Weaver & Modified Weaver History???

[sully]

Weaver & Modified Weaver History???

I have heard many versions of where these stances beginnings came from. Jack Weaver, whom the Weaver stance is named, was a fairly gifted shooter in the early IPSC days with Col. Jeff Cooper.

I have also heard of a famous Cowboy (gunfighter/trick shooter???) who used this same stance and was photographed approximately 100 years ago doing so. Is anyone aware of this particular Cowboys name and where to find the photo?

Stay Safe,
Greg Sullivan "Sully"
Chief Instructor
www.thedefensiveedge.com

 

[James Bondrock]

I have heard many versions of where these stances beginnings came from. Jack Weaver, whom the Weaver stance is named, was a fairly gifted shooter in the early IPSC days with Col. Jeff Cooper.

IPSC had not been invented yet; these shooting contests took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s near Big Bear Lake, CA. Most of the competitors used various one-handed stances or hip shooting, and missed a lot. Jack Weaver found out that he could get much better control of the gun and more consistent hits if he held it in both hands and used the sights. Jeff Cooper took note of this, wrote it up extensively, and the rest is history. The classic Weaver stance has the shooter standing with the strong side foot to the rear, the torso turned at a rather sharp angle toward the target, the arm holding the gun extended and slightly bent, the support arm also bent but at a slightly greater angle, and the two hands applying isometric tension to each other. Weaver himself never completely bought into this; he said the important thing is just to put both hands on the gun. Over the years, people have "invented" variations on the classic Weaver stance and called it a modified Weaver or put their own names on it. There was even one called the Turnipseed Stance. In an old photo dating back to the late 1920s or early 1930s (Weaver would have been just a toddler, if he was even born yet), a J.H. Fitzgerald of Colt is shown using a perfect Weaver stance.

I have also heard of a famous Cowboy (gunfighter/trick shooter???) who used this same stance and was photographed approximately 100 years ago doing so. Is anyone aware of this particular Cowboys name and where to find the photo?

I doubt if any exhibition trick shooter would have used a Weaver stance in his shows. The whole idea of the stance is to make it easier to hit the target.