I would like to believe that if JOC was still roaming the high sheep pastures that he would be packing a pretty similar rifle to wihat he hunted had with during his lifetime. He was clearly into the aesthetics of a rifle: I remember reading him describing in detail the angles and curves of a proper stock and he clearly liked the beauty of, if I remember correctly, Bosnian walnut.
He struck me as an imminently practical rifleman. I suspect that he would eschew these modern large scopes and other extremes like bantam weights.
I agree that he seemed to be at the cutting edge, but maybe it was do more to the fact that with the model 70, he found a near perfect rifle. But for the clubby stock, which we all know, he had modified. When the GIs brought home the Mauser, like many others he customized them.
I’ve often heard that the side by side shotgun was perfected by the end of the 19th century. Maybe the bolt action hunting rifle had been perfected by mid-20th century.
