources, along with information passed down to later generations from folks who were there. This Christmas marks the 108th anniversary of the raid on the Brite Ranch by Mexican bandits.”
REFLECTIONS: This is frontier history without polish or comfort, and that’s exactly why it matters. Men lived far from help, defended what they had, and paid real prices for it. Stories like this remind us that Christmas on the border once meant survival first, celebration second.
Date: Dec 25, 2025
Article Title: Rio Concho
“Allison said, ‘Most of the time it’s your own brain that gets in the way. If you let it, your brain will start thinking up all of the bad things that can happen when guns start going off. He’ll be faster...you’ll miss...you’ll get shot...you’ll run out of ammunition. The scary stuff is endless.’”
REFLECTIONS: This is the kind of advice that only comes from men who have stood in bad places and lived through it. Fear doesn’t disappear, but discipline can keep it from running the show. That lesson applies just as well beyond a gunfight as it does inside one.
Date: Dec 25, 2025
Article Title: Heirlooms of Sidearms & Keepsakes
“My uncle told a story how he remembered seeing my great grandpa, who was getting along in years, ride a green horse that ‘broke into’ and started pitching with the old cowboy on board. He was carrying a quirt for such an occasion and commenced to whack the bucking horse on the rump as it was trying hard to unseat the seasoned rider. From the sound of it, the bronc and cowboy put on a good show and during the fracas great grandpa’s false teeth were jarred loose. He bit down on the dentures, holding them sideways in his mouth and worked the bucking horse over good with the quirt every time his feet hit the ground and rode him!”
REFLECTIONS: That’s grit you don’t learn from a book or a YouTube channel. Men like this didn’t slow down just because time tried to claim them. Stories like these explain why worn gear and old guns carry more weight than anything new.
Date: Jan 3, 2026
Article Title: Old Faithful
“I’d found a cozy little place on a Texas hillside. Sitting with my back against a cedar, with an agarita bush in front of me to break up my silhouette. I hadn’t been there all that long when a nice eight-point buck came out of the brush to get a drink at the stock tank that was about thirty-five to forty yards in front of me. He was a nice buck and I decided to take him.”
REFLECTIONS: This is how real hunting stories start, quietly and without hurry. No gadgets, no rush, just patience. The kind of opening that reminds you why men still slip off alone into the brush.
Great idea...well done!
A great look-back and overview of your first year!
Thank you for the over-view! I see some really interesting ones I have missed and I WILL make up that error!