did lyman ever make a real Keith 429421?
- Thread starter bruce381
- Start date
Lol!
Charles Graff
Moderator Emeritus
The principal problem with lack of consistency in Lyman molds comes from the fact they did not produce their own mold cherries, at least back in the day. They used outside contractors and did not hold those contractors feet to the fire.
I have a 2 cavity NEI made by Walt in El Paso that is spot on true to Keith's design. Also some years back, on the "other board", after considerable research did a series of special order true Keith bullets from Lee.
I have a 2 cavity NEI made by Walt in El Paso that is spot on true to Keith's design. Also some years back, on the "other board", after considerable research did a series of special order true Keith bullets from Lee.
Charles Graff
Moderator Emeritus
I used to visit his shop when we both lived in El Paso. I bought four or five molds from him. He liked to talk. He forgot all about state taxes on manufacturing. I think it was an excise tax. When he finally got a bill from the State Comptroller he went into a tizzy, packed up and got the heck out of Texas. That is how he ended up in Oregon.
His shop was on Yandell St. about four block from where Bobby McNellis presided over El Paso Saddlery. Both were just a short ways from where Dallas Stoudenmire killed "four men in five seconds. In those days El Paso was "wild and woolly and full of fleas, and ain't be curried below the knees". El Paso still has it's Boot Hill (Concordia Cemetery) where you can visit John Wesley Hardin and many other casualties from gunfights.
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Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Wow! It always amazes me to hear from people who have known the larger figures, the "celebrities" so to speak, in our hobby. I knew a guy who went to school with Parker Ackley, another who knew Whelen, Askins Sr and Jr, Page, Elmer, etc. They sometimes tell of very different people than what their "in paper" persona seems to be. Interesting.
On famous historical places- Growing up we used to drive by a place near Lake George NY known for a French and Indian War massacre. It never hit me that it was "real" until many years after I was aware of it. There aren't too many places that don't have some "wild and wooly" history behind them if you look hard enough.
On famous historical places- Growing up we used to drive by a place near Lake George NY known for a French and Indian War massacre. It never hit me that it was "real" until many years after I was aware of it. There aren't too many places that don't have some "wild and wooly" history behind them if you look hard enough.
If only I could find a 41 to replace my lost Ruger. . . .
fiver
Well-Known Member
replace it with another Ruger.
their Hunter model is a superbly accurate gun.
as a Kid i knew Parker Ackley, he re-barreled an old 7x57 Mexican Mauser for me when i was still in High school, he also wrote a letter of recommendation for me when i Joined the Air Force.
i had no idea he was 'somebody' back then.
their Hunter model is a superbly accurate gun.
as a Kid i knew Parker Ackley, he re-barreled an old 7x57 Mexican Mauser for me when i was still in High school, he also wrote a letter of recommendation for me when i Joined the Air Force.
i had no idea he was 'somebody' back then.
Charles Graff
Moderator Emeritus
About 1961 Ackley rebored a rusted out 40-82 Winchester 1886 to 45-70 for me. That is when we had to ship firearms Railway Express.
The Ruger that went walkabout was a '70ish Blackhawk that I finally managed to trade a friend out of after >30 years of trying. I'll run across another. . . eventually.
Ruger BHs get loose, just takes time and a lot of primers. The one I "lost" had about 20k full-power loads through it, plus plinking loads, when I first saw it. I borrowed it for a few weeks and did some work on it as a birthday gift for the owner--first Ruger I had apart, but I'd worked on a few Colts by then. After that it mostly got used with a Red Dot load to duplicate the old police load.
Charles Graff
Moderator Emeritus
Over the years, I met Bill Jordon, Askins Jr., John Wooters and Elmer Keith. The only one I had a relationship with was Bill Jordon. He was stationed in Brownsville, Texas when I was in High School and we shot skeet in the same club. He took time to help me along in my shooting both handgun and shotgun. Later at an NRA Convention in either Dallas or Ft. Worth we ran into each other and he invited me to have a drink with him and others in the hotel bar. I was a young lawyer at the time. One of the others was Elmer Keith and he was the dominate personality at the table, holding court as they say.
I met Askins several times in San Antonio where he lived. He was always polite and formal even courtly, but no human warmth. Nothing about him made me want to spend any more time than necessary with him.
I met John Wooters several times in Houston when I was a law student. He wrote an article for the Houston Chronical on shooting and hunting. He was a very warm, down to earth likeable guy. Not at all taken with himself.
I did visit with Skeeter in an El Paso hospital as he was near death. He was to weak to talk much, but we did have prayer together. Later, I lived in Deming NM where I knew his widow Sally. She was a fine Christian lady and a rodeo trick rider in her younger days.
All of these were chance encounters with nothing planned. I just happen to travel and live in places they did. Being a gun person also put me with other gun persons.
People not law and religion have my stock in trade for all of my working life. I have met all kinds good bad and mixtures of all sorts. You get to where you can read them all pretty good. Not as good as a professional poker player, but pretty darn good for we all have our "tells" if others know what to look for.
fiver
Well-Known Member
i bought that Ruger used, jeez 20 years back, and worked on wearing it out right from the start.
it was one of like 3 handguns i shot pretty regularly and it [plus one of the lever rifles] rode in the truck forever with a couple hundred rounds of ammo just so i could stop and shoot when i had the time.
it plinked, and poked at all sorts of this and that [coyotes,prairie dogs, rabbits, etc.] along the highway's and dirt roads from mid Wyoming over to about mid Idaho for a good 10 years.
i guess most people don't have the opportunity to just stop or turn off the highway and shoot stuff at a whim.
it was one of like 3 handguns i shot pretty regularly and it [plus one of the lever rifles] rode in the truck forever with a couple hundred rounds of ammo just so i could stop and shoot when i had the time.
it plinked, and poked at all sorts of this and that [coyotes,prairie dogs, rabbits, etc.] along the highway's and dirt roads from mid Wyoming over to about mid Idaho for a good 10 years.
i guess most people don't have the opportunity to just stop or turn off the highway and shoot stuff at a whim.