Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Cooper accuracy

Took the Cooper to the range Thursday with some Remington subsonic and bulk Winchester hollow point 36 gr 1200 FPS ammo. I was pleasantly surprised how well both shot at 25 and 50 yds. The 36 gr shot 1/4” 10 shot groups at 50 yds. I tried it at 100 and it kept them under 3/4” with quite a bit of drop of course. I need to get some good Eley match ammo to try and see what she is capable of

I've had a Win 52 sporter, a Rem 40X sporter, an early Kimber (Oregon) sporter, Anschutz sporter and my Cooper is the only one still in the safe, the rest went down the road. It will shoot with the best of them, better than most. To me, it's the pick of the litter.

DF

I've had mine for 20 years and it started me down the path of rimfire benchrest competitions. Mine routinely out shot Anschutz, Remington, CZ and Win 52 sporters and even an Anschutz BR50. I'll never sell it. Every .22 is different but it's been my experience that the Cooper will shoot Lapua match ammo (Center X, Midas+) and SK match ammo better than Eley. While my full custom rifles shot Eley extremely well, the Cooper didn't. My Cooper was tested at the factory using Lapua ammo and some chambers will prefer one brand over the other. My custom rifles had chambers cut using a reamer designed for the Eley EPS bullets. Get some of each and compare.

I will check them out. I need to look at the test target and see what ammo they used

Glad to hear that it’s shooting great for you - they are shooters as others have pointed out - shooting with the best of them (or better) and are nice to look at as well!

PennDog

Just checked my records. It was in 2003 when I traded a Anschutz Classic for this Cooper 57M.

All the others came and went, this one stays and will stay until my son inherits it. And, knowing him, it will probably continue hanging around

DF

You couldn,t get group's with that ammo like that if you taped the target to the muzzle.

Well, yes you can. Have a 10/22 that dotes on WW Power Point. It trots along at 1/2 MOA 24/7.

‘Nuther point about Cooper rifles. Some years ago a life long friend retired and decided to jump into shooting with both feet. Asked me who made good bolt guns. I suggested Cooper and Dakota. He purchased several of each. We went to his range one day and parked on the 200 yd line. He shot his, I shot mine. His was a Cooper .308. He put 5 shots in one small hole in the first go round.

I have had a Ruger 10/22 and a Remington 581 and a CZ that all shot extremely well with cheap bulk ammo. I have also had a Glenfield 60 that would shoot 8 inch patterns with the same ammo. That is why I always try several types of cheap ammo before moving to the good stuff

According to the test target it used Lapua Master M

That's what I thought. Lapua no longer makes Master M (tho I still have some). It was their second tier ammo at the time, below Midas. Their current Center X now fills the spot below Midas +. That's the match grade ammo I would start with when looking for better accuracy out of a Cooper rimfire.

Yeah, Only have half a case left. Shot great in a few rifle's but my Annie's don't like it.

You should sell it to me cheap since it is obviously defective😜

That's about how much I have left and I too have some old blue box Midas and a partial brick of Center X.

Has anyone compared the Cooper to the CZ 452, in terms of balance, and ergos? Just curious on thoughts.

Nice thread and pics.

I currently have a Cooper 57M JSR and have owned a couple of other 57M Classic, I also own, and have owned a couple of other CZ 452 Americans. The Coopers have a better balance and handle better for me than the 452's, the 452 pistol grips, and length of pull just do not handle well for me.

To sum it up - I point the Cooper at the target and it is pointing right where I want it with no seemingly conscious thought of directing it, whereas with the 452 I have to work at getting it pointed at the target. The Cooper makes me smile the 452 not so much, it is more utilitarian - sort of like the difference between a sports car and a pick-up truck, they are both good at what they do but one will make me smile more than the other.
Of course there is a huge difference in the cost and the 452 is a great shooter for the dollars.

drover

One other issue with the CZ is that the bolt handle lift is a lot higher than the Cooper. You can’t mount a scope nearly as low on the CZ due to bolt / ocular clearance.

If you are not a stock crawler that may not be an issue. For me it certainly is.

And like Drover says, my 57 classic fits like it was custom-made for me. From across the room the CZ Americans look very similar, in hand they are not.

The Cooper 57M also has a heavier barrel profile which makes it slightly muzzle heavy which I much prefer.

Good info about the 452 vs 57, curious, how much do the 57s run lately? Rick, I get that muzzle heft/balance issue. I have a truck axle 17" on a 77/22, wish it were fluted or the mid weight .750, but it's .920. Sure holds steady though and is a bugholer. Not refined like the 57s no doubt

Also good info on the bolt lift, the latest 457 fixed that point I suppose. Anyone have the raw gun weight on the 57? Thanks.

The cost and specs should be on the Cooper web site. My 57M Classic is first year production with a 2 digit serial number and the early ones had a longer, heavier (24", .750") profile barrel. Mine has a Weaver V24 on it and it's about 8 lb. The newer ones I believe are lighter. I think the MSRP on them is in the $2K neighborhood.

I don’t have a 452 here anymore to compare, but the muzzle diameter on my 15-year-old 57M classic is .600”.