Throwback Thursday: Jeff Cooper
Some years ago, Big Bear Lake, a southern California ski resort town, put on a *'Miners' Days" extravaganza for the commendable purpose of at#tracting its share of summer tourists. Among the major activities was a "Leatherslap" fast-draw contest, or#ganized by a retired colonel of Marines, John Dean Cooper, always known as -Jeff."
Decrying the blanks commonly used in"fast draw" matches—Cooper held even then that the purpose in shooting is to hit the target—he de#cided on man-on-man bouts using paper silhouette targets at about 7 yds. Though paper targets made it difficult to determine the match winner, the Leatherslap was a huge success, so much so that it became first an annual and then a monthly event, and the Bear Valley Gunslingers and later the South West Combat Pistol League were formed to run it.
In that first Leatherslap, single-ac#tion "cowboy" and double-action police revolvers predominated. Only Cooper and Hugh Carpenter were eccentric enough to use the 1911 Colt .45 auto pistol. All held their guns with one hand, naturally, and most employed point or hip-shooting, though Cooper says he did use the sights. The next year a deputy sheriff named Jack Weaver shocked everyone by winning decisively while holding his revolver in both hands, and handgunning was changed for#ever.
.......
For the full article click here: http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2015/3/26/throwback-thursday-jeff-cooper/ [also satisfying any fair-use parameters]
