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Category: Biography

Alva Martz, Hun-Killer, and the Springfield Shotgun

July 11, 2023

Alvey (Alva) Martz was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at the Marne. Here’s a 1918 article interviewing his parents. His father carries a Springfield shotgun into the room.

The Interesting Life of Edward Ortho Cresap Ord

January 4, 2023

General Ord had a front-row seat to many historical events and people of 19th Century America: Roommates with William T. Sherman at West Point, artillery officer in the 2nd Seminole War, Civil War hero, investigator of the Lincoln assassination, hunted buffalo with Custer, and a possible illegitimate descendent of King George VI.

The great body of our citizens shoot less as times goes on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power.

Theodore Roosevelt

A fine marksman with a second-rate rifle is far more effective than the reverse.

Jeff Cooper

[the sporting-goods dealer] has draped the American outdoorsman with an infinity of contraptions, all offered as aids to self-reliance, hardihood, woodcraft, and marksmanship, but too often functioning as substitutes for them.

Aldo Leopold

Even in the best and most peacefully civilized countries many occasions arise when a woman versed in the knowledge and use of firearms may find that information and skill of great importance.

Annie Oakley

A good shot must necessarily be a good man since the essence of good marksmanship is self-control and self-control is the essential quality of a good man.

Theodore Roosevelt

Why are you dodging like this? They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.

John Sedgwick

A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.

Ida B. Wells

The one weapon every man should be able to use effectively is the rifle. It is always his weapon of personal safety in an emergency, and for many it is the primary weapon of offence and defense. Expertness in its use cannot be over emphasized.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

The essence of good marksmanship is self-control, and self-control is the essence of good citizenship. It is too easy to say that a good shot is automatically a good man, but it would be equally incorrect to ignore the connection.

Jeff Cooper

The human quest to ‘hit the mark’ is an endless challenge for perfection in aiming and controlling a gun while overcoming the fear of missing the mark.

Gary Anderson

Category: Biography

Alva Martz, Hun-Killer, and the Springfield Shotgun

The Interesting Life of Edward Ortho Cresap Ord

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