Bill Jordan - "No Second Place Winner"

Register to hide this ad
A good read, important even today.

But the most important lesson to learn from Bill Jordan is that even an extremely skilled and experienced firearms user can cause terrible grief and suffering from even a momentary lapse in proper gun handling. Bill Jordan killed a fellow officer due to a negligent discharge at the police station where he was working.

I’ve caused a negligent discharge myself before, and while nobody was hurt, I realized it could happen to ANYBODY and at any time and the legend that is Jordan proves that. He was a great man and still is, despite what happened, and that’s the most important thing I’ve learned from him.
 
I own and read the book many many years ago and is IMO one of the better ones at that time period.
 
Last edited:
Bill Jordan was born about 30 or so miles from where my grandparents lived. I have an autographed copy of his book.....a good read, from a man that lived the life of an LEO/Border Patrol! memtb
 
sigp220.45 said:
Charlie Askins used to call Bill Jordan the guy who wrote a book about gunfighting without ever being in a gunfight.
Click to expand...

Bill told me that he commanded Marines on Pacific islands in WWII, mopping up Japanese pillboxes. He wore a S&W M-1917 .45 revolver and carried a 12 ga. shotgun for that. But I didn't ask if he really killed any enemy, personally.

Askins did kill some men, and Cooper got three. If any of the other famous gun writers ever got in a gun fight, I don't know about it. Robert C. Ruark, a newspaper columnist and novelist, said he killed a German in an alley in Italy in WW II. He used a P-38 acquired via private means. But he also had a .45 auto, which he took home from the Navy, with a typewriter. The Navy eventually caught up to him and demanded payment, which he made.

I've known a few other men who killed folks with handguns, but they weren't scribes. Well, one wrote an article on the Battle of Hastings for an arms and armour site...

Bill maybe didn't ever kill anyone but a fellow Border Patrolman, but I saw him draw and shoot, if only wax bullets indoors. He was FAST and deadly accurate.

I have two copies of his book, both autographed. I think his advice in it was very sound. Times have changed, and today, his comment that it's easier to say that you didn't shoot someone too much rather than that you didn't hit them too hard may be questionable in a more PC world. I liked his account of another BP agent who was severely wounded and still managed to kill his assailant, then had to drive his vehicle some distance before he could use the radio to summon aid.
 
Last edited:
JayFramer said:
A good read, important even today.

But the most important lesson to learn from Bill Jordan is that even an extremely skilled and experienced firearms user can cause terrible grief and suffering from even a momentary lapse in proper gun handling. Bill Jordan killed a fellow officer due to a negligent discharge at the police station where he was working.

I’ve caused a negligent discharge myself before, and while nobody was hurt, I realized it could happen to ANYBODY and at any time and the legend that is Jordan proves that. He was a great man and still is, despite what happened, and that’s the most important thing I’ve learned from him.
Click to expand...

This is the true meaning of Cletus Stories. So many (especially here) interpret it as looking down on fools, or pretending like we're not capable of the same lapses.

When a Cletus Story is told, the point is to remind oneself that we all, each one of us, have a Cletus inside, and the only way to keep him from getting out is constant vigilance against complacency.

MSM041-2.jpg
 
sigp220.45 said:
Charlie Askins used to call Bill Jordan the guy who wrote a book about gunfighting without ever being in a gunfight.
Click to expand...

Bill Jordan was a well respected law enforcement officer and author. I read No Second Place Winner so many years ago, I've forgotten everything in it.

But if I had to choose between him and Charles Askins as to who I'd rather sit around and talk with and listen to, it'd be Charles Askins, hands down.

bac2ccf1231d0c267a6dfeb12cee3955.jpg
 
Onomea said:
Askins is a bit too cold blooded for my taste. I’d rather hang out with Bill!:)
Click to expand...

I view Jordan as sort of a typical folk hero; the good guy.

Askins, on the other hand, is more of a folk anti-hero, which makes him infinitely more interesting to me.
 
Jordan and Askins were products of a different time. They both were warriors and had their own combat experiences. There were many LEO of that time who knew how to take care business when there was no help available and required the use of deadly force and were not hesitant to do so. Most did not write about these events but Askins did. From his books, I get the feeling he probably enjoyed it a little too much and was a bit of a braggart. To each his own, however my personal deadly force incidents will never be discussed in writing and most of my extended family are not aware of them. Some things are best placed in a special place in your memory and to be learned from but never discussed.
 
I met Bill Jordan at the NRA Convention in Reno, 1987. I'm 5'9" & had to look way up to talk to Bill. He was 6'7" & wore hearing aids. Great man & sorely missed. I borrowed a copy once of "NO second place winner". Wish I had a copy now.
 
Mr. Jordan was a credit to his profession, and a very fast and accurate revolver shooter. I wish I was as proficient.
 
usmc2427765 said:
Jordan and Askins were products of a different time. They both were warriors and had their own combat experiences. There were many LEO of that time who knew how to take care business when there was no help available and required the use of deadly force and were not hesitant to do so. Most did not write about these events but Askins did. From his books, I get the feeling he probably enjoyed it a little too much and was a bit of a braggart. To each his own, however my personal deadly force incidents will never be discussed in writing and most of my extended family are not aware of them. Some things are best placed in a special place in your memory and to be learned from but never discussed.
Click to expand...

Amen to that. "What you saw here, and what you did here,
when you leave here, let it stay here." Wise advice.
 
When I was a wee lad, I saved up my lawn mowing money and sent away for that book from the ad in the back of Shooting Times. What I received was a personally autographed book from Bill Jordan himself. Still have it and can't tell you how many times I have read that book.
 
I knew Bill and shot with him at times on various range around San Diego. I never met Askins, but served a tour with the Army MPs and Rurales in El Paso in 1952 and heard many stories about both of them. Askins was certainly a "shoot first & ask questions later" guy! Ed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top