Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Who would build O'Connor's rifle?

So as not to hi jack another thread about JOC, I believe Jack's interests went more to finely crafted rifles than nit picking about ballistics.
My question is, who are some of the craftsmen in today's rifle building world that are capable of building his bolt action 270 and mounting his four power scope to his satisfaction?

Fred

Jerry Fisher

The same shop that built most of them to begin with..Al and Roger Biesen's shop in Spokane, Washington.

Their stock styling still the same. They have made several fancy engraved O'Commor rifle "replica rifles" for the O'Connor museum fundraising.

They could build an unengraved model that looked nearly ientical to Jack's old rifles.

The question is could you afford the $4,000+ dollars required to duplicate them..

That's interesting- Could think of worse ways to spend $4000 on a rifle. (This is from a guy that has been buying Tikkas lately...)

Fred

Lets see...

8 pieces of Finnish Tupperware that goes bang in exchange for one pre 64 Featherweight Winchester in 270 stocked in English walnut by a Beisen just as J.C. would have done it....

Hmmm..

Since I can only shoot one rifle at a time, if I had the extra $4,000 laying around, I would go with the Biesen..

Or maybbe TWO pieces of Finnish Tupperware and lots of hunting trips!

man there ar so manu good rifle makers now but i would contact roger bieson hid ada al built the riffle you want to reproduce and al is still kicking but as i understand it he had had a stroke and not working now. Roger supplies a lot of quality partsto the builder in the guild and there are a heck of a lot of really good smith working today in the guild but the best of the best have got out of the guild because they have all the business they can cover now but jerry fischer would sure be a good choice or duane weibe also

D'Arcy Echols

I agree with Huntr - D'Arcy Echols. Quality and classic craftsmanship.

+1 on Biesen's shop.

No doubt there are a number of top shelf builders that are qualified, but in this case there is only one that should do it. It just would not be the same without the Biesen style.

Remember- Jack had several custom rifles from different builders- I think he's take advantage of the best talent out there and have a few rifles, at least, from what he would think are the best builders. I am betting he's have at least one from Echols and his Biesen rifles. And a few more from some of the newere talent. I am just wondering besides Echols and Biesen, who else is in that class today.

fred

Steven Dodd Highes, if you are patient.

At $4000 a pop, it wouldn't be old Jack that I'd be satisfying. Would be me as at this point in time, it really wouldn't take to much to satisfy old Jack

Jack pretty much had his guns built by Jerry Fisher and Al Biesen, thats where he got the best deal..Jack had his own ideas about what a stock should look like, and although I would take issure with some of his ideas they were all good and they worked for him..He was an outstanding rifle shot. He hunted on my families ranch when he was a professor at Sul Ross U in Alpine, Texas. I guess he was instramental in my love of guns and hunting. His rifles were the first custom rifles I shot and also the first bolt actions I had shot. One of them was a Tom Shellhammer and the other was a Fisher I think.He humored me with lots of mail and gun discussions in my youth..He was pretty much my hero growing up, but he got in trouble with the Baptists on an article he wrote in the paper and they ran him out of town and back to his beloved Idaho much to my concern. I started going to the Methodist church after that as I recall.

What kind of trouble?

As I recall, it was because one of the characters in his first novel called another one an SOB.

wpsuth,

I know Steve Hughes very well and can't ever recalling him stocking a bolt-action centerfire, though he may have done a .22 or two. Steve made a conscious decision when starting out NOT to do bolt actions, and it would surprise me very much if he's changed his mind.

From my understanding of Jack O'Connor (and I have read most of his printed works but many of his private letters that have been published since his death) he would probably come down with a case of "the vapors" if he knew that some stockmakers were charging well over $10,000 for a walnut stock. He got a discount from most of the stock makers he used, and in those days even the top ones weren't charging anything like they are today, even considering inflation.

In fact I suspect he would be astonished at how things have changed since his day. Now you can't even make a commercial 98 or pre-64 into a custom rifle without putting several hundred bucks worth of custom bottom metal on it, plus hand-made 2-screw sling-swivel studs, a new bolt handle and other useless doodads.

O'Connor grew up when times were tough and despite liking really nice guns he always looked for a bargain, one reason he was among the first gun writers to buy top Spanish shotguns, rather than paying through the nose for English guns.

Its been my understanding that JO was a frugal man. There's lots a capable stockmen out there able to turn out a Beison duplicate that would meet his approval without heading straight to the top of the $$$$$$$ heap.

Might be fun to be able to buy a JO replica at a fair price but the 270 fwt thats been in my safe for over 50 years may get jealous.

Ray,

You may be correct, but in all my reading of Jack O'Connor material, plus all the conversations I've had with a number of people that knew him very well, including many conversations with "Buck" Buckner, O'Connor's unofficial biographer and the owner of many of Jack's former rifles and much of his personal records, I've never come across any reference to him owning a rifle made by either Jerry Fisher or Tom Shelhamer. His biography, written by Bob Anderson, contains a section on Jack's favorite guns written by "Buck" Buckner. There is no mention of a rifle by either Fisher or Shelhamer. While it is not a complete listing, it does contain info on most of his favorites. No doubt Jack owned a lot of rifles in his life, but I doubt that he would not have mentioned rifles made by prominent makers like Fisher and Shelhamer. Most of his rifles were made by Al Biesen, by far. O'Connor has written numerous times that Biesen gave him a 25% discount, the same as he gave gunshops that ordered Biesen work.

Tom

Simillion and D'Arcy and on a more cost effective route Chic


Dober

JB,

I loved that letter that Jack O'connor wrote about Elmer getting a severe case of the vapors if he knew what Eleanor had shot with her 7mm Mauser. Classic!!


ddj