In a short answer, Elden Carl is the “original grandmaster of combat pistol shooting” and “the best pistol shot in the history of the handgun.” Who said so? No lesser authority than Jeff Cooper, Elden's contemporary and the dean of combat pistol shooting. Jeff once said, “There are things I've seen Elden do with a pistol that I won't tell you about because I would sound like a pulp fiction magazine writer.”
 

The great Ray Chapman told weapons expert Tom Marx and others that more than anyone he had ever known, Elden was by far the best and most natural shot. Thell Reed, who Elden believes is the greatest from the holster live ammo point shooter of all time, called Elden “the best combat shooter and the only guy I was ever scared to shoot against.”