---
title: "Jack O’Connor’s Lost Sketches"
date: "2008-09-10"
modified: "2008-09-10"
authors:
  - name: "Outdoor Life Staff"
    link: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/authors/outdoor-life-staff/"
url: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/guns/2008/09/jack-oconnors-lost-sketches/"
categories:
  - "Big Game Hunting"
  - "Hunting"
---

# Jack O’Connor’s Lost Sketches

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook4.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/ST3YNUHBAL4UZMC7G4OIXIOTHI.jpg>)
*Some of Jack O'Connor's favorite cartridges- long before the .270 Winchester existed. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/4AAYX5ZYXP74CSMXXXNTOXWODE.jpg>)
*The long-obsolete .22 Savage High-Power was also known as the .22 Imp. Faster and more accurate cartridges such as the 222 Remington doomed it. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook11.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/MMA6542XBMQ5YBYPHZM2T7R27U.jpg>)
*The Springfield '03 was the battle rifle for the U.S. Army when Jack O'Connor made these drawings. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook12.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/MY53OBWBJTMCE6K4Y7FJM5C7HE.jpg>)
*The British-made B.S.A. in .22 High Power was one of the rifles O'Connor lusted after. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook13.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/IZBIBRZUFJOYVZTU5UDAGBSU5U.jpg>)
*In this drawing of a Winchester 1895, O'Connor wrote the rifle was chambered in .30 U.S. Gov. Mod. 1906- what you and I would know as the .30-06. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook14.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/KSNXU55H2AEUZY6LDSC2OHPHIA.jpg>)
*The detail of this Anson-Deley double rifle shows that Jack had expensive tastes that far outstripped his youthful earning potential. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook15.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/LBL6GQNSL3QHXTJ4JENWRJWDFM.jpg>)
*O'Connor was dreaming of hunting foreign lands even as a youth. The bolt gun on top is a ".35 Newton for Elephant, Buffalo, and Rhino," O'Connor wrote. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook2.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/PKSMWTRE4FSWHKOCAZ32IA5OIY.jpg>)
*The silhouette of this Marlin is instantly recognizable to modern shooters. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook3.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/ADIHQPHBFTAFWF73VQQVQPUQ2I.jpg>)
*Even at a young age O'Connor was fascinated by high-performance cartridges like the .280 Ross. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook7.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/TZYB4ZHQQL4GMVVTZ6RKDXZWHI.jpg>)
*Even in the early 1900s the Savage M99 in the hot 250/3000 Savage (as it was then called- we've since dropped the "3000") was considered the lever-action for those with refined tastes, a fact reflected in its $30 price tag. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook8.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/QQ7TXYPCE7JRWMDLZGELUTANK4.jpg>)
*It is doubtful whether more than one rifle of this type, an Adolph Express in .40 Newton, was ever produced. Nonetheless, it caught Jack O'Connor's eye. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

![httpswww.outdoorlife.comsitesoutdoorlife.comfilesimport2014importImage2008legacyoutdoorlifeoconner_guns_notebook9.jpg](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/23/PU6KJT5WEAEUSIDZLDCHBSM6S4.jpg>)
*In the days of O'Connor's youth a Winchester 1895 could be had for $24 and was chambered for the .30-03, .30-06 and .405 Win. Outdoor Life Online Editor*

Childhood drawings by OL's shooting editor reveal his passion.