Keith, with two sixguns

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Bill in Oregon
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Keith, with two sixguns

Post by Bill in Oregon »

One of my favorite images of Elmer, from the 1930s. He sure was an American original. This is from his memoir, "Hell I was There," a wonderful read.
I ran across it while skimming the book for that incident in which Elmer was loading heavy slugs in .45 Colt balloonhead cases and blew the loading gate off his Colt -- which if I recall correctly set him on the path to glory with heavy .44 Special handloads. I am thinking the bullet he used might be the one Jim T has been casting up lately -- the Lyman 457191 for .45-90.
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by AJMD429 »

One of my favorite books...!

Another is 'Unrepentant Sinner'.

Both those men were from a different time, and even though their stories are doubtless embellished and exaggerated, it is clear they were tough dudes.
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veeman
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by veeman »

He needs a bigger hat! :P
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by octagon »

His book on shotgunning is the finest thing of its kind.
That's a lot of hat :wink:
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Rube Burrows
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by Rube Burrows »

Great photo of a great guy.
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by .45colt »

Octagon wrote; "His book on shot gunning is the finest thing of its kind"..... I had always been a Huge Keith fan reading everything I could find that He wrote. I one time got several of His books from the local library on loan from other library's. when I read "Shot Guns by Keith" I then realized He was a genius . when He passed Skeeter Skelton said Elmer was the best judge of distance He had ever seen. Keith got that by a life time of shooting. Thanks for the post Bill.
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by Sixgun »

Always got a kick out of that pic....all dressed up out in the middle of nowhere as they did back in the day. Elmer cost me a ton of loot over the years. His word was gold to me....I believe the guns in his holster are a Smith triplelock and his number 5...if memory serves me.---6
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by piller »

Looks as if Eric Cartwright got wet from just below the hat and shrunk down to Little Joe's size.
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by fordwannabe »

I bet very few people even know “Eric” Cartwright. Now mention his other name and well most won’t know him either outside of this forum and a few others.
When I lived in Montana, Helena still had some plaques. And memorabilia about Elmer. He lived in the area at some points in his life.
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by gamekeeper »

Perhaps "Hoss" was a fan of Elmer, if not, then he should have been.... :wink:
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marlinman93
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by marlinman93 »

Elmer was a small guy, so big hats helped him with his height deficit.
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Vall, I think he wears that big beauty pretty well. Wonder if it was a Stetson. I see they still make the "Tom Mix." Always admired the "Open Road" that Truman and LBJ were fond of.


https://www.stetson.com/store/mens/hats.html?limit=all
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by piller »

Stetson has a factory about 30 minutes away from my house. They have an outlet there, and it sells mostly seconds and defects at quite good prices. They have the George Strait hats there for around $2,000. Obviously, they have first quality and insanely expensive hats. My 5x gambler flat crown style was only $29 there, but it was a factory second. I have never found the mistake.
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by piller »

gamekeeper wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:45 am Perhaps "Hoss" was a fan of Elmer, if not, then he should have been.... :wink:
I think Dan Blocker would have been a fan.
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by Sixgun »

Cannot prove it as it's only speculation due to several factors but the Colt single action "slip gun" in the center of this mess is one of the Colts that Elmer used in a long range test with gunsmith Harold Croft in 1928 which was written up in Elmers book, "Sixguns"...John Taffin thinks it is but....no documentation...so it's just strong speculation.

I shoot the gun on occasion and it's very accurate...if I can get lucky and hold it right....---6

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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by Bill in Oregon »

What a swell artifact!
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Found that Keith anecdote quoted by John Linebaugh in his fine article on the .45 Colt:

"There has been so much written about the "weak" .45 Colt case. This probably started when The Grand Old Man of the Shooting game, Elmer Keith made this statement in his excellent book "Sixguns." "While shooting a 300 gr 45/90 rifle bullet in my .45 Colt SAA with 35 grains of black. Finally a weak .45 Colt case head blew off with this load. The gas blew the loading gate off the gun breaking its shank and cutting through the flesh of my trigger finger. From this experience I decided the bullet was a bit heavy for the thin cases and thin chamber walls of the cylinders. I cut one band and groove from the mould leaving it to cast a 260 gr flat point bullet. This worked very well with 40 grains of black. It was a very good game killer and flatter in trajectory curve than the 300 grain slug with 35 grains of black" ( Sixguns by Keith page 129)"
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Re: Keith, with two sixguns

Post by Rube Burrows »

fordwannabe wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:16 am I bet very few people even know “Eric” Cartwright. Now mention his other name and well most won’t know him either outside of this forum and a few others.
When I lived in Montana, Helena still had some plaques. And memorabilia about Elmer. He lived in the area at some points in his life.

So very true.
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