Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters JOC's 7x57

Nice screws ingwe. Be Well, RZ.

As far as 15K for an O’Connor rifle....he is someplace out in the fog for most young hunters of today. And his hunting opportunities so foreign to most now, they are almost irrelevant for added value. How many can even dream of putting together the number of slams he did?

Then the outdoor magazines are increasingly becoming short on hunting stories and long on gear reviews.

JOC who? Mostly old farts and we are getting few also....

And...

Let's say it was 7K and not 15K...Other than for investment potential, what would make one buy it? Going to sit around by the fire and remember the hunts you didn't take with it? Going to wack a Deer with it and think you are in Arizona talking with Jack over the campfire with a Scotch?

People mostly buy famous peoples items for investment potential...Babe Ruth's first and last HR would be worth something based on his reputation. But looking at it in the air tight plastic case wouldn't make me think I could crush a major league curve.

So other than investment, where does a JOC rifle fit in?

Maybe someone who collects JOC memorabilia? Dunno. Folks collect all sorts of things, and not solely for any investment potential.

I get that part, Mom had a porcelain Frog collection....However, it wasn't based on hero worship....she just liked porcelain Frogs. Maybe if she had one owned by Greta Garbo she would have thought it more special, but I doubt it. Or that she would have paid extra for it....

Ah, I see what you're saying. I wasn't connecting with the "hero worship" part.

Understand buying something and even paying a lot or extra if it is something you appreciate....but not because it was owned by someone else...

Would the same be said for Corbett's old rifle that sits in Rigby's shop today? Not arguing, just exploring.

No argument taken...In my case the same, other than if I thought it was something special without concern for the previous owner. Think O'Connor would have paid extra based on Corbett's previous use? Or would have done what seems to be his habit....Build his own, the exact way he wanted it?

I think that probably implies the answer: different users. An O'Connor collector might want that rifle as it's been hunted with and written about by JOC, so that would just add to the collection. JOC himself didn't seem to be much of a collector, but was primarily a hunter. His habit was to have made something that was specifically useful to him in the hunting field, not something to say "Look what I own." As I said, two different end-users. At least that's my take on it.

One interesting thought, though, was by a writer (I can't now remember who it was) who said that he was shocked when he held JOC's No 2 sheep rifle. He said it wasn't abused, but it certainly showed that it hadn't been babied either. Collectors generally turn a little pale with each nick, scratch, and bruise. Hunters, not so much.

Expecting his No 2 Sheep rifle not to be nicked and scratched, would be unrealistic at best and foolish at worst....And I would think a die hard JOC admirer would be disappointed if they were not there...

My Jim Wisner metaled, Dean Zollinger wooded 7x57 Swede. Note the G33/40 tweak. It's 7 1/4# as shown.

Very nice!!!!!

I've often admired that rifle.

Thats stunning. I'd rather have this than JOC rifle. I had one built in a very similar configuration also a 275 Rigby.

I'm betting he might take $15k for it, too.

I bet he would. I'd take that for mine also. LOL

Wow, that's nice!

It's about buying a piece of history. Hunting "history" may be thin but it goes deeper for some people than others. Hero worship helps too. I would pay more for Corbetts .450/400 and for Jack O'Connor's No'2 Winchester .270. We may negotiate the price, but I understand why...