Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Cooper Test Targets

My local dealer has a couple of Cooper M54 6.5 Creedmoors and I'm trying to decide which to get. The one I like a little better has an okay 3 leaf clover test target, the other one has a one hole test target but I don't like the stock color as much. How important are the test targets, does it make a difference in terms of what kind of accuracy I will see? Or is it just a matter of that particular gun just happened to like that particular load they used at the factory?

Buy the one you like best. Cooper's accuracy guarantee is three shot 1/2" groups at 100 yds. The one with the better target may have been nothing more than the fact that the test-shooter was a little more on his game that day.

Cooper shoots their test groups in a tunnel, they are shot off sandbags using a 36X Leupold BR scope, they are shot at 50 yds., but the test group will interpolate to a !/2" group at 100 yds, some folks criticize them because they do not spell that out on the test target.

I currently own a half-dozen Coopers in various calibers and through the years have owned at least a dozen others, they all have easily met or exceeded the factory guarantee. I generally shoot 5 shot groups and have no problem with any of mine shooting into 1/2" groups using good handloads.

drover

Thanks for the reply, so you haven't found any correlation between the test targets and how accurate the rifle ends up being? I mean if one shoots 3/8" groups and one shoots 1/2" at 100, I'll take accuracy every time.

It would take testing MANY rifles to show actual proof that the test target difference would lead to one rifle that is more accurate than another...

Get the rifle you like more.

This pretty much confirms what my buddy who has several Coopers said, he said they all pretty much shoot 3/8" groups at 100 with his choice of bullets (usually Accubonds) and the powder the gun prefers.

I just bought a used Cooper 52 Excaliber in 06 because the target was one hole. When I got the rifle I shot some 168 Bergers in HSM factory ammo (test target was a 165 MatchKings ?) and they all went into one hole and I'm not the best bench shooter, I would get the best test target myself. Good luck.

Never owned one,maybe someday,but I feel the same way. Maybe it doesn't really matter but it can't hurt, and I'm not picky on stock colors.

I've owned a couple dozen Coopers over the last 20 years. However, a caveat, all but one are/were single shot models 21, 22, and 38 in the Classic, Varminter, Montana Varminter, Excalibur and Varmint extreme iterations. All were able to excede my ability.



IIRC the test targets are shot at 36 to 50 yds, off a bench using a 36X fixed power scope.





IMHO, get the one you want. The joy of that will more than make up for the regret at taking second choice!













ya!


GWB

jest fer' schitz n' giggles and since I'm in the mood..........





Cooper Model 22, Varmint Extreme, 308 Win.

Here are several groups. 100 yds. off the bench. Wind blowing from 10 to 4 at 10+ mph. No adjustments were made as far as windage and elevation. I like the fact that the POI for all groups is basically the same, despite different powders/densities/velocities. From my experience, that indicates an inherently accurate rifle.



Accurate but slow





This one definitely is worth looking at. Velocity plus accuracy






This last group is 6 shots with what is my “go to” 308 win hunting load used in a half dozen different rifles chambered in 308Win. Thirty nine rounds through the barrel since its last cleaning when I began this sequence. Chalk up six more rounds. I’ll probably run it at least 70 rounds. I’m of the opinion that most folks clean too often.

No telling what it could do with someone who could shoot behind the trigger.

GWB

If they are the same model, would the dealer be willing to switch stocks? (unless they are bedded to the individual actions, idk)

I would say that if stocks are switched, all bets are off. Those test targets are much better than the ones I saw with the Golden Eagle rifle which had powder burns on the target or the Kliengunthers which appeared to have been produced with a hole punch; every caliber produced the same sized, sharp edged, hole. GD

Coopers are individually bedded. I have switched stocks on a couple without any negative results but I would not bet on it not affecting accuracy either.

drover

Buy what you like and build loads

The way I look at it is the one hole gun is a one hole gun. The other one could be better than the target, but maybe not. A Cooper synthetic stock is around $500, but you will spend a ton more than $500 to get the gun with the stock you like shooting into one hole. This only applies if you are actually looking for the best shooter you can get.

I bought a Cooper with a one hole target (and by one hole, I mean one round hole). It has the pink looking stock, and a blued receiver, of which I hate both, but it's a one hole gun if I do my part. That's why I won't get rid of it, otherwise I probably wouldn't even have bought it.

This sounds easier than it actually is when it comes to Coopers. They have their loads down pretty damn good for that caliber. My one hole target was shot with a load Cooper no longer uses, and my gun still shoots a one hole group with Coopers current load. Same powder, different weight bullets.

From my experience (17 ackley hornet thru 458 lott) one hole groups from SAAMI chambers (most of my firearms are not custom, including my Coopers) are an aberration rather than a rule of thumb. I can't think of one instance that I shoot two, much less three or four "one hole" groups unless I only fire one bullet.

Of course your mileage may vary!

for example........





A very accurate Cooper Model 21, Varmint Extreme, 223 Remington.

The targets that accompanied the rifle were what originally attracted me. The date on the targets indicate that this is an older Cooper. I tend to believe the older vintage Coopers had better wood, whether they shoot better is a matter I’ll leave to others.







Anyway, although I probably can’t shoot as good as the original owner, I thought that these groups would serve as a benchmark for what the rifle was capable of.
So with that in mind I thought I might do a primer test. I cleaned the barrel, shot two five shot groups for foulers. The following groups were shot with about 5 minutes between groups. The barrel was not cleaned between the groups. I did clean the barrel before the second attempt and again fired ten foulers. Five shot groups for the most part. Distance was 100 yards off bench rest.

For some reason, I’ve gravitated to Federal Primers in just about everything I load between 17 and 45 caliber. Typically the match grade at that.
The groups in the first instance were shot using 40 gr. Nosler Ballistic tips and the same load density of 27 grains of H-335 that were thrown, then trickled for consistency.
I decided to go back last weekend and try the same test with H-322, but didn’t get to finish as the wind came up and I got a call saying my 3 year old grandson wanted to come see me. A man’s gotta know his limitations. However, it would tend to reinforce the CCI-400 primers in this instance.





I prepared a chart that shows the average velocity and the velocity spread for both sessions.

Test 1

223 primer test 27 gr. h-335 40 gr. nosler B/Tip

6-1/2 7-1/2 400 cci BR-4wsr 205m

3461 3468 3491 3488 3460 3439
3460 3448 3491 3438 3457 3456
3455 3439 3500 3463 3475 3465
3488 3474 3481 3496 3440 3485
3463 3460 3487 3475

3465 3458 3490 3472 3458 3461
33 35 19 58 35 46



Test 2 (not complete)

223 primer test 27 gr. h-335 40 gr. nosler B/Tip

205m 400

3598 3619
3572 3606
3605 3613
3599 3608
3606 3627

3596 3614.6
34 21

In both instances the CCI-400 primers had the highest velocity and lowest velocity spread. Groups were not too shabby either.
Looks like I may be changing to the CCI-400 primers. Seem to give a higher velocity and lower deviation.

I didn't mean to imply that the gun would shoot one hole groups, and nothing but. What I meant was the gun was capable of that. Kind of like in bowling. Somebody that has bowled a 300 game is capable, but they don't do it all the time.

10/4,

and no disrespect meant on this end.

ya!


GWB

Coopers are expensive, but may be the best buy on the market for pure quality of build and exceptional accuracy.

You'd have to spend a good deal more on a custom to come close to a Cooper.

I've had several in various rimfire rounds, no center fires.

DF

geedubya- It's refreshing to see that you measure group sizes in a practical manner using a ruler graduated in tenths of an inch, rather than a caliper. Plenty close, except for sanctioned record benchrest groups. For the real precisionists, groups could be measured in twentieths. Regardless, such measurements can be measured by different people and everyone comes up with the same number.