My wifey,what a gal,she knows what I like,old firearms books..
She hits all the flea markets/yard sales and about a year ago I come in and find this on my desk by Jack O'Connor,from 1961..
Man a classic,she wanted to know "If I liked It?",she fussed cause she hadda give 2 bux for it.
Course it's kinda dated now,but what the hay,so am I.Neat to look back on the "present state of the art" from when I was a kid.
The B@W photos to me are timeless and priceless.
Jack

Arizona,
Great find! I haven't read this particular book, but have several of Jack's other books.

I agree 100% about the old black & white photos. Just gazing at those takes you to a different time and place.

In a different post in this forum I talk about finding Townsend Whelen's books at a used bookstore, for $8.95. A little worse for wear, but an absolute treasure.

Although the book may be dated, along with the photos and other things, the important stuff is still very much current. I very much enjoyed the chapter on rifle iron sights and how to use them. My copy is a '61 edition that set me back 40 bucks. some used book dealers are charging top dollar for anything by Teddy Roosevelt, Keith, O'Connor and Francis E. Sell...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

I had a subscription to Outdoor Life in the mid sixties and joined the book club. I got the Complete Rifle Book through the club. After reading the book, yes, my first centerfire rifle was a Rem ADL in .270 Win. With Redfield mounts and a Weaver K4 the total price with tax was $156. I still have it. From prarie dogs to elk, you can kill them with something bigger, but you can't kill 'em any deader. Life is good.

George

Doc,aint it amazing,that no matter how much things change,they remain the same??
I mean ya cant even get decent iron sights on any factory rifle nowadays.Ya talk iron sights,people think you bumped yur head.Altho my eyes finally started to crap out a few years ago,all my stuff has quality iron sights,and tho it is more difficult,they can be mastered with practice..
Oh I forgot practice is something most people dont do anymore..
Oldfort,I often wonder if the 270 would have ever went anywhere without Jack.Look at what he and others dropped with it in their day,with bullets that would be "culls" or seconds today.And talk elk or moose with a 270 and people REALLY think you feel off the turnip truck.
Ah,things were simpler then,how sweet it were..
I mean we didnt have cable TV (when we finally got TV,we cud get thrree channels on a good day),and now we got hundreds of channels and nothing to watch.We had no video games,computers were science fiction for the most part.No TV remotes,no video tapes,no CD's,very little FM radio,no hand held pocket calculators (who knows what a slide rule is?),Ya hadda call the operator to make a phone call,and we had fun and plenty to do,course livin in the middle of nowhere (that part rubbed off,still do),meant plenty of hunting and fishing and trapping..When ya wasnt in the hayfields,cottonfields,or feeding the cows...
Man it was nicer then,no one was in a hurry,laid back..
How'd I get off on this,I dont know,but I feel better (no pills to help)..
Jack

I'm a collector of O'Connor books. With my next delivery, hopefully soon, I will have the complete collection, all the books written by O'Connor. It's been expensive, but worth it. If you like the book you have, you should get a copy of The Hunting Rifle or The Rifle book. Both are great.

Bob257

I have two of O'Connor's books, both bought in the '60's when I was in high school: The Rifle Book and the Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns.

I still pull them down and re-read specific sections. In fact, I just read the chapter on All Around Rifles from the Rifle Book last week.

Grew up on Jack O'Connor and Outdoor Life. Oddly enough, I have never owned a .270.

I've run across some of his books that had truly scary prices, especially the one on sheep hunting. Out here in Wyoming and Montana these get snapped up pretty quickly.

Tip for book buying: I have had good luck picking up old hunting and shooting books by going to used book stores in "non-hunting cities" while traveling. I bought so many books in New Orleans a few years ago that I went to a "mailboxes" store and shipped them home. So, if you get to major metropolitan areas, carve out some time to cruise the used book stores. ;)

Wow, what a trip down memory lane! I, too bought the book from the Outdoor Life book club a long time ago. It's tatterted and well used, but still on the book shelf. Just now pulled it down and thumbed through a few of the chapters.

Found were I'd highlighted couple of his favorite handloads. He recommended 4320 for the 30-06 and 4064 for the 270. I bought my first rifle in the mid-60s with paper route money. It was an '06 and the first powder I used was 4320. The 270 came a few years later, and although I tried to make 4064 work, I have to admit 4831 was much better. Jack had good things to say about the 7x57, and yep, that one eventually found its way into my cabinet, too. I guess you could say Jack was a bad influence on me.

Talk about how some things never change! Check out his quote on page 171 about bullet designing: "The problem of manufacturing game bullets which will make all hunters happy and perform reasonably well on different kinds of game at various ranges is a difficult one." Here we are four decades down the road and still working on this issue..

Great thread! Congratulations on the new book. I think I'm going to spend a little more time with mine before it goes back ont the shelf.