Return of the Booth Babes: The 2007 SHOT Show
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More On Colonel Cooper
A reader was kind enough to suggest a couple of rants ago that I was carrying on the tradition of bloggery established by the late Jeff Cooper. That would be nice, because of all the gun columns in cyberspace, his was by far the most interesting and it is still up there.
It’s interesting to note that Col. Cooper, although he wrote a ton, hardly every wrote about ballistics. Very little on fps, and grains of bullet weight and pounds of muzzle energy. That is because he knew that a study of all those numbers helps you become a marksman to the same degree that studying baseball stats enables you to play major-league baseball. Skill with the gun is all that matters.
And if you are a handgun fancier, know this: Ed Brown, who makes superlative 1911 .45s, is producing a one-year run of Jeff Cooper commemoratives. This automatic has all the bells and whistles, and is a very handsome .45. And it is not cheap. But then it is an Ed Brown 1911, and if you have never handled one you have a revelation in store. Go to www.edbrown.com
Dave,
Coop was an articulate man, and unafraid to openly discuss things. Your column, whether or not it offends someone's point of view, does a similar thing--and, eventually, the truth will out.
Cooper advocated practical things, like: full power loads for practice...big calibers for big tasks...and yet could also articulate a position with with skill and brains.
We need that kind of writing, and that kind of no nonsense straight talk. A definition of "Someone in a world of Hurt" would have been an anti-gunner debating Jeff Cooper.
Keep up the good work, Dave Petzal..we are listening with both ears open and a closed Weaver stance.
Tom Fowler
Posted by: Tom Fowler | June 27, 2007 at 03:45 PM
This rant got my interest on Cooper since I haven't read much of his works I recall. I thought he was mainly a handgun guru. After reading the included threads he had depth in hid knowledge.
I appreciate his writing. He wrote with the pen, not the shovel.
Posted by: Mark | June 28, 2007 at 08:27 AM
Thanks for an interesting post about an extemely complex person. Every shooter/gun owner should have at least three of Col. Cooper's books. They are great reading. Col. Cooper was the last of the aritocrats who championed the shooting sports. I did not always agree with him, but he was always informative.
Posted by: PbHead | June 28, 2007 at 10:38 AM
Years ago, COL Cooper exchanged letters with me about a .45 of mine that had a full-length rib. The colonel advised that I ditch it, and I did. I won't say I agree with him on everything, but this man knew tactics and he knew what kind of mindset you must have in order to survive a deadly confrontation. If we all had the colonel's mindset, criminals would be afraid to ply their trade, and our enemies wouldn't dare provoke us. We are preyed upon when we signal that we are weak or irresolute. It's too damned bad that the US media can't seem to understand that.
Posted by: ChevJim | June 28, 2007 at 12:32 PM
I happened upon Gunsite Gossip a few years ago and Jeff Cooper is right up there with Jack O'Connor who is my all time favorite, DEP notwithstanding. No excuses, no apologies just a whole heck of a lot of experience and they tell you what they know to be fact through trial and error.
Posted by: Dr. Ralph | June 29, 2007 at 08:50 PM
How is it that Cooper gets all the glory and Zumbo made a statement of his take on Black Guns and this Blog killed him as a writer who has done as much for the gun world as any writer I know if. F&S screwed up when they fired him. Sure hope he finds another magazine who appreciates all of his experience and puts him to writing again.old gunslinger
Posted by: | July 01, 2007 at 09:23 PM