Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters ELMER KEITHS 280 OKH RIFLE - SEEKING INFO

Hello All,

I recently acquired a 280 O.K.H. experimental rifle built-up by Elmer Keith.

I was wondering if any of the old time Forum Members might have any of Elmer Keith's rifle books that might show this rifle. Perhaps it may have been referenced in articles in Guns Magazine or other publications of the time.

The rifle was built up from a Gewehr 98 action, with a 26-1/2'' medium-weight bull barrel. Barrel is marked ''.280-O.K.H.'' (O'Neil, Keith & Hopkins) at the side. It is topped with an Lyman Alaskan All-Weather scope, one of Keith's favorites. Top of barrel is also marked ''280-300-CCC'' (Controlled Combustion Chamber), a later and final chambering by O'Neil. Apparently the 280 O.K.H. is a .300 H&H magnum case reconfigure it to take a .28 cal. 180-grain bullet.

Approximately 450 .280 cal. projectiles and 100 pcs of H&H brass in a small wooden crate were included with the rifle. The crate has a Railway Express label and the top of crate lid is addressed to Elmer Keith, North Fork, Idaho; sides of crate are additionally marked ''C.M. O'Neil, Hopkins, Minn.''.

The North Fork Idaho address is the location of Keith's ranch in the the 1930s and early 1940s on the North Fork of the Salmon River near Salmon, Idaho. The rifle corresponds to the years just prior to WWII.

Elmer Keith developed many important firearms calibers. He experimented with many various rifle cartridge configurations, some of which caught on and became famous, and other calibers such as this that became stepping stones to more effective cartridges.


I was able to find the following reference in the May 1960 issue of GUNS, Elmer mentions this rifle specifically.



Whats that? .... Eagles?

Here is what the rifle looks like with its accessories.



Anyone finding a reference, please respond.

thanks

What's that? ... Eagles?

"PESTS!"

Wish I could help. Nice wood, but looks like they started with a blank lacking enough dimension to finish out the forearm end.
Good catch there.

You may want to check into his book "Big Game Hunting" it's been years since I read it, but he mentions most of the firearms that he used on his ventures.

buck, the 285 OKH used the '06 case as a basis for the cartridge..if you have 300 H & H brass necked to 285 with no other changes, I would be you have a .280 Dubiel...Elmer shot this before the .285 OKH..The load you have of 55 gr. of 4350 and a 180 grain bullet is correct for the 285 okh, but it was on the 06 case..In some of my books, I have a photo of Keith's rifle, it had a peep sight base, I believe, and I know it had an EK on the pistol grip..I think it was carved into the wood before the checkering was cut..it also had a double set trigger..I would have to do some looking to locate the photos, but the rifle you have is not the one pictured in the books I have..BUT that means nothing..Elmer easily could have had two of these rifles..I know he had a couple .333okh's. Hope this helps, if you need more info..and I can help I would be happy to if I can..at any rate, you have a super neat rifle...

Hello,

Thank you for the reply.

Yes, I'm familiar with the 285 OKH. Its basically a 280 Remington. This is in fact a 280 OKH.

The .280 Dubiel is very close, only a very slightly smaller shoulder dia. The Dubiel is listed with a .284 dia bullet, however, and this 280 OKH has a .288 dia bullet. The load given of 55g of 4350 is from Elmer's article and this load also came with the rifle.

Elmer's 280 Dubiel is a different rifle. The action, stock, and barrel were all different. The fact that he referred to this rifle as a "Heavy Barrel 280 OKH" leaves no doubt that he must have owned both. I'm not sure which came first.

But since he mentioned this rifle in a 1960 Guns Magazine article as his favorite for a task, makes me think he may have mentioned it at other times as well.

I'm still hoping that someone will run across a picture.

Wow...what a piece of history.

In his book Safari, Elmer had a lot, if not all, of his rifles pictured. This one might not have been in it, as he might not have had it then. The seeming short fore end is the European style, and would be proper. Have you attempted to chamber a piece of the H&H brass, as it might have just been included. Ackley says, the 285 essentially the 280 Rem/7mm06, and loads the same.

Back in Elmers day, Eagles dispised. He shot them when he could, and his DIL sent me a picture of a NRA cover with Elmer and Loraine on the front, with a dead eagle. I have also read a story by a guy who went on a couple months hunt to Alaska, who paid for part of it, by shooting eagles for the bounties.

Would much rather have that rifle of Elmers, than the one (there are actually a dozen) of Warren Pages, that are coming up for sale.

Was just looking closely (as possible) and appears ammo in the picture not belted so presume it's on the 06 case. Love that rifle.

That wooden ammo box is beyond cool. What a different time he lived in.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, the ammo in the picture (4 rounds) is belted. Just a little hard to make out. It is 300 H&H necked down to 280. They are about 3-5/8" long.



You can see that this action was specially altered for this long cartridge. There is a radius cut-out in the side of the receiver ring to accomodate the extra long length of the 280 OKH round. The GEW 98 action was originally designed for the 8x57mm Mauser cartridge with a loaded length of only 3-1/4".



I really enjoy this rifle with its Elmer Keith provenance. Now I'm trying to get a little more history about it, if it still exists. Finding a book reference with a picture of the rifle would be the greatest, but another magazine reference would also do nicely.

I find it interesting, that on a hunting rifle, with rifle scopes of that time not yet fog / fool proof, Mr. Keith was willing to go with out iron sights.

Keiths Rifles for Large Game has several mentions of the 280 OKH.

Hello, thanks for your reply.

Could you tell me what pages in Keith's Rifles for Large Game mention the 280 OKH, and what was said?

I understand what you are saying about scopes of the day. I think this rifle was more of a specialty rifle than a "drag-it-around" hunting rifle. It is pretty heavy with its long 26-1/2" Bull Barrel. The barrel also has in place target blocks for use with a long Lyman or Unertl style target scope.

bstix,

sorry, no can do. I do not own a copy of the book. I had occasion to study it a few years back, so all IIRC.

Golden eagles were/are the nemesis of sheep and goat ranchers, as well as to deer and antelope herds. jack

I just looked through my copy of Keith's "Big Game Rifles & Cartridges" and there is no mention of the .280 OKH, but numerous mentions of the .280 Dubiel.

Yes Eagles!
Alaska had a bounty on Bald Eagles back then!
They eat fish ya know!

Nice photos of an historical rifle; Elmer Keith did a lot for the development of modern cartridges and thsi rifle is a piece of his historical role. Thanks for posting.

Thank you Mesabi,

With as close as the 280 OKH is to the 280 Dubiel, I wonder if perhaps the 280 OKH came first as an experimental 280 Dubiel cartridge.

Anyone know exactly when John Dubiel invented his cartridge? I know that Elmer worked with John on several experimental cartridges in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Dubiel also built rifles for Keith as surmised from the following quote of Elmer's from a December 1959 issue of Guns Magazine.

...I tried out a .333 Jeffery back in 1929, and tried to interest John Dubiel in necking down the .300 Magnum cartridge (then in its abrupt-shoulder form) to .333, John agreed that it would make a fine long-range cartridge for all-around use on American big game, and he made up the reamers for the cartridge, that later became the .334 O.K.H. However, John got side-tracked on a 6 mm Magnum and was already working on his .280 Dubiel and .276 Dubiel. so he never made the rifle for me...

Found this in one of my old keepsake books, '69 G&A annual

Looks like a different one? Caption reads "Large mule deer taken
with 180 grain, .285 O.K.H.

edit- ok, still wrapping my head around the different versions,
yours is 280, this 285. Sorry!

Elmer was sort of my mentor in gunny stuff and he was the one who eventually pushed me into writing. He loved it that my .338-'06 was a modernization of his .333 OKH. Anyway, I wrote some of that stuff into Nosler Reloading Manual Number Six.

Shoot eagles? Yup, usually those nasty big ol' golden eagles. They literally can carry away lambs and I've seen a pair kill a newborn calf. Hell yes, we shot them.

I believe the headspace of the .285 OKH and the .30-'06 are the same. If so, the .285 OKH is identical to the 7mm-'06.

The .280 Remington's headspace datum is .051" longer than the '06 case.

I didn't read this whole thread, mostly because there was all kinds of non-essential stuff being thrown out. I'm not sure if anyone mentioned the primer tubes or the duplex loads. E. and I were forever talking about that.

Nice rifle. And your 7mm based on the .300H&H is entirely another round. We talked a lot about that, too. He loved it.

Given my choice of the rifle or spending one more hour with Elmer, I'd take the time with the wonderful man.

God Bless,

Steve


PS. Here's kind of a cool thing Elmer wrote in the front of one of his books he sent me. ST