Robert Jennings Leatham (born January 27, 1961, in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

) is a professional shooter who is a 24-time USPSA National champion and 7-time

International Practical Shooting Confederation The International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) is the world's largest shooting sport association, and the largest and oldest within practical shooting. Founded in 1976, the IPSC nowadays affiliates over 100 regions from Africa, America ...

(IPSC) World Champion.

Biography

On Leatham's twelfth birthday, he received his first gun. His family surprised him with a new

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...

Model 34

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

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.

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. A few years later he began shooting the 9x25 dillon handgun round and brought that cartridge into the mainstream. Leatham first shot the

Steel Challenge The Steel Challenge is a speed shooting competition governed by thSteel Challenge Shooting Association(SCSA) that consists of eight standardized stages with steel targets in three sizes; small circular, large circular and rectangular targets. Com ...

and

The Bianchi Cup The Bianchi Cup is a major action pistol tournament in the United States, held in May at the Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club in Missouri. The Bianchi Cup is the only major shooting tournament that has retained its original course of fire sin ...

in 1982. 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. In 1989, he was offered a major contract with

Springfield Armory, Inc. Springfield Armory, Inc., is an American commercial firearms manufacturer and importer based in Geneseo, Illinois. Founded in 1974 by Bob Reese and family, the company produces rifles such as the M1A and imports handguns such as the XD series ...

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.

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.

Titles

*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) *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 *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 The Bianchi Cup is a major Practical shooting, action pistol tournament in the United States, held in May at the Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club in Missouri. The Bianchi Cup is the only major shooting tournament that has retained its original ...

Champion: 1985, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 *3-Time

American Handgunner ''American Handgunner'' is a magazine dedicated to handguns, handgun hunting, competition shooting, reloading, tactical knife and other shooting-related activities in the United States. It is a sister publication to ''Guns'' and ''American Cop ...

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

References

External links