Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Are Coopers and Dakotas Overpriced?

DF I am with you, I wasn't referring to you but the person that stated the "Greateast" hunters don't use them.

Agreed, and the reason many are willing to accept sub-standard Chinese schit.

In my experience, GB is not the place to score a good deal on a Cooper. Most of the guns I see on that site with astronomical opening bids get listed over and over again.

I own two, a 52 Classic in 308 and a 57M and love them both. Accuracy is great, wood is beautiful, action and trigger are smooth but the 52 stock was a little to thick overall so I dropped it in a Phoenix stock.

Before I sent the EW off to PacNor for a 260 barrel, I compared the price of an Excalibur to the cost of the used EW and rebarrel and went with the EW project.

Both of my Coopers were less than 975.00 almost ten years ago.

Yes, I believe they are overpriced for my budget, 1,800-2,200 for an Excalibur, especially in blued steel. So I just watch for good deals on the used market.

I believe they are priced within reason for a semi-custom with an accuracy guarantee.

I've had seven Coopers and three Dakotas. Between those two, I think the Cooper is the better value.

Are they worth the money?

Hard for me to tell anyone how to spend their money. But, for me, they have been a good value because they'be been "turn key". No need to mess with bedding, trigger work, feeding issues, etc.

Get'em and go shoot and hunt.

I find them to be accurate, reliable and hold their value reasonably well.

in 1997 i bought a new Dakota 76 in 270 for $1595 when a sporting goods store had gone under and another dealer bought it's entire inventory at auction. i am NOT wealthy and sold a Ruger #1 plus used some of my father's life insurance to buy it and remember him. it's been well worth that price to me but i would never have paid the 3K regular price at that time, or 5K now. been worth it for the fine trigger (hard to find in those days), superb accuracy with every load i've ever tried, balance and weight, beautiful wood, craftsmanship, and confidence building. i've hunted it hard and it shows, but i enjoy the scars of shared memories of deer and black bear. 1 1/2 years ago i bought a new cooper classic 54 in 260 with my mom's farewell money for $1650. i like it too for the same reasons (2 trophy bucks already), it's compactness even more but the safety much less. abetter value for sure. no regrets on either, but not if dakota was full-price.

I guess I'm late to the party.

You could be right. The key is to be the next guy in line. I try to live by the motto, buy low, sell high, collect early and pay late. I probably buy 7 used rifles for every new rifle.
I currently have a dozen Coopers in my collection. None were bought new. All were bought between 40 and 60% of MSRP. I've owned most all the A-Z production rifles, and
I tell folks, if the only thing I was interested in was accuracy, then all my rifles would be Savage. However, that is not the case. I find that for my money,Sakos and Coopers, if purchased right are two of the best values going. And at this stage of the game, I'd give the nod to Cooper as to the different chamberings, accuracy, quality of wood, fit/finish, triggers.


GWB

Well said

I thought all the greatest hunters used a thutty - thutty ! Personally I think an older Cooper with nice wood is a bargain ... todays Pre 64 Winchester ... investment wise . Usually some small stuff to fix up : like buggered screws , a badly adjusted Trigger , etc . I've heard different stories about the weight of wood stocked Coopers vs. the Phoenix . The Cooper Rep . told me it depends on the particular piece of wood . GW , you lucky XXXX , when you buy those Coopers at 40-60% of MSRP ....are you wearing a Mask and pointing something at those Sellers ???

boy1,

Speaking as an old fart, it has been my experience that whether one is hunting for critters or rifles, being patient and observant pays off.

I've been collecting rifles rather avidly since 1995. I've learned to be patient. It was 10 years before I found the Cooper model 21 in 20 Vartarg at the price I wanted to pay.
My first Cooper was purchased from a friend that was rather impatient and did most things on a whim. He would buy a rifle, own and shoot it for a couple months, then go on to something else. I purchased the model 38 Classic in 22 Hornet pictured below with the Luepold Scope included for $1k.



Another good deal, a model 52, Jackson Game with 26" fluted stainless barrel, chambered in 25-06 was purchased from a "Trust fund baby". He advertised on Gunbroker but wanted to do a FTF in a hurry. He had been given this rifle for a graduation present, but was about $1,200 short on the Perazzi shotgun he wanted. I met him at Briley's in Houston. Got this one for the above mentioned price along with 5 boxes of premium ammo.



My latest was a model 21 Varmint Extreme in 223 Rem. Its a lefty, but I figured for 12 benjamins and no cheekpiece I could live with it. Fellow that had it had bought a "lot" of rifles in an estate sale. He put it up for sale not knowing it was a Varmint extreme.



I�m a right handed shooter, but the pix of the groups he posted along with the rifle kinda tipped me over the edge�� that plus the �04 vintage.





I've only paid over $1,250 on one Cooper. It was a model 22 Varmint Extreme in 308 Win, killer wood and a factory brake. I probably paid more than I should, but lust sometimes makes a fellow stupid.



The varminters are relatively easy to find. The classics and the repeaters (models 52,54 and 56) are much harder to steal. Sometime folks at pawn shops that aren�t familiar with Coopers don�t know what they have. I generally do. I happen to like single shots so the model 21,22,and 38 appeal to me. Especially the older ones. I happen the think that the ones produced in the late 90�s and early 2000�s had better wood. Whether they shoot better or not, Quien sabe? They work for me.

Best

GWB

I've had some good shooting rifles over the years, but so far nothing has topped my 54 Excalibur in 7-08. I shot this group this morning before the wind got up. 100 yards, 3 shots, measured outside to outside and then subtracted .284.

The next few groups I shot weren't as small as the one above, but the largest of the session is below.

Based on the little I�ve seen of Coopers, I agree a typical Ruger probably won�t group with them. My safe, however, is full of Rugers and will probably never see a Cooper.

The law of diminishing returns applies - once you get to a certain level of accuracy the cost of smaller group sizes ramps up dramatically but generally do little or nothing to affect the outcome when shooting big game. Bug holes are nice but MOA works just as well for my needs and many of my Rugers will do better � some much better.

I won�t say Coopers and Dakotas are overpriced, just that I�ll likely never do more look at them.

Geedubya you have some really nice coopers.

GW , I like your style and those Coopers , but I don't have your will power . My mammy told me : " when you see something you really want , grab it " . I like that 223 / H322 Load , but my Hart Barrel likes 1.5 Gr. less Powder with that Bullet . Question : What are those first two spotted Pelts ?

A Tecate beer can works better. Ask me how I know.

Thanks for the kind words. I put some time and effort into collecting them.
I tell the story that when I was born my folks were so poor that they could not afford a name, only initials. My dad nor any of his brothers hunted. A boy down the street would lend me old copies of hunting and gun mags. As a youngster I swore to myself if I ever made any money I was going to own some rifles.
Fast forward 50 years and I have been fortunate to have a modest collection. None are safe queens other than residing in an atmospherically controlled secure environment. I develop loads and hunt them. Just about all have nicks or scratches from the Texas hill country environment. A blessing or a curse depending on how one looks at it, but we have a ton of hogs here. In my mind not only are they good to eat (love those pulled pork sandwiches), but make the perfect medium for testing bullets.

Best


GWB

Those are Axis deer. They are exotics here, so they can be shot year round with no limit.

GWB

Won't argue with that,
here's my method

Have to get up kinda close and personal and knowing their habits sure don't hurt,............




I happen to prefer Jim Beam. Not as fast as a bullet,
but I can usually take 'em the best three out of five.

GWB