Kent Lomont, 44 Magnum, H&G 503, H110 and Magnum Primers

[sixshot]

Speaking of a 5" model 29 Smith, they were quite rare & I almost came up with one on one of my trips to Salmon to visit Elmer. Two weeks before that I had sold a very nice 4 digit Ruger #1 to Jed Wilson, sheriff of Lemhi County & told him I would deliver it because I would be spending the day with Elmer. Jed told me he had a 5" S&W 44 magnum with ivory stocks that he might be willing to trade for my #1, or we would do a cash deal.

My first stop was at Elmer's house & leaving my wife to visit with Lorraine me & Elmer went out back to his trophy/writing room to talk. He had his Engraved 375 #1 out there & I took the following photo of him holding it. Some of you have seen this photo before. It's the photo I sent to the guy in Texas who bought the gun when Elmer's collection went up for auction.

Anyway, after leaving Elmer's place we went over to Jed Wilson's house & he opened up a big iron box or home made safe sitting in the middle of the floor in a bedroom. Under several other guns covered with blankets was the rare 5" 44 magnum with the ivory stocks. I wanted it pretty bad & we were close to making a deal but at the last minute Jed decided he wanted to keep it & bought my #1 for cash.

On the way home I stopped south of Leadore & shot some Jackrabbits with my Ruger 41 & 44 & called it a day. I also bought another of Elmer's books while I was there. This was sometime in the mid 70's, maybe 1974.



Dick

[Don Purcell]

Like many I've wanted a 5" Model 29 for many years. Was going to try to get a pinned and recessed 8 3/8" because it looked like the lettering would be pretty well centered on the barrel after it was cut to 5". I planned to send it to Hamilton Bowen for him to do the work but he has since stopped offering this package so the dream continues. Nice photo of Elmer and have seen it several times.

[Ramguy]

We met Kent in the 80's when we got Thompsons for the "Jungle Lane" match held at Rienholts in Winimac In. I wish I could go back and "listen" to the man more. He had a lot of information which he wasn't stingy with. I think 3 of us bought MG's from him when he was in IND. I was trying to remember if he came up to Second Chance. Bruce MacArthur was up at the 1st re-organized pin shoot this past year and he told me of Kent's passing. It's nice to know that because of how he dealt with everyone, his stories, exploits, and adventures will live on for a very long time. I have really enjoyed reading this thread guys. Thank you! I hope to see you up at Richard's TPS John.

[John Ross]

I'll be there, competing in various classes, all with .500s.

[Ramguy]

Awesome John! Looking forward to a great week up there!

[Three44s]

^^^^^THIS!

When I finally met Kent in person at the Super Vel facility in August of '73 I was 16 and not shaving yet. We were shooting our M29s into a small manmade pond about 20 feet in diameter. At one point Kent started firing full cylinders as fast as he could into the water. I was amazed at how he made a revolver sound like a machine gun. This was with our standard load of 25 H110 H&G 503, which we had just chronographed out of my 8 3/8" M29 at 1510 FPS.

"How do I learn to do that?" I asked him. I expected him to tell me about how it took years of practice, training, exercises, etc.

"It's easy," he said. "Don't bother practicing with an unloaded gun, that's a waste of time. Just hold the gun in both hands, press your elbows into your sides, and let 'er rip. Pushing against the gun's recoil with full loads helps you pull the trigger faster than you can with an empty gun or girlfriend loads. Try it."

I did, and was utterly flabbergasted at the results. Kent saw the look on my face and hooted with laughter. "I told you it was easy!"

Yes, Kent, you did...

But, but ,but ..... you can’t shoot a 44 Mag double action ....... can ye’?

I read this on the net often and just shake my head!

Best regards

Three44s

[Don Purcell]

John, I responded to your message but evidently my e-mails and p.m.'s are not making it out of here for some reason. Haven't been able to contact other folks on here either. I can receive buy not send.

[Don Purcell]

As far as talking to Kent about reloading I wish I had used a tape recorder or taken written notes. I mentioned about case tension on .44 Mag. brass and he told me that he had done some bullet pull tests on new cases (Early 1980's) and found some of the Keith bullets would pull at around 65 pounds. He said he had some early 60's brass took almost 200 pounds pull on the bullet. Evidently early brass was somewhat heavier. I had just gotten some Remington brass and even though it had been sized I could still press the bullet into the case with my thumb. I returned it to the store. He had two 8 3/8 Model 29's dedicated to testing forcing cone wear. One was only shot with 250 grain plain base Keith bullets and the other one for the Thompson 250 grain gaschecked. When we talked about it he said each one had shot 20,000 rounds. Needless to say the Thompson showed a little more wear. I'll try to think of more. John, any more to add?

[LAH]

Sixshot his cigar was a little shorter in this one.

[derek45]

Interesting thread

I would love the 503 / H110 load data, if anyone’s willing to IM or email it to me

[44MAG#1]

If you will look at post #32 you will find it.

[derek45]

If you will look at post #32 you will find it.

thanks