Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters JOC 50 years later

Looking for something to read the other day I pulled out "The Hunting Rifle" by Jack O'Connor and read it for the 3rd or 4th time. Published in 1970 and containing some material previously published in Outdoor Life it's an interesting glimpse of things 50 years ago. While Jack is forever linked to the 270Win, in the book he spends some time on it but says repeatedly that it is no better than any number of other cartridges and that the 30-06 is probably the best all around NA cartridge. He was also quite fond of the 7x57 which Eleanor used to great effect and says the 375H&H is the world's most useful cartridge.
In the book he also states that double rifles are dead and that the 257 Rob, 9.3x62, 250-3000, 300H&H are all obsolete or close to it. Jack didn't anticipate that modern CNC equipment would make manufacturing less popular calibers almost as simple as calling up a program or the nostalgia of us rifle loonies.
Some of the info on scopes and bullets is dated but the balance of the book is quite informative and JOC is always entertaining with the many hunting anecdotes used to make his points.

I also enjoy rereading his books on a continual basis. His wit and wisdom are evident, if dated, and I just enjoy his writing style, to an extent not unlike our own John Barsness. What I really enjoy is reading the hunting stories over and over again. Just thinking about taking 30 days on horseback just to get to their hunting area - what a concept in today's hurry up world. i think that he will still be relevant in another hundred years (if we are still around).

I have copies of "The Hunting Rifle" and "The Rifle Book" and there's no telling how many times I've read them. I pick them up every couple of years and go through them again. Always enjoyable.

I drank the Kool-Aid and have hunted exclusively with a 270 and 4X Leupold for the last 48 years. Worked at Popular Science Publishing in the early 70’s and remember sending out many thousands of JOC’s books to Outdoor Life Book Club members.
A lifetime ago.

His work has stood the test of time. Still much relevance, even with the way our hunting has changed. And the stories just read so well.

My theory is if it was good enough for Jack it's good enough for me. My favorite cartridge is the 7x57.

By way of introduction the first time I talked to him on the phone I told him I had read and own eleven of his books. He response was “That shows you’re not very bright”.
I believe his real message was that bullet placement was the the most important aspect in successful hunting. He wrote that the 7x57, 270, 280, 284, 30-06 were all excellent, take your pick, put a quality bullet in the right place and bingo good things would happen.

I've driven the Alcan several dozen times and I always think of JOC when I drive by the Prophet River Bench and the Kluane country
where he hunted with the Jacquot Brothers out of Burwash Landing. That must have been great times just after WWII.

Jack O'Connor Quote
On his favorite cartridges...."The .30-06, the .270, the .375, and the .416. Now you're going to ask me 'In what order?' In that order."~Jack O'Connor~

I well remember that quote having read it numerous times. I have several of his works and have used the 270 W more than any other cartridge since 1975 or 76

Jerry.

His ability to write and communicate his interests, passions and knowledge set him apart.

A skeet-shooter friend who was an editor at OL knew JOC. He told me the same about Jack's preferences re. '06 and .270, and it surprised me.

Must not have read everything he wrote, b/c have not seen it in print. Can you give a source for that quote?

I have many outdoor books on my shelf, and also enjoy re-reading them. O'Connor was once asked which round he favored over the other - 270 vs. 30-06. He said he had three 270s and three 30-06s, and that's how he felt, in other words, he liked them about the same.

One book I have re-read many times is the collection of articles Finn Aagaard wrote for American Rifleman on different cartridges and other hunting topics. Most of the articles in that paperback were reprinted in a hardbound book years later.

O’Conner was a big influence on me as a kid. When I was 13, I saved up my lawn mowing money to buy a “big” rifle and was lucky enough to find a nearly new Remington 700 in .270. My dad couldn’t understand why I wanted a bolt action rather than a pump or semiautomatic I don’t recall exactly what I told him but am sure it wasn’t “because that’s what Jack O’Conner uses.”

That rifle has been my go to since that time. I rebarreled it and added a McMillan stock in the mid-90s and have no idea how many deer have fallen to it but the number is well north of 100. Maybe O’Conner knew what he was talking about?

We must also remember,when Jack did most of his hunting and writings,a lot of things have changed since then.A whole new line up of cartridges,powders and bullets have been developed since his time.The cartridges he liked back then are even better today than when he used them and who knows what he would choose as his favorite if he had today's choices.When I look at some of my old reloading manuals from the 1960's I think to myself,"That's It?"It was a lot easier to make choices back then.

JOC was directly responsible for my choosing the first rifle I ever got to acquire. It was a college graduation present from my parents and grandmother (who lived with us - mom was the only one of her three children to survive). There were a plethora of rifles on the dealer's shelf but the only one I considered was the Sako L61R in .270. Ten years of Outdoor Life columns by JOC made the decision for me.

45 years later, I still have that rifle and it gets taken deer hunting most years. I carry a Savage 99F in .300 if I'm going to be walking, but if I'm hunting from a tree stand, that Sako is likely sitting in my lap.

A master's degree in Journalism didn't hurt. He was the first Journalism professor, Univ of AZ.

He did have a lot to say, lots of experiences to report, but those literary skills helped him put it together.

I saw him at the 1970 NRA Convention in New Orleans. He had quite a presence about him, dry sense of humor.

He left his mark.

DF

I doubt his preference would have changed any. He tried the 7MMS mag and felt it recoiled more than the 270 for about the same effect on game. He owned a custom 458 win mag but preferred the 416
Not much h as s changed just more over lap

When you read his hunting stories, His descriptions of where he was and the surroundings and terrain made you feel like you were there with him. He was way beyond technical reporting he was an accomplished author and story teller.

I recently came across a compilation of 45 stories written by JOC that that was published in 2010. I didn't recall having seen before and the copy in the used book store wasn't great, so I put it on 24-hour hold and checked the 'net for other options. I ended up buying a new edition for less than the used edition and am looking forward to receiving it next week.

My favorite JOC book is Horse And Buggy West. I have read that he took a lot of flack for having written it in a manner that wasn't flattering to some people's ancestors.

It would have been nice if the correspondence between JOC and John Jobson had been publish completely, not as a hardcover catalog to tease people into buying the individual letters.