Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters O'Connor's The Hunting Rifle book, and another good read

As I mentioned in the O'Connor 7x57 article thread, it also appeared in his 1970 The Hunting Rifle, along with a bunch of his other of his classic articles. A pile of the books were printed over the years, including a paperback edition, and you can find them on-line for as little as $20 or so.

Another book I can recommend is the one by the professional hunter pictured in the 7x57 article, Harry Manners, titled Kambaku. Manners started out as an ivory and meat hunter in the 1930s (not always legally), eventually becoming a legal PH after WWII, when among many others he guided the O'Connors. One very interesting thing about Manners is he used the same 1930s Model 70 Winchester .375 H&H for almost all his hunting, using the factory open sights and Winchester factory "solid" ammo. His book is not as "affordable" as The Hunting Rifle, but well worth it to anybody interested in African hunting.

I got my copy of The Hunting Rifle as a birthday gift in either 1970 or 1971. It had a lot of influence on me and was likely the catalyst for my interest in rifles much more than for handguns or shotguns. Of course, growing up in a house with over 1,000 rifles scattered about might have also had something to do with it.

Local library has a copy of The Hunting Rifle. I’ve read it several times now. Good stuff.

I also got a copy of "The Hunting Rifle" in the early 70's.
It's a bit dog eared these days as it's been read and reread many times.

Worked at the Popular Science Publishing Co. Warehouse in the early 1970’s, we shipped out The Hunting Rifle and many, many thousands of other JOC books to Outdoor Life Book Club members

Wow! That is a lot of rifles!

IIRC, I bought my paperback copy in a bookstore in Juneau in 1977 during a stopover of the Alaska Ferry. Read it so many times that it finally had to be taped together to get to keep from falling apart. Well, it did finally go to tatters and within the last year I’ve purchased a used, in great condition, hardback on eBay.

In my mind, Jack’s, I would term practical, approach to firearms and ballistics had a great appeal to me. The Hunting Rifle was packed with what seemed to me to be down to earth, useful information.

I don’t know what it is about JOC, but his writing really appealed to me (as it clearly did for thousands of others of my generation) and I think I’ve acquired nearly all the major works that came from his mind and typewriter. Oddly enough, a non-firearms book, Horse and Buggy West has become a real favorite.

Not as technically oriented as gun literature today, but my oh my, that guy could spin a yarn. I don’t know of any outdoor writer who could paint a scene and make you see that scene like you were there with him as O’Connor. A marvelous story teller.

I’ve chased PA and NY bucks with a 270 for the last 47 years

I learned of his new book and pre-ordered a copy so I have a first edition. It sits by my bedside. I visited him and forgot the book. I wanted him to sign it. Dang.

Still the best advice for a hunter regarding rifles and cartridges.

I joined the Outdoor Life book of the month club, and JOC's The Hunting Rifle was the first book I got. Read it several times.

He proved how petty he could be in the "Choose your expert" chapter. Even slandered Fred Bear and of course he took cheapshots at Uncle Elmer

My Father liked pre-'64 Winchester 70s, pre-WW1 Savage 1899s, o/u shotguns, and European combination guns.

You might also really like The Last Book, Confessions of a Gun Editor, published after he passed away--because that's the way he wanted it. It's the story of his life in the gun-writing business--with nothing held back....

Well, he did write somewhere that gun writers could give female opera singers a run for their money when it came to being self-important prima-donnas.

Yep, you get glimpses, sometimes more than glimpses, of an abrasive personality in his writings. Certainly, men who knew him well in his lifetime alluded to this also.

In my mind, you just have to let that pass. And, if you can, just enjoy his craft for what it is and not get distracted by the possible quirks of his personality. Same thing applies even more to the music industry. Some of my very favorite artists are people I KNOW I wouldn’t want to sit down and have a beer with. I can still enjoy their music though. I will have been alive on this planet eighty years in a few days. Haven’t met any angels yet in those eighty years.

On a very late side note, this thread has prompted me to contemplate just how very lucky I have been in my lifetime to have partaken of, and enjoyed the writings of both O’Connor AND Barsness. Started with one great at his craft and ending with another equally as good. Different eras, different approaches, but each in their own way just darn good in their chosen field. Good fortune, indeed!

Always loved Jack's writing. First thing I read as a kid when Outdoor Life arrived at the house. Guess I'll have to haul That bok out again. It's been a few years.

Well said, M721. We have the same taste in gun writing. And, a bunch of wisdom packed into that post.

At least Jack wasn't constantly complaining that people had stolen his ideas and cheated him out of fortune and fame as Ole Elmer did.

This has been the thing that I never liked about Keith's books. In every instance every bad thing that occurred was someone else's fault.

As mentioned above - if you can get your hands on a copy of The Last Book it is an interesting read.

drover

JOC was a gifted and excellent writer. A master story teller who could paint a word picture that placed the reader on site with him. He was a very good rifle shot and a much better than average hunter.

As in the case of many self-made successful men who had a tough start in life he was acerbic and suffered fools poorly. Not uncommon among intelligent people when engaged in conflict in their area of expertise.

Elmer Keith was clearly knowledgeable in the practical use of guns - especially revolvers - as tools in the traditional frontier life he led. His ability to write clearly and create imagery was not his gift. Not being a particularly good writer doesn’t negate his personal experience with revolvers. I never thought his opinions about rifles denoted technical expertise because he seemed to value his personal experience to such a great degree that he engaged in significant confirmatory bias.

Whether the Keith-O’Connor feud was as personally intense as portrayed I can’t say as I didn’t know either man personally but it was clearly based on very different philosophies about rifles and approach to their use in hunting. Their conflict was clearly advantageous to both in promoting their public personas and writing careers so they fueled it.

I have always thought JOC brought a more reasoned, logically persuasive and modern approach to the positions he espoused about rifles and cartridge selection for hunting. His strength was the ability to present otherwise dry technical content in a style which engaged average rifle hunters and shooters.

I have read his books since I was quite young and learned quite a bit from JOC which has proven useful and shaping my initial opinions and biases about rifles and cartridges. He was a memorable writer and imperfect as are we all.