Mike Irwin
Member
Serious question; I really don't know the answer to this.
What was Cooper's military service?
Did he see any combat?
What was Cooper's military service?
Did he see any combat?
Is It Just Me, Or Does Jeff Cooper . . .
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Archie
Member
Mike, Cooper was....
a commissioned officer during the Korean War. From some of his memoirs, he seems to have commanded an infantry unit at some points. (He discusses the difficulty of loading a 45 Colt SAA huddled in a fighting hole in the dark and rain...)
I have not examined his service record, but he claims to have been in combat. I'll let it go at that.
As for the 1911 question: Plastic frames have as much place on a fighting tool as front wheel drive does on a sports car.
a commissioned officer during the Korean War. From some of his memoirs, he seems to have commanded an infantry unit at some points. (He discusses the difficulty of loading a 45 Colt SAA huddled in a fighting hole in the dark and rain...)
I have not examined his service record, but he claims to have been in combat. I'll let it go at that.
As for the 1911 question: Plastic frames have as much place on a fighting tool as front wheel drive does on a sports car.
Can't give you too many specifics, perhaps some Cooper experts can. I do know that he served in the Pacific in WWII and saw combat. After WWII he saw some action while serving as an advisor in some third world countries, primarily I believe in South America.
Some of this he talks about directly in his written works, others he just makes allusions to in his columns or other works.
Some of this he talks about directly in his written works, others he just makes allusions to in his columns or other works.
Dean Speir
Member
Ol' son, Jeff Cooper could author a thesaurus!
The man has an extraordinary vocabulary and gift of language which he uses very well. One has only to sit and converse with him to confirm that, as well as the enormous breadth of subjects about which he is knowledgeable.
And the style of his writing reflects that time, FPrice… actually, even an earlier time. I happen to enjoy his use of language.
Is he an 83-year-old fud who makes too many factual errors? Absolutely! But that's pretty much a separate issue here.
And bad_dad_brad , if you think of "M1911 race guns" and "contests" in the same context as Jeff Cooper, then you have zero grasp of anything about Cooper and handguns. (Or did I misread you?)
When I read his page in the back of that gun rag (I forgot which one it is), I can almost allways find something I strongly agree with and something I strongly disagree with. I think that is a good thing. There is a saying (I forget exactly how it goes) that says something like, 'if what your saying isn't making someone mad, then your really not saying anything at all'.
So, the point is, you may not like him or agree with him but at least he has the balls to speak his mind. Most gun rag writers are so worthless that they choose their words so carfully, they end up not really saying anything at all. Here is a typical example: 'this pistol showed that it has potential combat accuracy and reliability was a promising. If only we had more time and different types of ammo, I'm sure this pistol would have preformed much better'. What? Is it junk or not? See what I mean? Cooper leaves no doubt.
So, the point is, you may not like him or agree with him but at least he has the balls to speak his mind. Most gun rag writers are so worthless that they choose their words so carfully, they end up not really saying anything at all. Here is a typical example: 'this pistol showed that it has potential combat accuracy and reliability was a promising. If only we had more time and different types of ammo, I'm sure this pistol would have preformed much better'. What? Is it junk or not? See what I mean? Cooper leaves no doubt.
Nightcrawler
Member
I've been reading his writings for a long time. Is he a xenophobe, sexist, or whatever? I don't know. I can't judge a man's character based on pages of unrelated paragraphs, without ever having met him. And, given the fact that he is well into his eighties and literally grew up in an earlier era, I'll just be content that he's entitled to his opinions. After all, he's certainly not trying to force them on anyone or make policy out of them.
I have, however, learned a great deal from him, and I take his experience to heart. Quite frankly, he's shot a lot more people to I have (and survived), and when it comes to the serious use firearms, THAT'S the kind of experience that counts.
...As for the $10.00 words...occassionally, I admit, I've perhaps had to look up a word or two in his many columns. I don't consider this bad. So the man knows more words than me; good for him. If I have to look it up, great, I've learned a new word. I don't know that his writing style is Pulitzer quality, but I don't mind it at all.
I have, however, learned a great deal from him, and I take his experience to heart. Quite frankly, he's shot a lot more people to I have (and survived), and when it comes to the serious use firearms, THAT'S the kind of experience that counts.
...As for the $10.00 words...occassionally, I admit, I've perhaps had to look up a word or two in his many columns. I don't consider this bad. So the man knows more words than me; good for him. If I have to look it up, great, I've learned a new word. I don't know that his writing style is Pulitzer quality, but I don't mind it at all.
I hate "Ditto-heads".
The whole concept of saying that "I unreservedly give my unqualified approval of everything you say, because of your last remark" is abhorrant to me. Why would a person do that?!? There are some who feel they must. (Many call in to Rush Limbaugh.
) Some defend Jeff Cooper as a beatified saint.
Me, I learned to love 1911s at the knee of my father, who in ~1978 or '79, I think it was (heck, let him tell you; he's on this board, too!), went to Gunsite, and heard it from The Prophet himself. And you know what? My dad took Col. Cooper's philosophy and ran with it. As an LEO, it likely saved his life, more than once. And he taught me.
Now, here I am, roughly a quarter-century after my old man was lectured by Lt. Col. Cooper and taught for a week on that AZ range, and I pack my own 1911 to work every day. I've only drawn it a few times, and twice do I have vivid impressions:
1. Re-holstering after backing up a trooper on a drunk who failed-to-yield, with the deep impression of the safety on the top of my thumb. ([For those of you unfamiliar with the 1911, 'UP' means 'Safe'.) 2. Firing into a fleeing felon's front tire, and knowing I was hitting it, because that's where I was shooting, even though it wasn't deflating immediately [low speed of target vehicle.].
I rely daily on some knowledge and cautionaries that I've read from the august gentleman. Others, I believe I've tossed aside as not for me. All in all, regardless of his politics, I believe that he's the most important shotist alive.
Top. That.
The whole concept of saying that "I unreservedly give my unqualified approval of everything you say, because of your last remark" is abhorrant to me. Why would a person do that?!? There are some who feel they must. (Many call in to Rush Limbaugh.
) Some defend Jeff Cooper as a beatified saint. Me, I learned to love 1911s at the knee of my father, who in ~1978 or '79, I think it was (heck, let him tell you; he's on this board, too!), went to Gunsite, and heard it from The Prophet himself. And you know what? My dad took Col. Cooper's philosophy and ran with it. As an LEO, it likely saved his life, more than once. And he taught me.
Now, here I am, roughly a quarter-century after my old man was lectured by Lt. Col. Cooper and taught for a week on that AZ range, and I pack my own 1911 to work every day. I've only drawn it a few times, and twice do I have vivid impressions:
1. Re-holstering after backing up a trooper on a drunk who failed-to-yield, with the deep impression of the safety on the top of my thumb. ([For those of you unfamiliar with the 1911, 'UP' means 'Safe'.) 2. Firing into a fleeing felon's front tire, and knowing I was hitting it, because that's where I was shooting, even though it wasn't deflating immediately [low speed of target vehicle.].
I rely daily on some knowledge and cautionaries that I've read from the august gentleman. Others, I believe I've tossed aside as not for me. All in all, regardless of his politics, I believe that he's the most important shotist alive.
Top. That.
TonyB
Member
You can disagree with Cooper al you want...
But I dare you to try and take his 45 away from him!!
His is an OPINION column.He is a wealth of knowledge and a great personality in a world where everyone is PC or middle of the road.I can't wait till I'm old enough to really say what I think and get away with it.
If you don't like him or his writing....just skip the last page of the magazine.
But I dare you to try and take his 45 away from him!!
His is an OPINION column.He is a wealth of knowledge and a great personality in a world where everyone is PC or middle of the road.I can't wait till I'm old enough to really say what I think and get away with it.
If you don't like him or his writing....just skip the last page of the magazine.
Oracle
Member
My problem isn't with Cooper's praise of the 1911, or his writing style, it's his dismissal of virtually every technological advance since 1950, combined with his general arrogance. He dismisses out of hand anything that doesn't fit with his opinions, without any thought or research as to whether his opinions might be wrong. Anyone who patently ignores evidence that his opinions might be wrong, and refuses to even acknowledge that someone else's opinions that run contrary to his might be just as valuable, is far from wise, in fact, is just the opposite. "They all fall to hardball", yeah, Jeff, keep telling yourself that.
Monte Harrison
Member
Boy do you know how to stir up a hornet's nest!
Don Gwinn
Moderator Emeritus
Did Cooper say "They all fall to hard ball?" I thought he advocated JHP?
Anyway, I'm no expert on pistolcraft, but I know a little about writing and the English language. There is absolutely, positively nothing wrong with using "ten-dollar words" IF the word you choose in any given situation is correct and is the best choice.
People used to be taught this basic concept in school, but now I don't hear it much. One begins with simple language and then adds ever more and more complex vocabulary and grammatical devices as one matures and finds the need for them. There are times when a "ten-dollar word" is more accurate than a small word or a simple word, because it is closer to the actual meaning the author wishes to convey.
Obviously, a man can look foolish if he uses a ten-dollar word where a simpler term would have been more accurate. I refer to this as "Don King Syndrome." It can easily cause you to profligate your acclimation, as regards the systematic implosion of the imperative. . . .
Cooper does not do this.
Anyway, I'm no expert on pistolcraft, but I know a little about writing and the English language. There is absolutely, positively nothing wrong with using "ten-dollar words" IF the word you choose in any given situation is correct and is the best choice.
People used to be taught this basic concept in school, but now I don't hear it much. One begins with simple language and then adds ever more and more complex vocabulary and grammatical devices as one matures and finds the need for them. There are times when a "ten-dollar word" is more accurate than a small word or a simple word, because it is closer to the actual meaning the author wishes to convey.
Obviously, a man can look foolish if he uses a ten-dollar word where a simpler term would have been more accurate. I refer to this as "Don King Syndrome." It can easily cause you to profligate your acclimation, as regards the systematic implosion of the imperative. . . .
Cooper does not do this.
Preacherman
Member
Oracle, you do Col. Cooper an injustice by saying that. When he was back in the States after World War II, he and an associate in the Marines tested (exhaustively) all manner of captured enemy firearms, trying to see whether the 1911A1 should be replaced with a more modern weapon incorporating "advances" made elsewhere. After who knows how many thousands of rounds downrange, their conclusion was that the .45 was just fine as it was.
Later, in the '50's and '60's, he and others in the Southwest Pistol League (I think that was the name) tried everything and anything to see what worked best with a handgun. It was at their events that Deputy Sheriff Jack Weaver developed what was to become the ubiquitous presentation stance of its day; it was at their events that the combat auto pistol was decisively proven to offer real advantage over the revolver in terms of firepower, speed, etc.; it was at their events that most of the modern doctrines of combat pistolcraft were developed. In the mid-1970's, it was Col. Cooper who drew all these threads together in the American Pistol Institute, based at Gunsite, to teach the "Combat Pistolcraft Gospel According To Cooper".
Today there are many who look down on Col. Cooper as outdated or "past it". Yet the principles he developed and taught are the foundation of every single serious combat curriculum in the handgun training industry, bar none! There are literally no exceptions to this. Sure, new elements may have been added (some good, like Isosceles, some dubious to useless, like "getting off a shot fast to spoil their aim, then aiming for the next one" - yes, there's a school - I use the term loosely! - that teaches that...), but overall, I'd guess that two-thirds or more of any competent school's curriculum comes straight from Col. Cooper and his API.
Sure, Col. Cooper champions the 1911 to the exclusion of other good combat-worthy weapons that have come along in the past twenty or thirty years: but his championship of it is based on extensive testing and vast experience. He doesn't have that with newer designs. I can forgive him this idiosyncracy. As for championing Weaver over Isosceles, etc., this is a matter of individual opinion. I can shoot faster with a low-recoil weapon from Isosceles, but with a heavy-recoil pistol or revolver, I'm more accurate from Weaver. Maybe he has a point...?
So don't write him off, friend Oracle. If any of us accomplish half as much in the cause of RKBA and combat pistolcraft as he has, we'll leave the world a richer, better place. Col. Cooper has all my respect and admiration, and if we disagree on some issues, I'm betting he has good reason for his views, and I'll not fault him on them.
ZekeLuvs1911
Member
But, but, Jeff is right about the M1911! No other gun has the mystique and aura that it has....and I'm not talking about a couple of strippers either.
I find the man hilarious to read AT TIMES. This is because the man is antiquated, and therefore, mostly politically-incorrect. This can be fun AT TIMES.
Other times, his innuendos about those who are not American males of European descent (or their European friends of yore) gets a bit much as does his view that Christianity accounts for much of the superiority of such men.
One thing that does bother me is his apparent view that there is only ONE right way in the world in many things and that his way, in fact, is that right way. He does not seem to understand that there are many different paths to the same end.
In a related topic, he appears to assume a great deal of sense of superiority over his command of the English grammar - he often bemoans the utter lack of grammatical and literary abilities of today's youths (i.e. those who came to age after him). Funny - because he continues to misuse the word "principal" in lieu of "principle" - a common enough mistake on the part of many, but perhaps not that, which is acceptable from one who assumes a lordly sense of superiority from his supposed impeccable command of the English language.
For someone who loves being the product of a republican society, he affects the literary manners of a European nobleman! Amusing - but only in small doses.
Nonetheless, my hats off to the man for his service to our nation and freedom!
Other times, his innuendos about those who are not American males of European descent (or their European friends of yore) gets a bit much as does his view that Christianity accounts for much of the superiority of such men.
One thing that does bother me is his apparent view that there is only ONE right way in the world in many things and that his way, in fact, is that right way. He does not seem to understand that there are many different paths to the same end.
In a related topic, he appears to assume a great deal of sense of superiority over his command of the English grammar - he often bemoans the utter lack of grammatical and literary abilities of today's youths (i.e. those who came to age after him). Funny - because he continues to misuse the word "principal" in lieu of "principle" - a common enough mistake on the part of many, but perhaps not that, which is acceptable from one who assumes a lordly sense of superiority from his supposed impeccable command of the English language.
For someone who loves being the product of a republican society, he affects the literary manners of a European nobleman! Amusing - but only in small doses.
Nonetheless, my hats off to the man for his service to our nation and freedom!
gburner
member
Of babies and bathwater
I know little of .45's save for my experience with my own 1911A1. I have never fired a pistol that was easier to use, hit consistently and effectively with and disassemble for cleaning.
Does it carry the most rounds...no.
Is it the lighest...by no means.
Is it easily concealable...hardly.
Will it save your life...yes, indeed.
In many ways, this pistol is a relection of the Col. himself. Both are anachronisms that continue to serve effectively well into old age. Unfortunately, some are more into name
calling and nit picking than they are into continuing to educate themselves.
I know little of .45's save for my experience with my own 1911A1. I have never fired a pistol that was easier to use, hit consistently and effectively with and disassemble for cleaning.
Does it carry the most rounds...no.
Is it the lighest...by no means.
Is it easily concealable...hardly.
Will it save your life...yes, indeed.
In many ways, this pistol is a relection of the Col. himself. Both are anachronisms that continue to serve effectively well into old age. Unfortunately, some are more into name
calling and nit picking than they are into continuing to educate themselves.
bogie
Member
Well, all I know about the 1911 is that I can look at a target object, close meow eyes, pick up an "out of the box, no weird stuff done to it" 1911, point it, and when I open my eyes, I'm looking dead down the sights and the thing requires minimal readjustment for a "perfect" target acquisition.
VERY nice ergonomics, and for me it instinctively points.
VERY nice ergonomics, and for me it instinctively points.
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Dean Speir
Member
Hey, Erick… good to see ya!
Don't know about others (Preacherman, Matt G., et al), but you certainly should know that the titles "Col." and "LTC" are not appropriate to Jeff, and he does not himself use them as he is very aware of protocol, and having resigned his USMC commission as a Lieutenant Colonel (as opposed to having retired at that rank), he is, strictly speaking, jus' plain ol' "Mister Cooper" or simply "Jeff Cooper." (Which still counts for a great deal, his detractors withstanding to the contrary.)
"Ye Gawds and big bore bullets," I thundered at the TV screen, "the top shooters in the discipline you co-founded use the isosceles, you old fool!" (I'd just returned from the World Shoot where Rob Leatham had made his bones, beating the pants off both John Shaw and the Gunsite-sponsored reigning World Champion, Ross Seyfried.)
Well, it took me a bit longer, but I came to appreciate that Jeff, even in his arrogance, had been right. The Weaver was and remains today a far-superior (in my never quite humble-enough opinion) technique when one is shooting full-power loads… at least for me, and, I note, a pretty fair number of very models of the modern martial artist. (Appologies to G&S.)
Yes, Jeff's obduracy is the stuff of legend, and at risk of anyone thinking I'm suggesting that he is flexible, he has upgraded his doctrine over the past quarter century, or at least between the founding of his high desert dojo and when he resigned as its Director of Curriculum ten years ago next month. API was, after all, a laboratory as well as a school, and many advances in what has come to be known as the Modern Technique of the Pistol were made on his watch. (And yes, such changes were rigorously tested before acceptance.)
And upon information and belief, the SouthWest Pistol League was formed after that.
My earlier point exactly… it's why thems what run 'n' gun in the fields of IPSC so favor it. (Ironically, I added to my own body of learning about the "other" stance in the mid-'90s at an LFI course… where students were required to try several different techniques. Mas Ayoob siddled up to me and said "I know you're going to go back to what you learned from the good Colonel {sic}, but just let me show you something about the 'Stressfire Isosceles' before you do." And guess what? It has some pretty good things going for it, even with full-power rounds! But it is most assuredly not the same "Isosceles" favored by the "gamesmen" of USPSA.)
BTW: here's Jeff's own recollections of those days and "The Weaver:"
Don't know about others (Preacherman, Matt G., et al), but you certainly should know that the titles "Col." and "LTC" are not appropriate to Jeff, and he does not himself use them as he is very aware of protocol, and having resigned his USMC commission as a Lieutenant Colonel (as opposed to having retired at that rank), he is, strictly speaking, jus' plain ol' "Mister Cooper" or simply "Jeff Cooper." (Which still counts for a great deal, his detractors withstanding to the contrary.)
I hear ya, Oracle, and that used to infuriate me, starting with a videotape he made circa 1981-2 in which he arrogantly dismissed with a brief pronouncement the isosceles stance as irrelevant.
"Ye Gawds and big bore bullets," I thundered at the TV screen, "the top shooters in the discipline you co-founded use the isosceles, you old fool!" (I'd just returned from the World Shoot where Rob Leatham had made his bones, beating the pants off both John Shaw and the Gunsite-sponsored reigning World Champion, Ross Seyfried.)
Well, it took me a bit longer, but I came to appreciate that Jeff, even in his arrogance, had been right. The Weaver was and remains today a far-superior (in my never quite humble-enough opinion) technique when one is shooting full-power loads… at least for me, and, I note, a pretty fair number of very models of the modern martial artist. (Appologies to G&S.)
Yes, Jeff's obduracy is the stuff of legend, and at risk of anyone thinking I'm suggesting that he is flexible, he has upgraded his doctrine over the past quarter century, or at least between the founding of his high desert dojo and when he resigned as its Director of Curriculum ten years ago next month. API was, after all, a laboratory as well as a school, and many advances in what has come to be known as the Modern Technique of the Pistol were made on his watch. (And yes, such changes were rigorously tested before acceptance.)
I think you're just a tad outta synch on some of this, Preacherman. The "events" were the Big Bear Leatherslaps, and when Jack Weaver arrived with his own synthesis of the two-handed technique, it was with a revolver… around 1956, as I recollect. Interestingly, it took Jeff and the others… Thell Reed, Eldon Carl, Ray Chapman, etc., several years to acknowledge the superior advantages of "The Weaver," and by Jeff's own admission to me in an interview ten years ago when I asked him what took him so long, he freely stated: "I was stubborn."
And upon information and belief, the SouthWest Pistol League was formed after that.
Preach, Brother!
My earlier point exactly… it's why thems what run 'n' gun in the fields of IPSC so favor it. (Ironically, I added to my own body of learning about the "other" stance in the mid-'90s at an LFI course… where students were required to try several different techniques. Mas Ayoob siddled up to me and said "I know you're going to go back to what you learned from the good Colonel {sic}, but just let me show you something about the 'Stressfire Isosceles' before you do." And guess what? It has some pretty good things going for it, even with full-power rounds! But it is most assuredly not the same "Isosceles" favored by the "gamesmen" of USPSA.)
BTW: here's Jeff's own recollections of those days and "The Weaver:"
ReadyontheRight
Member
One of my favorite Col. Cooper rants:
Important to point out? Yes. Politically correct? No.
The USA would be a sorry place if we didn't have Col. Cooper AND Rush Limbaugh AND other voices like NPR/Dan Rather/CNN... PLUS our own brains and experience to form our opinions.
We've been trained to denounce those who say what they really think without hiding it in PC terms as "sexist", "xenophobic", "racist" or whatever.
It seems we would be better off to concentrate less on words and more on people's actions and accomplishments -- both of which seem fairly commendable in Col. Cooper's case.
Unfortunately, heroic actions don't fit well into a sound bite for endless pundit pontification to fill up the cable channels. His words eloquently represent a generation that's disappearing. That generation seemed to learn better than mine that learning comes from a dialogue and personal experience, not blindly following and repeating one voice. Cooper usually makes sense to me, but I'm not going to go around calling anyone a "towel-head" just because he does.
Regarding 1911s, I can't carry in Minnesota, but I do like SHOOTING my 1911 much more than shooting my Glock 21 or the DA/decocker .45s I've shot.
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries Vol. 10 #4.
Important to point out? Yes. Politically correct? No.
The USA would be a sorry place if we didn't have Col. Cooper AND Rush Limbaugh AND other voices like NPR/Dan Rather/CNN... PLUS our own brains and experience to form our opinions.
We've been trained to denounce those who say what they really think without hiding it in PC terms as "sexist", "xenophobic", "racist" or whatever.
It seems we would be better off to concentrate less on words and more on people's actions and accomplishments -- both of which seem fairly commendable in Col. Cooper's case.
Unfortunately, heroic actions don't fit well into a sound bite for endless pundit pontification to fill up the cable channels. His words eloquently represent a generation that's disappearing. That generation seemed to learn better than mine that learning comes from a dialogue and personal experience, not blindly following and repeating one voice. Cooper usually makes sense to me, but I'm not going to go around calling anyone a "towel-head" just because he does.
Regarding 1911s, I can't carry in Minnesota, but I do like SHOOTING my 1911 much more than shooting my Glock 21 or the DA/decocker .45s I've shot.
ReadyontheRight
Member
I will eliminate the use of "Col. Cooper" in the future. Thanks!
moxie
Member
I'm a big 1911 fan. Having owned and/or fired many 1911s, I settled on a Star PD. This is a lightweight 1911 clone, very similar to an Officer's Model. But it fits me a little better and my copy is 100% reliable and shoots very straight. I've put over 10,000 rounds through it in about 15 years and it still perks right along. My favorite automatic. So I share Col. Cooper's love of the 1911. Of course I also own others. My favorite revolver is an S&W 625-3.
Col. Cooper has his faults, and his style can be annoying to some. Nevertheless, listen to him when he talks about guns.
Regarding the Medal of Freedom. I'd nominate Joe Foss who passed away a few days ago at 87. He was a true American Hero, having been awarded the Medal of Honor over Guadalcanal. He was the second highest ranking Marine Ace after "Pappy" Boyington. State governor, head of the AFL, etc.
Most importantly for our purposes here, he was a staunch advocate of the rights of gun owners. He in fact was president of the NRA and longtime member of the board of directors. See this:
http://www.nrawinningteam.com/bios00/foss.html
They don't make many like him anymore.
Col. Cooper has his faults, and his style can be annoying to some. Nevertheless, listen to him when he talks about guns.
Regarding the Medal of Freedom. I'd nominate Joe Foss who passed away a few days ago at 87. He was a true American Hero, having been awarded the Medal of Honor over Guadalcanal. He was the second highest ranking Marine Ace after "Pappy" Boyington. State governor, head of the AFL, etc.
Most importantly for our purposes here, he was a staunch advocate of the rights of gun owners. He in fact was president of the NRA and longtime member of the board of directors. See this:
http://www.nrawinningteam.com/bios00/foss.html
They don't make many like him anymore.
Lictalon
Member
The man's a teacher, in addition to many other things.
With any teacher, some things you take, some you don't. I don't like the Weaver stance; my wife and I can whisper to each other "orange" or "yellow" in a crowded mall and know exactly what to do and how to do it. You don't need to agree with, like the way he talks or writes, or believe his opinions to take what works and leave what doesn't.
As far as championing the 1911...I think anyone who thinks about it for a minute will awknowledge that Americans, in particular, and people in general, have a "newer is better" mentality. It's our idea of progress, and it's often true.
"Often" is not "Always."
If it sounds like Cooper harps on the 1911 too much it's because he's fighting the same mentality in shooters that plagues those who claim the Second Amendment is anachronistic. As many of us know, arguing "times aren't as different as you think" is often a tough argument to make--but just because it's a tough case to prove doesn't mean it isn't true.
Rant done.
With any teacher, some things you take, some you don't. I don't like the Weaver stance; my wife and I can whisper to each other "orange" or "yellow" in a crowded mall and know exactly what to do and how to do it. You don't need to agree with, like the way he talks or writes, or believe his opinions to take what works and leave what doesn't.
As far as championing the 1911...I think anyone who thinks about it for a minute will awknowledge that Americans, in particular, and people in general, have a "newer is better" mentality. It's our idea of progress, and it's often true.
"Often" is not "Always."
If it sounds like Cooper harps on the 1911 too much it's because he's fighting the same mentality in shooters that plagues those who claim the Second Amendment is anachronistic. As many of us know, arguing "times aren't as different as you think" is often a tough argument to make--but just because it's a tough case to prove doesn't mean it isn't true.
Rant done.
As has been mentioned, Jeff Cooper has been there and done that. Here is a man that was one of the fathers of modern combat pistol shooting. Here is a man that was one of the fathers of modern action pistol shooting sports. Here is a man that had one of the first formal shooting schools. Here is a man that has made a lifetime study of pistol shooting in general, and combat pistol shooting.
The older I get, the more I realize how little I know, and how impressed I am with other people that have walked the walk. Yet many believe that after reading a few gun magazines and doing a little plinking they know more than people that have made these things their life's work.
The older I get, the more I realize how little I know, and how impressed I am with other people that have walked the walk. Yet many believe that after reading a few gun magazines and doing a little plinking they know more than people that have made these things their life's work.
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