I notice there are a few choice collectors items displayed in various pictures that bear the "IHMSA" logo etched in very desirable Dan Wessons.  Ditto for the various SuperMag calibers folks brag about here.  Well, at one point in my life, I met the man who was responsible for all of this: Elgin Gates.

Back in 1984, I was a sailor going through the Navy Nuclear Power Program and I was in the reactor phase at a place called Arco, Idaho.  The nearest town to Arco was Idaho Falls.  I lived in Idaho Falls for a spell and got to know some of the gunshops in town.  There was a place called Ike's Guns on 257A Street.  About a block over was Woody's Sporting Goods.  I was a regular to both places.  More on that later.  

Well, one Saturday evening, I went with my trusty Colt Python stainless 6" revolver to pop off a few 38 Special loads I had in my box full of goodies.  There was a favorite place to shoot, an outdoor gravel pit that doubled as a dump.  I went in my 1980 Honda Civic and was trying to set up a target when an older gentleman was doing the same thing.  He introduced himself as "Elgin" and from there we struck up a light conversation about shooting.  Both of us set up a target out about 50 yards and we both started firing.  I looked at his pistol and it was a modified Remington XP bolt action pistol in the "rough" (it appeared the stock was still in the raw and he said something about chambering the XP to some 7mm cartridge).  I believe it was the 7mm IHMSA but then again, it might have been something else.  We shot at the target and shook hands and parted ways. 

A few years later, I was discharged from the Navy and had went back to my old hometown of Salinas, CA. There was a shooting range near Laguna Seca that I had gone to.  By then, I had acquired a 44 Automag (yes, the 44 AMP gun that was like the one used in "Sudden Impact").  I wanted to shoot some of the silhouettes there but the range tenders told me "no!" The 44 Automag damages the silhouettes and they didn't want that to happen.  357 Automag, yes, 44, no (but 44 mag was o.k.).  Strange.  Then I remember I had talked with Elgin some years before and I contacted him, recalling that we had shot together on that outdoor range in Idaho Falls.  I asked him if he remembered me (besides, I got the address from one of the old gun magazines with the IHMSA address).  But my main beef was with those "emperors" at the Laguna gun range.  

I few weeks later, I got a letter back from Elgin stating that he did indeed remember me! He also said that what those dolts (my words, not his) were incorrect.  If anything, the 357 AMP cartridge would likely do more damage than the 44 and the 44 would be equivalent to the 44 magnum commonly used.  

Since I had this encounter, I thought I'd share that with you.  Oh, Ike's Gun Shop! It turns out the owner, Ike (I forget his last name) was personal friends with Elmer Keith.  He showed me a photograph of himself, Elmer, and a German Shepard dog that was accompanying them while both were fishing on one of the rivers in Idaho (the Salmon, if my guess is right).  Ike recounted the story where the dog somehow had kicked back into the crouch of my friend Ike.  Elmer let out a belly laugh when he saw that happen.  

I thought you all would like to hear about this little story.

DW41F. 

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