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Elmer Merrifield Keith (March 8, 1899 – February 12, 1984) was an American rancher, firearms enthusiast, and author. Keith was instrumental in the development of the first magnum revolver cartridge, the
.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...
, as well as the later .44 Magnum and
.41 Magnum The .41 Remington Magnum, also known as .41 Magnum or 10.4×33mmR (as it is known in unofficial metric designation), is a center fire firearms cartridge primarily developed for use in large-frame revolvers, introduced in 1964 by the Remington A ...
cartridges, credited by Roy G. Jinks as "the father of big bore handgunning." Keith was born in Hardin, Missouri, and overcame serious injuries that he had sustained at age 12 in a fire when he was living in
Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork ...
.


Career

During World War II, Keith served as an inspector at the Ogden, Utah, Arsenal. The rifles that he inspected were
cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...
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. In ''The Phantom Of Phu Bai'', a biography of USMC Scout Sniper Eric England written by Joseph B. Turner, one chapter is about Elmer Keith and his influence on the shooting community.


Magnum revolvers

Keith's first major contribution, the .357 Magnum, was the result of handloading the
.38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & ...
cartridge far beyond normally accepted limits, taking full advantage of the greater material strength of the revolvers available in the 1920s and 1930s 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 increase 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 . Keith encouraged
Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...
and
Remington Remington may refer to: Organizations * Remington Arms, American firearms manufacturer * Remington Rand, American computer manufacturer * Remington Products, American manufacturer of shavers and haircare products * Remington College, American c ...
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 & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company based in Southport, Connecticut, with production facilities also in Newport, New Hampshire; Mayodan, North Carolina; and Presc ...
actually beat S&W to market by several months in 1956 with a .44 Magnum version of the single action
Blackhawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus uru ...
revolver. In fact Remington delivered a more powerful cartridge than Keith asked for, firing a 240 grain bullet at , and it remained the most powerful production handgun cartridge until the commercial introduction of the
.454 Casull The .454 Casull () is a firearm cartridge, developed as a wildcat cartridge in 1958 by Dick Casull, Duane Marsh and Jack Fullmer. It was announced in November 1959 by ''Guns & Ammo'' magazine. The design is a lengthened and structurally improve ...
(based on the
.45 Colt The .45 Colt (11.43×33mmR), is a rimmed, straight-walled, handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It was originally a black-powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1 ...
). 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 & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company based in Southport, Connecticut, with production facilities also in Newport, New Hampshire; Mayodan, North Carolina; and Presc ...
and Taurus in the late 1990s. The .41 Magnum, released in 1964, was an attempt to reach a middle ground between the .357 and .44 Magnum cartridges. 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 The .41 Long Colt cartridge was created in 1877 for Colt's double-action " Thunderer" revolver. History and description The .41 Long Colt was a lengthened version of the earlier centerfire .41 Short Colt, which was made to duplicate the dimensi ...
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 The .38-40 Winchester is actually a .40 caliber (10 mm) cartridge shooting .401" (10.2 mm) caliber bullets. The cartridge was introduced by Winchester in 1874 and is derived from their .44-40 Winchester. This cartridge was introduced f ...
'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. Some police, to whom the .41 Magnum was initially marketed, were happy with the .38 Special or .357 Magnum, and many 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 follow-up shots. Some police departments adopted the 41 Magnum with a reduced load designed for police use, and were quite happy the added power required only one hit to put an opponent down. 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. Keith regarded the handgun as a weapon of opportunity. He had plenty of opportunities to use his sixgun on game during his life. He was incredibly skilled with handguns. He shot at a rifle-wounded deer and hit it several times at a range of using his 6½ inch S&W Model 29. It is currently part of the Keith collection with the factory standard barrel length that he more commonly carried. The Keith firearm collection has been dispersed, having been sold individually at auction by James D. Julia in March 2015. 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 semiwadcutter (SWC) 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 (also interior ballistics), a subfield of ballistics, is the study of the propulsion of a projectile. In guns, internal ballistics covers the time from the propellant's ignition until the projectile exits the gun barrel. The s ...
). 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 In ballistics, the ballistic coefficient (BC, ''C'') 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—the ...
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 is required than is possible with expanding
hollow point upright=0.2, Cross-section of a hollow-point bullet; proportions are those of a .22 Long Rifle cartridge Jacketed soft point (JSP) round. Right: Jacketed hollow-point (JHP) round. JSP is a semi-jacketed round as the jacket does not extend to ...
or
soft point bullet A soft-point bullet (SP), also known as a soft-nosed bullet, is a jacketed expanding bullet with a soft metal core enclosed by a stronger metal jacket left open at the forward tip. A soft-point bullet is intended to expand upon striking flesh to ...
s. Originally Keith specified a
meplat The meplat (from the French word "''méplat''" meaning "flat surface of a cylinder") is the technical term for the flat or open tip on the nose of a bullet. The shape of the meplat is important in determining how the bullet moves through the air. ...
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 pressure leakage due to projectile 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 The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...
brass necked up to take the .333" 250 and 300-grain bullets of the
.333 Jeffery The .333 Jeffery and .333 Jeffery Flanged are medium-bore rifle cartridges developed by W.J. Jeffery & Co and introduced in 1908. Design The .333 Jeffery and the .333 Jeffery Flanged are both bottlenecked centerfire rifle cartridges. Original ...
. 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 The .338-06 is a cartridge based on the .30-06. It allows heavier .338 caliber bullets to be used from the .30-06 non-belted case. This can be a suitable choice for heavy bodied game such as moose, elk, and brown bear. The number and variety of ...
, also known as the 338 OKH, and was the inspiration for the 1958 commercial introduction of the
.338 Winchester Magnum The .338 Winchester Magnum is a caliber, belted, rimless, bottlenecked cartridge introduced in 1958 by Winchester Repeating Arms. It is based on the blown-out, shortened .375 H&H Magnum. The is the caliber at which medium-bore cartridges are co ...
based on the larger belted
.458 Winchester Magnum The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, big five 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 t ...
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 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 a quarter of an inch short ...
, 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 rifles, Keith had numerous examples in his collection. He used two of these doubles, a .476
Westley Richards Westley Richards is a British manufacturer of guns and rifles and also a well established gunsmith. The company was founded in 1812 by William Westley Richards, who was responsible for the early innovation of many rifles used in wars featuring ...
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''. In 1935, Elmer Keith, along with four others, spent about a year and a half designing the
Winchester Model 70 The Winchester Model 70 is a bolt-action sporting rifle. It has an iconic place in American sporting culture and has been held in high regard by shooters since it was introduced in 1936, earning the moniker "The Rifleman's Rifle". The action has s ...
bolt-action rifle.


Personal life

Keith's trademarks were his cigars, his Stetson, his love for
revolvers A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six ro ...
, 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 & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...
revolver. In the days when handgun cartridges tended to fire large, slow bullets like the popular
.45 Colt The .45 Colt (11.43×33mmR), is a rimmed, straight-walled, handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It was originally a black-powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1 ...
, or light, fast bullets like the .30 Mauser, Keith was pushing the limits of existing cartridges, driving large bullets at higher velocities. He was married to Loraine Randall. Elmer Keith was born near Hardin, 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 Loraine left the ranch and moved into the town of Salmon. The ranch is still owned by the Keith family.


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 & Ammo'' 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 August Taffin (born May 2, 1939) is an American author from Boise, Idaho who writes several columns for gun magazines including ''Guns'', ''Gun Digest'', ''Sixgunner'', ''Shoot!'' and ''American Handgunner''. A former math teacher from 1964-1 ...
. * ''Sixgun Cartridges and Loads''. Onslow County, N.C., Small Arms Technical Publishing Co, 1936. iling 2200* ''Big Game Rifles and Cartridges''. Onslow County, N.C., Small Arms Technical Publishing Co, 1936. iling 2199* ''Keith's Rifles for Larger Game'' Huntington, WV: Standard Publications, 1946. iling 2551* ''Elmer Keith's Big Game Hunting''. Boston: Little, Brown, 1948. iling 2648* ''Shotguns''. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole & Heck, 1950. iling 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. * ''Keith, An Autobiography'', Winchester Press, 1974Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-78837, * ''Hell, I Was There'' (autobiography). Los Angeles, Calif.: Petersen Publishing Co., 1979. References are to Ray Riling, ''Guns and Shooting, a Bibliography,'' New York: Greenberg, 1951.


In Popular Culture

In season one, episode eleven of ''
Sledge Hammer! ''Sledge Hammer!'' is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from September 23, 1986 to February 12, 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector ...
'', ''To Live and Die on TV'', on the game show he is a contestant on, Sledge is asked : "Elmer Keith is known as the Father of what?", to which Sledge answers, "He invented the .44 Magnum!".


See also

*
List of famous big game hunters This list of famous big-game hunters includes sportsmen who gained fame largely or solely because of their big-game hunting exploits. The members of this list either hunted big game for sport, to advance the science of their day, or as professio ...


References


External links


Taffin, John. Elmer Keith: 1899–1984The .41 Mag: if only we could do it over, Guns Magazine, April, 2005 by Clint Smith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Elmer 1899 births 1984 deaths American hunters Gun writers Firearm designers People from Salmon, Idaho Ammunition designers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers