Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles COOPER owners, real accuracy?

I have never heard a new Cooper owner say "it's a 1 MOA rifle, it will do better I am sure when I start loading for it but that is good enough for me".

Thanks Guys, what is the wait time if I order one? What's everyones favorite:

Wood or Excalibur/

I bought mine, 'cause it was a bargain, and resold it because it was too expensive for white trash like me to drag around.

(It did shoot great though.)

Cooper is known for its wood (and accuracy). The Excalibur stock is made by B&C, which is a turn-off for me.

Last I knew wait time was around a year if you order it. I bought 4 of 5 online. The only wait was shipping time, and I was able to find exceptionally good wood, even for a Cooper, at great prices.
I sold my .270 and .280 because I just could not bring myself to beat that spectacular wood up by hunting with them. I tried but...
They have both been replaced by full custom stainless synthetic rifles that are hunting tools, not art.
It was sure hard to let go of a .270 Custom Classic that took a good number of marmots at ranges between 600 and 749 lazed yards.

+1

Cooper Excalibur .338-06

This is the biggest problem I have with mine. It's an oil finish, so a little rain can leave water spots on the stock -- even if its conditioned. I'm just afraid to scratch it up because it's so damned pretty. I wish I could get over it, because I'd probably carry nothing else to the woods.

I had Cooper do one of their Excalibur stocks to fit my .270, but it was too late, I had already made my decision.
I still have 3 and doubt I'll ever let them go.

My Model 52 Custom Classic in .30/06 shot ~1" with several varieties of factory ammunition. Certainly decent hunting accuracy, but nothing really special.

An FN built Winchester Model 70 will do the same (or better) and IMO, is a more practical hunting rifle, but nowhere near as pretty.

I sold the Cooper for more than I paid for it. Don't intend to buy another one. YMMV.

Was at the range today with a friend. He brought a brand new, out of the box Winchester M70 Featherweight in .30/06. SS metalwork, walnut stock. No modifications whatsoever. Scope was a Swarovski Z3 2.5-10 x 42 in Leupold mounts. @100 yards, it printed a 1/4" group with factory Federal 165 grain TSX ammunition. Amazing!

My Blaser 93 .30/06, with a Zeiss Victory rail mount 2.5-10 x42 printed a .5" group with the same factory ammunition.

I never got this kind of accuracy out of my Cooper M52.

So...you never fed it what it liked. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you have to work to find it. That's no endictment of the rifle.

I tried two factory loads in my '06 Cooper, and I was uninspired. I then paired up 165 Sierras with H4350, and it was an instant 1/2 MOA rifle. In fact, with 57.5 gr H4350, it'll shoot ANY 165 bullet extremely well. Imagine if I had concluded that it wasn't a shooter because it didn't like the factory stuff I initially fed it.

To date I've worked up loads for 6 Coopers in hunting calibers. Four model 54s, one model 22, and one model 52. The model 22, the model 52, and two of the model 54s all shot very well with hunting bullet loads. The other two model 54s have been more challenging. One is a 250 Savage with a one in 10 twist and I understand that longer bullets may not be happy in that twist. But....this rifle isn't too happy with any hunting bullet 100 grains and up. They shot the test target with 75 grain A-Max bullets but I want a hunting rifle, not a varmint rifle. I think it's coming around with different powders and charges with the 100 grain Hornady and the 100 grain Ballistic Tip. But it's taken a while. The other rifle that hasn't immediately liked the various loads I've tried is a 308. They shot their bug shot target with match bullets of course but I'm still working on finding a hunting load it likes. I'm not the best reloader I'm sure but I can usually get most any rifle down to about 1 inch or less groups using my loading and bench techniques. These two rifles have just been more picky. So...I'd say don't expect ALL Coopers to shoot tiny groups with the bullets you want to use. I still love the Coopers and I think no other maker can meet their average accuracy standards in hunting rifles. But they're not all going to shoot half-inch groups with just any loads you pick.
I'm going to start another thread asking if anybody knows just exactly how they load for their test targets.

Superb groups!! What loads are y'all running in you 338-06's??

I have two Coopers, one in .280 and one in .30-06 and they will both be consistently at 1 inch 3 shot groups with several different handloads/factory loads, if I am doing my part. The new ones have a better ejector system, I am working through that issue right now.

I have 2, a moodel 21 in 222 Mag and a 22 in 6.5-284. The 222 Mag shoots about anything under 1/2.

I just bought the 6.5-284 and have tried 130 Berger,120 AMAX and 120 BT. The biggest group I have shot was under 3/4. The 130 Bergers have averaged just under 1/2 for about 10 groups with different powders.

Cooper makes good rifles for sure and they hold their value.

So HE got the ONE

My 6.5x284 went 1/2 MOA with the first generic 142 load out of the pipe.. At 400 yards. Pards 7-08 went into the 3's with 140BT's. Hunting model ta' boot. The little ones were equally incredible plus some... Cant really loose.

W

My cousin has a 6-284 that will put 87 Bergers in less than 2" at 500, but only when clean. Does NOT like to be dirty.

I tend to buy pre-enjoyed, single shot versions. They tend to be more �value priced�. Plus I don�t have to do anything to them other than make sure the barrels start out clean, and add a scope. At today's prices for gunsmithing, that can be a factor.

My experience after a dozen or so. I expect them to shoot better than I do.

These were provided by the previous owner of this rifle.






He shoots better than I do.





I�m not a lefty, but��..
It was a Varmint Extreme being sold as a varminter.
It shot pretty good.
I�ve found that I really like shooting off the bench right handed, using my right hand, crook my fingers over the scope with my right hand, lift the bolt with my right thumb and load with my left hand. Pretty neat.!

Here is a primer test using the same load and six or seven different primers IIRC.


Best

GWB

and a few more groups,

various Coopers @ 100 yds.

GWB














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