Bill Grover is a gunsmith and more.  He is a gunmaker!  While it is true he started his career working on Colt Single Actions, he had a desire all along to design and build his own guns.  He felt the original Colt design could be improved upon, and in the end came up with his Texas Longhorn Arms-style of sixguns.  Externally similar to the Colt/Ruger family of singleactions,  the lockwork is his own design and reflects his knowledge and ideas of what a good singleaction revolver should be like.

The Texas Longhorn Arms guns were built in several configurations:  the Texas Border Special with it's birdshead grip, the South Texas Army (which externally resembles the Colt SAA), the West Texas Flattop Target Model (my personal favorite), and Grovers Improved #5, a Texas Longhorn Arms improvement on what Elmer Keith felt was the ultimate packin' sixgun, his Keith #5.  The story of how Grover came to build the Improved #5 is contained in John Taffin's excellent book Big Bore Sixguns. (If you wish to purchase an autographed copy, click HERE)

While I would love to own one of each of Grover's original designs, it seems I always need the money for groceries, cars, rent and other so-called "necessities" of life.  I am fortunate enough however to own one,  the West Texas Flattop Target Model. Of the TLA guns this one is my personal favorite.   My photos of it do not do it justice.  The bluing is deep, rich, dark like the old charcoal bluing of days gone bye.  The fitting of the gun is flawless exhibiting the workmanship of years ago that used to be found on all the good guns.  The grips are fine French Walnut, one-piece, and the edges blend right into the metal.  And they are about the best feeling grips I have ever held in my hand.  The trigger nestles to the rear of the oval trigger-guard, shotgun-style.  (This trigger will not bite you when shooting heavy loads!)  The ejector rod carries the crescent-shaped head that makes it easy to use. And the cylinder pin lacks the "cross-pin" type latch that is common on guns today, utilizing a screw up through the frame in the style of the early blackpowder Colt Single Actions. If you look closely you will notice that the frame screws are all "blind" - that is, they do not come through the opposite side of the frame. All these features are signs of quality workmanship.

Trademarks of Grover's work, these are not the distinctive thing about Texas Longhorn Arms.  The gun is reverse of the Colt, Ruger and "standard" single actions.  The cylinder turns in the opposite direction.  The loading gate and ejector rod and housing are on the left side instead of the right. Grover labeled them "The Right-Handed Single Action" noting that the gun can be kept in the firing hand while unloading and loading. And while it is distinctive, for an old single-action nut like myself it does take some getting used to!  Shooting "standard" single actions for 40+ years I have certain habits locked in the nervous system and it is hard to change them.  However, the gun feels so good, and  it shoots so accurately,  that I put up with it!!   If it was just an average made-by-the-thousands on an assembly line type of gun I probably would not feel so strongly about it.  This however is a piece of mostly handcrafted beauty, and it shoots as good as it looks and feels.  That makes it all the more attractive.

The sights are target sights, the front being square-cut for good Bullseye shooting.   The rear sight is Grover's design and reminds you of the old Micro-sights.   However it is improved.  There is a locking screw to hold the elevation once you have it where you want it, and the windage is sort of like the old S&W sights - two screws that you lock against each other to hold the blade in place.  Like everything else on the, the sights are fine work also.

The markings on the barrel and frame are subdued - not hammered deeply into the metal.   On the left side of the barrel is the legend "ONE OF ONE THOUSAND" - only 1000 of these were to be made.  Mine is in the 700 range and is among the last made as far as I know.  On the right side of the barrel to the rear is marked ".45 CALIBRE".  The frame is marked "TEXAS LONGHORN ARMS, INC.  RICHMOND, TEXAS" in two lines and at the rear of the frame is the Texas Longhorn Arms logo.

The gun has none of the so-called "safety features" of the politically correct guns of today.  It has the traditional half-cock position for loading and unloading. The loading gate does not unlatch the cylinder. And the trigger pull is not 15 pounds. The letoff of the trigger is nice! - short, crisp, clean and about 2 pounds. When Grover was putting this gun together he test-fired it and sent me a target - 3 shots through one small clover-leafed hole at 20 yards.  It increased my anxiety for him to get the gun finished and to me!!  Since I got it I found it easy to shoot targets with, as expected, and accurate also.  My old-time load of the #454629GC over 18.5 gr. 2400 will shoot around an inch at 25 yards.  With 23 gr. H-110 it will do the same, sometimes better if I can hold it.

Did I have any problems with it after I received it?  Yes, a couple. For one thing the front sight was too short for the heavy bullets and loads I normally shoot.  I sent it back and Grover put on a taller front sight, leaving it tall enough that I could file it to where I wanted it and still have all the adjustment I needed on the rear sight for other bullet weights.  You cannot tell by looking that the front sight was replaced.  The other problem was the cylinder pin retaining screw in the frame battered badly when using heavy loads. Since battering the retaining pin is a problem on almost all guns who have any other retaining system than the screw through the pin (especially when using heavy bullets at fairly high velocity) I finally ended up with a Belt Mountain base pin and stopped all the problem.  With standard loads and target loads I think the normal retaining system of TLA's would have been OK, but you know me and "standard" loads......   (If you have not seen Belt Mountain's pins, click HERE.)

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Bill Grover is no longer part of Texas Longhorn Arms and has not been since January of 1998. The last I heard the company itself was not producing any more guns.  A while back I talked with Paul Persinger of Persinger's Shop.  He told me that he had made some custom ivory grips for TLA (the company, not Bill Grover) and that they had not paid him for them.  I do not know if he ever got his money or not.  This is not meant to impugn anyone's character but simply to indicate that the company is going through some difficulties. Whether TLA ever produces guns or not is doubtful. 

Bill Grover is doing what he loves to do. He is working on guns. He is starting back, slowly. His present project is a book on the subject of "Making a Single Action Revolver". It will be a first of it's kind. As for gun-building itself he is working a little at a time on that. (For those who will ask, no, he does not do any repairs on the TLA guns.)

Bill always said you could never pay too much for a good hat, a good pair of boots, a good watch and a good gun.  And as long as they are good, that is true. The West Texas Flat-Top Target .45 is a good 'un.  I am happy to own it.

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