From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
JEFF COOPER'S COMMENTARIES - Vol. 8, No. 11
Previously Gunsite Gossip
HUNTER'S MOON
If we can set aside thoughts of politics and liberty for a short time, we
may do so now. That is not to say we should stop the fight which faces us in
November, but that hunting season is a good time in which to think happier
thoughts. The hunter is the happier man, and he may be grateful to divest
himself during this season of the year from the crass, dull and insipid
chores of the non-hunter. Note that 3 November is the day of St. Hubert, who
is the patron of the hunter. Cele-brate it as you wish, but please do not
let it go unnoticed.
""""
I am delighted to have been granted a new honor by John Pepper's group at
Fort Mead. I may now call myself "Path-finder." Though it may seem
presumptuous to tread upon the illustrious heels of John C. Fremont, I may
point out that we operate in such different fields of endeavor that confusion
is unlikely. Be that as it may, I am honored by the attentions of the Fort
Mead group, and I do hope that my endeavors over the past decades have been
worthy of the title. Thank you very much!
""""
On this matter of technical pioneering, I note with amusement that some
gun writer has gone on record claiming that the modern technique is outdated
and obsolete. He specifically points out that current IPSC champions are now
using an isosceles stance, rather than the Weaver. We may note that since
IPSC competition has gone astray after strange gods for over ten years, IPSC
techniques may not be relevant to defensive pistolcraft. As most people
know, the virtue of the stance developed by Jack Weaver is recoil control.
When competitive shooters do their utmost to eliminate recoil, control
thereof hardly matters. Recently it was pointed out to me by NRA board
member Ted Nugent that the 9mm Parabellum cartridge "is better than a poke in
the eye with a sharp stick, but not much." When you choose a minor caliber
pistol car-tridge over a major, you establish that you really do not
understand what the pistol is for. The purpose of the pistol is to stop a
fight that somebody else has started. Competition which is not based upon
this premise is striving for the wrong goals.
""""
Our outstanding Senator Feinstein, who has long set herself up as an
expert on firearms, has now decided that she is an expert on automobiles,
too. She favors legislation requiring that sport utility vehicles achieve
the same fuel consump-tion ratings as family sedans. Clearly the senator
feels that if the laws of physics are inconvenient all that is necessary is
legislation to straighten them out.
At one time the state of Arkansas passed a bill making the value of pi 3
1/7, since 3.14159 + is too inconvenient. We do have certain requirements
for the holding of office, but having any brains is not among them.
""""
We are informed- indirectly, of course-that the people at Steyr have
decided to discontinue rifles in the 376 Steyr cartridge. This cartridge was
not my idea in the first place, but now that I have used it for a year or so
I have become quite attached to it, especially since the new 270-grain Swift
partition bullet is now available. It is better than the 375 Hol-land in
that it is smaller and can be made up into a more compact rifle. I hear
continuously of the need for handiness in a hunting rifle, and this need is
often expressed by men who do not understand that such a weapon is available.
We are talking, of course, about the Steyr Scout. There are those who feel
that the 308 cartridge is simply uninteresting, but I have yet to be shown a
situation in which a cartridge was inadequate because it was uninteresting.
If you really feel that the 308 is not strong enough for you, you have the
376, at least for a while. I suggest that you step in and buy the piece now
while it is still available, together with all the Hornady ammunition you can
get hold of. Now the Dragoon, as I call my 376 Steyr Scout, is going to
Alaska for moose and bear, and I hope to put it to use again on bison in
January. In times to come, those who fail to take advantage of the
opportunity may be even more envious than they are at present.
""""
And we just now have a new report of a hunting incident up in Namibia.
It seems these people left their Landrover on a narrow road to go forward and
observe a bunch of elephants. A bull from another group came up behind the
parked car and, being somewhat annoyed, attempted to move it. Its anti-theft
device screamed at him, and this upset him to the point that he smashed the
car completely. I do not wish these innocent people misfortune, but I am not
terribly upset when they discover that the wilderness is still the wilderness.
""""
I have often preached that one's personal firearms are the last thing on
which one should practice economy. A good gun is a permanent asset. It does
not go out of style or wear out. To submit such a thing to what is sometimes
referred to as a "budget" is to manifest confused priorities. To state that
you will not buy a superior rifle because you must wait until you can afford
it because at this point you can afford a cheap rifle, makes no sense. When
people say they cannot afford a Steyr Scout, for example, I can point out
that they should go right on using the rifle they have and not worry.
I suppose there is such a thing as extravagance in the purchase of guns,
but it is not common. For instance, a $50,000 Perazzi shotgun might well be
considered an extravagance, but such pieces do not constitute large portions
of the market. People have complained to me about the price of a first rate
service pistol, and these same people do not balk at a steak dinner. If you
ever see fit to invite four people to a steak dinner at a really good
restaurant, you will not find it sensible to complain about the price of a
good gun. The principle is this: If you haven't the money to buy a good
piece, don't buy it. Make do with what you have now, but don't buy an
inferior product which will only cause you discontent and require its
replacement, at increased expense, later on. A Porsche or a Ferrari will
outlive its usefulness in a few years. A first rate rifle will not.
""""
I suppose you have now seen the pictures of what may be the best
candidate for the Waffenp�sselhaft award for the year 2000. This is a
double-barrel, bolt-action sporting rifle built for the 416 cartridge.
That's right, it is a double-barrel rifle, but it is a bolt-action rifle. It
is made in Innsbruck, but I do not think that explains it. We are rather
fond of Innsbruck and we cannot remember meeting any loonies there.
""""
In that connection, is it not curious that we seem to hold up "education"
as a commodity which can be bought and sold? What has happened, of course,
is that we have sought to quantify education by the issuance of diplomas and
de-grees, and have thus inflated our intellectual standards along with our
currency. It has been suggested that we are now stratifying society into two
levels: Those with a college degree and those without. The notion that a
college degree signi-fies some sort of absolute is obviously ridiculous.
Today a bachelor's degree from a prominent university is not nearly as
significant as a high school diploma was 50 years ago. We have millions of
degrees today, while the onrush of ignorance threatens to engulf us. The
notion that education is trade craft will lead us to a race of tradesmen,
only a few of whom may be educated- and those will be mainly self-educated.
When I took my examinations for my humble little master's degree in
history, those examinations were oral. One sat in confrontation with a
committee of professors who engaged him in conversation. By this means it
was possible to deter-mine just how much the applicant knew about his
subject. "True-or-false" was not an issue. The directive was to ex-pound.
This, in my opinion, was a much better system than we encounter today.
""""
As we move on into the 21st century (which will commence in a couple of
months), we discover a major difference be-tween war and peace. In war, men
stab each other from the front. In peace, they stab each other in the back.
""""
Since it is now acceptable to follow the example of our senior elected
officials, it is not necessary to confine ourselves to the truth. Some "gun
writer" recently stated that 9 out of 10 1911 pistols were proving unreliable
here at Gunsite. This, of course, is a ridiculous untruth, but this fellow
had no reluctance in stating it as a fact. According to Herodotus, the
an-cient Persians felt that what was necessary in the background of a young
man entering adulthood was his ability to ride, shoot straight, and speak the
truth. Perhaps we should now grant our college degrees to young men who
measure up to that standard.
""""
Rumor now has it that I am dead. This is wishful thinking on the part of
some people. As far as I can tell, I am not dead-yet. But as with all of
us, me and thee included, it is only a matter of time.
""""
We have long taught that the most important attribute of a gunfighter is
mind-set. This is certainly true of defensive pistolcraft, but we run across
cases now and again which point out parallel considerations in the hunting of
big game. Or-ange Gunsite graduate Dalton Carr has just released a book
recounting his experiences with bears and bear hunting, and one of his
anecdotes struck a cord with us. Hunter is armed. Bear is there. Guide
says, "Shoot!" The hunter responds, "Now?" The guide repeats, "Shoot now."
The hunter responds again, "Now?"
People certainly do respond to the moment of truth in different ways, but
I would not have believed this sort of episode if I had not seen it
myself-and more than once. It takes a properly prepared mind to send that
signal down the arm and cause the finger to press the trigger. Such
preparation is obviously not automatic.
""""
The Steyr Scout continues to walk away with all the honors at the rifle
schools. This piece was designed primarily to be easier for the shooter to
use, and it is-so equally talented marksmen will shoot it better. That about
covers the sub-ject.
""""
At what age should we introduce a youngster to the shooting sports? I do
not have a good answer to this, though the question arises here at the school
all the time. Without going into the philosophy of physical education, my
quick answer is "fourteen," but I will be the first to admit that no such
fixed figure means very much. First, the youngster must want to shoot. He
must prove to his parents that the matter is really important to him. He
must never be pushed into it from be-hind. Secondly, he must have the proper
bone and muscle structure to support the firearm. Some people feel that this
means that we should start the student off with a BB gun, and then move to a
22, and only after that to a small-bore cen-ter-fire. I did not follow this
exactly. The ROTC program of my youth started us out with a 22 rifle at age
fourteen or fif-teen, and it worked pretty well. Many parents, however, feel
that the passion should be nurtured much earlier. Most kids of both sexes
love to shoot, and if that desire is there, it is a proper parent's
responsibility to indulge it. Personal marks-manship is not a trivial
enterprise. It cannot be forced upon a child, but it certainly should not be
denied once the desire is there. "The barefoot boy with cheeks of tan" is a
cultural ideal, and it still sounds good. That young man out there in the
field with his 22 rifle (properly introduced) is both a psychological and a
political asset. The youngster should not go afield in groups for at least a
year after having been properly qualified in gunhandling and safety. He
should shoot by himself. Peer pressure is something to avoid here.
I do not have a complete answer, but I can say that the systems I have
used have worked perfectly in all cases in which they were applied. Our
three daughters are all first rate shots, as are four of our five
grandchildren. The exception did not fail any system for qualification, but
she was simply not interested. So be it.
It seems clear that failure to familiarize your dependants with the
characteristics and proper use of firearms is socially irresponsible.
Beyond that it may be deadly dangerous.
""""
It is not clear to me that we need a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms. I note that they now do not wish to be called a bureau, and refer
to themselves as "the ATF." This is like referring to the FBI as "the
Federal Investigation." I rather like to think that these people became
sensitive about being called the BATmen ten or twelve years ago. That is
okay. They have a good deal to be sensitive about.
Actually, the function of the BATF could do well without the F, and
confine itself to alcohol and tobacco. Firearms should come under the
control of the Office of Civilian Marksmanship, for which there is indeed a
definite need. If the federal government has any real responsibility in this
matter (and I believe it has) it is in imparting to all law abiding Ameri-can
citizens the basic principles of firearms and firearms marksmanship. That
does, indeed, fall under those provisions of the preamble of the Constitution
which validate federal action. We are not holding our breath waiting for
this to come about, but that does not alter the validity of the position.
Note that the Office of Civilian Marksmanship now has available a large
number of M1 Garand rifles, artifacts which should be found in every
household. The M1 is probably the best indi-vidual personal arm ever devised
by man, and moreover it is dirt cheap at this time.
""""
In the great hunting days of the 19th century and the first half of the
20th, the greatest game animal that the hunter could pursue was held to be
the elephant. "Big game" was elephant, and everything else was small
potatoes. This is easy to understand, since the elephant is, after all, the
greatest beast that walks the earth. Furthermore, in the great days he was
quite plentiful, he was distinctly dangerous, and his ivory was valuable
enough to defray all expenses. However, in the course of some recent reading
I have reached another conclusion. Thus: the greatest of all big game
animals is not the elephant, but the sperm whale. This beast is not only
many times the size of the largest elephant, but he is a carni-vore carrying
a magnificent set of teeth with which he can easily bite a whale boat in
half. He is ordinarily of a peaceable disposition, but when harassed he can
become very much otherwise. In the great whaling days, you had to latch onto
him with one or more harpoons, which must have been a painful procedure for
him. Then after you fetched him alongside you had to kill him, not with a
rifle, but with a spear. A puny man standing in a flimsy rowboat undertook
to stab this monster in the vitals with a long, steel lance, hoping to avoid
attracting his attention in the process. Now there is big game hunting
carried off the scale!
School children used to be exposed to this sort of thing in Melville's
"Moby Dick," though I doubt if they are today. (I have no idea what they are
exposed to today.) And Melville's story, while declared as fiction, had its
basis in fact. A sperm whale could not only bite a whale boat to splinters,
he could and did ram and sink the whaling vessel from which it came.
I never heard of anyone's attempting to "harvest" a sperm whale for
sport, but as a sporting proposition, attacking and killing that beast
single-handed with an edged weapon certainly overshadows any form of
dangerous game hunting of which I have ever heard.
(Of course, there is a problem about where to hang the trophy on the wall
once you get a taxidermist to mount it for you. I somehow doubt the Safari
Club is much interested.)
""""
We hope to meet with the faithful again at Whittington, for the Eighth
Annual Gunsite Reunion and Theodore Roosevelt Memorial. The dates are 20,
21, 22 October. See you there!
""""
If you have not yet read Thomas Sowell's "The Quest for Cosmic Justice,"
do not delay. This is probably the best phi-losophical work of recent years,
and Professor Sowell's clarity of expression makes his book a pleasure to
read. This work was drawn to my attention by Orange family member Colonel
Clint Ancker, and I have been making it required read-ing for any of my
friends who read.
""""
We are always interested in stories of unprovoked buffalo attacks in
Africa. In the last such incident we heard of, the buff was hardly
unprovoked, having been hit in the knee with a 223 some time previous to the
contact. Apparently some Irishman got loose with his M16.
""""
We learn of the passing of Saburo Sakai, the distinguished Nip fighter
pilot. He was scheduled for a meeting with Joe Foss this month, but
apparently he waited too long. The great aviators are all but extinct. No
more than a dozen survive.
""""
The crisis is now at hand. Our shooting and hunting activities are
desperately endangered in this coming election, and more than that (if there
is anything more than that), the liberties which we established this country
to protect are now de-rided by our opposition. A victory for these people is
unthinkable. That is the word, UNTHINKABLE. This country is the last, best
hope of earth, and there is no place left to run. The recent debates have
been praised for their "lack of rancor." I cannot buy that. A large dose of
rancor may be just what we need. God save the Republic!
Please Note: These "Commentaries" are for personal use only. Not for
publication.
Kenneth Pantling
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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