Our Latest Scholarship Recipient 4/3/2026
Our latest scholarship recipient, Chris Anderson with Christy, Lindy and John Gannaway’s Raven (in the background).
EXCERPTS FROM JEFF COOPER’S WRITINGS – April 2026
This is the centennial of the great Model 94 Winchester, one of the outstanding artifacts of modern times. It is unsound to make the claim that any one instrument “won the West,” but the 94 was the mainstay of the wilderness during the early years of the twentieth century, and in the days of my youth it was a rare household that did not contain one. This excellent weapon is still with us today, and rendering good service wherever it is found. It you do not own one, you should get one, and not only for the sake of sentiment. If the public scene turns nasty, as some say it may, you will be far better off with an M94 in 30-30 than you will be with an SKS, AK47, or an M16.
Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.2 No.4 April 1994
I recently had the pleasure of accompanying shooting master John Gannaway on a delightful morning’s walk at the Arizona Hunt Club, which is handily located exactly between Gunsite and Phoenix. We were harassing pheasants and chukars, with the aid of a pair of perfectly splendid …
EXCERPTS FROM JEFF COOPER’S WRITINGS
March 2026—-the Colonel’s March musings over the years
Quality control in a slave society can be anything the commissars decide, and, of course, slave labor is a lot cheaper. If you have a Norinco that works well, be satisfied.
Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.2 No.3 March 1994
“Saving is a very fine thing, especially when your parents have done it for you.”
Winston Churchill
Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.3 No.4 March 1995
We recently ran across a statement attributed to an old Western sheriff which fills us with delight. He stated that he wished his deputies to respond to the threat of lethal violence with “disconcerting alacrity.” What a great phrase! For years I have taught mind set and defensive tactics to thousands of students when almost everything I sought to impart could have been included in exhortation to disconcerting alacrity.
Disconcerting alacrity. There you have it.
Ibid
EXCERPTS FROM JEFF COOPER’S WRITINGS February 2026 – the Colonel’s February musings over the years
Personally, I see no need to upgrade the power of the 30-06 by increasing its speed. I have long held that if you want more power than is available in the 30-06, you do not want more velocity, you want more bullet. Three cartridges that might really use additional velocity are the 308, the 350 RM, and the 458, since each of these is hampered by a case capacity too small for optimum ballistics. (John Gannaway can indeed achieve full velocity in the 350 RM, but only by loading up to the point where the cases are not re-usable.)
Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.2 No.2 Feb. 1994
On the matter of Scouts, we are mildly annoyed to discover that the term has been picked up and run off with by all sorts of people who have never seen a true Scout and do not know what it is. Most of these people do not realize that a Scout must make weight, and it must use a general-purpose cartridge readily available worldwide and suitable for any target up to buffalo. This points towards 308, but options include 30-06, 303 British, and the 7-08 for jurisdictions where 30 calibers are prohibited. It does not include the 223. …
Texas Mouflon
Jeff Cooper, Gunsite Ranch, October 1985
The mouflon (0vis musimon) is the native wild sheep of Europe. It was found in early historic times all the way around the Mediterranean, and up into the central mountains of Europe, also extending eastward through Asia Minor and farther into what are now Iran and Afghanistan. In recent times, however, it has been killed out, except for the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, which two spots were its only surviving habitat at the beginning of the twentieth century. It has now been re-stocked into some of the mountain ranges of Europe, and additionally into North America. After some sixty years, it has proliferated and may now be bunted on
Excerpts from the Writings of Jeff Cooper – January 2026
“Most of our harmless and genuine joys in this life are those which find their source in primitive instincts. A man who follows his natural inclinations, with due deference to common sense and moderation, is usually on the right track. Thus the sport of hunting is one of the most honorable of the primeval instincts of man.”
Archibald Rutledge
Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.1 No.3 July 1993
We talked recently with Karin van Graan at Engonyameni in the Eastern Transvaal. She told us she couldn’t put Danie on the phone at the time because he was out with a party of pistol hunters. They had tagged a blue wildebeest (which is a very hard animal) four days previously with a 44 Magnum and they were still on his trail. Pistol hunting is certainly a worthy pastime, but obviously not for everyone. The fact that you can row across the Atlantic (with a certain amount of luck) doesn’t make rowing across the Atlantic a good idea.
Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries Vol.1, No.3 July 1993
In a recent paper, we listed a number of reasons for which men fight. One reader took exception to us in that we did not list liberty as a primary motive. As in all philosophic discussion, much depends upon semantics, so I suppose the first thing to do here is to define “liberty” so that we can examine our position. In my view, liberty is that condition which exists when men make their own laws, either directly or indirectly, and are protected from bureaucracy or despotism by unbreakable rules.
OUR LATEST SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT 1/16/2026
Our latest scholarship recipient, Michael McKnight with Lindy at the Sconce. January 16th, 2026