Jeff Cooper Legacy Foundation

Personally, I see no need to upgrade the power of the 30-06 by increasing its speed. I have long held that if you want more power than is available in the 30-06, you do not want more velocity, you want more bullet. Three cartridges that might really use additional velocity are the 308, the 350 RM, and the 458, since each of these is hampered by a case capacity too small for optimum ballistics. (John Gannaway can indeed achieve full velocity in the 350 RM, but only by loading up to the point where the cases are not re-usable.)

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.2 No.2  Feb. 1994

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On the matter of Scouts, we are mildly annoyed to discover that the term has been picked up and run off with by all sorts of people who have never seen a true Scout and do not know what it is. Most of these people do not realize that a Scout must make weight, and it must use a general-purpose cartridge readily available worldwide and suitable for any target up to buffalo. This points towards 308, but options include 30-06, 303 British, and the 7-08 for jurisdictions where 30 calibers are prohibited. It does not include the 223. …

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“Most of our harmless and genuine joys in this life are those which find their source in primitive instincts. A man who follows his natural inclinations, with due deference to common sense and moderation, is usually on the right track. Thus the sport of hunting is one of the most honorable of the primeval instincts of man.”

Archibald Rutledge

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.1 No.3  July 1993

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We talked recently with Karin van Graan at Engonyameni in the Eastern Transvaal. She told us she couldn’t put Danie on the phone at the time because he was out with a party of pistol hunters. They had tagged a blue wildebeest (which is a very hard animal) four days previously with a 44 Magnum and they were still on his trail. Pistol hunting is certainly a worthy pastime, but obviously not for everyone. The fact that you can row across the Atlantic (with a certain amount of luck) doesn’t make rowing across the Atlantic a good idea.

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.1, No.3  July 1993

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In a recent paper, we listed a number of reasons for which men fight. One reader took exception to us in that we did not list liberty as a primary motive. As in all philosophic discussion, much depends upon semantics, so I suppose the first thing to do here is to define “liberty” so that we can examine our position. In my view, liberty is that condition which exists when men make their own laws, either directly or indirectly, and are protected from bureaucracy or despotism by unbreakable rules.

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Firepower

In studying into the background material for the forthcoming Babamkulu Enterprise in Africa next year, I have gone rather deeply into the two startling British reverses in 1881 at Laing’s Nek and Majuba Hill. (We plan to visit the sites next May.) These two incidents took place on adjoining terrain within three days of each other and point to lessons which should have been learned a century ago, but still have not got across to many people who should know about them.

Consider the “butcher’s bill.” At Laing’s Nek the British attacked a Boer defensive position at a crest of a saddle (nek is what we would call a saddle in the American West) with about 450 men, following a small but violent artillery preparation. They were repulsed with a loss of 150 dead – against 14 for the Boers. On the occasion immediately following, the British seized Majuba Hill by means of a night march involving something over 500 soldiers. In the morning, they were thrown off the hill by a Boer force of about the same size. In this action the British lost 280 dead, including their commanding general. The Boers lost one man, plus another who died some days later of his wounds.

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`Tis the season to be jolly, so let us make every effort – despite the disgusting situations we have got ourselves into. People get the government they deserve, and we Americans voted in the current administration back in November of last year. We hope we are satisfied.

However, it does no good to complain. The place to do our complaining is at the polls. At home now and among friends, we should all strive to develop the maximum amount of good cheer in the places where it will do the most good.

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing!”

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.1 No.10  December 1993

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Our recent comments about various battlegrounds in Southern Africa have been widely misunderstood, which is, of course, my fault in that I did not make the matter clear. Marksmanship had little or nothing to do with the outcome of the actions at Isandhlwana or Rorke’s Drift, and the astounding victory of the Boers at Blood River was not a matter of marksmanship, but rather one of gun handling and fire discipline. The places where marksmanship was indeed the issue were the parallel battles of Laing’s Nek and Majuba Hill. In those actions the farmers hit what they shot at, …

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Excerpts from the Writings of Jeff Cooper:

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In our adolescence we discovered the telescope sight as used on hunting rifles. It was not the norm then as it is now, and we were often jeered at when we showed up for deer or elk hunting. After some experience we concluded that the optical sight, as it is now termed, has various important advantages over iron. Today glass sights are pretty standard worldwide, though they are not the best solution to all of our problems – specifically including dangerous game. I do think, even today, that the novice should be introduced to rifle shooting by way of the aperture sight, in “ghost-ring” form. In recent years I have seen many situations in which the ghost-ring was preferable to any glass sight, but the market commands. It is unsound to draw conclusions from the limited experience available to one man, but in my own case I have killed as often with iron sights as with the telescope. (And I have logged one rather extravagant experience in which the telescopic sight was a distinct disadvantage.)

Today Jim West’s example of a “Co-pilot” illustrates the virtue of the ghost-ring carbine over other systems.

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.12 No.10  September 2004

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Proper rifle handling is covered in “The Art of the Rifle,” but not everybody has a copy of that and I see violations of good technique all the time. For example, how is a rifle to be carried in a situation anticipating violence? I have taught this material consistently over the years, but I see that some like it better than others. Rifle readiness is not complicated, but it should be understood. When standing erect, anticipating immediate contact, the rifle should be carried at “ready” – magazine full, cartridge in the chamber, index finger straight along side of the trigger-guard, and safety on. If the configuration of the weapon affords it, the thumb should be placed on the safety ready to acuate it, but with the index finger still outside the trigger-guard. In this condition the shooter …

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Our friend and colleague Wiley Clapp recently did a number on the Beretta pistol, now general issue in our armed services. His piece was both accurate and honest, and he told it like he saw it. The truth, however, is only coincidentally prized in the marketplace, where sales figures are equated with virtue. The Beretta people were much annoyed by Wiley’s piece and threatened commercial malice to the publication which was releasing the article. This is unfortunate, but unavoidable. Manufacturers regard periodicals as advertising vehicles, pure and simple. Most of them do not realize that the public sometimes catches on, and that there are a few journalists to whom the truth is still important. I understand that truth is “relative” in academia, and it is clear that truth is irrelevant at the marketplace – and it matters hardly at all to a politician. “To ride, shoot straight and speak the truth” were the classical personal attributes of a man. To ride is no longer a measure. To shoot straight ought to be, but seldom is. However, those who care can still make a maximum effort both to speak, and seek, the truth. Hardly anything else really matters.

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.10 No.8  July 2002

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“The main weapon that terrorists use against the West is not bombs or guns, but moral obfuscation.”

Netanyahu

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.10, No.8  July 2002

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We certainly hand out a lot of argument and confusion on the subject of “education,” but nobody seems to know just what it is. Is education the answer to 2+2=? Is it knowing the difference between a mammal and a reptile? Is it knowing how to run for office? Or is it owning some kind of certificate or diploma to tack your name onto? Certainly it seems that today a college degree is no more than a job ticket, and not a too reliable one at that. Looking back over all those years it does seem to me that a high school diploma in 1935 signified a good deal more in the way of “education” than a Ph.D. does today. Time passes, of course, and times change, but if we are called upon to spend money on education it would be nice to know what it is we mean to spend money …

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Excerpts from the Writings of Jeff Cooper – July 2025

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I am often criticized for not “sticking to my guns” and veering off into politics, sociology and history. That criticism may be valid, but the more I see of it the more I become convinced that history and conflict are synonymous. This seems to be inherent in the nature of man. According to Clausewitz, war is politics carried out by other means, and war, of course, is conducted with weapons, hence weaponry remains fascinating and completely a part of the human story. Whenever I read fiction I reflect that fiction writers are rarely properly grounded in weaponry, and this causes much of their fiction to fall flat. Certain notable exceptions were Rider Haggard, Stewart White and Ernest Hemingway. They may not have got their weaponry sorted out correctly every time, but at least they tried, and that is more than you can say about most current tellers of tales.

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.2 No.3  March 1994

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The problem is that only enthusiasts shoot well. Not many public employees are enthusiasts. This lowers both standards and potential, and gamesmanship is no help.

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.2, No.3  March 1994

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According to a news item in the AIM Report, Major Robert Hines, of the DC Park Police, maintains that Vincent Foster, who was found dead in the park, was in possession of a “38-caliber 1911 Colt army revolver.” Now there is a collector’s item for you!

Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.2, No.3  March 1994

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According to the politically correct (for that read “Cravenly Intimidated”) it is now considered unsatisfactory to make a fuss over Christmas. Christmas, after all, is a celebration both elitist and …

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