Did Keith Prefer and Carry a 29 with 4 1/2 inch Barrel??

[Capt. F.]

A few months ago I was over in Benson, AZ. I asked several folks if they knew the Cowboy Poet- Baxter Black. Most had never heard of him, only one ever met him. One waitress lady knew his wife.

Baxter Black, large critter veterinarian, cowboy poet!

 

[eb07]

Elmer Keith and Six Guns is the reason I now own, carry, and shoot this girl:

 

[S&WsRsweet]

Ahh the remembering of days waiting for the next article by those great writers such as Keith ,Skelton ,Jack Oconner ect .Those guys as they say had been there and done that . Conservation laws aside hitting a moving eagle with a handgun !i have heard the story before with all the arguments against and for but I have never heard anyone say ( he couldn't hit a moving eagle with a handgun ) that speaks volumes to the man and the M29 44 magnum .Love him or not but you can't take away from his ability with the 44 magnum S&W revolver .

 

[Texas Star]

I've read a lot of Keith's writings. In the late sixties and way on into the seventies, Sixguns was my handgun Bible. I read it over and over and over. I even took the book on trips with me, and annotated my copy of it with my own thoughts and data. The majority of my handloads were based on Keith data. He was something of a hero to me when I was a younger man, the man who had all the answers to my sixgun questions.

That said, just because you're a famous gun writer, guru, sportsman, whatever doesn't put you above the law. In retrospect (and this eagle incident, if true, is a good example), Keith now seems something of a showoff to me and more than a little egotistical. He would not be a role model for me today as he was over forty years ago. He would no longer be one of the Gods of Guns for me.

While it may be true that eagles eat lambs, fawns, etc., that's part of the natural order of things. Keith inserted himself into that natural order, killed an eagle just because he didn't "like" it or the law that was enacted to protect it, and had no plans to eat it. Even animals don't kill for "sport".

Well, yes they do kill for sport, as anyone who's seen a leopard or caracal lynx/rooikat kill lambs, etc. far in excess of what they take away to eat can attest.

Bluefish gorge themselves to the point they throw up and start all over.

Cats play with food animals like toys. This includes leopards with trapped small antelope, especially when training cubs to kill.

Keith's writings made it clear that he hated eagles, for the reason stated here. So do many stockmen and sheep herders.

I'm not saying that Keith was right to shoot the eagle, just explaining why he did it.

BTW, I bet that was an amazing shot to have witnessed.

He owned S&W .44 Magnums in several barrel lengths and I think his son had a five-inch. But Elmer usually carried a four-inch and killed at least one deer with it, while he was out fishing and it showed up in range.

 

[S&WsRsweet]

eb07 that would be my dream gun and carry rig ,looks great .

 

[MarkL_01]

Keith came from a time and a place where some people thought it was perfectly fine to blast an eagle.Attitudes changed,but his didnt.Classic old timer.

I lived with relatives in the NC hills during the late '50s and early 60s. Almost everyone raised chickens and considered birds of prey to be competitors for their food supply. They would shoot every hawk or eagle they saw.
-Mark

 

[Dave Workman]

Elmer Keith and Six Guns is the reason I now own, carry, and shoot this girl:

Well, I'll see you and maybe raise an image and lower the caliber.

 

[Dpris]

Preferred a 4 for belt carry.
Toted a 6-incher as a backup, but kept it under his hat.

(If you recall his hats & understand that old expression, you might get a joke outa that....)
Denis

 

[Homie]

This is the conclusion I have drawn from this discussion. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused by quoting from some sources.

At the risk of being redundant, this has probably been posted on the 4 1/2" that Elmer had done by The Gun ReBlue Co., but the Julia catalog listed its serial no. as 153830.
In his column in the October '57 GUNS magazine a picture of it is shown with the caption "First .44 Magnum was shipped from factory to Keith who had it engraved and stocked to his own specifications".
The '58 Gun Digest repeated that story as others have mentioned.
Maybe the Cabela's display helped unravel the mystery.

 

[Texas Star]

He mostly wore four-inchers, in holsters by Gaylord and by Ed. H. Bohlin. (sp?) But also had Myres and Lawrence holsters of his design. These were basically Tom Threepeersons style, and Keith just took credit.

One M-29 had a lot of holster wear on the right side of the barrel. I never saw the other side. He carried mainly that four-inch gun.

I doubt that he really carried that 4.5-inch barreled one.

Elmer was fairly short, with short fingers. That's why he favored Magna grips over larger styles.

 

[one eye joe]

As you might recall, I told the tale about the guy who told me about meeting Elmer.
Elmer was fly fishing in the Salmon and wearing a jacket. As they watched an eagle circle lower, Elmer pulled a revolver from a shoulder holster.
He shot and quickly returned the gun into the holster.
When I asked my Colorado buddy 'What kind of gun?'
He said he was not sure. The whole thing happened so fast he didn't get a good look at the gun.
His best guess was a 4 inch N Frame.

IT WOULD DESTROY MY IMAGE OF ELMER, IF HE SHOT TO KILL THE EAGLE ! ! !

I WILL HOLD TO MY BELIEF, THAT HIS INTENT MUST HAVE BEEN, TO FRIGHTEN THE MAGNIFICENT BIRD OFF........

I FAVOR 4" K, L AND N FRAME REVOLVERS ALSO. I CARRY THEM IN CROSSDRAW BELT HOLSTERS, AND SHOULDER RIGS........

 

[Qc Pistolero]

Ahh the remembering of days waiting for the next article by those great writers such as Keith ,Skelton ,Jack Oconner ect .Those guys as they say had been there and done that . Conservation laws aside hitting a moving eagle with a handgun !i have heard the story before with all the arguments against and for but I have never heard anyone say ( he couldn't hit a moving eagle with a handgun ) that speaks volumes to the man and the M29 44 magnum .Love him or not but you can't take away from his ability with the 44 magnum S&W revolver .

200% with you and you might add Bill Jordan.I remember a few issues of Shooting Times where he and Skeeter were interjecting one another...one month apart.It lasted a few months.What a delight!!!
Qc

 

[eb07]

I could care less what he shot. Different times.

 

[eb07]

I also want to add. He shot a lot of golden eagles. The bald eagle was protected in the 40's but the golden not until 62. So it was a no biggy back then. And common. Not sure why people are getting all offended. Different times different mettle.

 

[bulletslap]

In Keith's day there were even bounties on eagles, and bald eagles were killed as pests into 1960s in Alaska - legally.

It was a very different time 80 years ago.