The most important kaboom in revolver history

[.38 Special]

Most of us probably are familiar with the story of Elmer Keith blowing up his .45 SAA, and then sending a letter about it to American Rifleman, circa 1925. As John Taffin put it, if that gun hadn't let go, Elmer likely would have spent his life shooting and hunting in anonymity, and the revolver game could well have been much different than it now is. I'd assumed that blown cylinder had rusted into nothingness decades ago, but Keith kept it, and it exists to this day: possibly the most important bit of revolver trash that there ever has been.

Elmer Keith's ka-BOOM

Even the legendary Elmer Keith started out as a total newbie to shooting and reloading, and blew up a gun with wildly dangerous handloads in 1923. I got my h...

youtu.be

 

[Pat Riot]

Today he would get an email or a letter from the company Legal Dept telling him to cease and desist contacting them or any publication regarding unsafe practices and utilizing they’re products outside the design parameters.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Today he would get an email or a letter from the company Legal Dept telling him to cease and desist contacting them or any publication regarding unsafe practices and utilizing they’re products outside the design parameters.

Mentioned elsewhere here, our late range officer (a homegrown Elmer Keith) called Ruger CS about using smokeless powder in an Old Army. The tech's voice went up three octaves....
Moon

 

[Bazoo]

We'd all be trying to stuff 45 Colt cartridges into L-Frame sized guns, if Elmer hadn't had blown up the Colt. Instead we had high performance 44 Special loads and then, then advent of the 44 Remington Magnum.

 

[Anchorite]

What’s the story about someone discovering fired cases that were prototype 44 Magnum rounds?
Now there’s some interesting strap/trash.

And I like this one:

 

[halfmoonclip]

Elmer was a one of a kind item. I'm old enough to remember when he was still writing in the gunzines. There was no internet; we found our gunstuff in the mags once a month.
Not everyone was a fearless as Elmer, nor as colorful.
Moon

 

[derek45]

His book SIXGUNS is a must read

it's cheap on amazon again

https://www.amazon.com/Sixguns-1961...&qid=1715208706&sprefix=sixgun,aps,141&sr=8-2

 

[.308 Norma]

His book SIXGUNS is a must read

 

[Crosshair]

Mentioned elsewhere here, our late range officer (a homegrown Elmer Keith) called Ruger CS about using smokeless powder in an Old Army. The tech's voice went up three octaves....
Moon

I mean, you absolutely can use it. It just has to be the right burn rate and right ammount of powder.

The reason people blow up muzzleloaders today is the same reason people blew up guns when smokeless powder first came out. They substituted smokeless for black, weight for weight.

There's no benefit for muzzleloader companies to produce smokeless load data and lots of liability in doong so. So they don't. Same reason guns today typically don't list being able to shoot 22 short and 22 long. Not because they can't, but because there is no benefit to doing so.

 

[retDAC]

What’s the story about someone discovering fired cases that were prototype 44 Magnum rounds?
...

IIRC, Ruger, or someone who worked there, bought some "scrap metal" from S&W which contained said prototype cases.

 

[Sarge7402]

Elmer was a one of a kind item. I'm old enough to remember when he was still writing in the gunzines. There was no internet; we found our gunstuff in the mags once a month.
Not everyone was a fearless as Elmer, nor as colorful.
Moon

Elmer was One of a kind, the likes of which we won't see for some time. The same goes for Charlie Atkins, Bill Jordan, and Skeeter skelton. They were all good men who helped keep our nation Free and safe.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Same reason guns today typically don't list being able to shoot 22 short and 22 long. Not because they can't, but because there is no benefit to doing so.

That's an interesting thought. Have a decades old Rossi copy of an '06 Winchester, which is stamped for all three.
It is an old gun and a copy of an even older gun.
Of course, newer designs, made for box/rotary magazines, are much harder to adapt to the shorter rounds.
I'm curious if newer tube magazine guns still accept/are marked for all three?
Of course, .22 shorts are becoming a rare item. It is cool to fill up the Rossi with shorts; it really does seem like that rifle you load on Sunday, and shoot all week.
But you're no doubt right, Crosshair. Not really much benefit these days.
Moon

 

[Roverguy]

So, the next noob that comes along asking extremely basic, bordering on what might be considered mentally deficient, questions about reloading could turn out to be another Elmer Keith. Good to know.

 

[CraigC]

Most of what people consider "reckless" about Keith's handloading was simply a product of the times he lived in. Smokeless was in its infancy and the idea of a "magnum" revolver was very new. He had to use what he had available and that started out as blackpowder, then Dupont #80. It wasn't until 2400 that he actually had something applicable to what he wanted to do. He wasn't the only one doing what he did. John Lachuk had developed a .44 wildcat that was essentially the same thing but if 'they' didn't, we probably wouldn't have what we have today. Or at the very least it would've taken a lot longer to develop.