And it certainly doesn't look like a stock that JOC had a hand in, but who knows. As you say, in this case the provenance is critical.

If it is a Biesen it would be so marked on the barrel.

One would thing Ron would therefore be able to spell Al's surname correctly.

In THE LAST BOOK (or at least that's where I recall the story is from) Jack O'Connor mentioned receiving a gift rifle, out of the blue, from a well-known custom gunmaker. I also recall it was was 7x57, but both he and Eleanor agreed it was too heavy for either of them to like hunting with it, so they sold it.

Dunno is this is that rifle (might have to try to find that part of the book again) but do know, and not just from that story, that gun writers sometimes receive gift rifles that they would never order, whether in style, weight or other details.

The .280 was a Ruger 77, the last rifle he had commissioned before his death.

As Jack O'Connor himself once wrote, the life of a gun writer can be a somewhat slippery slope. A lot of people want publicity for their products, and hope a gun writer can provide it. This is fine as long as everybody follows some sort of ground rules, but a lot of things can interfere.

Gun writers do get offered or sent a lot of free stuff, though not as much as some readers might believe. That said, I've occasionally been given free guns I never asked for and didn't particularly want. How should that be handled? Some I tested, wrote up, and then sent down the road, usually trading them for some other firearm by the same company.

I've also had gunsmiths offer to make me custom rifles. I always offer to pay or trade for them, but have never found anyone willing to take the full price. Sometimes I get a discount, and sometimes I've been able to insist on paying for the parts or providing an action, but quite often the guy insists it's all on him. (I have ordered custom rifles myself from a couple of companies, and paid for them just like any other customer.)

Getting "free" custom rifles is a mixed blessing. Somebody who offers you a rifle often ends up making a rifle THEY like--which of course means it really isn't your custom rifle. I remember reading in O'Connor's biography about a well-known custom maker sending Jack and Eleanor a fine walnut-stocked 7x57, out of the blue. The rifle turned out to weigh close to nine pounds with scope, which as anybody who's read much O'Connor knows wouldn't be the 7x57 of his dreams. Instead on insulting the maker by telling him so, they quietly sold it--which would be their prerogative, since it was was a gift.

I dunno anything about the incident described in the original post here, but there are numerous ways a deal between a gun writer and a gunsmith can go sour. I've seen several.

There is a Biesen/ O’Connor rifle also on Gunbroker for 20,000. Buy them both

Rev may need that link...

DF

Right, but this is what I was thinking of (fourth paragraph):

Gotcha. I'm at the point where I prefer a rifle closer to 7 lbs scoped and would have zero interest in a 9lb rifle.

I've been selling my custom Mausers and Winchesters and replacing them with Kimber 84L's.

But I digress.

The GB ad says "Please call the shop for more infor, ask for Ron."

Contact Information, Ron's Guns Inc. 194 Boston Post Rd. East Lyme, Ct. 06333, 860-739-6805.

I understand that. I'm more or less out of the buying mode and into the tweaking mode: how can I make what I have a bit lighter, better balanced, etc. For instance, I have a commercial M98 that has a 24 inch barrel in a No 1 profile, and it shoots great, but the stock is a beast. So instead of just chucking the entire thing, I'm wondering what I can do to put the stock on a diet, lighten the action a little more, mount a lightweight scope, etc. I wouldn't mind hauling it around at 8 pounds but not at almost 9.75.

Anyway, I digress as well. I'm wondering if the rifle on GB just might not be the one JB is referencing.

I’m also trying to stay out of the buying mode and for the most part have been pretty successful. However, I recently stumbled upon Lenard Brownell No. 59 a 1952 M70 barreled action chambered for the 270 Win. and it came home with me. Owning a couple of special guns is good for ones soul.

I’m also trying to stay out of the buying mode and for the most part have been pretty successful. However, I recently stumbled upon Lenard Brownell No. 59 a 1952 M70 barreled action chambered for the 270 Win. and it came home with me. Owning a couple of special guns is good for ones soul.

Ron has had a shop in these parts longer than I have lived here. Ive been going to his place an buying stuff for 25+ yrs.
Hes a huge supporter of the 2nd in CT and our local area.
Back in the day he moved a huge number of collectible Winchesters.
He hunted with Very Close Friends of mine, some who have now passed.
That all traded together a lot.
He's the real deal.
Call him and he will tell you what he knows.
I have No knowledge of this gun. But Plan to stop in tonight and see it if I can.

He is Cranky, but you would be to if you fought hard for our rights and lived in CT.

I bought Chub eastman’s blowhole express just because it was his and I had read about that very rifle. Not a custom rifle I would of built but that wasn’t the point. The point was it was Chub’s. I am proud to own that rifle. Steve Timm’s has shared some great stories and history of that rifle. I could see the allure of owning a JOC rifle.

I have a rifle of someone famous (in the gun world), but I could never bring myself to ask him what amounted to... "Could you write me a letter so when you die my gun will be worth more?"

I always ask for a letter.

I always thought that Eleanor's 7X57MM was a M70

Here's what Eldon "Buck" Buckner says about Eleanor's 7x57 in the biography of O'Connor by Robert Anderson. Buck was a long-time friend of the O'Connors and owns several of their rifles:

"In 1951 crack metalsmith Tom Burgess modified a Czech VZ24 Mauser action for O'Connor, fitting a hinged floorplate and 22-inch barrel chambered for the 7x57mm cartridge. Spokane stock maker Russ Leonard then fitted a stock with fleur-de-lis checkering to the barreled action, and Jack had his first 7x57 since he'd traded off the Minar in 1940. Or did he? Eleanor O'Connor tried the little rifle, fell in love with it, and after the stock had been shortened a bit, claimed it as her own. She proceeded to use it on everything from elk to eland for the rest of her hunting career."

I remember reading a JOC article or book regarding having Winchester build him a model 70 with a 7x57 Mauser barrel they had left in stock. I think I it was in the fifties.

An hour ago I was walking around this very gun shop.. Didn’t see the rifle in question though. Driving through there again tomorrow will have to check.

Did you ever get back to Ron's and get the straight story about this rifle?

Did you ever get back to Ron's and get the straight story about this rifle?

GSPfan ,

Maybe it doesn't "add value" to you, but it does to other people--which means such a rifle will generally increase in monetary value.
The same is true of custom rifles made by certain gunsmiths.

Some people also do get "pleasure value" from owning a fine rifle even if it was owned by somebody famous.

I will never own a JOC rifle but I do own two rifles once owned by a gentleman named John Barsness. To me they are priceless.

As a matter of fact, right now am three rifles above my self-imposed limit on centerfire rifles--and have another headed this way. Luckily, however, it's a drilling, so takes up less room than a rifle AND a shotgun....