james
my time with Bill
Sunday, January 13, 2019, 18:29

I was asked about the accuracy of the TLA single action I own which had me look into my records for the accuracy loads and targets for my Improved # 5 in 45 Colt. I also found some letters from the late Bill Grover, the owner of Texas longhorn arms, sent to me during the few years of our friendship.

I was able to locate 2 old targets, the first of which was dated 9/14/97 and shows 4 rounds inside one inch with the 5th making around 1 1/2". This load was a 300gr XTP over 20.5grs of H-110 at 25 yards and I remember being very pleased with the gun.The 2nd target dated 11/16/97 has 5 rounds inside an 1 1/2" at 25yds using a 250gr XTP over 19.0grs of AA #9.My gun preferred the 300 grainers and gave me all the accuracy I needed from a handgun of this type. However, it was the look, feel and quality of the gun that made me buy it. TLA`s Improved # 5 was Grover`s attempt , like the name say`s, to improve on Elmer Keiths famous custom # 5 single action.The gun has to be held in your hand`s to appreciate it`s quality.

I first met Bill when I was teamed with him during the 1996 SCI sponsered "Handgun Hunt for the Hungry" held in south Texas. He was a fine gentleman with a ton of knowledge who was fun to be around.When asked about the accuracy of TLA`s handguns I can only think back to that day at the YO Ranch, in 1996, when it was Bill`s turn for the next shot at a deer. Our guide pulled the Jeep over and pointed in the distance to a whitetail and asked Bill if he wanted to try and sneak up for a closer shot. That day Grover was using a recent addition to his line that he called his "express model" because of the folding 3-blade rear sight that`s similar to those found on a large bore double rifle. The gun was in .44 mag with a 5 1/2" barrel and was shooting Cor-Bon`s 300gr Swift A-frame load that was sighted dead on at 25 yards in his gun. Instead of following the guide for a closer shot, Bill got into the kneeling position , flipped up the 100 yard rear sight blade and cocked the gun as he sighted in on the distant whitetail. Later he would say that he held up a small bit of front sight over the 100yd blade as he aimed for the shoulder.

Everyone , including the deer, were staring at Bill thinking that this was an impossible shot when after what seemed like a full minute the gun went off....BOOM....As if struck by lighting the whitetail dropped to the ground never to move again. The distance??? A measured 158 yards....with the point of impact being his shoulder where he held the top of his front sight.Not only does this speak well of the accuracy of TLA`s handgun`s but of the shooting skills posessed by Bill Grover. Those southern boy`s sure can shoot....Before leaving the YO that year, I talked with Bill and said that the only way I would come back to hunt the YO , would be if he also returned which was the beginning of a long distance friendship that would last until the end of his life so few years later.

In the following year, the 1997 issue of Gun Digest had a review of TLA`s "express model" and included the story of this incredable shot. I sent Bill my copy of that issue of Gun Digest where he writes the following on page 123. "James, The verdict is in and you're a star witness, better yet you were an eye witness. Enjoyed hunting with you on the Y-O-Ranch. Bill Grover, Gun Maker, 11/10/97". As time went on I talked more and more with Bill by phone and letter, and with each new year I would ask him if he was going to hunt the YO and he would have one reason or another why he could not make it. We talked about many things including hunting trips taken in the past and what places we would like to hunt in the future. I remember telling him that he should consider writing a book on his life when I recieved a letter from him saying that I was the third person in so many day`s to tell him to put all of his experience on paper. He was referred to some english department people at the University of Texas who were going to make his book a reality. However, behind the scene`s his life was taking a turn for the worse. Through some legal moves he lost his beloved gun company which was then followed by him getting seriously sick.

It was around this time that I lost contact with Bill after calling his home in Texas and hearing that his number was no longer in service and a letter I sent to him was not answered. I did not know what had become of Bill Grover until I read of his death in an article by his friend John Taffin. Let me finish by saying that when I recieved my new Texas Longhorn Arm`s Improved # 5 in .45 Colt, you can imagine my surprise when I found the following words engraved on the backstrap of my single action: "Made for James F. Swidryk by Bill Grover-Inventor". Also enclosed in that package from UPS was one of his High Rider holster`s made for the # 5. On the plastic that held the holster was written one word in ink: "friend".He will be missed.