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No Second Place Winner Paperback – June 19, 2013

by William Henry Jordan (Author)

4.7 301 ratings

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Discusses grips, calibers, loads, and the care and fitting of a holster, and looks at the keys to the fast draw and successful gunfighting

Print length

114 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Police Bookshelf
Publication date

June 19, 2013
Dimensions

6.25 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0936279095
ISBN-13

978-0936279091
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Police Bookshelf; English Language edition (June 19, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 114 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0936279095
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0936279091
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #911,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #29,041 in Crafts & Hobbies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.7 301 ratings

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4.7 out of 5

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C4DB

There is no substitute for experience!

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023

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If you every met Bill, you'd know he was bigger than life and had the warmest, most sincere demeanor of anyone you had ever met. An expert that was so good that life was just easy for him. Generous to a fault, always quick with a smile and joke. A roll model for the budding marksman that I once was. There is no substitute for this book. I'm a contractor for the USBP, all agents pass this one around about how they did things in the pre-regulations-only days and how to stay alive when regulations don't work. Many photos, many side-by-side examples to make clear what you're reading. It's the definitive masterpiece of the art of handgun self defense or practical shooting competition. Doesn't judge very often, Bill just tells you what's good about something and what may be an issue. Wish every shooter could have met him - a giant of a man, someone to look up to and certainly listen carefully to. You'll be delighted if you get a copy - shop used and you'll likely get his autograph - he was a friend to all... until it was time not to be. Spot-on moral compass.

One person found this helpful

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Kat

great book

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2023

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Great bio of a old time shooter.

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David L. Staples

A Time Capsule Left By a Master

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2012

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There was a long, storied era when the revolver was king and the fast draw stopped at belt-level, when unsighted "point-shooting" was standard law enforcement training, and when sophistication in handgun bullets meant lead semi-wadcutters instead of lead round-noses. Bill Jordan was the apogee of that glacial age, and this book is its core sample.

All of us present-day shooters should read this book and know from whence the current art and science grew. Jordan was an accomplished writer as well as the preeminent shootin' badge of his time, so the reading is a straightforward pleasure. Further, this is a book by a working law officer of immense experience, and some of its greatest charm is in its practical day-to-day advice. For example, whether or not you'll ever draw your weapon in extremis, you'll have to ride in a car with the thing at your side for eight hours a day, and that will have a lot to do with your choice of barrel length, holster style, and belt. Similarly: How to make wax bullets for cheap practice; and how to shrink-fit a new leather holster to your gun -- a lost art in our age of Kydex and other plastics. And at every point there are excellent photographs: How to do it right...and, with comic gravity, how *not* to do it. Jordan was six-feet-six of Law and Order - with a sense of humor.

(About the only thing he doesn't talk about, oddly enough, is how to reload quickly. Or maybe that is not so odd, coming from a time before speedloaders, and from a man who never needed but one shot of the six in his gun.)

But for us this is history, not a lesson plan, and the equipment recommendations are not realistic or best-practice in our time. Some reviewers here have commended this book as a modern manual-of-arms, but this is not good advice. We use the sights without fail except at fist-fight range; the trigger finger never enters the guard until the piece is aligned; we depend on high-tech projectiles combining barrier penetration with certain terminal expansion; and if we showed up sporting a cut-away trigger guard or a holster that exposed the trigger, we'd be escorted off the range at high speed.

And four years after this book was published, then-modern autoloading pistols were first adopted by a major US law enforcement organization (S&W Model 39, Illinois State Police), and the eclipse of the revolver began. In our time of Glocks and Sigs this seems obvious and inevitable, but there was no reason why it should have been obvious to Jordan, who in a few pages disregarded the auto as impractical for law enforcement and whose ultimate preference in a police cartridge, which became the .41 Magnum, landed with a soggy N-Frame-sized thud and was swept away on a tide of high-capacity autopistols. (Note that this review is written by one who prefers, and prefers to carry, revolvers. Bill Jordan was simply right in his time; some of us are just...nostalgic in ours.)

So Jordan was not wrong. He was right in 1963, and he proves himself right with wit, great photos, and three decades of experience. Imbibe. Then go to the range.

54 people found this helpful

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JT

Bill Jordan is the man and his experience proves it

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2023

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This book is very informative 👍

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J.T.

Bill Jordan Saved My Hearing

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2022

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Love this book, with great anecdotes by a man I have great respect for. I read it for the first time decades ago, and started wearing hearing protection on the job immediately after that. Bill’s story about how you were unmanly if you shot with ear plugs, and how he lost his hearing because of that really sunk home.

He really hit a chord when he said he couldn’t hear his grandchildren.

I hunt turkeys, and want to preserve my hearing to hear those gobblers. I have Bill to thank for my emphasis in using hearing protection, from on the job, to snow machining & boating, and of course shooting.

Thanks Bill for a great read! Wish you were still around.

2 people found this helpful

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M. Daniels

must read

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2022

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You are young and wet behind the ears as a gun nut if you have not read this book. Written by a man that had to use his gun. Most of the advice is as solid as the day it was written. The author designed the S&W Combat Magnum. I shot bowling pin matches with a Combat Magnum... fast and powerful. Mr Jordan knew what he was doing.

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Wayne R., Ossipee, NH

Timeless Life-saving Classic

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2020

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Yes, this book is dated, and some of the techniques would no longer be advised. But Bill Jordan's approach to staying alive in the field are never out of date, and it would behoove modern police instructors to read this book to understand the mentality of staying alive that is as important, if not more important, than the technical equipment and some of the firearms classes that are based upon planned tactical shooting. Officers don't generally have time to plan; only to react in an instant that means what the title says; "No Second Chance". As an NRA Certified Police Instructor, I incorporated some of Jordan's life-saving methods, and it served well for my officers over a span of three decades.

4 people found this helpful

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Susan Schena

REVIEW OF "NO SECOND PLACE WINNER"

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2017

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This iconic book on fast draw and other relevant shooting information, which I'd seen referenced
for many years, complements my other two books: Fast and Fancy Shooting by McGivern and
Sixguns by Elmer Keith. Excellent book on fast drawing techniques. I personally don't think
fast draw is particularly relevant to me, or anyone else...the only need for a fast draw is if someone
is pointing a gun at you and is about to shoot you or in the case of a surprise animal attack, then a fast draw
could possibly save you. Other than that, especially if trouble is imminent, your gun is already in hand.
However, if you want to learn and practice fast draw, this is the definitive book on this subject.

10 people found this helpful

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Lou

Very nice book

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2022

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My husband loves this gift.

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Andrew G. Davis

Every one should be this good

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2011

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Every one should read this book, especially law enforcement for our southern border who are fighting an "un-named" war" of illegial immigration and the criminals who create it. As you read you will see he did more than fire his weapon once a month. He practiced daily his drawing and dry firing, to the jeers of his compatirots. But, when braced by 3 coyaotes, all with weapns drawn on him; he drew andyway and shot all 3 withln one seond without them having fired a shot. Yessir! speed, aim and surprise kept him alive. This book is difficult to find and I gladly admit the Amazon was the first of many searchings to come up with it.

9 people found this helpful

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Roy B. Jordan

Nice

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2021

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Have a cousin with the same name. Whe the family visits, i put this on the coffee table.

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Chuck in Michigan

AN EXCELLENT DISCUSSION ABOUT REAL-LIFE USE OF GUNS FOR SELF DEFENSE

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2016

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Excellent book, with a no-nonsense discussion of using deadly force against someone, and the great responsibility involved if the decision is made to fire. Best to avoid situations like this -- stay out of harm's way if you can. But if the time comes, don't draw it unless you are willing to use it. And things happen fast! Excellent read, recommended for those who who would try passing laws to outlaw guns. Even if the laws were passed, there will still be guns, and those who will get them. Best to be able to defend yourself, with due caution in using the great power you possess.

8 people found this helpful

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R. W. Gauer

No Seond Place Winner

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2008

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Bill Jordan was a man I wish I'd met. This is a rather slim volume, as he frankly admitted, but there's some meat on the bones of this book to chew on! It's a quick and easily read book, and that might be it's real fault. You can all too easily pass right over some very valuable advice that's only obtainable by experience. Read it again and again. This is about gunfighting on the job--guns, holsters, and usage. I liked this book and recommend as a practical primer on the subject, derived from one man's real life experience. Hopefully it's information that you never need to apply.

7 people found this helpful

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Steve

Still relevant after decades

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2021

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Even though Law Enforcement has changed a great deal since this was first published. This book is still relevant.

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2010

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My husband had been looking for this book for years. I order it for Christmas 2008, but never received it from Amazon. I was really upset about not receiving the book. Amazon was not able to locate the book for shipment. I then started looking for it again for Christmas 2009. I did receive the book the second time. And my husband was very excited to finally have it. I received an email from Amazon Christmas 2010, asking to buy the book back. My husband is a police officer and references to the book quit often. When I asked him if he wanted to sell the book back, he said Heck No! It was worth the wait. Highly recommended book for Police Officers.

3 people found this helpful

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No Second Place Winner Paperback – June 19, 2013

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