Bill Jordan's No Second Place Winner?

[His lordship.]

Has anyone read this book, is it worth buying?  I am thinking of picking up a used copy.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Chris, I think it would be a good book, it is one I have thought of picking up many times, but very seldom see it in used books stores...Bill Jordan was the real thing, not a magazine faker...he was a boarder patrolman for yrs.. For a time he may have been the fastest man with a handgun, but I am not sure about that......

[AtlLaw]

Bill Jordan was the real thing, not a magazine faker...

+1 on that!
I had a copy.  It was darn near required reading for young police in the early 70's. 

Things have changed a bunch in 40 years, but I'm sure it would still be a good read.

[DeckH]

ChrisD.,  Back around 1972 between FBI careers,  I was an Asst. Professor in the Criminal Justice Dept. at Central Missouri State University, Warensberg, MO.  Our law enforcement club (students) through the NRA was able to have Jordan come to the campus to talk to interested students.  He did some demonstrations and of course needed yours truly to make a fool of with his fast draw.  He was quick!   Got his book autographed.  Interesting read.  DeckH. 

[AtlLaw]

As I remember, he was of the opinion that, with practice, one should be able to get off an aimed shot, at gunfight distances, in something under a second.   The targets were asprin tablets I believe. 

At that time the "Border Patrol" Holster was standard issue for our S&W M-10's in the APD, ammunition at the range was free and I practiced... a lot!    Which may explain why I still prefer wheel guns to auto loaders.   

[Dee]

Like AtlLaw said in the early 70s a lot of officers that wanted to go home at night would read just about anything to do with gun fighting they could get their hands on. Bill Jordan and Jeff Cooper were the two I read.
I found Cooper to be arrogant and one way minded ALL THE TIME, but liked his mind set theory and taught it, and practiced it. In that regard, Cooper was dead on.
Bill Jordon was John Wayne in that he was REALLY OLD SCHOOL. He literally is responsible for Smith and Wesson CREATING the light and fast, Model 19 Combat Magnum (357 mag in a K frame), and in that regard he was truly RIGHT!
Bill Jordan's idea was to stand and fight. You can't hit anything while your running.
A shoot from the hip shooter he was once recorded to have drawn and fired, hitting I believe an aspirin resting on the back of his gun hand in .27  of a second.
He did the same with ping pong balls, putting them on the back of his gun hand, and drawing and hitting the ball with the muzzle before the ball could fall. He was numerous times used by attorneys in court to demonstrate DOING, what someone said COULDN'T BE DONE, with a revolver. I believe he also INVENTED the steel lined JORDAN HOLSTER.
The book is a good read, but may cause one to question the real need for high capacity pistols in a fight.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  When you mentioned Bill Jordan and trials, I think he was the one that was in Pinedale during Ed Cantrell's trial for killing and undercover agent in Rock Springs..Bill put on quiet a show for the jury, demonstrating that Cantrell killed Rosa, because a real pistol man watches his enemies eyes rather than his gunhand...I read a great deal about this event and the shooting that led up to the trial....

[Dee]

That's correct. Like I said, Bill Jordan was a stand and fight kinda guy and while the other guy was runnin and miss, he was standin and hittin.
He was a trick shot to the point of Miculick and others, but a fighter also.

[spruce]

Great read, great lawman, and a true gentleman.

He coined the term "Take your time......fast"!  Worth the price of the book just for his explanation of this.

[AtlLaw]

He literally is responsible for Smith and Wesson CREATING the light and fast, Model 19 Combat Magnum (357 mag in a K frame), and in that regard he was truly RIGHT!

+1!  And still a fine choice!
Dan, wasn't he also a proponant of the 41 Mag?  S&W made a revolver just like the M10 4 " Heavy Barrel we were issued but in 41 Mag.  I recall it was based on his input but I'm probably wrong or at least a mite confused... 

[Dee]

Bill Jordan and Elmer Keith got with Smith on this round, and got it going. The 41 mag was a great defensive round, and a real fight stopper, but never got a fair break in law enforcement because there was such a poor bullet selection. It was a good police round but very difficult in this area to find a hollow point loading and a soft point was an over penetrator.
An officer I know (now deceased) was laying on his back being beaten by a guy on PCP and shot the guy 4 times thru the chest with a 41 mag. The other officer's statements that were running to his aid said every time they heard his gun go off they saw goose down from the perps vest come out the back. He was shooting clean thru him ever shot. He died after they tackled him and cuffed him.
Forensic said 3 of the 4 shots were fatal on their own. Gotta love that PCP.

[His lordship.]

Bought the book and finished reading it last week.  It was well worth getting, I learned a bunch of things, even though it was originally written in 1965 the basics can still be used today.  Jordan can write too, I used to own "A Rifleman Went to War by H.W. McBride.  McBride was one of the kings in sniping but he lacked the literal ability to edit the book, so it can be a bit challenging to read.  Jordan must have done well in high school English, or had some college level courses under his belt. 

[Anduril]

"Well, it looks like you've been taken in, like so many others. 'Bill Jordan' is the pen name of Belle Jordan, a wizened little old lady in Sheveport, La. That long, tall, homely yahoo you see around the gun conventions is a guy she hired away from a carnival sideshow to make personal appearances for her." Skeeter Skelton

 
..

[His lordship.]

 I had read that one too years ago in a gun magazine, truth is, I have never met a woman who knew much about guns.  My ex-fiance, the daughter of a Utah rancher who grew up with a rifle in her hands, and the most experienced gun toting woman I ever met, only knew a fraction of what I did at age 25.