by David E. Petzal

In 1959, Jack O’Connor bought a Winchester Model 70 .270 Featherweight in a hardware store in Lewiston, Idaho. He had bought his first Winchester .270, a Model 54, in 1925, and in the ensuing years had made the cartridge synonymous with his name. He already had several .270s, but as we all understand, one or two of anything is never enough.

The new gun—O’Connor called this the No. 2 rifle--turned out to be very accurate (MOA or just under, which in 1959 was sensational), and so O’Connor took it to his favorite custom gunsmith, Al Biesen, of Spokane, to give it a level of elegance befitting its performance. Biesen completed the work in 1960. Biesen was not only a first-rate craftsman, but had a very good feel for ergonomics. All his stocks had a very slim pistol grip that belled toward the bottom, and they have a very distinctive feel. You can mount a Biesen rifle blindfolded and pick it out of a bunch of rifles.

by Phil Bourjaily

According to this story, a large number of Korean War surplus M1s may be on their way to the U.S. to be sold to Korean War veterans and their families as souvenirs this summer -- in time for the 62nd anniversary of the Korean War.

This immediately reminded me of my late father-in-law who fought in Korea. He spent eight years in the Marine Corps and to hear him tell it, he spent most of his hours in those eight years cleaning his rifle. He used to say that when he was in the Marines, he dreamed of the day he got out so he could buy an M1, leave it in the backyard, pee on it every day and watch it rust. I don’t think he was serious. He was very fond of the M1 (the M14, not so much) and proud of Marine Corps marksmanship in general.

At any rate, if this deal goes through, the rifles will be for sale this summer.