I never actually met Jack, but we corresponded for at least 20 years and I've kept some of his letters. I think he was the most sage rifle and hunting guru of his day, although Warren Page was a little more flamboyant. Jim Carmichel probably knows more in a technical sense, but Jack had a wonderfully droll wit that endeared his prose to many of us.
He was almost single-handedly responsible for the re-emergence of the classic stock on factory rifles, eclipsing the Weatherby influence that had dominated the stock market, not always well rendered. Generally, when gunmakers varied from the original Weatherby lines, they messed up. It's easy to achieve overkill when designing rifle stocks.
Thanks for posting about this. i hadn't seen it. The rifle does reflect Jack's taste, and I hope a standard version becomes a fixture in their line. The current M-70, especially in Super Grade, is a nice rifle. The Fwt. version is also just really nice, perhaps the finest hunting rifle that Winchester has made. Mine is a .270, something that Jack O'Connor would have heartily approved! Some seem to think that he advocated the .270 for anything and everything, but he had .338, .375, and .416 rifles, too, and used them when advisable. And he was also fond of the 7X57mm and the .30/06. Tried the 7mm Rem. Magnum and had a nice custom rifle made to shoot it, but said it didn't really kill better than his .270's.
Jack used Al Biesen as his stock maker and he was good. I sort of prefer the lines of Dale Goens and a few other classic stockers, but that general style is, I feel, the best. The stocks handle well and look good in a timeless, classic sense.
It may be useful to note that Jack went to the then-new .270 in part because 7X57mm barrels were throated to take the long 175 grain bullets. When used primarily with 139-140 grain bullets, the barrel throat showed erosion sooner than did the .270 throats. Nonetheless, he ordered the last 7X57mm M-70 built and was overjoyed to see it while he was recovering from a car accident. And his wife Eleanor used the 7mm on about everything short of tigers. She felt a need for a more powerful rifle for those, so used a .30/06! (Jack used a .375 for tigers.) Jim Corbett also used the 7mm (.275 Rigby) on man-eating tigers when he had to walk long distances and didn't want to lug the weight of his .400 or .450 rifles.
Sorry to ramble. I think it was very wise and kind of Winchester to offer this O'Connor tribute rifle. Jack was a major fan of the M-70 and of their .270 ctg. I feel sure that he sold a lot of rifles for Winchester and helped to make the .270 a best selling cartridge. He was also one of the most honest gun writers. If he plugged a product, he believed in it. And his writing made many hunters aware of the need for fine binoculars in a day when many thought they were too expensive. He even wrote a promotional booklet for Bausch & Lomb, although he also used Leitz/Leica and Zeiss products. I remember him saying that looking through a Zeiss 8X50B was like looking out a picture window and beholding wonderful panoramas.
It was John Wootters who said that using a binocular in the autumn woods gave him almost a psychedelic high, but it was Jack O'Connor who first made me aware of fine optics.
He was the ONLY gun writer who received obituary notices in the mainstream media, probably because he once headed the Journalism program at AZ State U. He died in 1978, at the age of 76.
I've heard that he could be a little abrasive but he always treated me well and tolerated my questions. He was a giant of his kind, and I miss him.
