Jack OConnor

Jack O'Connor & Francis Sell

Claybuster said:
I will remember him by The Shotgun Book. The edition I have is dated 1965 but it still contains information that is valuable and relevant 40 years later.
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I have the Shotgun Book as well as the Rifle Book. One day they just might show up on the EE.:redface:

I agree pretty much with all that has been said on this thread. I no longer buy the mags, but he was the Dean for sure.

Here is another name to congure with Francis Sell. He wrote one western classic, Advanced Hunting on Deer and Elk Trails. As well, he wrote some great stuff on the 20 gauge shotgun, in fact, showing that it could be used almost as effectively with heavy loads as a 12 ga., perhaps even better because of the lighter weight of the gun. Oh yes, Sell was also a great admirer of the Winchester Lever in .348.

And as someone else said, we who remember Jack O'Connor and his great writting are getting old. Read my sig.:(

SOF
 
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No-one here should forget that Sir Ross made the fore runner of the .270 in 1906... he called that one the .28-1906 Ross... since he was not happy with the velocities he got at that time (less than 3000 fps with a 140gr bullet), he went with his other (and a bit later) creation, the .280 Ross Nitro-Express....
Because he got an allied arsenal and already got lots of contacts in Springfiled, he was hired as a small arms consultant by the U.S. Gvt just after he was kicked out of it's own arsenal. Then, he must have worked with, and/or met guys such as Howe, Col. Whelen and many others.... So, there is for sure, a connection to the Ross file....
 
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Just about any article on hunting big game in a hunting magazine is just a recycled version of something Jack O'Connor wrote.
 
Alvin Linden and Al Biesen.....stockmakers elite. That is what I think of when the name Jack O'Connor comes up. And of course the 270.

He was a mean ol bugger sometimes too.
 
I have most of the hardcover books that O'Connor wrote, and used to lap up his magazine articles with gusto. I feel he was one of the best...called a spade a spade. Not too tolerant of egotistical people who thought they knew when, in fact, they did not. His 270 articles never pushed me to buy one, though, and I never owned a 270 till about 15 years ago, after Jack was gone. I feel it is a good chambering, but does not have any magical properties, just a Jack stated. His wife, Eleanor, took a lot of game with the 7x57 and the 30-06, the latter even accounting for a Lion in Africa. I miss writers like Jack. The current crop falls short, for the most part. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Jack
1. .270Win
2. Took any challenge with his .270
3. Love of Canada, especially British Columbia
4. Never got along with E. Keith
 
i think of "Big Game Animals of North America" excellent overview of hunting in north america with a nice tilt to hunting in western canada and old mexico.
 
M12shooter said:
O'connor's innate dislike for trophy hunters, that is those that would resort to any means to get a book animal. He was a big advocate of what today is known as "fair chase".
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Not sure old Jack would have agreed with your take on trophy hunters.....He was an advocate of fair chase but fair chase and trophy hunting are not mutually exclusive....I think Jack epitomized this!
 
sheephunter said:
Not sure old Jack would have agreed with your take on trophy hunters.....He was an advocate of fair chase but fair chase and trophy hunting are not mutually exclusive....I think Jack epitomized this!
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Very well put Sheephunter... as my comment was fired off in haste. To rephrase O'connor had a huge dislike for some egotistical trophy hunters that would resort to any means to put book head on the wall. This was particularly evident on the African scene.
 
Have half a dozen of Jack's books ... an easy to read outdoor writer who told it pretty much the way he saw it... and did it - he was no arm-chair scribe.
Bought Outdoor Life pretty much to read his stuff. Enjoyed his in-print battles and rebuttals with Elmer Keith & Francis Sell and others not so easy to identify. He was himself quite a fan of Townsend Whelen, and subsequently, his successor, Jim Carmichael, was quite a fan of his. Good enough reference for me.

To me Jack was all about Model 70's and 21's and the custom work he had done by amongst others, Biesen, Linden, Owen & Brownell. His hunting experiance encompassed everything from Sonoran Jack Rabbitts to Indian Tigers, African Sprinbok to Yukon Dall sheep. What's not to like about a guy like Jack ?

My other great fave was outdoor writer Gordon McQuarrie ... but for other reasons. Gene Hill deserves honourable mention as well.
 
I always thought the best thing about JOC's storys weren't so much about what he hunted or what he hunted with, but WHERE he hunted and the people he hunted with.

He got to go to places most of us can only dream of.




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When I was just starting to hunt, at age 17, I wrote to Jack O'Connor to ask his advice on which gun to get for deer hunting. I couldn't believe my eyes when he wrote me back with advice. He took the time out his busy day to write back to some kid. I still have that letter over 40 years later.
 
I will remember reading about his wife killing elephants in India with a .30-06 and also hunting tiger with a 7mm mauser. Oh and loading 25-20 bullets in a .257 for hunting jack rabbitts with his kids.
 
dnkosh said:
When I was just starting to hunt, at age 17, I wrote to Jack O'Connor to ask his advice on which gun to get for deer hunting. I couldn't believe my eyes when he wrote me back with advice. He took the time out his busy day to write back to some kid. I still have that letter over 40 years later.
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COOL! .... You should scan it and post it on this thread. I'd like to see that.



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