In their own way, each did a lot to educate shooters and hunters. I think both also did a lot to capture the interest of new and inexperienced people, and speaking from experience, both could captivate a 10 year old who was fascinated by hunting and firearms. Each also had a real effect on the arms and cartridges available to us....Elmer may have the nod here, with his involvement in the .357 and .44 magnums, and his influence on Ruger single actions. But I've got a light bolt action with a classic wood stock that I think may have some J O'C ancestry in it's development as well! It's true that from about the age of 40 on, O'Connor went on lots of guided hunts...but that's not how he started out. His early work is about solitary hunts in the southwest and in Mexico, or hunts with another companion and later, his family. "We Shot the Tamales" is a great example of that type of hunt. He spoke of having "museum permits" that enabled him to hunt quite a bit in Mexico. In one early article he talks of selling most of his firearms to pay a medical bill for one of his kids....so I think he paid his proper dues as well. I'm glad to have read them both!
