Jeff Cooper's Commentaries

[mac66]

Col. Jeff Cooper was THE Man back in the day when it came to firearms training. He virtually invented modern firearms training including modern combat pistol and rifle shooting. 

He wrote for many of the gun magazines in the 60s through into 2006 and was considered the Guru. While he continued to write magazine articles his commentaries on the back page of Guns & Ammo were extremely popular and were a reflection of the evolution of our times both in the firearms and the world in general.

I was fortunate to be around and gain interest in firearms in the 60's onward and read his most popular books and most of his articles.  There was no internet back then so one eagerly awaited ones monthly gun magazine to find out what was going on.

He founded API/Gunsite Training Academy and IPSC shooting. He developed the Bren Ten and subsequent 10mm pistol cartridge and the scout rifle concept. He was opinionated, brilliant, and hard headed. He was very open minded in terms of firearms design and development as long as it was his idea and design.  I didn't always agree with him but I admired his thought process.

I found this link to his commentaries in my bookmarks recently and thought others would enjoy them. Understand that you have to put them in context of the time they were written. Col Cooper died in 2006.  After reading his commentaries again recently I wonder what he would have thought of Appleseed?

Enjoy...

http://myweb.cebridge.net/mkeithr/Jeff/

[Bluesteel]

Well Mac,

After reading a few of his thoughts, I found this nugget (vol 14, 4).  I think this answers your question.

Since the military no longer teaches marksmanship in any serious sense, they do not teach the use of the shooting sling. I was taught the loop sling of the 03 rifle in high school ROTC, and it served me extremely well. I killed my one and only bull elk, my record ram, my mountain caribou, and my white goat using the loop sling. Naturally I think it is a technique worth knowing, and I taught it assiduously(!) here at Gunsite for many years. Go thou and do likewise.

[Charles McKinley]

There are several good bits of information on the FrFrog site mentioned on the About Jeff page.

[ItsanSKS]

Thank you very much for the link!  Excellent stuff!

[mac66]

Well Mac,

After reading a few of his thoughts, I found this nugget (vol 14, 4).  I think this answers your question.

Since the military no longer teaches marksmanship in any serious sense, they do not teach the use of the shooting sling. I was taught the loop sling of the 03 rifle in high school ROTC, and it served me extremely well. I killed my one and only bull elk, my record ram, my mountain caribou, and my white goat using the loop sling. Naturally I think it is a technique worth knowing, and I taught it assiduously(!) here at Gunsite for many years. Go thou and do likewise.

I guess I should have said, "I wonder what he would have WRITTEN about Appleseed",  both questions probably are rhetorical now that you mention it.  that quote is one of the things that spurred my question.  It would be nice to have someone of his stature advocating for us. I know Massad Ayoob does but he is not on the same level as Cooper.

[Johnnyappleseed]

I have read most of what Col Cooper had written. His books " To a Ride,Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth gives insight into this gun culture man .

It was with great fortune I had the opportunity to talk with Jeff Cooper in  1994 at a seminar in Phoenix Az.  IIRC he had not yet written " Another Country " .

If Appleseeders are interested,  his books  are probably available from the gunsite training academy .
Thanx Mac for the recollections ! The links you posted are like a time travel for me .

I too looked forward to reading Guns and Ammo for ColCoopers last page commentaries !
Incidentally,  congratulations on the Ruger contest. Today you are solidly in 1 st place. We will continue to vote for Gary from Michigan  every day !

[TaosGlock]

Cooper would have written positive things about PA. He spoke well of of other schools that were aligned with passing down marksmanship.   He had a MA in history and was well grounded in our heritage. He well knew the historical duties of what we call a "Rifleman". And the importance of passing down that skill to our posterity.
He loved small "We the People" type government and was supportive of CCW/RKBA especially civilians.

He was at the NRA Whittington Center for many years and has an entire private range he developed which is dedicated to his "General Rifle" course called Cooper's Rifle Walk:
Here is an AAR, our own Colorado Pete was there!
http://www.donath.org/Defense/Guns/CooperRifle/

I read his stuff since I was a young lad and it was his early work with the 10mm that really piqued my interest and led me to buy a Colt Delta Elite in 1989. Been a 10mm guy since!


He also spent much time on the Coors Range (below) where we teach Appleseeds, His spirit lives on.....


We owe him a lot  and thanks for posting the links mac.

[mac66]

We sometimes forget that the current generation of shooters didn't grow up with the likes of Cooper, Charles Askins, Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton, Bill Jorgan, Jack O'Connor etc, etc who created much of what we take for granted in firearms development today. It was really cool to be around while they were doing it or at least writing about it.

Cooper's stuff really takes me back.

[Surveyor1653]

Great link.  For me, who grew up in that period but wasn't "in the know," it's nice to go back and read what was happening in the shooting world when I was living at its edge.

[Charles McKinley]

Here are Amazon Links to his books:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=jeff+cooper&sprefix=Jeff+Cooper%2Caps%2C240

I lost several hours of sleep to this sight last night andjust got started.  Apparently there was quite a falling out when Gunsite changed hands.

Thanks for the link.

[PA10mm]

We sometimes forget that the current generation of shooters didn't grow up with the likes of Cooper, Charles Askins, Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton, Bill Jorgan, Jack O'Connor etc, etc who created much of what we take for granted in firearms development today. It was really cool to be around while they were doing it or at least writing about it.

Cooper's stuff really takes me back.

I grew up reading these classic works,  but most of these greats were already gone by that time. Jeff Cooper was still doing some writing back in the 90's when I got my start, and I bought G&A magazine up until the end just for Cooper's Corner.

BTW, I think the Colonel would be pretty pissed if he knew about the recent controversy with G&A.

I think it's a shame that a lot of shooters don't appreciate this history and will probably never study it.

[mac66]

We sometimes forget that the current generation of shooters didn't grow up with the likes of Cooper, Charles Askins, Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton, Bill Jorgan, Jack O'Connor etc, etc who created much of what we take for granted in firearms development today. It was really cool to be around while they were doing it or at least writing about it.

Cooper's stuff really takes me back.

I grew up reading these classic works,  but most of these greats were already gone by that time. Jeff Cooper was still doing some writing back in the 90's when I got my start, and I bought G&A magazine up until the end just for Cooper's Corner.

BTW, I think the Colonel would be pretty pissed if he knew about the recent controversy with G&A.

I think it's a shame that a lot of shooters don't appreciate this history and will probably never study it.

I think some us older guys forget where we came from as well.

Cooper would be rolling over in his grave at what  @$^*# wrote.

If you want to read some riveting books on big game hunting in Africa, try to find the 3 book series by Peter Hathaway Capstick. Death in the Long Grass, Death in the Dark Continent and Death in the Silent Places.

Looking at my bookshelf here are a few interesting books on war and marksmanship. Authors were all gun guys who went to war or fought gun fights.

Shot Fired in Anger-Lt. Col. John George  (WWII experiences)

A Rifleman Went to War  and  ...
The Emma Gees by H.W.McBride  (WWI experiences)

With British Snipers to the Reich-Cpt. C.Shore  (British WWII experiences)

No Second Place Winner-Bill Jordan (old school border patrol stories)

Unrepentant Sinner-Autobiography of Col. Charles Askins (old school gunfighter, warrior, crazy mofo)

[Oz]

A Rifleman Went to War  and  ...
The Emma Gees by H.W.McBride  (WWI experiences)

I have A Rifleman but did not know McBride wrote a second book!  And I see The Emma Gees is available in a variety of electronic formats at www.gutenberg.org  -- it looks great in the Kindle reader on my iPad!  Thanks for mentioning it, Mac!

[PA10mm]

Unrepentant Sinner is one of my favorites. Charles Askins, Jr. is always considered the "loose cannon" of the greats, but I think he was just a little more honest (especially talking about his own shortcomings) and went into greater detail in his unpolished writing style than the others.

Not a shooting book, but Old Man and The Boy, and The Old Man's Boy Grows Older, by Robert Rurak really moved me as a teenager. Great stories about a young Rurak hunting, fishing, and learning life's lessons with his Grandfather in coastal North Carolina.

[Johnnyappleseed]

It appears this thread has taken a turn to include the recent article by Dick Metcalf who formerly wrote for Guns and Ammo.

Tom Gresham interviewed DG after the article was printed .
Interview starts at the 8 minute mark.
http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/4/1/8/418091a06165514f/131110guntalkA.mp3?c_id=6391316&expiration=1384366296&hwt=993d1f06b56bc4eb492d9533788246e9

[mac66]

It appears this thread has taken a turn to include the recent article by xxxxxx who formerly wrote for Guns and Ammo.

Tom Gresham interviewed DG after the article was printed .
Interview starts at the 8 minute mark.
http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/4/1/8/418091a06165514f/131110guntalkA.mp3?c_id=6391316&expiration=1384366296&hwt=993d1f06b56bc4eb492d9533788246e9

Let's  not go there in this thread. I am editing out that guy's name from my post never to be uttered again.

[malabar]

I spoke with Cooper a few times when I was a young journalist. He was a real character. And hated journalists <g>

tk

[mac66]

I spoke with Cooper a few times when I was a young journalist. He was a real character. And hated journalists <g>

tk

Were you a gun guy then?

[malabar]

I spoke with Cooper a few times when I was a young journalist. He was a real character. And hated journalists <g>

tk

Were you a gun guy then?

Yeah. Been a gun guy for 40+ years.  I think that's why he was willing to talk to me.

tk