I have owned and been around a lot of fine guns in my days. Every now and then there is one or two that puts me to my knees......I have found such a gun this year. For Winchesters 75th anniversary of the great Model 70, they teamed up with one of, if not THE biggest hunter and outdoor writer of the last century Jack O'Connor. For those who do not know, Jack O'Connor was one of Winchester's biggest supporters. Jack's love of the Winchester 270 caliber and love of the Model 70 made the gun and caliber legendary hunting all over the world with the gun/caliber combination. Winchester teamed up with the Jack O'Connor Foundation to bring out a limited edition Model 70 worthy of Jack's name. The foundation loaned Jacks famous #2 rifle to Winchester so it could be exactly reproduced. Everything from the stock to the checkering is a mirror image of Jack's #2 custom M70 rifle.
Winchester spared no expense in this rifle using only the finest grade French Walnut for the stock and the engraving is outstanding. The "Jack O'Connor" signature is in nickel across the finger guard. One of Jack's signature Ram trophy's is engraved on the floor plate in great detail. The motif is carried out on the pistol cap.
The action on this gun is all Winchester Custom shop. That is to say "perfect". Free floating barrel with custom match crown has the best tolerance I have ever seen on a rifle. Metal to stock tolerance is absolutely as tight as I have ever seen.
My Sako's and other high end guns are extremely good but this particular Winchester sets the standard in elegance and action. I actually plan on using this fine gun and not hunting with a "Jack O'Connor" gun just seems wrong....
Jack died in 1978 and left a legacy and wealth of knowledge on what makes a good hunting rifle/caliber.
For those that do not know who Jack was as a man, hunter, and outdoor writer, take some time to investigate his accomplishments.
(My pictures do not do this gun justice.)
Here is a few scans of some of the info that accompanied my rifle.
Winchester 70 Jack O'Connor Tribute rifle....WOW!
15 posts
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Last edited by mystro on Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:26 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Congratulations. A fine looking rifle.
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Awesome rifle...thanks for sharing !!
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Shooting and breaking in the Jack O'Connor rifle:
The conditions were less than ideal a pretty good cross wind at 73 degrees. My ammo choices for the day were Winchester 130 and 150 Power Points. Hornady 130 SST and 130 SP Interbond. I had the gun sighted in and was cleaning the barrel every shot to properly break in the barrel. I shot a total of 45 rounds. The tack driving round of the day was the Hornady 130 SP. These bullets stacked on top of them self at 100 yards. I dont think I could reload a more accurate round. The Winchester wasnt bad at about 1" group but the wind was bad for about 2 of the three hours I shot. Its hard to tell if it was the wind or just a average grouping. Either way they were good enough for hunting big game. The Hornady SST were about the same as the Hornady 130 SP. I would get two round almost touching and then the third would fly a inch off. Its hard to tell if it was the wind or me but I was able to produced one hole groups and its 300yard groups were excellent. 45 rounds were a lot of big game rounds to shoot at one sitting. Between cleaning and letting the barrel cool, it was all I wanted to shoot. Recoil was nothing the first 15-20 rounds. I was use to a 300 Win Mag and I would put the recoil of the 270 about like a 30-06, perhaps a bit less. The M70 JOC gun was smooooth as butter. It picked up rounds out of the magazine better than any of my other M70 guns. The trigger was a clean 3lbs with no creep and seemed effortless to break a clean shot off. The gun seemed to be getting even smoother after each round. For a feather weight 22" barrel, its a tack driver. Needless to say I am thrilled. It shoots as good as it looks. When my JOC rifle isn't afield, it is displayed in my office. A gun that looks this good would be a shame not to be able to admire it on a daily basis. |
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mystro, nice write up and thanks for the effort. I'm happy that all is going well with the new rifle. Continued success.
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Jack O'Connor would have been very pleased and that's saying a lot!
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Great looking gun, something to be proud of for sure !
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I shot a nice 8point with my bow this year and didnt need to take my JOC deer hunting. I took a field doe with my 223 simply because I didn't want to destroy any meat with the big 270. I did take my JOC rifle bear hunting. The rifle carried beautifully and was very well balanced. I found the rifle to be light and nimble. The Leupold VX6 3x18 with firedot was a awesome piece of glass. I can't tell you how impressed I was with the VX6. The first day out, the weather turned very nasty with hard bands of sleeting rain. Here I am with my JOC rifle's first hunt and the weather was as bad as it could get on this $$$$ rifle.
No worries, I buy my guns to hunt and shoot with and the weather cant hurt it. The stocks shape was outstanding to hold and carry for hours. The shape fit my hands with and without gloves and felt custom perfect. The checkering was great in the wet weather and remained grippy. There is no way you could drop this rifle even holding it with one hand while climbing up steep rocks. Balance was perfect. The VX6 cut through the sleet and I could see across the fields with amazing clarity. I am sold on the Firedot! A quick wipe down at the end of the night and the rig was good as new. No bears this year. The final evaluation: You just don't know with a new rifle set up until you get it in the woods a few days and see how it carries, holds, and performs. You can set a rifle up and it can seem good at the range, but real world hunting in the woods and carrying a gun for hours over miles of mountainous terrain can expose issues you never thought of. I am convinced that my JOC rifle /optic set up is a damn near perfect hunting rig. I wasn't that worried it wouldn't be great, how could a JOC rifle not be a outstanding real world hunting rifle???:) |
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Had a snowy cold weekend but managed to take the JOC out to the range. Man, this thing wants to shoot. The conditions were less than optimal but it still managed to stack 3 out of 5 shots on top of each other. The other two just cut the lines of the other bullets giving it a 1/4" 5 shot group at 100 yards. I shot two boxes of bullets. I found it to be a inherently accurate rifle and makes you look good even on your off days. One box was Hornady 130 SST and the other a Federal Fusion 130gr. The Hornady are the accuracy king out of my rifle but the much less expensive Fusion is no slouch printing 1/2" groups. I am going to pick up a few more boxes of Fusion just to shoot economically. I hear they are also a respectable hunting round so its money well spent. I have noticed the silky smooth action is even smoother after about 250 shots. The gun just keeps getting better as it gets used. This is one of those guns that your proud to own because its got the performance to back up its good looks.
I had to hang it in my office when not being shot just so I can look at it. |
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I really love the wood on that 70
Thank you for sharing with us THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DEMENTED PEOPLE PLAY WITH POWERFUL TOYS
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Beautiful Rifle.
They go for about $4k here in Oz. “The Germans brought the best hunting rifle to the war. The Americans brought the best target rifle. The British brought the best battle rifle!”
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I worked in Lewiston Idaho where I met Jack O'Connor. I was doing research on the Clearwater River and interviewed many natives in the area during my project. I'm glad I did not get a rifle with Lewiston spelled wrong. The switchbacks leading down from the rim of the canyon above Lewiston down the the dam and the town were remarkable.
I own one of these rifles and am very pleased with it. It is one of my favorite rifles and the one my son likes the best. The workmanship is amazing for the price. I set up my with a Leupold scope as Jack would have. The stock quality of the french Walnut was very carefully watched by quality control. The Jack O'Connor Center and Brandon O'Connor and Glen Hatt of Winchester deserve great accolades for bringing this rifle to fruition. I believe this is one of the single most valuable Winchester collector items and should be used and enjoyed in the field. |
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Post a picture when you find the time DaveyJ !!
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