[Ron Smith]

Steve,

I've read that Elmer killed a running Mule Deer Buck at 500+ yds with a .45 Colt. It took 3 shots, but he got it.

I know an old fella, Wally Reid who knew Elmer when he was growing up in Idaho. He said he watched him break two dinner plates at about 400- 500 yds with a .45 Colt on a challenge from a non-believer, at a community barbecue. He said Elmer was so drunk, he was surprised he could even see the plates.

.41 mag is probably my all around favorite caliber. I've owned several Ruger Black Hawks, a Red Hawk(hated that gun), and 3 or 4 Model 57s over the years. I also had a Model 58 that I stupidly traded away.

I lost one of the Black Hawks after a taking a fall in the brush during a hunt. We looked for it for hours and never found it. Two years later I was hunting in the same area, and stopped to take a break. I was leaning against a stump when I looked down, and there it was sticking out of a gap in the side of the stump. It was fairly well sheltered from the snow and rain, so had a bit of surface rust but nothing that didn't clean up fairly well.

I've never cared much for .44 mag.

Ron