Col Jeff Cooper said you should own what?

[Glockster35]

I have read something many years ago, that Col Jeff Cooper said you should have several basic types of firearms.

I recall a lever action rifle, an auto loading pistol, a revolver, and a scout type rifle.

What exactly does his list include and where was this printed.

While I agree with a lot of the things Col Cooper has said over the years, I think his writing style is odd, and most of the stuff he writes about nowdays is useless to me. I could really care less about the adventures of others down in Africa on safari...But maybe some of you guys like this stuff.

 

[TonyB]

I guarantee the auto pistol was a 45.......they're the only pistols he thinks can be effective.....

 

[Gunfyter]

Cooper is an absolute master of the English language. I have enjoyed his writings for years and will miss them when he is gone. Because of Col. Cooper, we have the pistol techniques that we use today. He has a website and several years of his writings, a very worthwhile read. You might not always agree with him but he's as true an American Patriot as you'll find.

 

[El Tejon]

Tony, not so! He has used in peace and in war many different handguns.

Uncle Jeff has written extensively upon firearms. The question is when and where. Uncle Jeff's answer is always "it depends."

In Uncle Mel's book, he lists a "survival battery" to get one through the Carter years. Other places he has written about rimfires, pistols, lever actions, the CKC being a "must have", a Lee-Enfield, a Krag or an '03 being a "must have", a .460 GundA being a "must have."

 

[TonyB]

ok I stand corrected.....I have a small feild of expeirence of Cooper's writing....although I do find him amusing,and I think he is a great patriot.I didn't mean anything by my statement ,I just thought he was MR.Bigbore 45....

 

[Pendragon]

There seems to be this notion in our techno society that events, people and activities that we cannot directly relate to are of no value to us.

In another time, men learned all sorts of things that were not of immediate and direct use to them - like latin perhaps. The understanding was that learning a trade or a skill did not make one educated, but learning about the world and history and language and culture made one more aware of the world and imparted an understanding that while things may seem very different in different places, those are surface details - some things are very much the same where ever you go, some things are very different. The sophisitcated, educated gentleman understands this.

 

[Kaylee]

Well, from what I've read he is Mr.BigBore .45. Which isn't to say he -- or anyone here -- would volunteer to stand in front of an "ineffective" Euro round. Just that his preference seems to be for the 1911 pattern .45.

works for me.


Not to hijack the thread, but who came up with that ol' saw about "a pistol on the nightstand, a 12-guage by the door, a .30-06 for reaching out, you don't need any more?" Sounds like something he'd agree with, but I don't think that one was Cooper.

-K

 

[keano44]

Kaylee, that sounds like something Art would say.

 

[Brian Dale]

See "Jeff Cooper's Commentaries"...

just the link, because of the phrase, "not for publication" at the site:

http://www.dvc.org.uk/~johnny/jeff/

One place where he discusses the topic is in Volume 10, No. 7, from June, 2002. His list includes:

a .22 rifle (he likes the Marlin 39, a spiritual descendant of Annie Oakley's rifles);

a .308/.30-'06 class rifle, for which he strongly recommends the Steyr Scout;

a compact .22 autoloading pistol;

a good-grade 12-gauge autoloading shotgun.

In a later issue (I don't have the issue number; sorry), I seem to recall that he remarks that one ought to add a good, centerfire defensive handgun to the list. He favors 1911s, to put it mildly.

{edited to add:} and TonyB, Col. Cooper has also remarked (for example, in Vol. 10, No. 2, Feb. 2002) that a .22 rimfire to the tear duct of an attacker can stop a fight. He advocates lots of practice!

 

[BerettaNut92]

Gunfyter is the website Happybob listed the one you mentioned or is there another as well? That's definitely going in the bookmarks...

 

[BigG]

Cooper is an absolute master of the English language.

Cough... splutter... Cooper THINKS he is an absolute master of the English language. I think he is ok but pretty stilted and self congratulatory to an obscene degree, but you have a right to your opinion...

 

[bogie]

Cooper is an absolute master of the English language.

We must disagree with the aforereferenced statement, and concur with the previous poster as to the degree of linguistic skill evidenced by the master of the combat .45...

 

[keyhole]

IIRC Jeff's thoughts were a .45 was better to carry.

I always told the other officers who questioned my carrying a 1911, condition 1, that " God carries a .45, and gave Moses a Gold Cup when he crossed the Red Sea."

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'll agree with the first three, but a Scout rifle?

I failed to see the overt purpose of it when Cooper was kicking the idea around in the early 1980s, and I still fail to see its overt purpose now.

 

[Penforhire]

I like his opinions about recoil, how any 13 year old girl should be able to handle a .308 and such. I like his writings as many of you do. But at least admit the writings show the obvious lack of an editor.

 

[Quartus]

I could really care less about the adventures of others down in Africa on safari...But maybe some of you guys like this stuff.

Perhaps more reading of writing of that caliber would help your use of the language.

If you "could really care less " then you must care SOME. It may be a little, it may be a lot, but if LESS is possible, then you care MORE than zero.


Focusing only on what is of OBVIOUS and immediate value is a good way to remain uneducated.

 

[MacPelto]

LOL

Bogie - that may be the best Cooperific writing that I have ever seen!

 

[Archer]

I was fortunate enough to have participated in a three hour conversation with Jeff last Friday at his home.

In my opinion his sharp mind, refined wit and cavernous body of knowledge isn't something to denigrate, but you are entitled to your opinion. I certainly enjoyed the time as much as anything else I did at Gunsite last week (including waxing a guy with Simunitions).

In the past Jeff has said that every household should have (needs) a .22 such as a Ruger Mark 2, and all else is more or less optional (needs as opposed to wants).

As for his preference for the .45, it comes from personal experience. All three men who Jeff has had to shoot in his past were instantly downed with single shots to COM from his .45 (the first with a Peacemaker, the other two with 1911s.) Facts tend to outweigh opinions, as well as reinforce them.

 

[seeker_two]

a good-grade 12-gauge autoloading shotgun.

IIRC, his ideal shotgun was an exposed-hammer double-barrel shotgun--or what he called a lupara ....

His reasoning was that you could keep it fully loaded w/o stressing the mainspring, and he liked the short overall length for "household" use.

Can't say that I disagree, since I have a Stoeger Coach Gun as my HD SGN (minus the exposed hammers, of course)...

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

I failed to see the overt purpose of it when Cooper was kicking the idea around in the early 1980s, and I still fail to see its overt purpose now.

It's an accurate, handy carbine. It's got lots of purposes.

 

[Brian Dale]

seeker_two, he did recommend the lupara as well, in a different essay. In my above post, I paraphrased the list found in Vol. 10, No. 7 of the Commentaries. He discusses the double with exposed hammers elsewhere.

I recommend that anybody bookmark the site, start at Vol. 1, No. 1, and go through the essays as they have time. They're full of nuggets that I wouldn't have picked up on my own. I think the essays are delightful, and I like his writing style.

 

[BigG]

Geez, when this guy passes we're going to be seeing the faithful quoting Coop. 10:7 ...and the anger of the Lord waxed hot and he broke out against the heathen of the caliber which may not speak its name...

 

[Bob41081]

KayLee

It wqas Kurt Saxon that made the statement you asked about.

Bob

 

[Dean Speir]

Well, here we are again, BigG…

Cough... splutter... Cooper THINKS he is an absolute master of the English language. I think he is ok but pretty stilted and self congratulatory to an obscene degree...

The style he has for years affected is "stilted." But he uses it very well, and if you've ever discoursed with him in person on anything, I think you'd be impressed with the breadth of his knowledge and his command of the language.

That said, he has become increasingly impossible over the past couple of years, so much to that he's not permitted to come onto the instructional portion of the ranch with a loaded firearm.

... but you have a right to your opinion...

But then, you knew "holograph" and I didn't, so what do I know?!?

 

[BerettaNut92]

from the Commentaries linked above:

Being of the old school - the very old school - I wish to warn youthful readers against putting their faith in "gun writers." These people have a right to their opinions, but these opinions should not be taken as incontrovertible. As a youth I was led astray on a number of subjects and had to learn of my errors by personal field experience. The fact that a man "has been there and done that" does not necessarily mean that he knows what he is talking about. Read as much as you wish, but read critically, and then submit your conclusions to the test. This is not always possible, so read carefully, read critically, and then reserve judgment.