Jeff Cooper’s First Article Here is a scanned copy of Jeff Cooper’s first published article, from the Marine Corps Gazette, in Sept 1946. Titled “What Good Is A Pistol?”, it discusses pistol training and caliber selection. Highlights: Cooper comments that the semiauto pistol be redesigned to have more slant and a slight curve — essentially…
Category: Handgun Corner
Training Stressors
From the Archives, 2018 (Hermit Note: In keeping with my recent announcement of re-centering priorities of “Just Shut-Up and Train!” I will be posting articles from the archives that I feel are of vital import to the Armed Citizen. Let’s all make a point to get out there and train in whatever capacity we are…
The Shooting People in the Face Drill, Revisited*
From the Archives, 2018 While training the other day I put in 20 rounds on the tried and true Mozambique or “Failure to Stop” Drill. After I ran through the drill I realized something: I had been training myself to PAUSE between the transition from the two shots to Center of Mass to the…
Trigger Press 101
Magazine Fatigue?
Magazine Fatigue? A question that routinely comes up when a new user gets an auto pistol – whether a police trainee or armed citizen – is “how long can the magazine stay loaded without compromising reliability?” – or words to that effect. It’s a fair question. I’m no metallurgist, but I’ve been handling guns…
Bill Jordan: No Second Place Winner
Bill Jordan: No Second Place Winner Bill Jordan was a lawman, famed trick-shot artist, and competitive shooter. His book No Second Place Winner remains a classic. Download a free copy below. (Use title link and scroll down for pdf file).
Lessons from the Past: 3 Reasons to Carry Backup
Lessons from the Past: 3 Reasons to Carry Backup To some, notorious Old West gunfighter John Wesley Hardin was a psychopathic murderer and racist. To others, Hardin was a genuine American hero. Whether Hardin was a terrorist or a freedom fighter was a question that dogged him throughout his lifetime. Now, 150 years after…
The Combat Quick Draw
The Combat Quick Draw: Classic Lessons From Elmer Keith From the February 1960 issue of GUNS Magazine, here is “the word” on combat quick draw, spoken out of a lifetime of experience as a hunter, guide and law officer by none other than Elmer Keith. Editor’s Note: It is high time, we think, that somebody…
Shooting Mechanics: Cooper’s El Presidente
Classic Combat Pistol Drill: Cooper’s El Presidente When my father first started teaching me to shoot a handgun around nine or ten years old, he used Cooper’s Modern Technique to cement the fundamentals and then a few years later the El Presidente to combine all of these skills together. One of the things I distinctly…
Milsurp Corner: 9mm Makarov Cartridge
The 9mm Makarov Cartridge This article brought back some very fond memories of my Curio and Relic Days when the Big Brown UPS truck of joy would deliver fully functional long rifles and handguns right to my door! But alas those days are long gone so all I have are memories and archived blog post…