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by Jim Wilson

by Jim Wilson

by Shane Jahn

by Shane Jahn

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. The barrel is marked “SKEETER SKELTON .44 SPECIAL” 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. SS5 in .44 Special 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.” Jim Wilson carrying the 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.

by Jim Wilson

by Jim Wilson

by Shane Jahn

by Jim Wilson

by Shane Jahn

by Jim Wilson At the end of World War II, with their government contracts filled, the firearms companies got back to making guns for the civilian market. Just as before the war, the hot ticket item in handguns was still the .357 Magnum cartridge. Colt Firearms had been chambering the cartridge in their Single Action Army and New Service revolvers, however they didn’t bring either gun back out after the war and I suspect it was because the machinery was worn out and unreliable. Instead, in 1953, they introduced two medium-frame revolvers that bore a marked resemblance to their popular Officer’s Model Match. They were the Trooper and the Three Fifty Seven Magnum. Earlier .38 Special Trooper on left - later .357 Magnum Trooper on the right Now these two guns were virtually identical to look at. The Trooper was built on what they called the I-frame and was chambered for .38 Special. The Three Fifty Seven Magnum was built on the E-frame and chambered for the magnum cartridge. The only difference that I could ever see in the two was that the Trooper had its firing pin in the hammer and the .357 had a firing pin in the frame. The magnum came with a fancy blued finish while the Trooper had the more subdued treatment. Both guns could be had with a nickle finish, 4 or 6-inch barrel, and each model could also be ordered in .22 Long Rifle. About 1955, somebody got the idea that they could stick a fancy ribbed barrel on one of these guns and name it after a snake. The Colt Python was born. Original Trooper has firing pin on the hammer. Later Trooper has firing pin in the frame. As you might imagine, the Python was a hot item and sales of the Three Fifty Seven lagged. In 1961, Colt dropped it from the line entirely. 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. And that suited a lot of handgunners. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, a Colt Trooper was the first revolver that I carried as a young officer...before following the crowd to Smith & Wesson. However, a few years ago I was out in Baylor County with a group of lawmen and noticed that one deputy was wearing a Trooper. When I asked, he told me, “My grandfather was a Texas Ranger and he carried a Colt revolver and a Winchester lever-action rifle. My father was a county sheriff and he carried a Colt revolver and a Winchester lever-action rifle. If it’s any of your business, my Winchester lever-action rifle is on the front floorboard of that squad car over there and you see what’s in my holster.” Later, several other officers told me that the deputy could make that Colt sing, too, as he had proven on at least three different occasions.   By the late 1960s, Colt revolvers just weren’t selling. They were certainly still building good guns so I suppose that the problem was in the front office, though I don’t know that for a fact. At any rate, in 1969, the original Trooper was discontinued and replaced with a revolver of lesser quality. Colt Trooper (1955) .38 Special on the left. Trooper (1966) .357 Magnum on the right In another story on GUN TALES I told about receiving a Colt Trooper as a gift. This gun was manufactured in 1966, chambered for .357 Magnum, and had the firing pin in the frame. Just a few months ago, I ran across my second Trooper at a gun show. This one is 1955 vintage, .38 Special, and the firing pin is located in the hammer. The ramp front sight and adjustable rear sights are identical on the two guns. I have become really fond of these two Colts. With the service-size stocks they fit my hand very well. And, shooting heavy loads the recoil is much more manageable than in the K-frame S&W guns. And, just like the Python, the Troopers of this era are known for their accuracy. They just didn’t have the same smooth action of the Pythons, an oversight that has been corrected by my gunsmiths. I hope it doesn’t hurt my reputation for me to admit that I just don’t need the blinding power of full-house .357 Magnum loads. What I prefer is something along the lines of the .38/44 Heavy Duty ammo of the 1930s...a 158 gr bullet running about 1,000fps. My factory load of choice is from Underwood Ammo . It is a .38 Special loading that features a 158 gr lead SWC hollowpoint that runs just about 1,000fps from a 4-inch gun. My fallback .38 Special load is from Double Tap and consists of a hard-cast 158 gr SWC running at the same velocity. Although these Colts are getting along in years, they are both in excellent condition. The good news is that, should they need replacement parts, most of the internals of the Colt Official Police revolver with do quite nicely. And there were a ton of those OP guns made and available quite reasonably. The Colt Trooper may have always played second fiddle to the fancier, more famous Python, but it is a grand old sixgun.

by Jim Wilson