I recently read Robert Anderson's biography of Jack O'Connor and especially enjoyed the chapter on his guns. The book had many pictures that were new to me, including one that showed O'Connor with a Lion and his Biesen .375 Model 70, incorrectly captioned as his G & H .375.
This picture and description of this .375 of O'Connor's got me thinking about John Jobson and his own Biesen-built .375. Jobson wrote an article for the 1978 Gun Digest entitled "A Pair of Aces" about the .300 and .375 H & H magnums. In it he describes his Model 70 as follows:
"My own beguiling .375 H & H started life as a factory pre-64 M70 Winchester. Al Biesen trimmed the barrel to a more elegant lightweight contour and shortened it to 23 inches. He installed a ramp carrying a sourdough front sight, with a British-style wide shallow V rear, sighted in for 50 yards. The floorplate's button release is in the trigger guard, now nicely streamlined. The bolt release was built up a bit and checkered. The trigger pull is a dream, and the action was carefully honed and fitted. It has a Griffin and Howe left-side removable scope mount, the scope a Leupold 3X with Duplex reticle. It is handsomely and meticulously stocked in hard-as-bone French walnut, the recoil pad of red rubber."
This description sounds to me like the ultimate .375, and I'd like to see a good picture of his rifle. Two of the photos with the article have his .375 in them, but unfortunately neither one shows the gun too well.
Does anybody know of any books by John Jobson which include a picture of this rifle? The only title of his that I've ever heard of is "The Best of John Jobson" put out by Amwell Press years ago, and which I have not yet been able to find. How about any articles in old issues of Sports Afield? Any help is appreciated.
I got to handle Jack's 416 Rigby made on a Brevex action. It was for sale a couple of years ago on a table at the Tulsa Gun Show ($7K). Can't remember who built it.
Posts: 9487 | Location: Texas Hill Country | Registered: 11 January 2002
O'Connor had at least two .416 Rigbys that I'm aware of. The first was built on an Enfield action, the second was built on Brevex. This second one had Tom Burgess metalwork and was stocked by Bob Johnson. They also build him a .338 Win Mag that was very similar.