Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, Volume Five, 1997

Jeff Cooper's Commentaries Previously Gunsite Gossip Volume Five, 1997 • Vol. 5, No. 1 1997 ............................................................................................................................1 • Vol. 5, No. 2 Mid−Winter ............................................................................................................................7 • Vol. 5, No. 3 Winterset ...........................................................................................................................12 • Vol. 5, No. 4 Peregrinations ...........................................................................................................................18 • Vol. 5, No. 5 The Sowers of April ...........................................................................................................................24 • Vol. 5, No. 6 The Rites of Spring ...........................................................................................................................30 • Vol. 5, No. 7 Summer Solstice ...........................................................................................................................36 • Vol. 5, No. 8 The Big Year ...........................................................................................................................43 • Vol. 5, No. 9 High Summer ...........................................................................................................................48 • Vol. 5, No. 10 Summer Storms ...........................................................................................................................52 • Vol. 5, No. 11 Harvest Home ...........................................................................................................................57 • Vol. 5, No. 12 Hunting Season ...........................................................................................................................64 • Vol. 5, No. 13 Pearl Harbor ...........................................................................................................................69 • If, by Rudyard Kipling ...........................................................................................................................74 Please Note. These "Commentaries" are for personal use only. Not for publication. Jeff Cooper's Commentaries Volume Five Jeff Cooper's Commentaries Previously Gunsite Gossip Vol. 5, No. 1 January, 1997 1997 So here we are in the new year, the acknowledgment of which is always a matter of good cheer for the optimists and gloom for the pessimists. Our best advice is to ignore the scruffy and extol the exemplary. This is not easy, of course, since that which constitutes news is uniformly bad, while good behavior does not attract attention. We can do it, however, if we put our minds to it. 1997 will probably not rid us of the Billary menagerie nor of O.J. Simpson, but game management continues to be successful, automobiles continue to improve, South African wines continue to delight the palate and Lindy's new book has taken off like the proverbial big bird. In regard to this last, I must repeat that the book was not my idea. I did not write it nor edit it. I do not own the copyright, and I have no copies for sale. This is Lindy's operation exclusively, and all I can do is sit back and cheer. We have never been enthusiastic about the use as a battle round of the 223, which is essentially a varmint cartridge, and our view is shared by most of the people who have used the M16 in close combat. However, we ran across an amusing anecdote from Vietnam which suggests that there are two sides to most questions. It appears that this marine sergeant became involved in a short−range daylight firefight in which his people were supported by two M48 tanks mounting 90 millimeter guns. As things developed the sergeant noticed a gook a short way off armed with a bazooka (RPG), which was aimed precisely at one of the supporting tanks and well within rocket range. The sergeant assumed a classic offhand firing position, right elbow high, left elbow under the piece, and with his weapon placed properly in the semi−automatic mode, he squeezed off his single round. At precisely that moment, the other tank, having noticed the same gook, touched off one round of 90 millimeter main battery ammunition, but there was so much going on at the time that the sergeant was not aware of the tank round. The gook was totally scrambled, and our marine looked wonderingly down at his little poodle shooter in amazement. "Jeez!" he said. It may indeed be time to plan another scout conference − to be held this year. The YO Ranch in the Texas hill country has been suggested as a site, which can provide both conference facilities and a bit of shooting. If this activity indeed comes to pass, I propose the following agenda, which is fully tentative and open to all suggested corrections and additions: 1. The history of the concept 2. Dimensions 3. Actions other than bolt 4. Sighting systems 5. The shooting sling 6. Calibers 7. Stocks 8. Magazine capacity 9. Bipods 10. Pseudoscouts I clearly have no copyright on the term "scout rifle," and a great many people have seized upon the term and put it to what I consider to be erroneous use. However, I am convinced by now that the scout concept has Vol. 5, No. 1 1/74 Jeff Cooper's Commentaries Volume Five proved itself in the field, and that everyone who has taken this weapon into serious action is convinced that this, indeed, is the way a rifle should be. Still, we do not have a perfected example, but its evolution is a truly worthwhile project. From family member Don Davis we get George Contor's Law of Conservation of Ignorance, to wit: "A false conclusion once arrived at and widely accepted is not easily dislodged, and the less it is understood the more tenaciously it is held." Put in the vernacular, we might repeat the old saw, "My mind is made up. Don't confuse me with the facts!" We read a notice from Canada to the effect that "The purpose of anti−gun legislation is to establish criminal supremacy over the citizen by awarding the goblins the status of being the sole armed caste of the population." The publisher has gone on to state that the time has come to ask ourselves what is behind all this. Well, we know what motivates the hoplophobe. He simply envies the man who can cope where he, the hoplophobe, cannot. A skilled, armed man lives on a plane of security and contentment different from that of others. This is not egalitarian! The man who cannot cut it, envies, fears and sometimes hates the man who can. This is all very clear, it is just a pity that so many people choose to hide their perfidious motivation behind what they claim to be "crime control." From England we hear of a lady on the way to attend a theater performance who was accosted with the snarl, "What innocent, helpless creature had to die so that you could wear that fur coat?" Answer, "My mother−in−law." I find it curious that various people find time to write me to the effect that popularity equates to rectitude. This has to do with my expressed annoyance of the barbarism of using the word "decimate" to signify "devastate." It seems to me essentially presumptuous to publish a lexicon in the first place, and, of course, we find that lexicographers disagree amongst themselves. The notion that if enough people do things wrong that will make a wrong into a right is essentially immoral. To say that a good many people use the word decimate incorrectly, and that therefore it is all right, is to justify such other phenomena as lying, infidelity, and public indecency. A decimal is a decimal. See "decimal point." I was wrong about that "decimation" in the Texas War, as a number of correspondents have hastened to tell me, but I am not wrong about the correct use of the word. We note with some dismay in Bill Buckley's National Review that the consensus of observers is that South Africa is going to crash after Mandela dies. Nelson Mandela's effective beatification has led many to believe that he has succeeded in solving South Africa's serious social and racial problems. He is not immortal, however, and the people around and behind him do not give the impression that they are the proper crew to achieve "peace in our time." I hope the Buckley paper is wrong, but I still advise friends who intend to make that African trip to go now, even if they have to borrow the money. Anyone who studies the matter will reach the conclusion that good marksmanship, per se, is not the key to successful gunfighting. The marksmanship problem posed in a streetfight is ordinarily pretty elementary. Vol. 5, No. 1 2/74 Jeff Cooper's Commentaries Volume Five What is necessary, however, is the absolute assurance on the part of the shooter that he can hit what he is shooting at − absolutely without fail. Being a good shot tends to build up this confidence in the individual. Additionally, the good shot knows what is necessary on his part to obtain hits, and when the red flag flies, the concentration which he knows is necessary pushes all extraneous thinking out of his mind. He cannot let side issues such as fitness reports, political rectitude, or legal liability enter his mind. Such considerations may be heeded before the decision to make the shot is taken, and reconsidered after the ball is over; but at the time, the imperative front sight, surprise break must prevail. Thus we have the paradox that while you almost never need to be a good shot to win a gunfight, the fact that you are a good shot

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