In this week’s episode of the Resistance Library podcast, Molly and Sam discuss Elmer Keith, the famous wildcatter and gun writer who created the magnum rounds. Learn more about Elmer Keith at Ammo.com: ammo.com/articles/elmer-keith...
Share this video: • Elmer Keith: The Forgo...
Subscribe to our channel: bit.ly/ammodotcom-youtube
For $20 off your $200 purchase, go to ammo.com/podcast (a special deal for our listeners).
Follow Sam Jacobs on Twitter: / samjacobs45
And check out our sponsor, Libertas Bella, for all of your favorite 2nd amendment shirts at libertasbella.com/
There’s really no two ways about it: They don’t make them like Elmer Keith anymore. He was known for wearing big Stetson hats, smoking big cigars, and hunting big game with handguns long before anyone else did. In Keith’s day, handgun rounds were either big and slow or fast and small. Confronted with this kind of ballistics market, Keith sought to make bigger rounds go faster. This is how Keith became the father of the magnum cartridges that we use today: the .357, the .41 and the .44.
Keith was perhaps most associated with the .44 magnum, with which he could dispatch a mule deer at 600 yards. He was also a prolific wildcatter of both pistol and rifle rounds, who was always looking for ways to make big rounds bigger. Indeed, Keith was very vocal about his distaste for smaller rounds, and would even express it to contemporaries such as Jack O'Connor who championed the 270 Winchester.
Keith was born and raised in Hardin, Missouri, right on the Western frontier, and had the opportunity to meet many gunfighters and Civil War veterans. He claimed, in fact, that it was the town barber, a former gunfighter, who taught him how to shoot using linoleum in back of the shop.
Have a listen to hear Molly and Sam discuss Keith’s larger-than-life ambiance and how the man was the embodiment of what it meant to be an American during that time. The two talk about the .44 Magnum and how it influenced the future of big bore revolvers. They chat about shooting the .44 Mag and offer solutions to easing the recoil and muzzle blast. To learn more about Elmer Keith and his role in America’s obsession with wheel guns, to read Sam’s article at Ammo.com’s Resistance Library.
Check out our full Resistance Library by visiting us at Ammo.com. Follow us on social media. And most importantly, be sure to subscribe to our channel right here on KZfaq for more high-quality videos to help you stay armed, both physically and philosophically.
Helpful links:
- Elmer Keith: The Forgotten History of the Firearms Author and Father of Big Bore Handgunning: ammo.com/articles/elmer-keith...
- History of the 44 Magnum: ammo.com/handgun/44-magnum-am...
- The Resistance Library: ammo.com/articles
- Molly Carter: ammo.com/our-team#molly-carter
- Sam Jacobs: ammo.com/our-team#sam-jacobs
#ResistanceLibrary #BigBoreHandgunning #ElmerKeith