Col. Jeff Cooper on the shotgun

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KY DAN

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I have been reading to ride,shoot straight, and speak the truth and have read the shotgun section very closely. I seem puzzled and believe I am not looking at the forest for one tree. He says the best way to store the weapon, a pump shotgun is hammer down, empty chamber, one round of #6 in mag tube to prevent setting of spring( I assume this means weakening) and an assortment of buck and slug in a butt cuff. So what is he saying? Keep your defensive weapon with only one round ready? I understand his alertness color system but we also live in the same world where wild bill was shot in the back so surprises just seem to happen whether we like them or not.
 
Won't attempt to answer this question... but would solidly recommend you look at the very first thread in this forum, it was started by Dave McCracken way back in 2008 "On fighting shotguns" (all 24 pages worth...). Crack a cold one (or your beverage of choice) and read through it. I've taken it for gospel - and I considered myself primarily a "shotgunner" when working the street all those years ago....

Every now and then I go back and re-read it. We were all very lucky to have Dave on this site until he passed on a few years ago...
 
Won't attempt to answer this question... but would solidly recommend you look at the very first thread in this forum, it was started by Dave McCracken way back in 2008 "On fighting shotguns" (all 24 pages worth...). Crack a cold one (or your beverage of choice) and read through it. I've taken it for gospel - and I considered myself primarily a "shotgunner" when working the street all those years ago....

Every now and then I go back and re-read it. We were all very lucky to have Dave on this site until he passed on a few years ago...

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/on-fighting-shotguns.355528/
 
"STORE" is the key word ! The col. kept a 14" registered outside hammer gun ( I believe it was an Ithaca) loaded by his bedside . I saw but not handled it. He was not talking about "cruiser ready" condition and that was an earlier work of his and the #6 birdshot was gonna be the last thing you shot in a defense situation. While he was not G-d , nor a Saint , he forgot more real info than anyone here thinks they know IMHO.
 
That's right up there with carrying handgun with empty chamber, over-oiling bores and leaving guns muzzle down so they can fall over and ding up, topping pistol magazine after chambering a round, pulling triggers on break-open guns to relieve spring tension apparently so that guns are harder to reassemble (especially L.C. Smith).....
 
Thanks Sharp Dog -that's what I should have done, posting the exact address to click on...

Folks I greatly admired both McCracken and Cooper (read everything that Cooper ever wrote the moment I came across it...) but I always thought that a pistol was what you brought to the potential fight when you couldn't get to your shotgun...

No one ignores a small guy with a shotgun at close quarters - and in police work what you're really trying to do is bring someone under control without firing a shot... At least that's how I operated for many years and I was always fully confident that my shotgun was a fight ender at close quarters if needed (close quarters = under 15 meters...). These days most outfits have gone to carbines instead of shotguns for more than one reason (and we all saw it coming years ago, before the change over...) but anyone with the time and willingness to learn the art of combat shotgunning knows how effective they are, period.,...
 
KY DAN- you will learn a lot by reading lemaymiami's posts on fighting shotguns, too. Gordon is right in that storing a shotgun that way relieves tension on the hammer spring, and prevents the mag spring from going bad, I think too many people think Col. Cooper meant that's how a 'bedside shotgun' should be kept-it isn't. But a 'bedside shotgun' that is kept with the tube full needs the mag spring replaced at regular intervals, and while hammer springs don't go bad near as quick, it can happen eventually to them, too.
 
I have been reading to ride,shoot straight, and speak the truth and have read the shotgun section very closely. I seem puzzled and believe I am not looking at the forest for one tree. He says the best way to store the weapon, a pump shotgun is hammer down, empty chamber, one round of #6 in mag tube to prevent setting of spring( I assume this means weakening) and an assortment of buck and slug in a butt cuff. So what is he saying? Keep your defensive weapon with only one round ready? I understand his alertness color system but we also live in the same world where wild bill was shot in the back so surprises just seem to happen whether we like them or not.
Cooper proposed this approach for a situation where it was unknown if the shotgun would be used indoors or outdoors. His approach allowed flexibility if the longer range of the slugs would be needed. That's one thing if you live on a ranch in Arizona, but I suspect that for most of us this is not a scenario that we need to worry about.
 
I would be interested to see a list, partial or complete, of what you disagree with. Or perhaps a few of the things of which you disagree most?

Don't expect much. Another fellow on another board made a similar claim and when I & several others inquired which articles/books/topics we got crickets.

As for shotguns, I don't consider Cooper an authority. The most constructive advice he gave indicated that he regarded the shotgun like a carbine. Sure, ghost ring sights and such might come in handy for slugs at range, but it leaves the shotgun's strengths (natural pointability without on-board sights and capability to hit moving targets) unexploited. A good wing shooter can hit a relatively small target moving quickly in three dimensions at tens of yards with or without a mere bead as a sighting device.
 
Technology, tactics, and training have come a long way since Cooper walked. How many modern fighting shotguns have you run across with an exposed hammer? Not many. As far as an empty chamber on a shotgun, that comes down to preference. Are you a LEO riding around in a patrol car all day? Might want to keep the chamber empty just in case. By the bedside, probably not. Keeping shell selection with slugs and buck is something I agree with as shotguns are one of the most versatile weapons around.
 
Well Col. Cooper was smart enough to bring Louis Awerbuck from South Africa to his Gunsite and the rest is history. Louis was, with out a doubt the guru of the TACTICAL scatter gun . I took many courses from him and a few from John Satterwhite earlier on shotgun, who taught me the proper traditional use of them in the 80s . I personally keep 5 managed recoil slugs in 7 round tube mags , chamber empty , in my personal tactical 870s . I want to defend family members if a hostage shot is required and I have confidence in ability to do that to 60 feet if required with my pet rifle sighted 870s even at my 73 years. I have extra shells (buck and shot) on a side saddle if needed. For me the shot gun defense role is an absolutely devastating .73" howitzer where with decent shot placement ,the enemy action will cease imm. up to 50 yards and maybe beyond. Several rifle calibers I have will also do that , but the SG is quicker in close to use in sustained fast paced problem solving. I also like buck shot inside a house if no hostage shots are included. My favorite and final 870 = Police Magnum 1989 with factory 7 shot mag and a billet follower , 18" Imp Cylinder RS barrel with Trigicon sights , Houge 12.5" stock and 1/4" longer GG&G swivel for single point sling = 12 3/4" LOP and Surefire Light Forend with a Turbo head and LED conversion. Very slick with several thousand rounds (mostly birdshot) thru it since I put it together in 2012 .
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