

He designed four different featherweight models from SA Army and Bisley Colts, calling them #1 through #4. Croft became a true believer.Ĭroft spent much time and money improving standard Colt SAAs, looking to develop lightweight weapons for self-defense.


Keith even hit the board with a 2″ slip-gun. Using his sitting “Keith” position, hands locked between his knees, head resting on his saddle, Elmer started shooting, hitting the target with every gun Croft brought. Upon arrival, Elmer nailed some boards together, making a 4’x4′ target and sets it a measured 700 yards away.
#Elmer keith full
ranch for a month.Ĭroft accepted, bringing a “suitcase full of guns” as Elmer described it. They communicated via mail, with Elmer inviting Croft to his Durkee, Ore. Harold Croft, a fellow sixgun enthusiast from Philadelphia, Pa. He talked of long-range sixgun shooting at distances many thought preposterous. Little do I know, 12 years later, I’d get the opportunity …īack in 1927, Elmer Keith was writing for American Rifleman. Holding the very gun Elmer carried and shot for 30 years would indeed have been special - if only possible. I fantasize about cocking the hammer, feeling and hearing each of four distinct clicks, as Elmer did, thousands of times. I imagine wrapping my fingers around the ivory stocks, the Mexican Eagle forming a natural palm-swell. With nose and hands pressed flat against the glass, like a hungry kid staring in a bakery window, I think, “Boy, if I could just hold that gun!” The crown jewel of the display is, of course, the famous #5. He is, indeed, the real deal - The Grand Old Man. Here, seeing Elmer’s trophies, rifles and sixguns puts everything in perspective. I also saw the Elmer Keith Museum when it was housed in the Boise, Idaho Cabela’s. 45 Keith bullet on a cow elk, while making lifelong friends. I made my first handgun kill using my handload, consisting of the Lyman. Filled with “life’s too short” sentiments, I accept an offer for an elk hunt from a man I met on the internet, Dick Thompson. Mom died a few months earlier after a courageous cancer battle.
