02/26/2026
Funny to think people only used one hand.
Before Red Dots… Before Isosceles… There Was a Deputy Who “Looked Stupid.”
In the 1950s, most pistol shooting fell into two camps:
• One-handed bullseye shooting
• Point shooting from the hip
Neither looked much like a real gunfight.
Then in 1959, an L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy showed up to a “Leatherslap” quick-draw match and did something different.
He used two hands.
He brought the gun up high enough to actually see the sights.
And he beat everyone.
His name was Jack Weaver.
At first, people laughed at him. The stance “didn’t look right.” Even his supervisors questioned it. The NRA rulebook said pistols were shot one-handed. Tradition said one thing. Results said another.
Weaver didn’t invent his stance from a textbook. He didn’t copy a European duelist or a competition champion. He experimented. He raised the gun just a little higher. Dropped his head slightly. Got a flash sight picture. Used tension between both hands to control recoil.
And suddenly, he wasn’t just fast.
He was accurate.
That combination changed everything.
A young Marine officer named Jeff Cooper took notice. He studied it, refined it, and helped build what became the “Modern Technique of the Pistol.” The Weaver Stance spread through law enforcement, competitive shooting, and defensive training worldwide.
For decades, gun writers debated Weaver vs. Isosceles.
But here’s what matters most:
The stance wasn’t about dogma.
It was about solving a problem.
How do you hit what matters — quickly — under pressure?
Weaver’s answer was simple:
Use both hands. See the sights. Stand in a balanced, fighting-ready position.
Today, we argue about optics, grip angles, slide cuts, and dot size.
Back then, they argued about whether you should even use two hands.
Progress always looks strange at first.
If you care about where modern defensive pistolcraft really began — and the quiet deputy who changed it — you need to read the full write-up by Jerry Clough over at American Handgunner. It’s a story worth knowing.
