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.
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No Second Place Winner Paperback – June 19, 2013
by
William Henry Jordan
(Author)
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 length114 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPolice Bookshelf
- Publication dateJune 19, 2013
- Dimensions6.25 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
- ISBN-100936279095
- ISBN-13978-0936279091
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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: #416,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #14,609 in Crafts & Hobbies (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
306 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2012
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2022
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.
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.
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2023
Great bio of a old time shooter.
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2011
This is a dated book on combat pistolcraft but still retains some salient points relevant for today's gunfighters. The author covers the use of the revolver in an effective manner, covering combat pistolcraft in great detail with emphasis on the engagement spectrum from contact shooting to close quarters to extended pistol ranges. A lot of the methods in this book with little adjustment are applicable to the modern automatic pistols employment. Again the material is dated and has its flaws, but I believe it to be a worthy read for entertainment, academic study and application. This book is illustrated with numerous photographs. Highly recommend.
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023
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.
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2020
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.
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2023
This book is very informative 👍
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2022
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.
Top reviews from other countries
Malcolm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book. Totally unable to source it in bookshops
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2014
Great book. Totally unable to source it in bookshops. Score one for Amazon.




