Rob_Leatham
Rob Leatham
American sport shooter
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.
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| Born | 27 January 1961 (1961-01-27) (age 63) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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.[1]
Competition shooting
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.[2] A few years later he began shooting the 9x25 dillon handgun round and brought that cartridge into the mainstream.[3]
Leatham first shot the Steel Challenge and The Bianchi Cup in 1982.[4] 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.[1]
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]
Personal life
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.
- 24-Time USPSA National Champion: 1983–1986, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 (Limited), 2002 (Limited-10), 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 (Single-Stack and Production), 2007 (Single-Stack and Limited), 2008 (Single-Stack), 2009 (Single-Stack), 2010 (Single-Stack)[1]
- 6-Time IPSC World Champion as a member of 7-time winning "Team USA":
- 1983 - Virginia, US
- 1986 - Florida, US
- 1988 - Caracas, Venezuela,
- 2002 - Pietersburg, South Africa
- 2005 - Guayaquil, Ecuador
- 2014 - Florida, US (Classic Division)
- 16-Time Single Stack Classic Champion: 1995–2010[1]
- 7-Time Steel Challenge Champion: 1985, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 (Limited), 2002 (Open), 2009 (Production)
- 6-Time IDPA Custom Defensive Pistol (CDP) National Champion: 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004
- 7-Time NRA Bianchi Cup Champion: 1985, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
- 3-Time American Handgunner World Shootoff Champion: 1996, 2003, 2004
- Triple Crown Winner: 1985 (Bianchi Cup, Steel Challenge, and the IPSC/USPSA Nationals) - Leatham is the only person to ever achieve this
- Captain, Team Springfield: Since its inception in 1985
- Landers, Mike (2014). "Zeroed In – Rob Leatham". RECOIL.
- Lessler, Peter (5 August 2013). Gun Digest Shooter's Guide to Handgun Marksmanship. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-1-4402-3606-8.
- Mann, Richard A. (7 September 2012). Cartridges of the World: A Complete Illustrated Reference for More Than 1,500 Cartridges. Gun Digest Books. p. 215. ISBN 1-4402-3063-3.
- Mann, Don (1 August 2010). The Modern Day Gunslinger: The Ultimate Handgun Training Manual. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-60239-986-0.
- Sweeney, Patrick (17 November 2009). Gun Digest Big Fat Book of the .45 ACP. iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. p. 44. ISBN 1-4402-0219-2.