As a lifelong JO’Cophile, the speculation of his preferences were he practicing his craft today is quite interesting. Great discussions at the Jack O’Connor center event to that exact point. The #2 .270 at just a shade under 8# was no surprise to me - and it felt about that weight. What surprised me was that his pet 30-06 weighed 9# (the Griffin and Howe side mount no doubt was responsible for 6-8 oz of that weight, but it sure felt lighter than that).
As Chet has pointed out, Jack was at the front of innovation and forward thinking in his day and would likely take a significant sampler of all of today’s wares (even black guns).
I strongly suspect he would find the tactical stuff ghastly, would loath long range shooting as unethical and the current crop of sniper type rifles would likely give him a case of the vapors, as he used to say. But he would try them, be knowledgeable about them. I think he would still lean into finely crafted guns, including wood and blued steel.
And as to the discussion on Model 70s, I also suspect he’d favor the Classics. I also think he’d be quite keen on the Ruger Model 77 Hawkeye. And I’d not be surprised if he had one of today’s top drawer makers make him up a full blown custom job on today’s Model 77. I’m really working at this, but I just can’t see Jack in his beloved sheep country with a rifle made of stainless steel and petroleum products.
Last edited by GF1; 06/23/19.
