In the first half of the 20th century, Zilker was home to a police firing range. Built in 1934 near the Zilker Clubhouse along Rollingwood Drive for the Austin Police Department’s pistol marksmanship courses, the range fell into disrepair and stopped being actively used for firearms training in the mid-1970s. This historical photo is from …
Bob Jewell recently wrote about the updated Bakersfield PD qualification course, and his writeup was picked up by Eric Lamberson of the Sensible Self Defense blog. https://www.sensibleselfdefenseblog.com/2025/02/the-new-bakersfield-police-department.html The original article is here The original target design was tracked down and shared by many with an interest in the history of handgun training. According to Bob …
The first volume in Colonel Cooper’s series of autobiographical reminiscences, philosophical essays, political observations, firearms instruction, and spiritual appreciation for the grand gift of life. FireWorks, originally published in 1980, includes essays published in magazines like True, Toros, Soldier of Fortune, Guns and Ammo, Guns, Road and Track, and Westways Magazine (a car/travel magazine) from …
On January 11-12, SureFire’s Andy Stanford partnered with Tactical Response to host YeagerFest 2025. Back in 2022, Andy and Tactical Response teamed to host the Surgical Speed Shooting Summit, which brought a dozen trainers together to discuss and teach pistol technique. Andy put together this event specifically to share new ideas with other trainers. While …
Back in the 1990’s a pistol club in Midland, Texas ran a cool match called the Texas Paper and Iron Championship. Like the Steel Challenge and Bianchi Cup, it featured the same stages each time. It had surprisingly strong sponsorship (including Coors), and a great prize table. Penny and I and others from the KR …
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I recently acquired an issue of the Thrilling Western pulp magazine from January 1937. I bought it because it featured an article by Col. John J. Boniface (1874-1943), of the US Cavalry, on “How to Be A Good Pistol Shot”. That article was part of a series he wrote called “Straight Shooting”. In the 1930’s, …
Another find from my historical handgun research team: a collection of newspaper articles from the newspaper “The Grizzly”, published in the Big Bear Lake area. The articles are text-only, scraped from Newspapers.com archives. They provide useful information about the early days of the Leather Slap matches, which eventually led to the development of the Modern …
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This is a guest post contributed by one of the members of my historical handgun research team. History of Iron Sights Until the mid-nineteenth century all rear sights were either of the V-notch or the peep type. In the 1880s the then-famous singer and shooter, Ira Albert Paine replaced the typical V-notch rear with a …
Continue reading ‘The Pioneers of Handgun Sight Designs: Ira Paine, E.E. Patridge, A.O. Niedner’ »
On July 27, 2024, Tom Givens & Rangemaster put on a Professional Trainer’s Symposium at the Royal Range in Nashville, TN. It was an invitation-only event. This was the second iteration of this event, with a different group of trainers attending and different trainers presenting. The presenters at PTS II were: The event also included …
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In the past I’ve written about Col. Rex Applegate, whose “Kill or Be Killed” shooting book was perhaps the most influential handgun book of the 1940’s. I recently shared an article from the NRA’s American Rifleman magazine that provided details about his “House of Horrors” shoothouse. Applegate was influenced by Fairbairn, whose book ‘Shooting to …
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After learning about this book from a Greg Ellifritz post about books written about or by real old West gunfighters, I found a rare first edition copy signed by the author. The book was published in the UK by Robert Hale. Hale’s company published Westerns in the UK from 1936 to 2020. Many of those …
Continue reading ‘Book Review I’ve Killed Men (Jack Ganzhorn, 1910)’ »
From my historical handgun research team, a 1968 Shooting Times article from Texan Skeeter Skelton on point shooting with a revolver. By 1965, Jeff Cooper had already started the revolution, advocating two handed, aimed fire, but the mainstream writers working for the mass market gun publications were still talking about the old ways. Note that …
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From Bob Hanna of my historical handgun research team, a 1978-79 era document from Gunsite & Jeff Cooper listing his three rules for gun safety. Three? Conventional wisdom within the firearms training community is that Cooper’s “Four Rules” Shall Not Be Questioned, as I did in an older post about reducing his Four Rules and …
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From my historical handgun research team: a 1945 NRA article written by Lt. Col. Rex Applegate describing the floorplan and training conducted in his shoot house. The shoot house included multiple scenarios with 3D targets, props, blank firing guns simulating return fire, audio cues and other elements to provide a realistic simulation. Advocates of Applegate’s …
Back in 2017 I posted a review of Himmelwright’s “Pistol and Revolver Shooting” book (1930 revision). In going through my archives I found that one of my historical handgun research team had scanned pages from the 1930 edition, mostly pages related to target design, and shared with me. The original book review is here. From …
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My historical handgun research team sent me this article from a 1945 issue of the American Rifleman. Credited to J. Edgar Hoover, it gives an overview of all the guns and shooting drills the FBI was using in that era. In the article, Hoover shares the qualification courses for the .38 special revolver, Thompson submachine …
Another find from my Historical Handgun research team. This is an article from the US Revolver Association’s 1918 newsletter. It describes their concept of a defensive pistol event that includes drawing from a holster. Carrying a small revolver in pants or coat pocket was the default carry method of that era, particularly for city dwellers, …
Another article about Harry Reeves, from 1951, courtesy of my historical handgun research team. This one is from Handguns magazine. Reeves has the biases against semiauto pistols and 9mm ammunition common to gun writers and gun experts of his era. The discussion of trigger control and shooting fundamentals is great information, and I note that …
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A 1947 article from the American Rifleman magazine about top shooter Harry Reeves.
From my historical handgun research team: this article about bullseye champion Harry Reeves, who was one of the top competitors from the late 1930’s to early 1960’s and continued being active in the sport into the 1980’s.