Jeff Cooper and the Creation of IPSC - Gun Guys Special Ep. 31

Ken Hackathorn, Dave Westerhout of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Jim McClary, and Bob Arganbright were all present at the historic Columbia Conference in Columbia, Missouri where the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) was born. It rapidly grew to include dozens of countries. It was the culmination of years of hard work and dedication since Jeff Cooper and a hard corps of dedicated pistoleros had begun free-style “combat shooting” in California in the 1950s. In this episode, these founding members recall what it was like to train under Jeff Cooper and how the sport of practical defense and combat pistol shooting came into being.

IPSC Website: https://www.ipsc.org/ipsc/
WC Website: https://www.wilsoncombat.com/
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Ken Hackathorn has served as a US Army Special Forces Small Arms Instructor, Gunsite Instructor, and NRA Police Firearms Instructor. He is currently an FBI Certified Firearms Instructor, and an SRT member and Special Response Team trainer. Ken has trained US Military Special Operations forces, Marine FAST and SOTG units and is a contract small arms trainer to FBI SWAT and HRT. Ken has provided training to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and been active in small arms training for the past 25 years. He has written firearms related material for Guns & Ammo, Combat Handguns, Soldier Of Fortune, and currently American Handgunner and contributed to at least six other gun/shooting journals. Ken was also a founding member of IPSC and IDPA.

Jim McClary began his law enforcement career in South Carolina in 1974. From 1976 to 1987, he served as an agent assigned to the Narcotics Section, becoming in 1987 a lieutenant supervising training, freedom of information, and policy and procedures until 1994. He was a team leader on the SWAT Team from 1987 to 1994, as well. Since 1994, he has served as SAC/Captain of the Training Section, and graduated in 1998 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, Session 192. He has supervised and provided training to hundreds of law enforcement officers on a multitude of topics, including report writing, live-fire tactical response, active-shooter response, and counter-terrorism. He also has led and conducted high-risk warrant services, manhunts, and SWAT operations and led law enforcement operations in support of local agencies during natural disasters and man-made events. Captain McClary's experience includes a wide compass of duties. He has conducted investigations and prepared cases involving a variety of subjects from street-level narcotics to international smuggling to capital murder in order to ensure successful prosecution. He was assigned as SLED liaison to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as part of a multi-jurisdictional task force. McClary, a High Master in Police Pistol Course (PPC) competition, retired from a long and distinguished career with SLED, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. He’s now the administrator for the Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame in Columbia, South Carolina.

David I Westerhout (born 1936) is a former athlete who competed for England and a shooter who competed for Zimbabwe. He represented England in the 440 yards hurdles at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales. He was a member of Woodford Green Athletics Club and headed the UK junior rankings for the javelin in 1954. Westerhout changed sports and took up pistol shooting. He won the World Combat Pistol Championships in 1977 and was voted Rhodesia Sportsman of the Year. In 1980 he competed for Zimbabwe in the Mixed 25 metre rapid fire pistol at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. During 1959 he qualified as an optometrist and emigrated to Rhodesia. In the 1970s he served in the Special Forces Unit of the Rhodesian Army.

Bob Arganbright of Wood River, IL was the world traditional fast-draw champion, and a computer-systems manager for the Department of Defense. He is a subject matter expert on the history of the cowboy fast-draw, both in historical reality and as featured in film in television, and knows more about six-shooter holsters than just about anybody alive. He is a published author in many gun magazines including American Handgunner, Tactical Life, and Muckrack and is the author of the book The Fastest Guns Alive: The Story of Western Fast Draw.