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LOT 1528
Iconic, Well-Published Early Production “Flat Top” Ruger Blackhawk Single Action Revolver in
.44 Magnum, The Favorite Hunting Revolver of Legendary Firearms Author and Personality
“Skeeter” Skelton with Holster Rig - Serial no. 17471, 44 Magnum cal., 7 1/2 inch round bbl., blue/
bright finish, walnut grips. Manufactured in 1959, this may be the most famous and desirable of all the
Blackhawk revolvers produced by Ruger. This specific Blackhawk revolver, chambered in the venerable
.44 Magnum, was the favorite hunting gun of the legendary firearms figure “Skeeter” Skelton. Charles Alan “Skeeter” Skelton
(1928-1988) was an American law enforcement officer, and arguably the most prolific gun writer ever to pick up a pen.
Skelton served in the United States Marine Corps, with the U.S. Border Patrol, as Sheriff of Deaf Smith County, Texas, in the
DEA, and the U.S. Customs Service, before dedicating his time fully as handgun writer and editor for the firearms periodical
“Shooting Times”. His first handgun column in “Shooting Times” appeared in the July 1966 issue, and he would go on to
author over 400 articles for the magazine, inspiring generations of shooters and outdoorsmen with poignant prose of
western life and gun culture. Readers from 7 to 70 were enthralled with his stories of the adventures of his characters like
Dobe Grant and Jug Johnston, and of course his childhood anecdotes from the “Me and Joe” series. It is noted in documentation about Skelton that his favored
handgun cartridge was the .44 Special, so it is no surprise that he would have also had a soft spot for the .44 Magnum, a lengthened .44 Special loaded to higher
pressures. The .44 Magnum was developed in 1954 during a collaboration between another shooting legend, Elmer Keith, and Smith & Wesson, who released their
.44 Magnum revolver in December of 1955. Not to be outdone, Ruger began offering .44 Magnum as a chambering for their Blackhawk the following year, a revolver
they had just released the prior year. The Blackhawk and its successor, the New Model Blackhawk, would go on to be one of Ruger’s most prolific and successful
handguns. It is no surprise that Skelton would have latched on to the .44 Magnum Blackhawk, giving him the option of shooting his old favorite .44 Special or the
hotter .44 Magnum load. Out of the .44 Magnum Blackhawks produced, those with 6 1/2 inch barrels were by far the most common, while only around 2,700 were
produced with the 7 1/2 inch barrel like this example, making them quite hard to find. With 7 1/2 inch barrels being Skeeter’s favorite length on a revolver, he was
more than happy to fork over the $50 price tag for this revolver when he spotted it in Bud Maffet’s gun shop in Clovis, New Mexico in 1960. A 2019 article from
“GUNS” magazine notes that this revolver was Skelton’s favorite and that he wrote often about taking various game with it, preferring the weight of this revolver
over the Super Blackhawk, as well as the Colt profile grip frame and rounded trigger guard. The article also notes that he made the grips for it himself, probably
taking a favorite pair he had already made for a Blackhawk in .357 Magnum, and meticulously sanding them down to their current thin profile. He also polished the
aluminum grip frames when the anodized finish began to wear and tuned the action to function just as he wanted. The article also shows a picture of the revolver
along with the holster rig. Another article in “American Handgunner” titled “Skeeter’s Last Words” also shows pictures of the revolver, including one which appears to
show Skelton himself holding it. Along with the two mentioned articles, Skeeter is pictured with this revolver numerous times over the years in various periodicals
and articles, often using it as a hunting gun.
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