The Art of the Rifle

[wtfooptimax200]

I just finished reading Colonel Jeff Cooper's book. It was an amazingly practical approach to rifle shooting. Above all it has convinced me to practice more and to give the Ching sling an honest try. Has anyone else read it? What did you think?

[MattOrgan]

Yes I have read it along with everything else he wrote. Cooper was one of the most educated and thoughtful of gun writers. If you haven't read his books and articles on handgun shooting, hunting, and any other subject you've missed something.

[376Steyr]

Cooper was an old fuddy-duddy who never understood that our Modern Tactical Digital Carbon-Fiber Laser combination shooting stick/range finder/GPS/police whistles eliminates the need to practice field shooting positions, know our rifles, or even think too hard about we are getting into. I much prefer the writers who are happy to tell me that the latest gizmo they are reviewing (helpfully accompanied by a full page ad on the opposite page) will let me shoot quarter-inch groups at 600 yards so I'll be ready for that thousand-yard buck.

[JHeath]

Cooper was an old fuddy-duddy who never understood that our Modern Tactical Digital Carbon-Fiber Laser combination shooting stick/range finder/GPS/police whistles eliminates the need to practice field shooting positions, know our rifles, or even think too hard about we are getting into. I much prefer the writers who are happy to tell me that the latest gizmo they are reviewing (helpfully accompanied by a full page ad on the opposite page) will let me shoot quarter-inch groups at 600 yards so I'll be ready for that thousand-yard buck.

You are 180 deg. wrong! Cooper was a whiskerless whippersnapper addicted to new technology, fixated on cheap shortcuts like repeating-rifles with telecope-sights, and auto-loading pistols. One of that generation of lazy do-nothings who throw away ammunition with "rapid fire exercises". Were you to present him a false muzzle for some real riflery, he would be lost, I warrant. Fell under the spell of that Pied Piper C.B. Winder in his youth, I suppose.

[Larry Gibson]

Your both wrong.....problem was Cooper was not only a Marine but a Maring officer so what could he know except "3 bags full" and "hoorah"........

Larry Gibson

[o6Patient]

I would suggest folks read a gun writer and make up there own minds.

There are gun writers presently that, one in particular, makes my
skin crawl whenever he's blatting on tv or in a magazine..loud mouthed,
talk down to you, blatting, ranting pronouncements, obnoxious little rodent.
Some are good and some blow smoke, some tell us what we want to hear
and some tell us what they think we should hear, either way it's
pretty commercial now-a-days.:-?

[sthwestvictoria]

A great book on the practical use of the rifle. Great information on positioning, breath timing, trigger squeeze, all thrown in with some historical stories and hunting stories. There is a bit of a ramble tacked on the end about the scout rifle but still great reading.

If you liked this then try the free eBook Shoot To Live - a Canadian 1945 manual on shooting the .303 but more generally good on positioning and breath and trigger control:
http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=310-Shoot-to-Live-1945-%28Practical-Shooting-with-the-Enfield-Rifle-%29

And Elmer Keiths books - Hell I Was There is excellent. I have Letters From Elmer Keith on order, hopefully here any day.