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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 9,237 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 9,237 Likes: 2 |
I used my wife's M70 Featherweight .270 to kill several blacktail deer, 2 caribou and two wolves. I didn't have any urges for men afterwords...😁
Proud NRA Life Member
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Joined: May 2016
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Campfire Tracker
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I liked both O'Conner and Keith. Jack was "kinda snobby, but entertaining and very knowledgeable. I liked Keith's " we gotta have the meat" and experimenting with different rounds to get it, ha. Keith was a tough old bird, but, unfortunately, not as educated as Jack. He got to me when he said the 30-06 is pee poor elk medecine (while using 150gr fmj, but it was the Depression!), but a 44 magnum at 600yds on Mule Deer is "just right", ha. Also, when you "need that meat" and shot through the rump shell will definitely stop it for a follow up. This was the Era when one guy would shoot as many elk in a herd as he could and everyone in camp got meat. I have followed both men in the last 55 yrs or so, small & fast to big and slow bullets, both men's worldview had merits. IMHO
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 31,294 Likes: 10
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 31,294 Likes: 10 |
Jack was the reason I wanted to be a "gun writer". I read his prose in the 50s and idolized his skills both with a rifle and a pen. Long after he was gone, I eventually managed to have almost a hundred articles published, but none that I can remember were about hunting per se. I specialized in reloading lore - and never did a piece on the .270.
If you criticize his gear choices today you have lost perspective. Jack also used bias-ply tires and rotary phones, you know. Because that's all there were.
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,082 Likes: 10
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,082 Likes: 10 |
79S: That picture was taken two years before I was born. I got to meet Jack O'Connor at the Portland, Oregon N.R.A. Convention many years ago. He was a tall and polite gentleman. I have always been an avid reader and admirer of his articles and books. I have a pretty complete collection of his Hunting/shooting books and his novels. Including an original (1939) mint condition, Derrydale, limited edition "Game In The Desert" (#238 of 950!) and it is signed by the author and the illustrator. I even enjoyed his novels and their values have skyrocketed since I collected them years ago. In my opinion he IS simply the best of the outdoor Hunting/shooting writers! May he rest in peace. Hold into the wind VarmintGuy
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Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 10,228 Likes: 8
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 10,228 Likes: 8 |
I liked both O'Conner and Keith. Jack was "kinda snobby, but entertaining and very knowledgeable. I liked Keith's " we gotta have the meat" and experimenting with different rounds to get it, ha. Keith was a tough old bird, but, unfortunately, not as educated as Jack. He got to me when he said the 30-06 is pee poor elk medecine (while using 150gr fmj, but it was the Depression!), but a 44 magnum at 600yds on Mule Deer is "just right", ha. Also, when you "need that meat" and shot through the rump shell will definitely stop it for a follow up. This was the Era when one guy would shoot as many elk in a herd as he could and everyone in camp got meat. I have followed both men in the last 55 yrs or so, small & fast to big and slow bullets, both men's worldview had merits. IMHO I’ve read very little JOC I should check out some of his writing. I read a lot of Elmer Keith as a kid because my buddies dad let me borrow Sixguns and Hell I was there. I liked Keith’s writing a lot but it was his protege Ross Seyfried that really got me into reading about guns. Seyfried was my favorite writer that Guns and Ammo had back in the the 1980’s when they were loaded with good authors before turning into canned article debates “pistol Vs revolver, which is right for you?” Or “9x19mm Vs .45acp.” As far as JOC and Keith it seems current trends with modern bullets, optics and range finders are splitting the difference with Keith’s very heavy for caliber bullets being the trend for non mono bullets but chambered in smaller bore lighter recoiling chamberings similar to what JOC preferred.
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Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 838 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 838 Likes: 1 |
But everyone here thinks his rifle was gay...🤣 The 270 is all I use now. The 270. win is awesome ! Smart man
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Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 838 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 838 Likes: 1 |
The guys worried about horse and a posed picture are missing the point. Read about what he used a 2.5 power scope and by today standards god awful Remington core-lokts Yeah , The man was a legend and a bunch of jerks just have to post garbage .......
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,856
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,856 |
Stephen Hunter has a great book called Pale Horse Coming. It's set in late 40s Mississippi. I won't give the plot away but it includes all the old gun writers with semi disguised names. There's O'Connor, Keith, Askins and a few others. It's a good read.
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,366
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,366 |
That bino case doesn't look like a Swaro either. But then again, I wasn't around in '45 so I may be wrong. 9X35 Bausch & Lomb Zephyrs, probably retailed for $175 in those days .....
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 50,170 Likes: 2
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 50,170 Likes: 2 |
Good post . Father of the 270 ! His favorite was the 30-06.
The only thing worse than a liberal is a liberal that thinks they're a conservative.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 47,258 Likes: 13
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 47,258 Likes: 13 |
270, 130 core-lokt, and a cheap Simmons scope, like flipping a light switch.
God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter
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Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 299
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 299 |
I don't believe that old goat ever posed for a picture or smiled ! ! !
Life is too short to hunt with ugly guns.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,082 Likes: 10
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,082 Likes: 10 |
30Gibbs: I bought my first pair of American made Bausch & Lomb 9x35 Zephyrs in 1,970 from a retailer for $186.00 - back in 1,945 I would assume they would be more in the just under $100.00 range? I have more than a dozen pair of Bausch & Lomb Zephyrs today, of various powers, and that indeed does look like the original carrying case for the Zephyr line. Hold into the wind VarmintGuy
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,869
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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Thumbing through one his books found this picture. Weird how things have changed in 76yrs. Have they really changed that much? Looks a lot like the terrain where I took my Dall ram. Though the stock on my rifle was synthetic, the bullet was a Hornady 129 grain SPIL. The more things change the more they stay the same. Especially when they work!
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty of give me death! P. Henry
Deus vult!
Rhodesians all now
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Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 600
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 600 |
I’d be more impressed with his manly feat if he carted the meat and hide off the hill too.
Perhaps he had helpers that brought the meat out……😉 Horses. And a large entourage of guides and packers. Raise your hand if you think that pic is not posed! Exactly. O'Conner would have beena Youtuber today.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,242 Likes: 2
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2005
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Yup, the good old days. Living close to Lewiston now, and really enjoyed the JOC museum. Last week drove by the house he lived in, took a few pics. Nice place.
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 45,037 Likes: 28
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 45,037 Likes: 28 |
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Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 945
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Campfire Regular
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Joined: May 2016
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Campfire Tracker
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I liked the letters he and Keith wrote back and forth to each other! Elmer would get just rattled and Jack would come back with dry humor, hilarious! It was Jack's writings on the 7x57 that really had me interested in the round, though I have yet to have found an accurate one ( just one out of four, so far) and I like how he was honest enough to say he favored (in a round about way) the '06 for elk and grizzly, .375 for Browns. But I have also had a love affair with the .338s because of Keith!
Last edited by Jim_Knight; 10/07/21.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,693
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jun 2004
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I don't believe that old goat ever posed for a picture or smiled ! ! ! I read somewhere that Jack had very poor teeth and was self conscious of his smile. The one pic I saw with him smiling was obviously a spontaneous shot by whomever he was with, and it didn’t show much. He posed for most of his pictures for sure. That’s the business he was in and a huge part of any story he might be telling. His cameraman was quite often some guide or wrangler that happened to be with him and the equipment obviously wasn’t digital! I’ve read everything Jack wrote, that I could get my hands on and own several of his books. His articles on equipment may be a bit dated now, but his hunting stories are just as colorful and entertaining as ever. I started my hunting career with a .270 because of his writings. I try to photograph my hunts also, because I so enjoyed seeing success first hand. I miss the old guy and his writings - there are so few that could hold his hat....
BT53 "Where do they find young men like this?" Reporter Savidge, Iraq Elk, it's what's for dinner....
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