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Campfire Ranger
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"I never thought I'd live to see the day that a U.S. president would raise an army to invade his own country."
Robert E. Lee
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Campfire Kahuna
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“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Campfire Ranger
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Yeah, probably should have butted in, but you never know with these upper class outdoor writers.....  and I already had your autograph numerous times in the books. Sorry we didn't get to chat Lonny, I would have enjoyed that. Next time we should plan it better.
Have Dog
Will Travel
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Campfire Tracker
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I went out there also and sat in on the writers discussion forum. I enjoyed it. The opinions of Terry Weiland would have absolutely snapped a bunch of campfire members! Could you please decipher the reference to this statement "The opinions of Terry Weiland would have absolutely snapped a bunch of campfire members!" I am curious as to what your are saying or referring to - I guess I am too darned old to understand "snapped", does that mean they had a good opinion or a poor opinion of him? dover
223 Rem, my favorite cartridge - you can't argue with truckloads of dead PD's and gophers.
24hourcampfire.com - The site where there is a problem for every solution.
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Campfire Regular
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So cool to get to examine that rifle. I've heard Bradford often takes it out "in public" for people to handle, still shoots it, and lets others shoot it. I applaud his attitude and generosity.
From what I've read that was JOC's "#2 .270." From reading, it started out as a Featherweight, but JOC immediately had it restocked and replaced the aluminum bottom metal with steel.
If the part about the bottom metal is true, apparently JOC was willing to take that weight penalty.
If I remember correctly, pictures I have seen show a trapdoor butt plate. I don't know if JOC kept much in there, but if not then one way or another, perhaps the butt was hollowed and lightened a bit similar to the two drilled holes in the factory Featherweights.
Since it has a hard butt plate, maybe JOC figured a bit of weight wasn't such a bad idea.
Clinging to guns & religion since 1959
Keyboards make people braver than alcohol
Election Integrity is more important than Election Convenience
Washington Post: "Democracy Dies in Darkness"
More correct: "Killing Democracy Faster Than Darkness"
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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Member: Clan of the Turdlike People.
Courage is Fear that has said its Prayers
�If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.� Ronald Reagan.
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Campfire Outfitter
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Some of those old timers would be shocked at what we are using these days for rifles, components and scopes.
Maybe even JOC would turn in his version of a 270 for something lighter in stainless.
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Great string. Near as I can tell, JOC never carried an extra 30# on his belly, so an extra pound, or 2, in a well built rifle might be irrelevant. Not the least of which, I bet that rifle is a delight to shoot, and would encourage you to shoot a lot.
My father hiked much of Northern Italy, then down to Greece with a Garand. That generation was a little tougher than we seem to be.
Imagine your grave on a windy winter night. You've been dead for 70 years.
It's been 50 since a visitor last paused at your tombstone.....
Now explain why you're in a pissy mood today.
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Great string.
My father hiked much of Northern Italy, then down to Greece with a Garand. That generation was a little tougher than we seem to be. And the next generation will be even softer, mentally and physically.
And these zombies line up and eat from the media’s trough
Cowards CANNOT be free. Nor should they be.
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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GunDoc, I dunno if Brad often takes the rifle out in public, and let's other people shoot it. He lived on the other side of Washington state from the O'Connor Center, and the rifle is generally locked up in the display case so visitors can look at it. Here's a photo the buttplate. It's a little smaller than many steel buttplates of the era: ![[Linked Image]](https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/gallery/80/medium/102505.jpg)
Last edited by Mule Deer; 06/20/19. Reason: added photo
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Campfire Regular
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Thanks for the interesting post, John. It sounds like O'Connor's featherweight wasn't a featherweight by today's standards. I wonder what O'Connor would have thought about today's super light rifles, synthetic, stocks, and stainless metal.
NRA Endowment Life Member, G.O.A supporter
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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Great string. Near as I can tell, JOC never carried an extra 30# on his belly, so an extra pound, or 2, in a well built rifle might be irrelevant. Not the least of which, I bet that rifle is a delight to shoot, and would encourage you to shoot a lot.
My father hiked much of Northern Italy, then down to Greece with a Garand. That generation was a little tougher than we seem to be. Fish, I'm not being hateful. There's a lot of difference in carrying 15-30 pounds on your BACK & LEGS than an xtra 2-3 pounds in your arms & shoulders. The xtra weight on your gut/butt is carried by your legs---- not your arms. I once was 50 pounds heavier than I am. I've experienced the difference. We carry a rifle much more than shoot it WHEN hunting. Jerry
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Staying with all steel and wood, that rifle is about as light as you can make a Pre-64 Model 70. The Biesens were very good at shaving weight. I handled that rifle several years ago when Buck Buckner had it at DSC. I had heard it showed signs of a lot of use, but for a sheep rifle I thought is looked pretty good and felt great!
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Campfire Tracker
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I went out there also and sat in on the writers discussion forum. I enjoyed it. The opinions of Terry Weiland would have absolutely snapped a bunch of campfire members! Could you please decipher the reference to this statement "The opinions of Terry Weiland would have absolutely snapped a bunch of campfire members!" I am curious as to what your are saying or referring to - I guess I am too darned old to understand "snapped", does that mean they had a good opinion or a poor opinion of him? dover Drover, In the writers discussion forum, several people from the gun outdoor/industry were asked questions by a moderator along the lines of 'What would Jack think about...."What would Jack use for...." "What would Jack think is wrong today with...." "What would Jack like about this..." Since none of the people on the forum were Jack, it would be tough to not put a dash of your own personal opinion into an answer. Terry had some pretty strong opinions about long range hunting and the heavy use of technology for hunting today. I found him quite funny actually and not off base by any means, but no doubt on the campfire an absolute firestorm would have erupted. He didn't get booed off the stage by any means and you saw many nodding in agreement, even though myself, and I'm sure many others in the crowd, use some of the gadgets he didn't seem fond of. He had the crowd laughing at times.
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Campfire Savant
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The Holy Grail of rifles!
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Campfire Tracker
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The Holy Grail of rifles! Absolutely, Thanks to John for sharing this. I bought one of the Jack O 'Connor commeratives a couple of years ago myself. Holding the real thing would be about like having Excaliber by the hilt. One of the cool things about this site is getting to interact with some of the heroes of my youth as well as some new ones. I actually got to spend an evening with Ken Howell when I was hunting in the west. I have bought a few things from John and talked to him on the phone. One of my favorite writers was our own BobinNH. I don't know if he ever published a line,but I loved reading and interacting with him here. Thanks again to John for sharing this with the rest of us.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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Here's another of O'Connor's favorite rifles, a .30-06 on a Mauser action he called his "pet of pets," being aimed by Chet. It's in the same case as the .270 (and a 28-gauge side-by-side and a custom .458 Winchester), so we weighed it too. It went right around 9 pounds, and Jack used it for some sheep hunting, as well as a bunch of other stuff. In fact he took a 43+ Dall ram with it, which is also in the museum, so he did not strictly use light rifles even for mountain hunting. ![[Linked Image]](https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/gallery/80/medium/102504.jpg)
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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![[Linked Image]](https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/gallery/80/medium/102468.jpg) Chet brought a very accurate digital scale, and it turned out the rifle weighs a hair over 7 pounds, 15 ounces. Interesting thread, John. Thanks for posting it. So it looks like with a Whelen sling, steel swivels, and five cartridges, the rifle probably weighs close to 8.5 pounds. Does that sound about right?
"An archer sees how far he can be from a target and still hit it, a bowhunter sees how close he can get before he shoots." It is certainly easy to use that same line of thinking with firearms. -- Unknown
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Campfire Tracker
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I went out there also and sat in on the writers discussion forum. I enjoyed it. The opinions of Terry Weiland would have absolutely snapped a bunch of campfire members! Could you please decipher the reference to this statement "The opinions of Terry Weiland would have absolutely snapped a bunch of campfire members!" I am curious as to what your are saying or referring to - I guess I am too darned old to understand "snapped", does that mean they had a good opinion or a poor opinion of him? dover Drover, In the writers discussion forum, several people from the gun outdoor/industry were asked questions by a moderator along the lines of 'What would Jack think about...."What would Jack use for...." "What would Jack think is wrong today with...." "What would Jack like about this..." Since none of the people on the forum were Jack, it would be tough to not put a dash of your own personal opinion into an answer. Terry had some pretty strong opinions about long range hunting and the heavy use of technology for hunting today. I found him quite funny actually and not off base by any means, but no doubt on the campfire an absolute firestorm would have erupted. He didn't get booed off the stage by any means and you saw many nodding in agreement, even though myself, and I'm sure many others in the crowd, use some of the gadgets he didn't seem fond of. He had the crowd laughing at times. Got it, thanks for the clarification. I would have been one of those folks who were nodding in agreement with him. drover
223 Rem, my favorite cartridge - you can't argue with truckloads of dead PD's and gophers.
24hourcampfire.com - The site where there is a problem for every solution.
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Are either of Eleanor's rifles in the Museum? I remember a 7x57 that was her main rifle,and a 30-06 that she used for big/dangerous game.
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