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

[44MAG#1]

Who on here remembers Kent and his recommended load for the 44 Mag H&G 503, H110 and Magnum primers?
I do and John Ross does. Who else.
Don't worry Load Data police I am not going to post it. John Ross can or maybe someone else that ever talked to Lomont.
Lomont also cast bullets for sale.
He had a pressure gun and did some loads testing for me too.

[frank505]

Kent also scoped several model 29s and shot closer to an inch groups at one hundred yards. He had an amazing life and I miss him. Our phone conversations could last three and four hours.

[Don Purcell]

Sure do! Kent told me that he loaded a bunch of 44 mag. and made match ammo out of it. Everything he could do to make it as match grade as possible. Trimming and weighing cases, weighing bullets, each powder charge and so on. Then he loaded the same amount with cases and bullets just grabbed up and loaded on his Star progressive. Shot everything out of a Scoped Model 29 mounted in a Ransom Rest at I believe 100 yards if memory serves. After all that he said the "Match" grade shot groups about 1/4" to 1/2" smaller than the regular blasting ammo. I once wrote on here about his endurance tests on a Model 29 and was basically told I was full of it. I would dearly love to be able to set around a campfire with others who knew Kent and compare the stories. Shooting, camping and conversations are all fondly remembered. I think a book like "Letters to Elmer Keith" would be interesting. But a lot more people knew of Keith instead of Kent so it would comparably be a smaller niche.

[44MAG#1]

I remember his telling me of the endurance testing. Didn't he do this for S&W and wasn't it a 4 inch M29?
I have forgotten most of the details though.

[John Ross]

Like me, his "endurance testing" was just him shooting the guns he liked a LOT. S&W was of course interested in the results but aside from fixing the things that broke, S&W never paid us.

I shot one of my Model 29s enough (over 70,000 rounds) that the frame developed a crack at the cylinder stop notch. Kent did this to four of his 29s IIRC.

When that happens, S&W cuts the gun in half, builds you a new gun, and stamps the frame with the original serial number.

The result is often a fun way to baffle collectors: A gun that is marked "Mod. 29-5" or whatever version they were up to when they made the new frame, but with a serial number that indicates the gun was made in 1959...

[44MAG#1]

Didn't Kent have a pet load of Unique with the H&G 503? Wasn't it 9.5 gr. The times we talked on the phone he said so much it was hard to take all of it in.
Who remembers him using a type of primer that wasn't applicable to Handguns and had to be leaned on hard when seating to get it below the case head with his H110 Load. I shot several loaded with that particular primer in a M29.
Also he and his buddies finding a reasonable sized trees and shooting at them with their 44 Mags until it fell over as a fun thing to do.

[Don Purcell]

44MAG#1, I'm pretty sure he was talking about rifle primers. He told me about he and Lee Jurras going out for a day of shooting and Jurras brought a big box of SuperVel ammo for them to play with. They cut down a tree with it. One Model 29 started out as an 8 3/8 inch and he poured an extremely large number of rounds through it before sending it back for replacement of the springs and maybe the firing pin. He had Smith cut the barrel to 4 inch so he could practice quick draw with it and poured another extremely large amount of rounds through it. By then the forcing cone was burned away to the edge of the barrel and again the springs were shot along with the firing pin. The ring around the cylinder you get from the cylinder bolt stop was actually etched into the cylinder. The factory replaced the parts, set the barrel back 0ne turn a resurfaced the forcing cone. The barrel itself was still good as he fired it in a Ransom rest at 100 yards and it grouped 4 inches. John, if you were witness to any of this please correct me if I'm not accurate.

[44MAG#1]

"44MAG#1, I'm pretty sure he was talking about rifle primers."
Correct. Can't talk about things like that now. Many would have conniption fits over it nowadays.
Times are different. I can understand though. Anything people do now is unsafe, bad for your health, illegal or a sin according to many.
But as I said I can understand. We don't know who we are dealing with now.

[John Ross]

Don, I was aware of the 4" with the forcing cone eroded out to the edge of the barrel but did not know that it had once been an 8 3/8" tube.

If Kent ever used rifle primers in his .44 mag loads in the '60s and '70s it was only in ammo he shot out of his Super Blackhawks. S&Ws of that era with hammer-mounted firing pins would not reliably ignite rifle primers, period. We both discovered this independently and talked about it regularly.

We did alter some .44 cases to take Alcan Max-Fire shotgun primers for use in wax bullet loads.

[sixshot]

Remember seeing some photo's of the Lamont's visiting Elmer & they were sitting up stairs where Elmer kept his guns. That's been a long time ago. I've always wished I had ask him to go shooting but at a young age never felt comfortable doing it.

Dick

[44MAG#1]

I am loading up a few with the Lomont H110 load and the H&G 503 with CCI 350's.
Don't tell anyone.

[John Ross]

Remember seeing some photos of the Lomonts visiting Elmer & they were sitting up stairs where Elmer kept his guns.

Dick

Elmer kept his guns and reloading equipment in the attic. It was hot up there! Kent took these photos in 1975.

214302

[Leadmelter]

I read his many articles on the Auto Mag. He would take out of his pistols and have 2-3 load magazines and shot it as fast as he could until the pistol broke. Somewhere in my collections, I have his listing for custom loads and prices.
I believe he was buried in Salmon, Idaho near Elmer Keith.
Leadmelter
MI

[Don Purcell]

Speaking of Elmer's attic. Several years ago I was on the computer and on a whim got on a real estate site and typed in Salmon, Idaho. Lo and behold they were showing Elmer's house for sale. Think it was listed for $175,000. One of the interior photo's was of the attic and mentioned it had been Elmer's reloading room. There was a close up picture of one of the planks lining the walls and in pencil was a 22/2400. Karma. Perhaps the realtor was a fan. John, I remember Kent saying that the 29 in question started as an 8 3/8's. By the way more pictures if you please.

[FergusonTO35]

My favorite Elmer Keith quote: "That's uglier n' a ******* eatin' cactus!!"

[Don Purcell]

If a person has any interest in the Automag they definitely should find the three big articles Kent wrote in Gun Digest and Handloading Digest. Even if you have no interest in the Automag they still make interesting reading and show some nice photos. He tells of making 10,000 cases out of .308 brass. Unfortunately by the time I started camping and shooting with Kent he wasn't into them as much and never got to shoot any of them. But he had other toys we played with that eased the pain. His 8 3/8's Ron Power tuned, bull barreled, Bo-Mar ribbed Model 29 was a joy to shoot. The double action was so nice it seemed a waste to shoot it single action.

[John Ross]

[Kent's] 8 3/8" Ron Power tuned, bull barreled, Bo-Mar ribbed Model 29 was a joy to shoot. The double action was so nice it seemed a waste to shoot it single action.

He ordered that gun from Ron after shooting mine. In 1976 on the way back from Idaho I stopped in Ron Power's shop near Independence, MO. We got to talking .44 mags and Ron said "Want another one?"

He pulled out a 10 1/2" .44 mag Power Custom he had built as a Pin Gun for Ad Clark, but Clark had just broken his shoulder in a motorcycle accident and was both unable to shoot and strapped for cash. I bought it on the spot. The DA pull was so light and smooth that the gun would fire if you spun it!

When Kent saw it a few months later he ordered an 8 3/8" one just like it.

Here's a shot from 1976 with some Auto Mags in the upper right corner...

214545

[Lloyd Smale]

I met him at a linebaugh seminar. he was buddys with my best friend that was there too. he showed up one year with a 4 bore rifle and the next year with a gattling gun. I don't know about his load data though but hes quite a character.
Who on here remembers Kent and his recommended load for the 44 Mag H&G 503, H110 and Magnum primers?
I do and John Ross does. Who else.
Don't worry Load Data police I am not going to post it. John Ross can or maybe someone else that ever talked to Lomont.
Lomont also cast bullets for sale.
He had a pressure gun and did some loads testing for me too.

[sixshot]

I was in Boise over the week end for the girls state basket ball tournaments (our girls won state!) Of course I had to stop at Cabelas & when I went into the gun library I spotted a very nice Winchester model 63 & bought it for one of my son's. Speaking with the guy who was helping me we got talking about all of Elmer's stuff that use to be in there & I mentioned having several photo's of Elmer when I visited him in Salmon & one of them was Elmer holding his Ruger #1 375. The guy who bought it contacted me & wanted to buy that photo, I told him I would make a copy & I would give him the original & I did. The employee told me that Elmer's son Ted had been in not too long ago & the employee didn't know who he was. Ted ask if the guy would mount a scope for him & the guy says sure, I'll mount it & Ted says, my dad would sure be mad if he knew I was having someone mount a scope for me!! The guy says, who was your dad & Ted said, Elmer Keith!!

Dick

[Don Purcell]

John, speaking of the .44 Automag. Kent mentioned in his article on loading the Automag about trying a 173 grain jacketed hollowpoint you provided him and I believe it's the same bullet you described in your book "Unintended Consequences". I assume you made these yourself with Lakeville dies? I believe Kent told me he used basically a full case of H-110/296 in the Automag. By the way, those look like some pretty suspicious charaters. The cabin was in Idaho, yes?

[John Ross]

John, speaking of the .44 Automag. Kent mentioned in his article on loading the Automag about trying a 173 grain jacketed hollowpoint you provided him and I believe it's the same bullet you described in your book "Unintended Consequences". I assume you made these yourself with Lakeville dies? I believe Kent told me he used basically a full case of H-110/296 in the Automag. By the way, those look like some pretty suspicious charaters. The cabin was in Idaho, yes?

Correct on all counts except the dies were actually made by Frank "Hemp" Hemsted in 1973. I cannelured the bullets with a C-H tool that put only about .140" shank in the case. I got 2000 FPS out of both 8 3/8" M29s and 6 1/2" Auto Mags. That load shot into 2 1/2" @ 100 yds. from scoped guns.

Hemp made beautiful dies at reasonable cost. He died of cancer Christmas night 1973.

[Don Purcell]

Yep, had a memory dump. Too bad they aren't still available sounds like a fun round to shoot. Kent once gave me a couple hundred of Jim Harvey's 270 grain "Jugular" to try. I still have a box or so but will keep them for memory's sake.

[johniv]

I did not know the man, but I sure have enjoyed this conversation. Thanks to all.
John

[JBinMN]

One of things that makes folks sad is.... that we can read here about how well some of ya knew this feller & respect how ya are respecting him & his family, remembering times ya had & sharing them...
As well as what he meant to our kind of folks, doing what he did.

While at the same time, folks like me are wishing you could pass on what YOU know, as well as what he shared & passed on...
:)

Glad to hear that he has folks who knew him & his family, that can share the remembrances.
:)

Thanks!
:)

[Leadmelter]

Yo u can google his obit online. He had a BS in Chemistry and started shooting and reloading about age 13. He built custom Auto mag barrels and his own ballistics lab. Became an expert Class 3 dealer and was a regular on that circuit.
Leadmelter
MI

[John Ross]

While at the same time, folks like me are wishing you could pass on what YOU know,

Well, I haven't exactly been a hermit when it comes to passing on the things I've learned...

http://www.lsstuff.com/misc/JR500.pdf

[JBinMN]

Yo u can google his obit online. He had a BS in Chemistry and started shooting and reloading about age 13. He built custom Auto mag barrels and his own ballistics lab. Became an expert Class 3 dealer and was a regular on that circuit.
Leadmelter
MI


Well, I haven't exactly been a hermit when it comes to passing on the things I've learned...

http://www.lsstuff.com/misc/JR500.pdf

Thanks! & I will go look up more , as well as read the .pdf file.
:)

[nicholst55]

"44MAG#1, I'm pretty sure he was talking about rifle primers."
Correct. Can't talk about things like that now. Many would have conniption fits over it nowadays.
Times are different. I can understand though. Anything people do now is unsafe, bad for your health, illegal or a sin according to many.
But as I said I can understand. We don't know who we are dealing with now.

A deceased former member here stated that he used to deepen the primer pockets on his .44 Mag brass enough to accommodate LRPs, simply to simplify his logistics. He lived in a remote area up north, and the .44 was either his only handgun, or else the only one that took LPPs, I forget which. He figured that .010" of brass wasn't going to make any appreciable difference in the primer pocket, and went on to prove it - at least to himself.

I mentioned this in a thread some time later, and was thoroughly castigated for suggesting such a dangerous thing. Whatever.

[44MAG#1]

The rifle primer in question was a Federal not telling which. All I had at the time was a M29 8 3/8ths and a Contender that I rarely shot. I was temporaily out of a Ruger SBH. He knew i was using the Smith. It fired the primers okay. Never had a misfire. I used Remington brass and had to push hard on the press handle to get them very slightly below flush with the case head and used the same powder charge he recommended of H110. I used H&G 503 bullets. I made it clear what firearm i was using.
Today it is best to never mention a load as we have people ready to pounce like a starving lion if anyone mentions a load that they cant wrap their head around.
I was chastised about a load i mentioned from John Linebaugh to use in my Ruger New Vaquero. So i have learned a lesson.

This was when we were talking about the pressure test on some bullets I had NEI make a mold for. He recommended I send Elmer Keith some with the load data which I did.

[Don Purcell]

As far as myself it's just fairly ordinary. My dad started me down this road very young. Maybe 6-7 years old I would watch and "help" him load .44 Mags. and 22-250's. Started casting lead round balls for the muzzleloaders then advanced to the Lyman 429421 for the .44's and .30 cals. for the 30-06 and 30-40 Krag and the .22 calibers for the 22-250. Learned to shoot handguns with my dad's Super Blackhawk around 8-9 year's old with 5 grains of Bullseye and 250 Keith and worked up from there. Our family was not flush with cash so if I got to shoot 50 rounds or more in a week I learned to make every shot count. The first handgun I bought was a Ruger Old Army .44. Lead round ball and 40 grains FFF. Slow to load but impressive to onlookers. For Christmas of 1973 my parents bought me my first Magnum, a Ruger .41 Magnum. But the following Christmas was the best, an 8 3/8 Model 29. Reading Elmer Keith for many years obviously set the path for long range shooting and boy, was that 8 3/8 a sweetie for that. The longest known range was .6 of a mile and I know others were way longer than that across a plowed field as long as you could see your bullet strikes. Met Elmer Keith in 1979 for the first time at the N.R.A. Convention in San Antonio. Then met Kent Lomont at the Kansas City Convention the following year and began camping and shooting with him later that Thanksgiving weekend. I was then totally corrupted on volume shooting. Started I.P.S.C. shooting around then with a slightly modified 1911 .45 acp. Big bore rifles, Ruger 1 # .458 Winchester, 45-70 then finally Shiloh and C. Sharps Arms buffalo rifles in 45-100 and 45-110 then learning to make them shoot with paper patch bullets and black powder which we did. One of my best loads for the 45-110 is a 560 grain paper patch with 103 grains Swiss FG which will put 5 rounds touching each other to make one hole at 100 yards. At one fellows farm we had balloons at 1 measured mile. Yes, you can break a balloon at one mile with a Sharps. This is probably where the groaning and calls of B.S. start but if you get a chance just ask Medal of Honor winner Sammy Davis as he shot with us and was a witness. My dad also broke some with his 45-100. Anyway, pretty normal stuff and then the Smith and Wesson .500 came along and now I have one of each of John's .500's and life is good. Sorry, this has been a long way around the barn.

[sixshot]

Good stuff Don. When some one starts calling BS on someone else it usually means they can't do it or haven't even tried so no one else can do it either. There will always be doubters just like many doubted Elmer, then Handgun Silhouette came along & a whole bunch of guys found out a six gun was accurate a lot farther than they ever imagined. This has been a good thread.

Dick

[John Ross]

When some one starts calling BS on someone else it usually means they can't do it or haven't even tried so no one else can do it either.
Dick

^^^^^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...

[Lloyd Smale]

Listen to Don and John. there in my opinion in the same league as some of the greatest

[Don Purcell]

Greatest what?

[Plate plinker]

Firearms enthusiast.

[Don Purcell]

Going to try post some pictures of about 34 years ago shooting south of Dugger, Indiana with Kent. 215161215163215164

[Don Purcell]

This is the first time posting pictures and thought they would be larger. That is Kent shooting the belt fed water cooled Browning. A full 200 hundred rounds non-stop without a hitch. You could hear the water sizzling in the jacket. Belt fed .50 Browning off the top of his 1 ton Power Wagon. Belt fed .30 cal. air cooled shooting cast bullets. The bullets were cast from a Saeco gang mold at I believe 170 - 175 grain gas checked. Look closed and you can see it was scoped. Hope you enjoy. All the best , Don.

[ddixie884]

Kewl.............

[JBinMN]

This is the first time posting pictures and thought they would be larger. That is Kent shooting the belt fed water cooled Browning. A full 200 hundred rounds non-stop without a hitch. You could hear the water sizzling in the jacket. Belt fed .50 Browning off the top of his 1 ton Power Wagon. Belt fed .30 cal. air cooled shooting cast bullets. The bullets were cast from a Saeco gang mold at I believe 170 - 175 grain gas checked. Look closed and you can see it was scoped. Hope you enjoy. All the best , Don.

I did enjoy! & Thanks!
:drinks:


I correctly picked the MG types as well., from the pictures. Imagine that..! LOL
;)

[MK111]

I met Kent when he set up at the Ohio Gun Collectors show in Columbus OH. I bought a lot of bulk gun powder from him in the mid 1980's before he moved out west. A good friend of mine worked for Kent processing all his 50 BMG cases. He still talks of the good times at Kent's shop in IN before he moved out west.

[Don Purcell]

Even though Kent passed away at only 66 years old, he was able to cram 3 lifetimes in it.

[osteodoc08]

Life is an amazing adventure and I’m glad to have shared with my fellow brothers here. An amazing wealth of knowledge and history is available here and wish I had more opportunity to meet some of the “old timers” here in person. I don’t get out and shoot as much as I wish I could, but love hearing the anectdotal stories. We are a very rich bunch, indeed.

[white eagle]

I was in Boise over the week end for the girls state basket ball tournaments (our girls won state!) Of course I had to stop at Cabelas & when I went into the gun library I spotted a very nice Winchester model 63 & bought it for one of my son's. Speaking with the guy who was helping me we got talking about all of Elmer's stuff that use to be in there & I mentioned having several photo's of Elmer when I visited him in Salmon & one of them was Elmer holding his Ruger #1 375. The guy who bought it contacted me & wanted to buy that photo, I told him I would make a copy & I would give him the original & I did. The employee told me that Elmer's son Ted had been in not too long ago & the employee didn't know who he was. Ted ask if the guy would mount a scope for him & the guy says sure, I'll mount it & Ted says, my dad would sure be mad if he knew I was having someone mount a scope for me!! The guy says, who was your dad & Ted said, Elmer Keith!!

Dick

it should be a prerequisite to know who Elmer was and his contributions to shooting

[44MAG#1]

Isnt it funny how such an obnoxious and unpopular person as 44MAG#1 could even start a thread such as this?

[JBinMN]

Isnt it funny how such an obnoxious and unpopular person as 44MAG#1 could even start a thread such as this?

LOL Even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while...
;)
:bigsmyl2: :kidding:

Eta: OOPs forgot the big smile & pulling chain.. Had to come back...


Thanks for posting the topic!
:)

[Drm50]

I thought this was only gun related sight. The guy on the right seems to be showing off fishing
tackle.:bigsmyl2:

[osteodoc08]

Isnt it funny how such an obnoxious and unpopular person as 44MAG#1 could even start a thread such as this?



I’ve found some of the most opinionated, obnoxious old codgers can be some the smartest, real life educated individuals that have a lifetime of knowledge, if people would take the time to listen and absorb the knowledge presented.

I could only imagine Elmer would have fallen in this catergory should he be in the flesh today.

[John Ross]

I’ve found some of the most opinionated, obnoxious old codgers can be some the smartest, real life educated individuals that have a lifetime of knowledge, if people would take the time to listen and absorb the knowledge presented.

I could only imagine Elmer would have fallen in this catergory should he be in the flesh today.

You should have heard Elmer talk about Jack O'Connor when he was in private conversation...

And speaking of Jack O'Connor, in the mid-1970s I was with my GF at the time at an NRA convention dinner. We were with Charlie Askins, who she thought was charming(!) when he looked at me and said "Fine piece of womanflesh you got here, John." However, she would refer to Jack O'Connor only as "That vile old man!"

Not sure what Jack said to her, but it sunk in...

[osteodoc08]

Now that there is funny.

I definitely missed the golden age of shooting and true outdoorsmanship. Best to capitalize on what I can while I’m young enough now.

[Tazman1602]

He ordered that gun from Ron after shooting mine. In 1976 on the way back from Idaho I stopped in Ron Power's shop near Independence, MO. We got to talking .44 mags and Ron said "Want another one?"

He pulled out a 10 1/2" .44 mag Power Custom he had built as a Pin Gun for Ad Clark, but Clark had just broken his shoulder in a motorcycle accident and was both unable to shoot and strapped for cash. I bought it on the spot. The DA pull was so light and smooth that the gun would fire if you spun it!

When Kent saw it a few months later he ordered an 8 3/8" one just like it.

Here's a shot from 1976 with some Auto Mags in the upper right corner...

214545


Oh for the days of going to Sheriffs office, paying $1 for your dynamite permit, then going DOWNTOWN to the hardware store to pick it up. Tree stumps didn't stand a chance....

Art

[Don Purcell]

I remember Kent telling me one year what he was taking to Idaho for his yearly camping/blasting trip. If memory serves it came to around 15'000 30.06, 15,000 to 20,000 .45acp, over 10,000 .44mag., and I remember the first time I went shooting with him I helped lug a large 20 m.m. ammo can full to the brim full of .38 Special loaded 173gr. Keith and heavy load of H110/296, so I'm sure that went. Several thousand rounds of .50 cal. He said he was probably going to throw in a Star reloader and several thousand bullets, powder and primers to reload in case they ran out. Perhaps John can expound on this and fill in the gaps I don't remember or know about. Just an ordinary vacation of plinking.

[LAH]

You should have heard Elmer talk about Jack O'Connor when he was in private conversation...

He told me some of that.

[John Ross]

I remember Kent telling me one year what he was taking to Idaho for his yearly camping/blasting trip. If memory serves it came to around 15'000 30.06, 15,000 to 20,000 .45acp, over 10,000 .44mag., and I remember the first time I went shooting with him I helped lug a large 20 m.m. ammo can full to the brim full of .38 Special loaded 173gr. Keith and heavy load of H110/296, so I'm sure that went. Several thousand rounds of .50 cal. He said he was probably going to throw in a Star reloader and several thousand bullets, powder and primers to reload in case they ran out. Perhaps John can expound on this and fill in the gaps I don't remember or know about. Just an ordinary vacation of plinking.

I went with Kent to Idaho on four summer trips in '75, '76, '77, and '78. Ten thousand .44 mag rounds sounds about right; I brought 3,000 in '75 and wished I'd loaded more.

Neither of us owned any MGs back then; Kent got an ANM2 as an individual in '77, and brought about 10,000 rounds of '06 to shoot through it that year and the next.

I can't recall seeing Kent do much shooting with .357s. That was his dad's preferred round, and Allen had a can or two of 173 grain loads with him on the two years he went with us.

He never brought any serious amount of .45ACP ammo in the years I went with him; a friend in Idaho had a Thompson he'd let us shoot and we'd bring one .50 cal can of .45 to run through it. I'm sure that changed after Kent had his own Thompsons.

The only .50 cal ammo he brought was for his bolt gun; Kent didn't own a .50 cal MG until he became an SOT which IIRC was in 1979.

After my last trip to Idaho in the summer of 1978, I only shot with Kent in Indiana or at organized shoots such as Knob Creek. His interest in (and shooting time with) MGs took off into the stratosphere when he got his SOT, and his truck always had 5-10 thousand rounds of .50BMG ammo when he'd show up for a shoot, and similar amounts for each of various smaller belt-feds.

I managed to show him up one year at Knob Creek in the late '80s by bringing 20,000 rounds of solid belted tracer for my 1917A1. That was a memorable shoot...
215702

Kent occasionally talked of bringing a Star loader on a trip, but I always felt it was just talk. It would have been a fair amount of trouble to do, especially with no electricity to run the case feeder and solenoid ejector, and who wants to load ammo on vacation?

Anyway, those are my recollections...

[Don Purcell]

O.K John, thanks. He was giving me the lowdown on ammo amounts around 84' -85' so it's about right because he brought down a Thompson and MAC 10 that we shot a bunch. Once he handed me an M-16 and had an ammo box of magazines. He said "Hold the trigger down and run the mag and I'll slap another in when you empty it then keep doing it". I did and he did. About 6-7 mags later the gun would cook off a round without touching the trigger, the gas tube was glowing orange. It was his ammo and who was I to question? Love the picture.

[nagantguy]

One of the most interesting threads I've read in a long while! Thank you guys for posting your memories and experiences. Though not one of the well known greats I've been lucky enough to for the last 6 or so years to be mentored by a been there done that top tier competitave shooter in multiple disciplines ,reloader, experimentor and instructor . He has definitely brought me out of the dark ages on many many things, in return I've taught him about powder coating and hi-tech. Through him I even have my own browning air and water cooled memories,and quite a bit about tuning revolvers and 1911s.
I will carry the torch when he is gone and pass along the knowledge he gave me, with a smile and a funny story just how I received it.
I sure appreciate you guys sharing and reminiscing here for all of us to see!

[Don Purcell]

John, I remember talking to Kent shortly after he got his first belt fed .50 Browning and he sounded really excited. He seemed concerned about his backstop as it was chewing it to pieces! I remember Kent had a double gun holster rig (Bohlin?) that carried two 8 3/8" Smith Model 27's that he referred to as his jack rabbit gun rig. If I remember correctly one was blued the other was nickel with a blued cylinder. Also if I remember correctly the load data on the inside of the can showed 15 grains? H-110 with 173 grain Keith. Like I said it was a 20m.m. can loaded to the brim. This was Thanksgiving weekend of 1980. But man, that Ron Powers 8 3/8" was a sweetie and I have lusted for one since. A friend of mine had Ron tune up a 5" Ruger Redhawk in .41 Magnum for him and then he loaned it to me to work up some loads for him. It wasn't hard as it would shoot everything I put through it. Speaking of Kent's Ron Powers .44 Mag., I was talking to Ron and mentioned that I had put a bunch of rounds through Kent's gun. I was needing some work done on a 4" Model 29 when Ron said " Yeah, I've got Kent's .44 in the shop, he finally blew it up. Cracked the forcing cone and the frame and the crack went almost half way down the barrel. But after 175,000 rounds I guess it was entitled to break." Another story was, don't clean your gun when your sleepy.

[John Ross]

Speaking of sleep, one of my favorite stories about Kent was when he was camping in the early '70s with his first wife Mary Lou. They were in the tent together and Mary Lou woke him up by having a nightmare.

"Oh, God, Kent! It got in the tent and you've got to get it off me! It's hairy and awful and it's trying to kill me and I can't push it far enough away! Help!"
.
.
.
.
.

She had hold of Kent's head.

"Thank God there wasn't a knife in the tent," Kent would say, shaking his head.

I met Mary Lou at Al's funeral, and introduced myself. "Kent told me about the nightmare you had on the camping trip."

"Oh, God, I'll never live that one down," she said, laughing.

And speaking of Al, Kent loved to tell the story of our trip with his dad in 1975, when I had just turned 18. Al would make himself a sandwich at lunchtime and then proceed to cough and choke as soon as he bit into it. This happened every day. No one ever said anything or acted like Al was in any danger, so I didn't either.

About a week into the trip, after I had just finished humping some heavy stuff out of one of the trucks to where it was needed, Al called me over.

"Here, Ross, stop all that working for a while and eat something." He held out a peanut butter sandwich he had made for me.

"Thanks!" I said, and bit into the sandwich.

I immediately started coughing and choking. When I could finally talk, I blurted out the first thing that came into my mind:

"Jesus, there's a half inch thick layer of peanut butter on this bread! No wonder you're always choking--I thought it was because you were old!"

Kent started laughing so hard he was on the verge of choking himself.

He retold that story many times, including at Al's funeral.

[pmer]

The closest I ever got to an M2 was in the army. I remember a night training exercise when we had a "few" extra belts to go through. The Mortar guys would send up a 4.2" flare then you could see plywood cutouts of vehicles and equipment. It only took a try or two and guys were walking tracers in on target making a mess of those targets.

[dverna]

Great thread

Thanks

[Don Purcell]

The sleepy story was that Kent told me the day he graduated that he and his dad were going to go on a canoe/camping trip later that day after Kent finished taking wedding photos for a couple. So after the graduation ceremonies and photo shoot they piled in and drove to their departure point. A somewhat hectic day no doubt. After canoeing for awhile they made camp, ate and crashed in their tent. Kent was laying back in his sleeping bag and unloaded his 5" Model 29 and was wiping it down while his dad was reading a book. Kent said he closed the cylinder cocked the hammer, drew a bead through the screen opening of the tent and pulled the trigger. Instead of a snap he got a BLAM! He couldn't figure it out, the gun was unloaded he was sure. But his dad said he had loaded the gun and then nodded off a few minutes. Kent had absolutely no recollection of loading the cylinder. He said that full load going off in the tent sure was loud! Along with that story Kent said he was at the Supervel plant and George Nonte was there along with others (John were you there also?) when George wanted to take a look at Kent's 5" Model 29. They were in Lee Jurras' office I believe. George unloaded the gun and placed the rounds on a table and counted them. He then checked the cylinder then looked at the shells on the table again then looked at the cylinder again before closing it and trying the action. Nonte said after two bullet holes in the ceiling of his house he became extremely careful about "unloaded guns".

[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.

https://i.imgur.com/QYIIhwj.jpg

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.

https://i.imgur.com/35DTOAg.jpg/

[derek45]

Interesting thread

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

219265

[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