http://www.gunsandammo.com/historical/elmer-keith-gun-collection-auction/

Very cool guns. Would love to have one of those safari rifles.

Wow now that is a helluva collection of firearms, I would love to have one of his model 57's a well as a double rifle.

Elmer amassed an amazing collection of firearms.

Do want. How much?

That makes my collection look pathetic in comparison.

I notoced he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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I noticed he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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Big bore Elmer once said that the .270 "was a damned adequate coyote cartridge"

I think I have an idea for a new group buy......

Hot damn. Fine singles say quite a bit. He may have been the original Matthew Quigley, although he did have use for a sixgun.

That's an unbelievable collection! I've seen an H&H double rifle that had a gold lined lock box! They would line the interiors with gold because it doesn't corrode in bad weather. They were works of art inside and out. Their mindset when they built those rifles was that they knew that in the future, another gunsmith was going to work on their rifle. They wanted to know that a master built that rifle.

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I noticed he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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Big bore Elmer once said that the .270 "was a damned adequate coyote cartridge"

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I love that quote. It was pretty much a jab directed squarely at Jack O'Connor.

Wow.

I'd love to have any of those.

So much of that select wood on those stocks, man that is a million dollar cache.

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That makes my collection look pathetic in comparison.

I notoced he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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Elmer was not known for his squirrel hunts....

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I noticed he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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Big bore Elmer once said that the .270 "was a damned adequate coyote cartridge"

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I love that quote. It was pretty much a jab directed squarely at Jack O'Connor.

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Agree. I have had more than one conversation with someone that is a Jack O"Connor disciple about the .270.

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I noticed he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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Big bore Elmer once said that the .270 "was a damned adequate coyote cartridge"

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I love that quote. It was pretty much a jab directed squarely at Jack O'Connor.

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He also hated the ground Jack O'Connor walked on.

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I noticed he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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Big bore Elmer once said that the .270 "was a damned adequate coyote cartridge"

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I love that quote. It was pretty much a jab directed squarely at Jack O'Connor.

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He also hated the ground Jack O'Connor walked on.

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Lol, that might be understating it a bit.

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I noticed he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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Big bore Elmer once said that the .270 "was a damned adequate coyote cartridge"

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I love that quote. It was pretty much a jab directed squarely at Jack O'Connor.

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He also hated the ground Jack O'Connor walked on.

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I never knew all of this. Does anyone here know the story behind the feud or hatred etc? I would like to know the back story.

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I noticed he did not own a rifle under .338 caliber.

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Big bore Elmer once said that the .270 "was a damned adequate coyote cartridge"

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I love that quote. It was pretty much a jab directed squarely at Jack O'Connor.

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He also hated the ground Jack O'Connor walked on.

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I never knew all of this. Does anyone here know the story behind the feud or hatred etc? I would like to know the back story.

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It's an old story with a lot of history. EK's biggest beef was the fact that O'Connor was a writer, not a gunsmith, but he was treated by many as if he walked on water and invented the .270 when in fact he wasn't even close. O'Connor took every opportunity to denounce or belittle all the Keith had done with the design and development of the big bore big game rounds. Believe it or not there was a time when you couldn't even hunt in the Rockies with anything south of .30 caliber. The .270 was technically illegal to hunt with in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, etc. And for all that Keith did for the sport of shooting, Jack O'Connor wasn't qualified to tote Elmer Keith's lunch pail.

A lot of us older shooters hate O'Connor much like a lot do BZ around here. And for the most part is really unjustified, but hated none the less. O'Connor did a lot to promote the sport and drew a lot of attention to it. Keith was more interested in developing the best weapon's than the fan fare. In my mind Elmer Keith and Ed Shillen did great things in this sport and never really sought out the spotlight. There were great times like when Shillen and a few other rented an abandoned Pipe foundry in Houston, that would permit an indoor shooting range of 400 yards, and there was this huge gathering of minds and marksmen to tweak and develop barrels and loads, in the lab type surroundings of the "Warehouse" than had zero affected by weather and light differences. Great sessions like this that went on behind closed doors for the betterment of the sport.

Anyway back to the original question, it boiled down to Elmer Keith Walked the walk and Jack O'Connor only wrote about it.

Very cool. Thank you.

This collection, or at least part of it was in it's own room at the Boise Cabela's for the past 9 years. Cabalas didn't own the guns, they were on loan from the Keith family. I spoke with an older gentleman that works in the gun library at the Boise Cabela's and he said that Elmer's Keith's children have been living very modestly and finally decided they needed to sell the collection (Elmer Keith's son is around 70 years old he said). A guy flew down from the auction house in Maine to appraise the collection. He claimed one of the double rifles appraised for $300K. Cabalas did buy the taxidermy collection from the Keith family. They need to outfit their new stores. The guy told me that the Boise store opened 9 years ago and was store #19. Now they are up to 70+ stores. He said none of the stores were built with retained earnings. Growth is entirely funded by the interest they charge on their credit cards. Pretty nice business model.

Idagg, is that collection still in the Boise Cabela's? We're going to be in Boise for a few days over spring break. Cabela's is already on my schedule. I've seen been in that room with the African double rifles before, but didn't realize they were Keith's.

I'm out on these. None of them have a picatinny rail or are supported by Magpul.

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Idagg, is that collection still in the Boise Cabela's? We're going to be in Boise for a few days over spring break. Cabela's is already on my schedule. I've seen been in that room with the African double rifles before, but didn't realize they were Keith's.

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Marcel, I am not sure. I am guessing probably not as the auction starts in a week or two. The sad news is the room is going to be transformed from a collection of Elmer Keith's guns and trophies to a freakin snackbar/restaurant. Blasphemy!

That's a shame.