I read O'Connor as soon as I was old enough to read magazines.. He was first a polished writer and second a gunman.. For years I felt he was the greatest.. Then along in my late teens or early twenties, I was visiting with one of the Camp Perry shooters who lived near my home.. I made some comment about Elmer, and his reply was something like, that guy is a real shooter. He knows his stuff... This surprised me, because my pal was a big 7mm fan.. Later I mentioned the .300 H & H was little more than an o6.. This came from JOC.. My pal had shot a .300 H & H quite a bit.. His comment was the H & H has quite a bit over an 06.. This caused me to reconsider Elmer..
I have read the biography of Jack, and autobio.s of Elmer.. To me Elmer contributed much to the shooting world, shotguns, rifles, and of course handguns.. He was a shooter and gunman from the time he was a child.. Jack was a polished writer who wrote about guns.. Of the two, Elmer was far more interesting to me as a man and shooter.. I don't agree with all his ideas, but he was a leader, and innovator.. Jack made his living writing about the .257, .270, and .30-06.. His appeal was to the deer hunting who dreamed about hunting sheep one day..
Both had their points, but to me Elmer was the leader the man to fooled with many wildcats that today are common calibers.. We fail to remember, Elmer also stressed bullet placement, but he hunted enough to know that things do not always turn out as planned when we make a shot.. Since he had been a guide, it was his job to follow up on the screw-ups, Jack usually had a guided hunt..
