Trey Veston
Member
One of my late father's firearms is a Browning O/U shotgun he said he bought from an area gun shop in 1974 that was supposedly owned by Jack O'Connor. Jack lived in Lewiston, ID at the time and my dad knew him. My dad bought the shotgun for $500 from Lolo Sporting Goods where Jack had it on consignment. He said he paid more than it cost new since it was one of Jack's guns.
The story goes that my dad hunted with it a couple of times then sold it to a friend of his for an undisclosed amount. The friend then had it custom engraved. One side was an Idaho scene and the other an Arizona scene. Jack was born and raised in Arizona and moved to Idaho in 1948.
My dad then bought the shotgun back some time later and it remained in his safe until his passing in May. My dad sometimes told tall tales and tended to exaggerate, so I was skeptical of the providence of the shotgun. In fact, when he was showing it to me last year, he said he was unable to confirm that it was owned by Jack O'Connor, but if he could, it would be priceless.
I called Browning Firearms a couple of months ago and asked about the shotgun. They said I would have to submit a request and that their historian would do research on it for me. No matter the outcome, I would have to pay $40 and would get an official letter stating it's history. So I did.
Today, I finally received the letter from Browning, and could not believe that it actually confirmed that Jack O'Connor bought this brand new!
The story goes that my dad hunted with it a couple of times then sold it to a friend of his for an undisclosed amount. The friend then had it custom engraved. One side was an Idaho scene and the other an Arizona scene. Jack was born and raised in Arizona and moved to Idaho in 1948.
My dad then bought the shotgun back some time later and it remained in his safe until his passing in May. My dad sometimes told tall tales and tended to exaggerate, so I was skeptical of the providence of the shotgun. In fact, when he was showing it to me last year, he said he was unable to confirm that it was owned by Jack O'Connor, but if he could, it would be priceless.
I called Browning Firearms a couple of months ago and asked about the shotgun. They said I would have to submit a request and that their historian would do research on it for me. No matter the outcome, I would have to pay $40 and would get an official letter stating it's history. So I did.
Today, I finally received the letter from Browning, and could not believe that it actually confirmed that Jack O'Connor bought this brand new!
