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Around the Water Cooler
By Rich Grassi
Now for our news roundup for April 14, 2009:
The AP reports that a road crew working in rural Alabama discovered a valuable collection of US and foreign military weapons had been dumped in a creek. Authorities said that the weapons included a 50mm mortar, a 20mm cannon, 2 belt fed machine guns and a Thompson machinegun (sic). Our publisher, on being advised of the haul, noted that he can't even catch fish . . .
Meanwhile, US Navy SEALS shot and killed three pirates, one of whom had an AK-47 pointing at their hostage, the Captain of Maersk Alabama. Stories vary, but it seems the distance was around 25 yards in a heaving sea. The three pirates were dropped, the hostage was recovered unharmed.
Buried in the story we find that the Captain's crew had overpowered a pirate, tying him up. They tried to trade the pirate for the Captain, but the pirate got away and the Alabama was left to the crew. The pirates kept the Captain.
In addition to congratulation the US Navy and the SEALs for their daring actions in recovering the Captain - who had an escape attempt under his belt already - we congratulate the crew of Alabama for their daring and successful attempt to keep their vessel.
Finally, this note from Jim Shepherd's SHOOTING WIRE:
"On a completely unrelated note, the shooting world lost one of its best-known names last week. Former Los Angeles County Deputy Jack Weaver, 80, died Tuesday in Carson City. Weaver, for those of you not familiar with the name, is the man for whom the Weaver Shooting Stance is named.
"After experimenting with a variety of shooting stances and modifications, Weaver decided the best position for reaction shooting was simple: two hands on the weapon, gun up a foot or so above the vertical centerline of the body, and head slightly dropped. This gave him what he called a "flash picture" of the target. It also gave him the 1959 "Leatherslap" gunfighting title. As he explained "it looked kind of stupid, and everybody was laughing at me, but it worked."
"After three years of losing to Weaver, Guns and Ammo writer and legendary shooting expert Jeff Cooper proclaimed the Weaver Stance "decisively superior" to anything else. In fact, Cooper incorporated Weaver's stance into his Modern Technique of the Pistol.
"On Saturday evening, I spoke with Weaver's son, Alan, about his father and learned that this last year of his life had been one "of a rock star" after American Handgunner published a story about Weaver and his stance in its May issue. "All last year," Alan said, "Dad got letters, videos, patches from police departments and shooting clubs, tons of mementos that made him realize that people did remember him and his contributions."
"We all remember Weaver's contribution to shooting -every time we take a two handed Weaver, or modified Weaver or whatever you call it.
--Jim Shepherd"
The Modern Technique of the Pistol was the first attempt to bring a method to the use of the defensive handgun. Before that we had COL. Rex Applegate's point or instinctive firing technique and he built on the efforts of Fairbairn.
Jeff Cooper determined that to stop a fight with a pistol requiresfive elements. These elements were the Weaver Stance, the Presentation, Flash Sight Picture, the Surprise Break and the Heavy-Duty Semiautomatic Pistol.
Obviously, the element Jack Weaver contributed was the Weaver Stance. This isn't a matter of being "bladed" to the target, the exact degree of bend in one or the other arm and it's not simply having a two-handed grip on the pistol. It's the isometric tension between the hands.
The hand the pistol is in drives out while the other hand pulls the pistol back. The idea is to create enough tension that the muzzle doesn't flip anymore than necessary and that the gun quickly comes back to point - that gives us quick follow-up for repeated shots to target if the first round fails to stop the fight.
Stop the fight - that's what the Modern Technique of the Pistol is for. The purpose of the pistol, according to Jeff Cooper, is to stop fights. It's why he liked the 1911 in .45 ACP. Unfortunately, many deadly folks remain unimpressed with the .45 rounds they've taken in center of mass. There's no sure thing.
That's why we need quick follow-ups. If the first doesn't do it, let's pour more in there before his system can blunt the pain. The pistol isn't much good at stopping fights. It is handy. Carrying a slung rifle or shotgun offends some people, so we hide our salvation (such as it is) and hope we can reach a long gun if the fight starts.
There it is: the Weaver Stance in firearms history. The Combat Masters -- Jeff Cooper, Thell Reed, Ray Chapman, Elden Carl, John Plahn and, of course, Jack Weaver - codified and disseminated the Modern Technique, as it is taught to this day.
Rest well, Deputy Weaver. It's the end of watch.