[
]
Cooper, along with Michael Dixon and Thomas Dornaus, worked on the design of the Bren Ten pistol around the 10mm Auto, based on the Czech CZ 75 design. The cartridge was larger than 9×19mm Parabellum and faster than .45 ACP rounds.
The modern technique of the pistol
Cooper's modern technique defines pragmatic use of the pistol for personal protection. The modern technique emphasizes two-handed shooting using the Weaver stance, competing with and eventually supplanting the once-prevalent one-handed shooting style. The five elements of the modern technique are:
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A large caliber pistol, preferably a semi-automatic
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The Weaver stance
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The draw stroke
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The flash sight picture
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The compressed surprise trigger break
[Morrison, G. and Cooper, J., "The Modern Technique of the Pistol", Paulden: Gunsite Press, 1991.]
Firearm conditions of readiness
There are several conditions of readiness in which such a weapon can be carried. Cooper promulgated most of the following terms:
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Clear and Safe: Slide locked to the rear, chamber empty, no magazine in the gun.
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Condition 4: Chamber empty, no magazine in the gun, hammer down.
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Condition 3: Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down.
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Condition 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down.
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Condition 1: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on. Also referred to as "cocked and locked."
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Condition 0: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off.
Condition 0 is considered "ready to fire"; as a result, there is a risk of accidental or negligent discharge carrying in Condition 0.
Combat mindset and the Cooper color code
The most important means of surviving a lethal confrontation, according to Cooper, is neither the weapon nor the martial skills. The primary tool is the combat mindset, set forth in his book, Principles of Personal Defense.[Cooper, Jeff, Principles of Personal Defense, Paladin Press, ]
Cooper came up with a color code, consisting of four colors including white, yellow, orange, and red:
The color code, as originally introduced by Cooper, had nothing to do with tactical situations or alertness levels, but rather with one's state of mind. Cooper did not claim to have invented anything in particular with the color code, but he was apparently the first to use it as an indication of mental state.
The USMC uses "Condition Black," although it was not originally part of Cooper's color code.[Jeff Cooper, CC Vol. 4, No. 2, January 1996, GG Vol. 16, No. 2, GGG2, pg. 637.] According to Massad Ayoob, "Condition Black," in Cooper's youth, meant "combat in progress."
Rifle concepts
Cooper is best known for his work in pistol training,
Scout rifle
Greatly influenced by the life and writings of Frederick Russell Burnham, Cooper published an article in the 1980s describing his ideal of a general-purpose rifle: "a short, light, handy, versatile, utility rifle", which he dubbed a scout rifle.
In late 1997, with Cooper's oversight, Steyr Arms produced a rifle to his "scout" specifications. Cooper considered the Steyr Scout "perfect." Riflemen regard Cooper's development of the scout rifle concept and his subsequent work on the evolution of the Steyr-Mannlicher Scout rifle as his most significant and enduring contributions to riflecraft. Ruger (Gunsite Scout Rifle), Savage Arms, Springfield Armory, and Mossberg have made versions of the scout rifle as well.
Ammunition concepts
Cooper was dissatisfied with the small-diameter 5.56×45mm NATO (.223 Remington) of the AR-15 and envisioned a need for a large-bore (.44 caliber or greater) cartridge in a semi-automatic rifle to provide increased stopping power and one-shot kills on Big-game hunting animals at 250 yards. The so-called Thumper concept inspired the development of the .450 Bushmaster, .458 SOCOM, .458 HAM'R, .499 LWR, and the .50 Beowulf, among other cartridges, all suitable for integration into the AR-15/M16 rifle/M4 carbine or AR-10/M14 rifle platforms.
Along the lines of the Thumper concept, Tim LeGendre of LeMag Firearms developed .45 Professional, the predecessor of the .450 Bushmaster cartridge, and later built and delivered an AR-15 in .45 Professional to Cooper.
Writing
In 1997, Cooper wrote that he coined the term hoplophobia in 1962 "in response to a perceived need for a word to describe a mental aberration consisting of an unreasoning terror of gadgetry, specifically, weapons."
In addition to his books on firearms and self-defense, Cooper wrote several books recounting his life adventures plus essays and short stories, including Fire Works (1980); Another Country: Personal Adventures of the Twentieth Century (1992); To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth (1988); and C Stories (2004). His daughter Lindy Wisdom published a biography, Jeff Cooper: the Soul and the Spirit (1996).
Some of the comments from his "Gunsite Gossip" newsletter were printed in Guns & Ammo magazine as "Cooper's Corner" and later were compiled into The Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip. These were his thoughts on firearms interleaved with his wide-ranging musings on many other subjects and acquired a large U.S. and international following from the 1980s up to his death. Cooper wrote extensively in defense of firearms rights.
A complete bibliography of Jeff Cooper's writings from 1947 onwards is available at the Jeff Cooper Bibliography Project.[ The Jeff Cooper Bibliography Project]
Personal life
Cooper was married to his wife Janelle for 64 years. They had three daughters.[ He died at his home on September 25, 2006, at the age of 86.]
Political views
In 1991, Cooper wrote in Guns & Ammo magazine that "no more than five to ten people in a hundred who die by gunfire in Los Angeles are any loss to society. These people fight small wars amongst themselves. It would seem a valid social service to keep them well-supplied with ammunition."[Grossman, Arnold. One Nation Under Guns: An Essay on an American Epidemic, Fulcrum Publishing, 2006 (p. 65).][Vinzant, Carol. Lawyers, Guns, and Money: One Man's Battle with the Gun Industry Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 (p.21).] In 1994, Cooper said "Los Angeles and Ho Chi Minh City have declared themselves sister cities. It makes sense: they are both Third World metropolises formerly occupied by Americans."[ Crime, Justice, and Society: An Introduction to Criminology Berger, Ronald J., Free, Marvin D., Searles, Patricia. Lynne Rienner Publishing, 2009. (p. 174).]
See also
Abbreviations:
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CC: Cooper's Commentaries
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GG: Gunsite Gossip
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GGG1: The Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip, Gunsite Press, Paulden, Arizona, USA, 1990, , contains Gunsite Gossip Volumes 1 to 9, 1981 to 1989.
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GGG2: Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip 2, Gunsite Press, Paulden, Arizona, USA, 2001, , contains Gunsite Gossip Volumes 10 to 20, 1990 to 2000.
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GGG3: Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip 3, Wisdom Publishing, Tempe, Arizona, USA, 2010, , contains Gunsite Gossip Volumes 21 to 26, 2001 to 2006.
Cooper's Commentaries is an unedited superset of Gunsite Gossip, with CC Vol. 1, No. 1 corresponding to GG Vol. XIII, No. 9, and an edited version of these were published as "Cooper's Corner" in Guns & Ammo magazine starting in 1986.[CC, Vol. I, No. 1, 1993, "With this issue, I am abandoning the editorial 'we' along with reference to Gunsite in the title since I no longer exercise control over the output of the Gunsite Press. What may henceforth appear as 'Gunsite Gossip' will be a censored and abbreviated version of my periodical commentary. ... "]
Further reading
External links
