Elmer Keith
Encyclopedia
Elmer Keith was an Idaho
rancher, firearm
s enthusiast, and author. Keith was instrumental in the development of the first magnum revolver cartridge, the .357 Magnum
, as well as the later .44 Magnum
and .41 Magnum cartridges.
, and his outspoken opinions. Keith was an avid handgun hunter in the earliest days of the sport, and often hunted medium game with a double action Smith and Wesson revolver. In the days when handgun cartridges tended to fire large, slow bullets like the popular .45 Colt
, or light, fast bullets like the .30 Mauser, Keith was pushing the limits of existing cartridges, driving large bullets at high velocities.
He was married to Lorraine Randall. Elmer Keith was born in Missouri but was raised in Montana, Idaho, and eastern Oregon. In the 1930s and early 1940s, he had a ranch on the North Fork of the Salmon River near Salmon, Idaho
. In the late 1940s, Elmer and Lorraine sold the ranch and moved into the town of Salmon.
During World War II, Keith served as an inspector at the Ogden, Utah Arsenal. The rifles that he inspected were cartouche
stamped with the initials "OGEK" in a rectangular box, on the buttstock. Rifles stamped OGEK without a rectangular box were inspected by Ed Klouser at the same Ogden Arsenal.
the .38 Special
cartridge far beyond normally accepted limits, taking full advantage of the greater strength of the revolvers available in the 1920's compared to those of the late 19th century. The .357 Magnum first became available in 1935 and quickly became a favorite among law enforcement and civilian users. The .357 Magnum had a slightly longer case than the .38 Special, but was otherwise identical, so .357 Magnum revolvers could shoot .38 Special or .357 Magnum ammunition, but .38 Special revolvers (most of which are not safe for the pressures generated by the Magnum round) could not chamber .357 Magnum ammunition. Buying a .357 Magnum revolver gave the shooter all the abilities of the well-established .38 Special, with the ability to double the available power by using the Magnum cartridge. Keith's contributions to the commercial development of the .357 Magnum have been questioned by some writers, and Keith subsequently denigrated the .357 Magnum as he had the .38 Special.
The .44 Magnum was developed in much the same way, and was released commercially in 1956. Keith had earlier determined that the thinner chamber walls of the .45 Colt would not comfortably withstand the pressures generated by his own heavy loads. He therefore started experimenting with the .44 Special revolver, and used the same formula of pushing heavy bullets at high velocities that he had used for the .357 Magnum. The resulting ".44 Special Magnum" was a formidable cartridge for handgun hunting, firing a 250 grain bullet at 1200 ft/s (365.8 m/s).
Keith encouraged Smith & Wesson
and Remington
to produce a commercial version of this new high pressure loading, and revolvers chambered for it. While S&W produced the first prototype revolver chambered in .44 Magnum, the famous Model 29, Sturm, Ruger
actually beat S&W to market by several months in 1956 with a .44 Magnum version of the single action Blackhawk
revolver. In fact Remington delivered a more powerful cartridge than Keith asked for, firing a 240 grain bullet at 1500 ft/s (457.2 m/s), and it remained the most powerful production handgun cartridge until the commercial introduction of the .454 Casull
(based on the .45 Colt
). The .44 Magnum is still far more popular, as the recoil of .454 Casull rounds is considered excessive by most shooters, and revolvers in .454 Casull were rare and expensive until the introduction of .454 Casull models by Sturm, Ruger
and Taurus
in the late 1990s.
The .41 Magnum, released in 1963, was an attempt to reach a middle ground between the .357 and .44 magnums. The .357 Magnum was adequate for hunting deer-sized game, but the limited power meant it needed to be used by a skilled marksman. The .44 Magnum provided far more power, easily taking deer sized game, but recoil and muzzle blast are substantial, at least in the earliest commercial loadings. The .41 Magnum, inspired by the older, obsolete .41 Long Colt
cartridge, was intended to provide more power than the .357 Magnum with less recoil and muzzle blast than the .44 Magnum. The .41 Magnum used a completely new case (unlike the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum which were based on existing cases), and used a .410" bullet instead of the earlier .41 Colt and .38-40's roughly .400" diameter bullet, while pushing the new .410" bullet to similar velocities as achieved by the .357 and .44 Magnum bullets. However, while there was (and still is) a small community of shooters preferring the .41 Magnum, the round failed to achieve a similar high degree of popularity. The police, to whom the .41 Magnum was initially marketed, were happy with the .38 Special or .357 Magnum, and most officers had no interest in anything more powerful, and which also delivered greater blast and recoil that could place the shooter at a disadvantage in a gunfight requiring fast, repeat, shots. Hunters likewise stayed with the more commonly available .44 Magnum, which could be used with full power factory loads, less powerful handloads, or commercial .44 Special ammunition as needed.
Besides being a handgun target shooter, Keith was also an avid handgun hunter
, and was a very skilled one. He claimed to have shot and killed a mule deer at a range of 600-yards using his 6½ inch S&W Model 29
. It is currently part of the Keith collection with the factory standard 4 inches (101.6 mm) barrel length that he more commonly carried.
Keith is also famous for designing and commissioning his No. 5 revolver, fashioned by R.F. Sedgeley, in 1928.
design, but using a wider than normal front surface, and convex sides. These changes increased the volume of the bullet outside the case, thus allowing more room inside the case, needed for large loads of slower burning powders (see internal ballistics
). These bullets remain popular for both target shooting and hunting. When shooting paper targets, they cut a relatively clean hole in the target, yet provide more case volume and a better ballistic coefficient
than a flat front wadcutter. When used for hunting, the heavy bullets provide excellent penetration; they are often used on dangerous game, for which more reliable penetration than is possible with expanding hollow point
or soft point bullet
s is required.
Originally Keith specified a meplat that was 65% of the bullet caliber, but later increased it to a 70% meplat. The other distinguishing characteristics of a "Keith-style" SWC are a double radius ogive, beveled crimp groove, three equal width driving bands, wide square bottomed grease groove, and a plain base with sharp corners. The wide forward driving band helps keep the bullet aligned as it jumps across the cylinder gap. Because of the three wide equal width driving bands, the total bearing surface is half the length of the bullet. The relatively large bearing surface helps the Keith-style SWC to be an inherently accurate bullet, and minimizes leading from gas blow-by. The wide square bottom grease groove holds ample lubricant.
brass necked up to take the .333" 250 and 300-grain bullets of the .333 Jeffery. There was also a .334 OKH, based on the shortened .300 H&H Magnum
case. The .333 OKH, necked up slightly to take the more common .338" sized bullets of the older .33 Winchester
, led to the creation of the popular Wildcat cartridge
the .338-06
and was the inspiration for the 1958 commercial introduction of the .338 Winchester Magnum
based on the larger belted .458 Winchester Magnum
case. The .334 OKH, likewise necked up to accept .338" bullets and given the distinctive Weatherby
"double-radius" shoulder, was introduced by Weatherby
in 1963 as the .340 Weatherby Magnum
. The .338-378 Weatherby Magnum
, introduced in 1998, was developed based on another one of Keith's wildcats, the .338-378 KT(Keith-Thomson), which he developed in the 1960s with Bob Thomson.
An admirer of the old British double rifle
s, Keith had numerous examples in his collection. He used two of these doubles, a .476 Westley Richards
and a .500 Nitro Express
, to take dangerous game in Africa on two different safaris. Keith documented the first of these hunts in his 1968 tome, Safari.
magazine, and American Rifleman typically exploring the performance of the latest new gun offerings, especially those firing large, heavy bullets pushed to high velocities. He has influenced modern gun writers such as Mike Venturino and John Taffin
.
References are to Ray Riling
, Guns and Shooting, a Bibliography, New York: Greenberg, 1951.
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
rancher, firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s enthusiast, and author. Keith was instrumental in the development of the first magnum revolver cartridge, the .357 Magnum
.357 Magnum
The .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
, as well as the later .44 Magnum
.44 Magnum
The .44 Remington Magnum, or simply .44 Magnum, is a large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers. After introduction, it was quickly adopted for carbines and rifles...
and .41 Magnum cartridges.
Personality and life
Keith's trademarks were his cigars, his ten-gallon StetsonStetson
Stetsons are the brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company of St. Joseph, Missouri.Stetson eventually became the world’s largest hat maker, producing over 3.3 million hats a year in a factory spread over . Today Stetson remains a family-owned concern...
, and his outspoken opinions. Keith was an avid handgun hunter in the earliest days of the sport, and often hunted medium game with a double action Smith and Wesson revolver. In the days when handgun cartridges tended to fire large, slow bullets like the popular .45 Colt
.45 Colt
The .45 Colt cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It began as a black powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver, but is offered as a magnum level handgun hunting round in modern usage. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as the...
, or light, fast bullets like the .30 Mauser, Keith was pushing the limits of existing cartridges, driving large bullets at high velocities.
He was married to Lorraine Randall. Elmer Keith was born in Missouri but was raised in Montana, Idaho, and eastern Oregon. In the 1930s and early 1940s, he had a ranch on the North Fork of the Salmon River near Salmon, Idaho
Salmon, Idaho
Salmon is a city in Lemhi County, Idaho, United States. The population was 3,122 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Lemhi County...
. In the late 1940s, Elmer and Lorraine sold the ranch and moved into the town of Salmon.
During World War II, Keith served as an inspector at the Ogden, Utah Arsenal. The rifles that he inspected were cartouche
Cartouche
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an ellipse with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh...
stamped with the initials "OGEK" in a rectangular box, on the buttstock. Rifles stamped OGEK without a rectangular box were inspected by Ed Klouser at the same Ogden Arsenal.
Magnum revolvers
Keith's first major contribution, the .357 Magnum, was the result of handloadingHandloading
Handloading or reloading is the process of loading firearm cartridges or shotgun shells by assembling the individual components , rather than purchasing completely assembled, factory-loaded cartridges...
the .38 Special
.38 Special
The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...
cartridge far beyond normally accepted limits, taking full advantage of the greater strength of the revolvers available in the 1920's compared to those of the late 19th century. The .357 Magnum first became available in 1935 and quickly became a favorite among law enforcement and civilian users. The .357 Magnum had a slightly longer case than the .38 Special, but was otherwise identical, so .357 Magnum revolvers could shoot .38 Special or .357 Magnum ammunition, but .38 Special revolvers (most of which are not safe for the pressures generated by the Magnum round) could not chamber .357 Magnum ammunition. Buying a .357 Magnum revolver gave the shooter all the abilities of the well-established .38 Special, with the ability to double the available power by using the Magnum cartridge. Keith's contributions to the commercial development of the .357 Magnum have been questioned by some writers, and Keith subsequently denigrated the .357 Magnum as he had the .38 Special.
The .44 Magnum was developed in much the same way, and was released commercially in 1956. Keith had earlier determined that the thinner chamber walls of the .45 Colt would not comfortably withstand the pressures generated by his own heavy loads. He therefore started experimenting with the .44 Special revolver, and used the same formula of pushing heavy bullets at high velocities that he had used for the .357 Magnum. The resulting ".44 Special Magnum" was a formidable cartridge for handgun hunting, firing a 250 grain bullet at 1200 ft/s (365.8 m/s).
Keith encouraged Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...
and Remington
Remington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
to produce a commercial version of this new high pressure loading, and revolvers chambered for it. While S&W produced the first prototype revolver chambered in .44 Magnum, the famous Model 29, Sturm, Ruger
Sturm, Ruger
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated is a Southport, Connecticut-based firearm manufacturing company, better known by the shortened name Ruger. Sturm, Ruger produces bolt-action, semi-automatic, full-automatic, and single-shot rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols, and single- and double-action...
actually beat S&W to market by several months in 1956 with a .44 Magnum version of the single action Blackhawk
Ruger Blackhawk
The Ruger Blackhawk is a 6-shot or 8-shot, single-action revolver manufactured by Sturm, Ruger. It is produced in a variety of finishes, calibers, and barrel lengths.-History:In the early 1950s, Westerns were popular in movies and television...
revolver. In fact Remington delivered a more powerful cartridge than Keith asked for, firing a 240 grain bullet at 1500 ft/s (457.2 m/s), and it remained the most powerful production handgun cartridge until the commercial introduction of the .454 Casull
.454 Casull
The .454 Casull is a firearm cartridge, developed in 1957 by Dick Casull and Jack Fulmer. It was first announced in November 1959 by Guns & Ammo magazine. The basic design was a lengthened and structurally improved .45 Colt case...
(based on the .45 Colt
.45 Colt
The .45 Colt cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It began as a black powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver, but is offered as a magnum level handgun hunting round in modern usage. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as the...
). The .44 Magnum is still far more popular, as the recoil of .454 Casull rounds is considered excessive by most shooters, and revolvers in .454 Casull were rare and expensive until the introduction of .454 Casull models by Sturm, Ruger
Sturm, Ruger
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated is a Southport, Connecticut-based firearm manufacturing company, better known by the shortened name Ruger. Sturm, Ruger produces bolt-action, semi-automatic, full-automatic, and single-shot rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols, and single- and double-action...
and Taurus
Taurus (manufacturer)
Forjas Taurus is a manufacturing conglomerate based in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Beginning as a tool and die manufacturer, the company now consists of divisions focusing on firearms, metals manufacturing, plastics, body armor, helmets, and civil construction.-History:Taurus produced its first...
in the late 1990s.
The .41 Magnum, released in 1963, was an attempt to reach a middle ground between the .357 and .44 magnums. The .357 Magnum was adequate for hunting deer-sized game, but the limited power meant it needed to be used by a skilled marksman. The .44 Magnum provided far more power, easily taking deer sized game, but recoil and muzzle blast are substantial, at least in the earliest commercial loadings. The .41 Magnum, inspired by the older, obsolete .41 Long Colt
.41 Long Colt
The .41 Long Colt cartridge was created in 1877 for Colt's double-action "Thunderer" revolver. It was a lengthened version of the earlier centerfire .41 Short Colt, which was made to duplicate the dimensions of the even earlier .41 Rimfire. The front of the bullet was about 0.406"-0.408”OD, the...
cartridge, was intended to provide more power than the .357 Magnum with less recoil and muzzle blast than the .44 Magnum. The .41 Magnum used a completely new case (unlike the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum which were based on existing cases), and used a .410" bullet instead of the earlier .41 Colt and .38-40's roughly .400" diameter bullet, while pushing the new .410" bullet to similar velocities as achieved by the .357 and .44 Magnum bullets. However, while there was (and still is) a small community of shooters preferring the .41 Magnum, the round failed to achieve a similar high degree of popularity. The police, to whom the .41 Magnum was initially marketed, were happy with the .38 Special or .357 Magnum, and most officers had no interest in anything more powerful, and which also delivered greater blast and recoil that could place the shooter at a disadvantage in a gunfight requiring fast, repeat, shots. Hunters likewise stayed with the more commonly available .44 Magnum, which could be used with full power factory loads, less powerful handloads, or commercial .44 Special ammunition as needed.
Besides being a handgun target shooter, Keith was also an avid handgun hunter
Handgun hunting
Handgun hunting is primarily done with specialized handguns that have long barrels and are often set up with scopes .Even the largest animals, such as elephants, can be killed with modern hunting handguns, although most handgun hunters only use handguns when hunting medium-sized game like deer and...
, and was a very skilled one. He claimed to have shot and killed a mule deer at a range of 600-yards using his 6½ inch S&W Model 29
S&W Model 29
The Smith & Wesson Model 29 is a six-shot, double-action revolver chambered for the .44 Magnum cartridge and manufactured by the U.S. company Smith & Wesson...
. It is currently part of the Keith collection with the factory standard 4 inches (101.6 mm) barrel length that he more commonly carried.
Keith is also famous for designing and commissioning his No. 5 revolver, fashioned by R.F. Sedgeley, in 1928.
Keith-style bullets
Keith was also responsible for a number of bullet designs still popular today, and collectively called "Keith style" bullets. These bullets were based on the semiwadcutterSemiwadcutter
A semiwadcutter or SWC is a type of all-purpose bullet commonly used in revolvers. The SWC combines features of the wadcutter target bullet and traditional round nosed revolver bullets, and is used in both revolver and pistol cartridges for hunting, target shooting, and plinking...
design, but using a wider than normal front surface, and convex sides. These changes increased the volume of the bullet outside the case, thus allowing more room inside the case, needed for large loads of slower burning powders (see internal ballistics
Internal ballistics
Internal ballistics, a subfield of ballistics, is the study of a projectile's behavior from the time its propellant's igniter is initiated until it exits the gun barrel...
). These bullets remain popular for both target shooting and hunting. When shooting paper targets, they cut a relatively clean hole in the target, yet provide more case volume and a better ballistic coefficient
Ballistic coefficient
In ballistics, the ballistic coefficient of a body is a measure of its ability to overcome air resistance in flight. It is inversely proportional to the negative acceleration—a high number indicates a low negative acceleration. BC is a function of mass, diameter, and drag coefficient...
than a flat front wadcutter. When used for hunting, the heavy bullets provide excellent penetration; they are often used on dangerous game, for which more reliable penetration than is possible with expanding hollow point
Hollow point bullet
A hollow point is an expanding bullet that has a pit or hollowed out shape in its tip, generally intended to cause the bullet to thin upon entering a target in order to decrease penetration and disrupt more tissue as it travels through the target. It is also used for controlled penetration, where...
or soft point bullet
Soft point bullet
A soft-point bullet , also known as a soft-nosed bullet, is a lead expanding bullet with a copper or brass jacket that is left open at the tip, exposing some of the lead inside and is thus an example of a semi-jacketed round...
s is required.
Originally Keith specified a meplat that was 65% of the bullet caliber, but later increased it to a 70% meplat. The other distinguishing characteristics of a "Keith-style" SWC are a double radius ogive, beveled crimp groove, three equal width driving bands, wide square bottomed grease groove, and a plain base with sharp corners. The wide forward driving band helps keep the bullet aligned as it jumps across the cylinder gap. Because of the three wide equal width driving bands, the total bearing surface is half the length of the bullet. The relatively large bearing surface helps the Keith-style SWC to be an inherently accurate bullet, and minimizes leading from gas blow-by. The wide square bottom grease groove holds ample lubricant.
Work with rifles
Keith was instrumental in the development of various wildcat cartridges, a few of which were later adopted as factory rounds. The .333 OKH ("O'Neil-Keith-Hopkins"), developed in conjunction with Charlie O'Neil and Don Hopkins, was made from .30-06 Springfield.30-06 Springfield
The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...
brass necked up to take the .333" 250 and 300-grain bullets of the .333 Jeffery. There was also a .334 OKH, based on the shortened .300 H&H Magnum
.300 H&H Magnum
The .300 H&H Magnum Cartridge was introduced by the British company Holland & Holland as the Super-Thirty in June, 1925. The case was belted like the .375 H&H Magnum, and is based on the same case, as also is the .244 H&H Magnum. The belt is for headspace as the cases' shoulders have a narrow...
case. The .333 OKH, necked up slightly to take the more common .338" sized bullets of the older .33 Winchester
.33 Winchester
The .33 Winchester Center Fire is an American centerfire rifle cartridge.Introduced by Winchester for the Model 86 lever rifle , it survived until the Model 86 was dropped in 1936...
, led to the creation of the popular Wildcat cartridge
Wildcat cartridge
A wildcat cartridge, or wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic of an existing commercial cartridge.Developing and using wildcat cartridges does not...
the .338-06
.338-06
The .338-06 is a wildcat cartridge based on the .30-06. It allows heavier .338 caliber bullets to be used from the .30-06 non-belted case. This is a better choice for heavy bodied game such as moose, elk, and brown bear than the .30-06...
and was the inspiration for the 1958 commercial introduction of the .338 Winchester Magnum
.338 Winchester Magnum
The .338 Winchester Magnum is a .33 caliber belted rimless bottlenecked cartridge introduced in 1958 by Winchester Repeating Arms Company|Winchester. It is based on the blown out, shortened .375 H&H Magnum. The .33 is the caliber at which medium bore cartridges are considered to begin...
based on the larger belted .458 Winchester Magnum
.458 Winchester Magnum
The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, dangerous game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle. It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express...
case. The .334 OKH, likewise necked up to accept .338" bullets and given the distinctive Weatherby
Weatherby
Weatherby, Inc. is an American gun manufacturer founded in 1945 by Roy Weatherby. The company is best known for its high-powered magnum cartridges, such as the .257 Weatherby Magnum and the .460 Weatherby Magnum...
"double-radius" shoulder, was introduced by Weatherby
Weatherby
Weatherby, Inc. is an American gun manufacturer founded in 1945 by Roy Weatherby. The company is best known for its high-powered magnum cartridges, such as the .257 Weatherby Magnum and the .460 Weatherby Magnum...
in 1963 as the .340 Weatherby Magnum
.340 Weatherby Magnum
The .340 Weatherby Magnum rifle cartridge was introduced in 1963 by creator Roy Weatherby in response to the .338 Winchester Magnum. The .340 Weatherby Magnum uses the same .338 in. diameter bullets as the .338 Winchester Magnum but it does so at greater velocity than its Winchester competition...
. The .338-378 Weatherby Magnum
.338-378 Weatherby Magnum
The .338-378 Weatherby Magnum started out as the wildcat cartridge, .338-378 Keith-Thomson Magnum during the early 1960s. Keith and Thomson are Elmer Keith and R.W. "Bob" Thomson. The 338-378 Keith-Thomson Magnum is slightly shorter than the .338-378 Weatherby Magnum. However this is only a neck...
, introduced in 1998, was developed based on another one of Keith's wildcats, the .338-378 KT(Keith-Thomson), which he developed in the 1960s with Bob Thomson.
An admirer of the old British double rifle
Double rifle
A double-barreled rifle or double rifle is a type of sporting rifle with two barrels instead of one, available in eitherside-by-side or over-and-under barrel configurations. Double rifles are one of the family of combination guns...
s, Keith had numerous examples in his collection. He used two of these doubles, a .476 Westley Richards
Westley Richards
Westley Richards is one of the oldest surviving traditional English gunmakers. It was founded in 1812 by William Westley Richards. Their inventions included the Anson & Deeley boxlock action and the Droplock, which equals in status James Purdey's self opening and Holland & Holland's removable...
and a .500 Nitro Express
Nitro Express
The Nitro Express series of cartridges are used in large-bore hunting rifles, also known as elephant guns or express rifles. They are named after the propellant they use, cordite, which is composed of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine...
, to take dangerous game in Africa on two different safaris. Keith documented the first of these hunts in his 1968 tome, Safari.
Published works
Keith was a prolific writer, writing both books and magazine columns. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was especially well-known for his regular monthly columns he wrote for Guns & AmmoGuns & Ammo
Guns & Ammo is a magazine dedicated to firearms, hunting, competition shooting, reloading, and other shooting-related activities in the United States....
magazine, and American Rifleman typically exploring the performance of the latest new gun offerings, especially those firing large, heavy bullets pushed to high velocities. He has influenced modern gun writers such as Mike Venturino and John Taffin
John Taffin
John August Taffin is an American author from Boise, Idaho who writes several columns for gun magazines including Guns, Gun Digest, Sixgunner, Shoot! and American Handgunner...
.
- Sixgun Cartridges and Loads. Onslow County, N.C., Small Arms Technical Publishing Co, 1936. [Riling 2200]
- Big Game Rifles and Cartridges. Onslow County, N.C., Small Arms Technical Publishing Co, 1936. [Riling 2199]
- Keith's Rifles for Larger Game Huntington, WV: Standard Publications, 1946. [Riling 2551]
- Elmer Keith's Big Game Hunting. Boston: Little, Brown, 1948. [Riling 2648]
- Shotguns. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole & Heck, 1950. [Riling 2726]
- Sixguns. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole & Heck, 1955.
- Guns and Ammo for Hunting Big Game, with John Lachuk. Los Angeles, Calif. : Petersen Publishing Co.,1965.
- Safari. La Jolla, Calif: Safari Publications, 1968.
- Hell, I Was There (autobiography). Los Angeles, Calif.: Petersen Publishing Co., 1979.
References are to Ray Riling
Ray Riling
Raymond "Ray" Riling , a Philadelphia builder and arms collector, was an important arms book collector, dealer, author and publisher from the 1940s into the 1970s....
, Guns and Shooting, a Bibliography, New York: Greenberg, 1951.