Charles Allan "Skeeter" Skelton (May 1, 1928 – January 17, 1988) was an American lawman and firearms writer who was born in

Hereford, Texas Hereford ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Deaf Smith County, Texas, United States. It is 48 miles southwest of Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo. Its population was 14,972 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the only incorporated ...

and died in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

. After serving in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

from 1945–1946 he began a law enforcement career which included service with the

United States Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and is responsible for secu ...

, a term as Sheriff of Deaf Smith County, Texas, and investigator with both the

US Customs Service The United States Customs Service was a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal ...

and Special Agent in Charge with the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

. After his first nationally published article hit newsstands in September 1959, Skelton began writing part-time for firearms periodicals. In 1974 he retired from the DEA and concentrated full-time on his writing.

Writing

Skelton wrote his first article for ''Shooting Times'' in 1966, in 1967 he became the handgun editor for the magazine until his death in 1988. His periodical articles were collected in ''Good Friends, Good Guns, Good Whiskey: Selected Works of Skeeter Skelton'' and ''Hoglegs, Hipshots and Jalapeños : Selected Works of Skeeter Skelton''. He was a contemporary of Bill Jordan, Charles Askins and

Elmer Keith Elmer Merrifield Keith (March 8, 1899 – February 14, 1984) was an American rancher, firearms enthusiast, and author. Keith was instrumental in the development of the first magnum revolver cartridge, the .357 Magnum (1935), as well as the la ...

. Skelton's work frequently poked fun at himself. His "Me and Joe" stories of his Depression-era youth, while including references to period firearms, were character-oriented rather than technical pieces. His 'Dobe Grant' and 'Jug Johnson' short stories were perhaps the only fiction routinely published by a popular shooting magazine. His son Bart Skelton was also a gun writer. ''Shooting Times'' magazine is currently reprinting past "Hip Shots" articles by Skelton.

Legacy

Skelton is credited by firearms writer

John Taffin John August Taffin (May 2, 1939 – March 10, 2025) was an American author from Boise, Idaho who wrote several columns for gun magazines including ''Guns'', '' Gun Digest'', ''Sixgunner'', ''Shoot!'', and '' American Handgunner''. A math teacher ...

with the revival of the .44 Special round.

References

External links

Collected writings at Dark Canyon
1928 births 1988 deaths Drug Enforcement Administration agents People from Hereford, Texas Writers from Texas Gun writers United States Border Patrol agents {{Texas-bio-stub