Sixgun Simulation —
Playing Favorites

Imitation is the highest form of flattery. No truer words have ever been uttered when it comes to sixgunners. Simulation is a model mimicking the operation of an existing system. We imitate the guns, loads and leather of our idols for many reasons, mainly to experience what our mentors discovered firsthand. While walking the same footprints is impossible, trailing alongside their experiences for closer examination is the next best thing.

Owning the same guns our mentors shot and made popular makes us feel closer to them by sharing the same shooting experiences. Referring to the guns as our Skeeter or Elmer gun is only natural. While a select few will understand, it doesn’t really matter, because you know the reason for naming your shooters after your favorite mentors.

For lack of space, here are two of my favorite simulation guns and the stories behind them. Maybe we’ll do a part two down the road?

The Skeeter Gun

For pure sixgun entertainment that transformed sixgunners insides into nostalgic mush, nobody holds a beacon to Skeeter Skelton. Reading his works, you knew he felt and understood the same thoughts as you on “sixgunnery.” His folksy, homestyle manner was both inviting and engaging, like you were listening to an old-time friend, because you were.

While Skeeter carried and shot several guns, for me, his Ruger flat top Blackhawk with a 7.5″ barrel is the gun I most associate with him.

This, for many reasons, but mainly because it was a factory gun he tweaked himself that was obtainable for the average working man at the time. I was fortunate to not only handle Skeeter’s gun, but shoot it as well, at son Bart’s ranch home in the southern New Mexican desert with mi amigo “Doc” Barranti during one of several visits.

Details

The first thing one notices on the gun is the polished grip frame. Made of aluminum, as all flat tops were, it was anodized, which tended to wear off with hard use. When this occurred, the easiest and cheapest way to cure the unsightly scars was to simply remove the anodized finish and polish the grip frame to its natural silver color.

Next, are the custom walnut stocks Skeeter fitted to the gun. This adds to the coolness factor times a hundred, as knowing Skeeter made the stocks with his own hands, powered by his elbow grease and sweat, adds a custom feature like no other.

The stocks are very thin. You’d think with the recoil of a .44 Magnum, you’d want more to hold onto, but let me tell you, the thin stocks felt great in your hand and negated recoil of the powerful factory cartridges.

Lastly, there was the smooth action and trigger of the gun itself. Again, all work was performed by Skeeter, further transferring his DNA both inside and out of the gun. Shooting this sixgun establishes a bond with the shooter, just as reading Skeeter’s writings did.

Skeeter’s son Bart was gracious enough to not only allow both Doc and me the privilege of shooting one of the most iconic sixguns in history, but he joyously allowed Doc’s boys to shoot it too, on a following visit. Skeeter carried this flat top in an early production Lawrence 120F holster with a matching carved belt made by a friend.

His favorite load was slightly less than Elmer’s 22 grains of 2400 with a Lyman 429421 cast slug. Skeeter used a slightly tamed-down 20 or 21 grains of 2400. This was his favorite hunting and woods bumming gun. He carried it often to good friend Evan Quiros’ large Texas ranch, according to Bart.

All of us wanted to be, or associate with Skeeter in some shape or form, and by having a 7.5″ Ruger flat top Blackhawk, it was as good as shaking hands with the man himself.

Tank’s Gun

My own 7.5″ flat top was obtained after scouring the internet and finding one on Gunbroker years ago. My flat top was in pretty good shape, so the grip frame was left anodized. Stocks were gifted to me from Fermin Garza, who had a nice chunk of walnut and had Zane Thompson turn the wood into three sets of stocks for himself, Doc Barranti and me.

I smoothed the action a tad and obtained one of Doc’s “Barranti Classic Skeeter Rig” holsters for my gun to ride in comfort and style. Just as Skeeter did, minimal alteration was needed for a perfect factory-released gun. The shuck was just the icing on the cake.

Elmer

Elmer was the first sixgun celebrity in history to not need his last name repeated to know who you were talking about. Known as the dean of sixgunners, his writing career started clumsily with a letter to the editor, Chauncey Thomas, from American Rifleman, when Elmer blew up his Colt SAA .45 Colt on July 4th, 1925, with a handload consisting of an oversized 45-90 cast slug and finely ground black powder.

To say Elmer’s knowledge grew leaps and bounds would be the biggest understatement ever uttered. Elmer learned by doing things himself, and for this, we can be thankful. In a sense, he was a test pilot pushing guns and loads to the outer limits, so we wouldn’t have to.

While Elmer is hugely associated with his historically famous #5, the most imitated custom single-action sixgun ever made, he chose to carry a different gun later in life.

Special or Mag?

The gun and cartridge I associate the most with Sir Elmer of Keith is the S&W 4″ .44 magnum revolver. Elmer’s first was a pre-model 29, with 6.5″ barrel, but he preferred the 4″ for carry. And while Elmer didn’t invent the .44 Magnum, his groundwork with hot-loaded .44 Specials led to its design.

Mixed Mutt?

I found my Elmer gun mixed in among the used pistols of a local gun shop I frequented during my long-ago cop duties. It was a S&W 5-screw pre-29 model, but was priced about 1/4 of normal value, raising suspicion and caution. I coolly checked with the counter crew and was informed the gun has a factory letter, with a catch. The gun left the factory as a Pre-25 .45 ACP Target model, but it was transformed into a .44 Magnum when someone swapped the barrel and cylinder.

After thinking about the reassembled prodigy of parts, it took about 10 seconds to make it mine. I figured this was the only way I’d ever be able to own a 5-screw S&W, price-wise. The gun was manufactured in 1956, having a 6.5″ barrel, and left the factory with target stocks, hammer and trigger.

Removing the stocks revealed it has the rare factory “W” mainspring for a smoother double-action trigger press. I was tickled about the .44 Magnum caliber conversion and started the draconian paperwork process.

I ordered a set of exhibition-grade Herrett Roper stocks and a Milt Sparks carved 200AW holster to complete my Elmer ensemble, honoring the Grand old man of sixguns. Elmer liked both the Herrett Roper stocks and Milt Sparks 200AW holsters.

I don’t shoot Elmer’s load of 22 grains of 2400 in this gun. There’s no need to. Instead, I use another famous sixgunner’s load, one I got and used by John Taffin to save wear and tear on the gun, that being 10 grains of Unique with the Keith bullet. I’ll save Elmer’s heavy loads for my Rugers.

Name Game

So yes, naming your guns after mentors is a thing. It honors the men we respect and admire, while bringing them closer to us. It’s fun experimenting with the very guns and loads they shot. Don’t be bashful, go ahead and name some of your guns to honor someone important to you if you haven’t already. It’s always fun shooting with close friends.

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