Sixguns, Slugs and Such

The story is as old as time itself: a father trying to figure out what his boy wants to make his birthday memorable. He’s at the awkward age when he’s no longer a kid, yet not quite a man. Being in that clumsy, transitional stage we have all stumbled through, a few suggestions from his dad left the boy unenthused. 

When the father offered a 45 Colt, a wry grin spread across the boy’s face, one he tried to contain, but couldn’t. He tried bridling the enthusiasm as he spoke, “Dad, I’d rather have a 45 single action more than anything!” The father offered him either a brand-new Colt or a custom rebuild. While I never knew the father personally, I did know the boy in this story, becoming friends with him about 40 years after this event. 

The boy, being his father’s son, naturally chose the custom route, the first of many throughout his life. He knew how special custom sixguns were from his dad’s collection. The only drawback was that the gun wouldn’t be ready until almost his next birthday. But anticipation tends to make everything more special, especially when it comes to sixguns. 

The other drawback? The father needed the proper donor gun for the project. Luckily, the father had a friend named Chester who worked in Antelope Wells, New Mexico, who collected Western artifacts and had a non-working jalopy of a Colt SAA he was willing to

part with.

Besides, the boy would have plenty to do during his purgatorial wait. His father told the boy he could shoot the gun as much as he wanted if the boy loaded the ammo. The father said he’d supply all the lead, powder, primers and brass, but the boy would supply the elbow grease. 

Shortly after the boy’s birthday, a Lyman electric bullet-casting furnace was carried outside and set up under a shady mulberry tree. The dad dug out his Lyman 4-cavity 454424 mould. School was now in session - real school – as the boy was going to learn how to cast bullets. Under watchful guidance, he melted a potful of alloy, one part tin to 15 parts pure lead. After spending several hot afternoons casting, a huge pile of shiny semiwadcutter slugs that Elmer Keith himself would be proud of was the result.

The hot work didn’t bother the boy, because it was a true labor of love, spiking his enthusiasm with dreams of shooting jackrabbits, javelina, antelope and mule deer with the custom 45 Colt. As the bullet pile grew, the dad showed him how to size and lubricate the slugs with an old Lyman 45 lube/sizer. 

Adjustments were made so the Lyman 454424 slugs only picked up enough Lyman lube in the lube groove while sizing them .452 inch. When an old cigar box was “heaping” so full you could barely shut the lid, the boy was finished.  

Now to the loading press. A Pacific single-stage press was used for depriming and resizing spent factory brass. Since the dies were steel, the brass needed to be lubed. The dad warned his son about the difficulty of stuck cases, and lube was an easy remedy for prevention. Next, a fresh primer was seated, followed by the flare die. The father explained how to use just enough flare, so the bullet base barely fit, to avoid overworking the brass. This prevented premature neck splits. 

Next came the powder charge. The dad decided he would handle this task at least for now. Here, the father demonstrated his mettle, knowing how easily boys get distracted. He didn’t want his son, or the custom gun, damaged from using too much powder. 

The boy watched, fascinated, as his dad threw 8.5 grains of Unique powder into each case. Both visually inspected each case, checking the powder level. The father again emphasized the importance of this step. Lastly, the seating/crimp die was adjusted on the old Pacific press, so the bullet was seated so that the top of the cartridge case was level with the crimp groove and then smartly roll-crimped into place as the ram was fully extended. 

With the cartridge fully loaded, the boy meticulously wiped each one from any excess sizing or bullet lube. Then he ceremoniously placed each one into the cigar box. 

The birthday gun started life as a black-powder era Colt Model P made in 1886; ironically, being the same year the boy’s great-grandfather was born. Both barrel and lockwork were plumb “wore-out,” and some of the gun’s screws were missing. The muzzle was worn oblong from being carried in a shuck during its long lifetime.  

The hard checkered rubber grips were rubbed smooth, while having dished-out areas from being handled so much with calloused hands. The bottom corner of the right panel was chipped off, and the steel strap rounded in the lower corner from years of a ready hand resting on the holstered relic.

In other words, the gun was perfect for its new intentions. Everything was discarded from the old Colt, except the frame, backstrap, trigger guard, hammer and ejector rod. Out with the old, in with the new. The father’s parts box was usually well-stocked with spare barrels, cylinders, lock parts and other innards needed for Colt SAs. 

Other missing parts were ordered from Tom Turner, the knowledgeable parts manager from Colt. Turner found one of the scarce Colt-manufactured 45 ACP cylinders, and included it, along with a new 45 Colt cylinder for the special gun. 

The old gun, along with the new and old parts, was dumped off at Bob Sconce’s shop. A master machinist and reformed gunsmith, the dad was familiar with Sconce’s work, thinking it to be excellent. In those days, Sconce refused custom gun work, but when he learned who this six-shooter was for, he made an exception.

After Sconce welded up and reshaped the worn backstrap, the receiver and straps were stripped and polished as a unit. Then the straps were mailed to Herrett’s Stocks, in Twin Falls, Idaho, for a set of fancy, one-piece walnut stocks. 

Most refinished Model P Colts are simply full blued because it’s the easiest way of refurbishing a gun. But the father didn’t want a plain-Jane affair for his son. Original case-hardened colors are about impossible to duplicate on old frame guns. So, Sconce bead-blasted the stripped receiver, giving it a pleasant, “frosty” look. Left this way, it gave the gun a pretty palomino contrast when fitted with a blued barrel, cylinder and straps. However, rust would consume the frame in no time if left in that condition. 

Nickel plating was ruled out, as the bead-blasting job was too fine, resulting in a shiny, gawdy finish. Finally, a nice matt blue finish was decided on. The work commenced. Sconce discovered more damage the more he broke the gun down. 

The hammer notches were damaged from the homemade trigger someone made years ago. He corrected those, then heat-hardened both hammer and trigger, turning them into a symphony of moving parts, sharp and crisp as glass. He then fitted the new 45 Colt 4¾-inch barrel and twin 45 Colt/ ACP cylinders to the old frame with a mere .003-inch barrel/cylinder gap. 

A new locking bolt and hand were also added. It had been the father’s intention to use all new screws but learned the three pivot screws holding hammer, locking bolt and trigger on the old thumb-buster had different threads. The old screws had their slots recut and heads polished for bluing.

The Herrett walnut stocks arrived, along with the old straps. Herrett selected spectacular feathered Circassian walnut, fitting them perfectly to the straps. Although beautiful, the father sanded away the shiny lacquer finish, substituting it with several coats of linseed oil cut with turpentine. The oil finish being more subdued and feeling better in hands. 

 Sconce next stoned a decent trigger pull, but the father didn’t want an extremely light pull. He didn’t completely trust his son just yet with a light, two-pound trigger he used on his own guns.

It was time to sight in the single action. Without its still unfitted ejector rod housing, the father took it to the range. Having a combination of Remington factory rounds and the boy’s handloads, topped with the 454424 cast bullets, the gun shot perfectly laterally and about four inches high. A few sessions of careful filing and shooting had the gun printing to point of aim. 

GI surplus 45 ACP ammo printed close to point of aim at 20 yards, grouping into 2 inches.

The boy in this event was none other than mi amigo, Bart Skelton. Naturally, the father was Skeeter Skelton. Bart loved this gun and spoke about it frequently. He talked about grabbing a handful of GI ammo from a barrel in the garage and stuffing it in his pocket, riding his horse in the high desert of Deming, New Mexico, in search of a new adventure. I guess he shot up his handloads long ago?

Cantankerous gun writer Terry Murbach, one of the most dedicated Skelton fans I ever knew, stated, “Some years ago Bart brought that Colt to the Holiday just so I could shoot it...still chokes me up thinking about it after all these years.”

Skeeter left us all too soon, as did Terry Murbach, and sadly, Bart. A close friend of Bart’s bought the Birthday Build, as well as a few others. The Birthday Gun and a Colt New Frontier 22 Long Rifle ended up in the worthy hands of holster maker Mike “Doc” Barranti and son Lu. Doc keeps the New Frontier safe, while Lu is keeper of the Birthday Colt, carrying it in a rig made by his dad, called the Texas Border Special. It has a money-style gun belt, 12- round cartridge slide and a Hondo holster. 

Lu brought the Birthday Colt to Raton, New Mexico, for others to see, hold and shoot the sentimental shooter, everyone absorbing as much Skelton DNA as possible while fondling the gun. While some may think “so what,” there’s a special breed of sixgunner who appreciates and knows the value of such guns. Not monetary value! No, it runs deeper than that. For it’s the tradition of valuing something special, something bigger than yourself, once belonging to a well-loved fellow sixgunner, who took the time to do something special for his son. 

If this story and gun don’t choke you up in the least, then I pray your soul to one day be able to experience the joy and happiness a special sixgun can bring. We all have a finite number of days. A sixgun will outlive ten people, if not more. By keeping the stories alive from these special guns, the people who once had them will live on for all eternity. As the powder smoke rises from these guns, all spirits will be lifted.