matthew temkin
Moderator
Many years ago Carl Cestari loaned me a book written by Jeff Cooper called Fighting Handguns which was published in 1958.
With a wink Carl asked me to turn to page 97 and read what Cooper had to say about "pointer fire".
Quite frankly I was stunned, especially since this was the height (1992) of the anti point shooting push in the gun rags.
Anyway, Paladin just republished the book, so let's hear about point shooting in Cooper's own words....
....."It's an axiom that hitting your target is your main concern, and the best way to hit is to use your sights, but circumstances do arise in which the need for speed is so great, and the range so short, that you must hit by pointing alone, without seeing your gun at all.
...Pointer fire is not as hard to learn as sighting, once you realize it's range limitations. using the 1911 auto-pistol I have found that I can teach the avjerage infantryman to stay on a silhouette at 10 yards--using pointer fire in two shot bursts--more easily that I can get him into that 25 yard bullseye using slow fire and sights.
Of course this sort of shooting is strictly a way of obtaining body hits at essentially indoor ranges ( 30 feet and under)..
..But up close pointer fire can be murderously effective, and it's mastery is often the difference between life and death."( pg 97-98)
With a wink Carl asked me to turn to page 97 and read what Cooper had to say about "pointer fire".
Quite frankly I was stunned, especially since this was the height (1992) of the anti point shooting push in the gun rags.
Anyway, Paladin just republished the book, so let's hear about point shooting in Cooper's own words....
....."It's an axiom that hitting your target is your main concern, and the best way to hit is to use your sights, but circumstances do arise in which the need for speed is so great, and the range so short, that you must hit by pointing alone, without seeing your gun at all.
...Pointer fire is not as hard to learn as sighting, once you realize it's range limitations. using the 1911 auto-pistol I have found that I can teach the avjerage infantryman to stay on a silhouette at 10 yards--using pointer fire in two shot bursts--more easily that I can get him into that 25 yard bullseye using slow fire and sights.
Of course this sort of shooting is strictly a way of obtaining body hits at essentially indoor ranges ( 30 feet and under)..
..But up close pointer fire can be murderously effective, and it's mastery is often the difference between life and death."( pg 97-98)