The 4 rules of firearm safety

[Walkalong]

Arguing over the four rules adds nothing to the thread or the reminder to treat guns as though they are loaded for the safety factor.

The four rules work, are widely accepted as the standard, and are great for teaching gun safety to new gun owners.

Bottom line is if followed they will keep you out of trouble.

And kind of like the English language, there can be exceptions that are easily understood, unless one insists on over thinking it.

Are they perfect? Is anything? Do they work? Yes they do.

 

[Frank Ettin]

....I have elaborated on the superior alternatives to Cooper's rules and methods as requested.

No, you have elaborated on what you think are superior alternatives to Jeff Cooper's rules and doctrines. Whether they are on not will ultimately be decided in the market place of ideas. But the reality is that thus far Cooper's approach as been widely accepted and proven its worth in that market place (or has served as the starting point for evolutionary improvements).

Furthermore, your analysis is based on some misunderstandings:

1. Let's look again at what Greg Morrison says about the flash sight picture (Morrison, Gregory, The Modern Technique of the Pistol, Gunsite Press, 1991, pp 87 - 88, emphasis added):
   

   ...The flash sight-picture involves a glimpse of the sight-picture sufficient to confirm alignment....The target shooter’s gaze at the front sight has proven inappropriate for the bulk of pistol fighting. However, the practical shooter must start at this level and work up to the flash, which becomes reflexive as motor skills are refined. With practice, a consistent firing platform and firing stroke align the sights effortlessly. This index to the target eventually becomes an instantaneous confirmation of the sight-picture.
   
   ...Using the flash sight-picture programs the reflex of aligning the weapon’s sights with the target instantly....There is good reason for sights: one needs them to align the barrel with the target reliably....

   
   Whether it becomes obsolete, only time can tell.
   
   
2. The surprise beak and the compressed surprise break are well understood.
   
   
   • First, the surprise break has proven itself to be a very effect way to teach beginners how to press the trigger to make the gun fire without disrupting the index of the gun on the target. So it's described as smoothly increasing pressure on the trigger, while maintaining focus on the front sight, until the shot breaks without trying to predict exactly when the gun will go off or trying to cause the shot to break at a particular moment.
     
     
   • But of course, that is just the starting point. When using the gun for practical applications, e. g., hunting or self defense, one needs to be able to make the gun fire "right now", but still without disrupting the index of the gun on the target. That's where the compressed surprise break comes in.
     
     
   • If one diligently practices applying a smooth, continuously increasing pressure to the trigger, the time interval between beginning to press and the shot breaking gets progressively shorter until it become indistinguishable from being instantaneous. In other words, that period of uncertainty during which the shot might break, but you don't know exactly when, becomes vanishingly short. And that is the compressed surprise break.
     
     
   • Jeff Cooper explains the compressed surprise break in this video beginning at 36:04.
     
     
   • This article by Jeff Campbell and this article by Jim Wilson might also be helpful.
     
     
   • I'm with a group of instructors who teach a lot of complete beginners. Perhaps 80% of our students had never even touched a real gun before. One of the things that gives them the most trouble is learning to make the gun fire without moving the gun. The concept of the surprise break helps.
     
     You can tell a beginner that he needs to "...be the master of his trigger finger and know how to pull that trigger correctly without disrupting that sight picture...." But he won't have a clue how to actually do that. Learning how to do that is where the surprise break, progressing to the compressed surprise break, comes in.

And of course things have evolved. Humans should not stop learning. And others will have new ideas. The value of new idea needs to be actually tested and confirmed, not merely assumed because they are new. The value of the foundation laid by Jeff Cooper, the Southwest Combat Pistol League, and Gunsite has been demonstrated by the legions of student

 

[Jammersix]

Are they perfect? Is anything? Do they work? Yes they do.

That's exactly my point. The NRA's rules work, too. Scout ranges are some of the safest ranges in America.

And no, I belong to two ranges where the NRA's rules are used. So therefore I disagree that the Cooper Four are the standard.

 

[Robert]

Try as we might, some of y'all just can't be adults or have a differing opinion with out crapping all over a thread or other people.

Don't like the four rules? Cool. Don't follow them. No need to go on a vendetta against someone who tired to make our sport, our rights, safer. I guess if you don't like it start your own school, hold your own classes and become internationally recognized as one of the foremost experts on all things firearms related.

Some days I wonder why we even try...

 

[9mmepiphany]

I think this thread is pretty much done as it has de strayed far from the original intent of the OP