Jack O'Connor

[postoak]

Jack O'Connor was a bit ahead of my time (born in 1902, his heyday for writing was the '40s and '50s. About all I knew of him was that he was a popularizer of the .270 WCF and an avid mountain sheep and goat hunter.

Recently I picked up two collections of articles on hunting that he wrote:

"The Lost Classics of Jack O'connor: Forty Exciting Stories From the Pages of Outdoor Life" and "Jack O'Connor's Big Game Hunts", which, together, consisted of about 70 of his articles. Jack wasn't a great wordsmith, but to any hunter, these are really interesting -- and sometimes humorous -- tales.

It's interesting to see how attitudes toward hunting have changed since that time. It was quite normal for O'Connor to take running shots on game at 200, 300, sometimes 400 yards. He didn't worry about where he hit, he figured he could just keep slinging lead until he brought the animal down. (He was quite skilled at these shots.)

[Altjaeger]

I would disagree a bit. JOC was coming into his own in the 40's and 50's. I suspect his popularity was at a peak in the 1960s as the shooting editor for Outdoor Life and the 1970s as the original Editor for Petersen's Hunting magazine.

I am not sure who you were quoting there but as a former English professor he was about as much a wordsmith as we are likely to see.

[MOGC]

JOC also wrote several books that did quite well. I think you would have to be pretty critical to offer that JOC wasn't a good "wordsmith."

[Altjaeger]

JOC also wrote several books that did quite well. I think you would have to be pretty critical to offer that JOC wasn't a good "wordsmith."

I doubt many gun enthusiast have read it but I would recommend his first book, "Horse and Buggy West". It is a somewhat autobiographical story of his growing up with a single svhool teacher mom in Tempe, Arizona.

I remember one short passage that showed technologies change, but people don't. He told of being down at the livery as a young boy when a rented carriage was returned. The older boys were making a show of and laughing at the woman's footprints on the interior of the canvas roof.

[postoak]

Altjaeger, by the 60s, O'Connor was too old to do the kinds of hard mountain hunts that he was famous for. This is evident in his stories. He also had enough money to be making multiple trips to Africa. As a teenager, I couldn't relate to that rich, old hunter. I know he was quite famous then.

As for O'Connor's writing ability, that's my own assessment. He was a good writer -- for a gun writer.

[dave-t.]

I spent a ton of time in the library between classes going through the old Outdoor Life mags reading only Jack O's articles. Wonderful writer and shot, but he stated several times that the shots he took shouldn't be taken by everyone.

One in particular was a running shot at a lion in tall grass at 150-175yrds, with a 375h&h. It was a one shot and down hit, but repeated in the story was how he got away with a lucky shot on dangerous game, and that it should not have turned out as good as it did.

He also shot deer at 300+yds, in the wrong end on a few occasions. They were facinng the wrong way when he was wanting to shoot, and shot anyway. Not recommended.

Another one, he shot an elk at an estimated 600yds, 270/130grn, with a 6 moa dot scope.

I don't see how anyone could place shots decently at long range with a 6moa dot. That is a 36" dot at 600yds for an aim point. 18" dot at 300yds, and that would cover up a whole lot of the deer at that range. Back then, getting a hit was good shooting.

[postoak]

He also used a lot besides the .270. I think he mentioned the .25.06, .257 Roberts, .7 x 57, 30-06, .300 Weatherby, .300 WM, .375, and .416.

[Altjaeger]

He also used a lot besides the .270. I think he mentioned the .25.06, .257 Roberts, .7 x 57, 30-06, .300 Weatherby, .300 WM, .375, and .416.

I would agree he may have done his most vigorous hunting as a younger man. I considered the 60's and 70's as his zenith as a writer.

Yes, he enjoyed many cartridges. His wife Eleanor was deadly with her 7x57 and killed an elephant with the .30-06 and a 220 grain FMJ. He was reported to have once been asked in an interview whether the .270 or the .30-06 was the better round. Reflecting a moment he stated he had 3 of each in his gun cabinets and that probably reflected his opinion..

[GF.]

Yep... He got 'famous' for advocating the .270, but mostly, he advocated using a round that didn't kick the individual shooter hard enough to bring on a case of the flinches. Which means, generally, lighter, faster bullets. And the .270 is about the fastest non-magnum going that launches a heavy enough bullet to be a useful all-rounder. Especially given the bullets available at the time...

That pretty well places the .270 at one extreme of the spectrum, and since Elmer had the other end staked out for 'slow & heavy' with 'overpowered' .45/70 handloads, for instance, well, it wouldn't have been much of a 'feud' if ol' Jack had settled on a 180-grain load for the '06, then would it?


Seems to me, though, that with the bullets we have now, a 165-grainer for the '06 is hard to fault as a middle-o'-the-road, 1-load-for-life proposition. Provided you shoot often enough to ignore the recoil, anyway....

[Bushman]

I nearly wore out Jack's book "The Rifle" from the school library when I was a kid. It didn't make much of a book report according to the English teacher, but it did make an impact on me early on. With Jack as the author of the Shooting column in Outdoor Life, that was a must read every month too. As a couple of 16 year olds, my buddy bought a .270 M700 and I bought a .30-06 Post M70 on Elmer's recommendation. My buddy's M700 always shot better than my M70 maybe because at every shot that stock design unfocused my eyeballs and clobbered my cheek bone like I'd been in a street fight. Elmer sold out to the advertisers when he told me that a post-64 was better than a pre-64. I've been holding an Elmer grudge ever since.