Shooting Illustrated Interviews: Rob Leatham

We spend some time with a legendary shooter and talk about training, competition and what's new in guns.

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posted on August 9, 2023

To say that Rob Leatham is a dominant force in practical pistol is like saying that Michael Jordan could play basketball or Wayne Gretzky knows how to play hockey. Rob’s nickname in the industry is “The Great One,” and he earned that nickname by winning just about every practical pistol match on the face of the earth, and doing so multiple times. He is an eight time IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation) World Champion, and eight time World Speed Shooting champion, and 11 time Bianchi Cup champion and has won the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) and IPSC National Championship 34 times, in a variety of different divisions over his almost 25 years as a sponsored shooter.. 

Leatham, along with Brian Enos, was responsible for introducing the Modern Isosceles stance into the shooting world, an idea that has since become the default stance for competitive shooters as well as more tactically-minded students of the pistol. In addition to shooting just about every kind of practical pistol competition known to man, Leatham also enjoys shooting precision rifle and just about anything involving the shooting sports. 

On top of this, he’s an firearms trainer for both competition shooters and elite military and law enforcement units around the globe. His in-depth knowledge of how to run a pistol at the very highest level of performance makes him one of the most sought-after trainers out there today. 

Leatham has been sponsored by Springfield Armory since the late 1980’s, and has had a big influence on the products that Springfield Armory has produced over the years. His latest work is working with Springfield Armory to produce the new Echelon 9mm striker-fired pistol, including making sure that the trigger on this new pistol and how the state of the art in competition, training and pistols have evolved over the years. 

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