"Pick up a rifle and you change instantly from a subject to a citizen," says author Jeff Cooper. That is especially true now with fresh assaults on our freedoms and liberty from foreign and domestic sources. But before a rifle can be a tool of power, you must know how to use it well. Armed forces have almost abandoned the idea of serious riflecraft, and with the increasing urbanization of the world, fewer people grow up honing their rifle skills. It is time to set forth the art of the rifle before it becomes a thing of the past and something very important is lost forever. And what better person to do this than Jeff Cooper? He is America's foremost rifle instructor, the founder of Gunsite Ranch and the International Pistol Institute and the author of several classic books. In this special color edition, Jeff includes a new introduction and a new chapter on the Scout, as well as bringing you up to date on everything you need to know about the rifle, whether you intend to use it for securing meat, destroying enemies on the battlefield, protecting yourself and your family, shooting targets or resisting tyranny. He also entertains you with rousing tales of marksmanship, combat and big-game hunting all over the world. This is a book that you will treasure for years to come from America's most esteemed firearms master.
Jeff Cooper was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1920. He was educated at Stanford University and took his advanced degree from the University of California. He was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1941 and served throughout World War II in the Pacific, achieving the rank of Major. Recalled to active duty for the Korean War, he moved up one rank to Lieutenant Colonel before leaving the service.
Cooper became a shottist at the age of eleven. In 1958 he originated the sport of practical pistol competition. From this activity he formulated the Modern Technique of the Pistol, now generally observed throughout the world. For the next thirty years he was active in teaching the new method throughout the Western World.
In 1976 Jeff Cooper founded the International Practical Shooting Confederation. In 1977 he founded the American Pistol Institute at Gunsite in Arizona, where he lived until his death in 2006.
He served as editor-at-large of Guns and Ammo magazine, for which he wrote a monthly column. After having served many years as a director of the National Rifle Association of America, he was elected to the Executive Council.
Jeff Cooper spent a long and active life reading, shooting, hunting, fighting and teaching. Internationally respected as the "Gunner's Guru," Jeff Cooper is a philosopher, moralist, and political commentator -- a true modern Renaissance man. It is to the benefit of his many readers that he developed the passion at an early age to write it all down.
