1948 – 1995
- born on Jan 3. 1948 in Duluth Minnesota
- became an NRA member when he was seven years old
- 1954 worked for John Bianchi in Monrovia Ca
- shot in the Southwest Pistol League
- 1969, he became the fourth member of the Fillmore (California) Police Department
- California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement
- 1975 created the CDOJ Advanced Training Officer Survival Program
- 1976 one of the 40 founding members of the International Practical Shooting Confederation
– holster committee w/ Michael Harries - 1976 second place in the I.P.S.C. Columbia Conference Match
- 1977 I.P.S.C. Southwest United States Champion
- 1984 wife Sandra Froman, “Sandy”
– NRA president 2005 – 2007 - 1985 Bruce Nelson Combat Leather stated in Tucson, AZ
- February 15th 1995 Bruce passed
About Bruce Nelson
Bruce Nelson was a California lawman, practical pistol pioneer and holster designer whose work shaped how police officers and armed citizens carry a handgun. Over his law enforcement career he served as a uniformed patrol officer, detective and undercover agent, then spent many years in narcotics investigation with the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, where he supervised a team of agents and served as Bureau Commander of the Napa County Special Investigation Bureau. He trained Department of Justice special agents in the academy and in officer survival courses, and took an officer survival program to police and sheriff’s departments across California.
On the competitive side, Nelson was a Southwest Pistol League Class A shooter and record holder from the mid-1960s and took part in Jeff Cooper’s Bear Valley Gunslinger matches at Big Bear Lake, the proving ground for the Modern Technique of the Pistol. He was one of the 40 founding members of IPSC at Columbia, Missouri, in 1976 and served as the first staff instructor at Cooper’s American Pistol Institute, later known as Gunsite. His holster designs, especially the #1 Professional and the #10 Summer Special, were widely copied and inspired generations of concealment holsters. Bruce Nelson Combat Leather continues to offer holsters built to his designs.
Key Facts
- Mid-1960s: Becomes a Southwest Pistol League Class A shooter and record holder.
- 1976: One of the 40 founding members of IPSC at the Columbia Conference in Missouri, finishing second in the conference match.
- 1976: Serves as the first staff instructor at Jeff Cooper’s American Pistol Institute.
- 1977: Wins the IPSC Southwest United States Championship.
Learn More
Sources
- Bruce Nelson Combat Leather: About Bruce Nelson
- International Practical Shooting Confederation (Wikipedia)
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