Following the war, many police agencies began to adopt the point-shooting method to deal with domestic gunfights. In fact, the FBI sort of led the way in this endeavor. And typical of the FBI, they put their own twist on it. Officers were soon dropping into a deep squat--as if they might have had severe intestinal cramps--and were triggering their shots as soon as the handgun cleared the holster. All of which looked rather dramatic but was not very effective, except for very close-range gunfights.

(left) In the original isosceles stance, the shooter stands erect with his arms held straight out. It makes for accurate shooting, but does not compensate for the severe recoil, which makes multiple shots very difficult. (right) The combat isosceles stance makes use of the athletic stance, but in Wilson’s view, it does not deal with recoil as well as the Weaver stance.

People like Ed McGivern and Bill Jordan showed us that point shooting could be extremely fast and surprisingly accurate if a person was willing to put in hours of practice. Still, for all that, the point-shooting technique was only good for close-range encounters.

Applegate and Jordan both advised using the handgun's sights if the fight occurred much beyond handshaking distance. In addition, Jordan did not crouch during his speed draw. He advised against moving any part of the body that was not directly involved in getting off the shot. Jordan would move his arm and shoulder to get hits in 37/100 of a second.

In the 1950s, Col. Jeff Cooper started a free-form pistol competition near Big Bear, California. Targets were set up at close range, and quick hits were the order of the day. Cooper said that at the outset, competitors were using one-handed point shooting. And then along came Jack Weaver.

Weaver chose to approach this close-range competition by using both hands on his S&W revolver and actually using the sights to get his hits. In short order, he was cleaning everyone's clock because he was hitting a target with each and every shot.

And he was doing it very quickly.

Cooper adopted Weaver's shooting technique because he had seen it work. And he had seen it produce hits way faster than that which the average point shooter was capable of. As Cooper taught the Weaver stance, the shooter stood erect, with his feet slightly quartering away from the target. Elbows were bent slightly, to act as shock absorbers, and the weak arm was perpendicular to the ground. The shooter's eyes were focused on the threat, and the handgun was brought up into the lower edge of the shooter's vision. At this point, the shooter focused on the front sight, making sure it was aligned and on target, then he pressed the "Go" button.

The greatest value of the Weaver stance was--and still is--the ability to control recoil so that multiple, well-aimed shots can be fired very rapidly.

At about this same time, American police agencies were enjoying competition on the Practical Police Course (PPC). The PPC was a 60-round match that was designed for revolvers and light target loads. Back in those early days, the isosceles stance was all the rage.