| Robert Jennings Leatham | |
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Robert Jennings Leatham (born January 27, 1961, in Mesa, Arizona) is a professional shooter who is a 24-time USPSA National champion and 7-time International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) World Champion.
On Leatham's twelfth birthday, he received his first gun. His family surprised him with a new Smith & Wesson Model 34 revolver on one of their trips to shoot in the desert.
He continued desert shooting throughout his teenage years and became involved in other sports such as basketball.
Leatham's first competition took place in the late 1970s at a night shoot at the Mesa Police Department range. He shot a Smith & Wesson Model 27 revolver with a 6-inch barrel loaded with 200-grain round-nose bullets that Leatham loaded himself, including a custom holster made by local leather worker, Jess Bird, who had built holsters for Leatham's father for years. Leatham finished third revolver behind Mike Henry and Charlie Mills and cites this competition for causing his addiction to competitive shooting.
He invented the Modern Isosceles shooting stance in the 1980s.[1] A few years later he began shooting the 9x25 dillon handgun round and brought that cartridge into the mainstream.[2]
Leatham first shot the Steel Challenge and The Bianchi Cup in 1982.[3] In 1985, he won the Triple Crown of practical pistol shooting: the IPSC US Nationals, the Bianchi Cup and the Steel Challenge. He is the only competitor to ever win all three matches in the same year.[4]
In 1989, he was offered a major contract with Springfield Armory, Inc. that enabled him to become a full-time, professional shooter. Since that time, Leatham has been practicing, competing, and conducting live-fire demonstrations for sponsors around the world.[5]
Leatham married fellow Team Springfield member Kippi Boykin, a three-time USPSA National Champion. They have one daughter together, Patience Leatham, and Leatham has 2 sons, Robert and Thomas, from a previous marriage.
. Patrick Sweeney (gunsmith). Gun Digest Big Fat Book of the .45 ACP. 17 November 2009. Gun Digest Books. iola, Wisconsin. 978-1-4402-0219-3. 44.