About 20 to 21 months ago, Shortactionsmoker, (my son) came came in and told me he had ordered something for me. Said I would like it but it would be a while before it came in. It came in today





It was worth the wait. A Cooper M54 Excaliber stainless in my favorite caliber; 7mm-08. I am ecstatic. Thanks D.

Outstanding.

If I were in the market for another 7mm-08, that would be the rifle I would own.

Mighty-fine.

Kudos to you, and to a son who would do that for his dad. His stock just went up in my book.

Be waiting to see some pix of that rifle and quarry during the coming seasons.

Best

GWB

PS: And a Merry Christmas.

Thanks GW,

Something I failed to mention, it was ordered with a custom serial number - my initials and my birth date. So it is happy birthday too. Man, I am proud and can't wait to shoot it. I mounted a VX3 2.5-8 in Talley LW low rings, and am in the process of measuring the chamber with several bullets. Then I'll go to the range.

Congratulations Lastround on the fine rifle but more importantly on the fine son.

Randy

Well happy birthday also. The special serial number even makes it more unique.

Don't mean to preach, but the 7mm-08 with 140 gr. Accubonds over 43 gr. W-748 is my go to load. You can go faster, but then you could also have bought a 7mag if you wanted velocity.


Best

GWB

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth..._7_08_140gr_Accubond_Powder_#Post7879622

You need to stop that silly schitt right here and right now .... (making sense).

I couldn't ask for any better on both items you referenced.

That guy Darrik is alright!

GWB,
That ought to be a good elk load. Thanks.

I love the look of that rifle and know it will drive tacks. Congrats on a great rifle and even better son.

Thanks to all. I'm like a kid in a candy store right now. I'll let you know how she shoots. Gonna run a couple of patches down the barrel and start wearing it in.

Don't burn the barrel up before I get to shoot it.....

Or heck, burn it up. Cooper will rebarrel for free if it's shot out.

Sharp looking rifle. I have it's brother in a blued receiver. The test target with mine used 130 SMK and IMR 4064? I tried Varget, H414 with 140 Nosler BT and factory 140 Federal Fusion ammunition and none have produced decent groups yet? I have moved on to 120 BT with Varget. Still waiting for the summer heat to die down some to test these. I also have some Barnes TTSX with H414 that I am going to try. I believe Barnes makes a 130 TTSX? If so it might prove to be decent. This rifle has been difficult to find a load at least in the 140 weight does not seem to shoot well at all. H414 produced slightly better groups. Good luck.

Just fer [bleep] n giggles.
My barrel break in on all rifles is 50 to say 200 strokes with a coated/graphite rod tipped with a bronze bore brush that has been dipped in a JB bore paste/kroil mix. I'll do 50 strokes or so, put on a new brush and do another 50 or so. I clean the residue off the rod when I change brushes. I then put on a jag and use dry patches till the patches are relatively clean. Then finish up with Butch' bore shine or kroil till patches are clean. I then run a patch with Kroil throuh the bore.
Thats my barrel break in.

Best

GWB

That is about as good as it gets.

Great rifle in a super caliber.

Love the stock color too. Congrats!

Odd. The last Cooper 7-08 Excalibur I owned shot like this..



Not every time, but it was repeatable....with several bullets.

If I know dad, he's already measured OAL with every bullet on the shelf and he's loaded several "test" rounds in accordance. I'm bettin' it will be on paper before dark. I may even get to sling a few.

Damn shame dad ain't like you. I'd be buying that in the classifieds before week's end...........


Nice rifle and enjoy it dad.

That brought a chuckle. Fair shot....as I resemble that remark.

Let me know when you want to do some safe shopping.

I'm glad you mentioned that, because I wondered if that was still policy at Cooper under the new ownership.

I got the barrel clean and went to the range with a try load of Big Game powder, Nosler 120 gr. Ballistic Tips, and WLR primers. Got on paper and.....





I am very happy with those groups. I won't tell you who shot which group, but Shortactionsmoker can see better than I can. I think with a little load work-up, I'm gonna have a shooter.

Load work done! Very cool.

I've fooled around with alot of loads in my 7m/08. I'm getting good results with Speer 145 hot cors and hornady 139s. IMR 4350 or Varget. Your gonna love that gun!

Very cool rifle, lastround! Something tells me that rifle will see plenty of 120 TTSX's through it!...

You are exactly right. The TTSXs are the bullet I really want it to shoot. The Campfire favorite load will be the first I try. They worked great in "that other rifle".

For some reason I've been lusting after one of the Cooper Jackson's in 7-08 lately, even though I don't know squat about them. I understand the test targets the come with are shot at a distance of 40 yards, not 100. Are they inherently finicky with loads, not so much, or what. I'd spend the extra $$$ over a Kimber if they're worth it.

I will find out how the 120's shoot? The 140's are a no go in the 7mm-08, it hates 140 grain ammo! I had high hopes to use the 140 NBT but scratch that out. I won't use the 130 SMK for hunting. So hoping this thing works out with the 120 grain NBT. I believe Barnes makes a 130 TTSX? If so I will be buying those.

They make a 120TTSX. No 130 I'm aware of. I'm betting the 120's (NBT & TTSX) will shoot.

You a hand loader?

My son had an Excaliber which he reported on earlier in this thread. It shot pretty much anything reasonably well. I remember distinctly that some were lights out: 120 gr. Nosler BTs, 120 gr. Barnes TTSXs, and 139 gr. Hornady Interlocks come immediately to mind. I'll know more about the one I just got in a few days.

Thanks, yes I handload, (LOL)apparently not very good if I can't get this Cooper to shoot? Waiting for some cooler weather and be hitting the range to try out some loads. Found some IMR 4064 that I will try also. Not happy since my Wally World 379.00 Remington ADL was fairly easy to get to shoot?
I like the action on Cooper and dang light so once I get her shooting I will be quite happy.

Essox,
Sorry you're having trouble with your Cooper; sure hope I don't with mine. I think 7mm-08s in general are a little finicky until you hit on the right combination. I have had four previous 7mm-08s that I have loaded for and the favorite powders seemed to be (in no certain order) H4350, Big Game, Reloader 15, and Varget. If it won't shoot with one of those powders, maybe a trip back to Montana is in order. They will make it right. ((Hint: the favorite here on the fire with 120 gr. BTs seems to be 44.0 gr. of RL 15, but that is a max load to work up to). I have tried BG in this one and just for fun will try RL 15 next. Good luck man.

And hey, nothing wrong with those 700s either. They all seem to shoot pretty well.

WOW! Awesome! I wish I could have done something like that for my dad. He passed before I had my feet under me enough to pull something like that off. Well done SAS! You must come from good stock...

w.t.f. all i get is underware!

What a beauty in my favorite cartridge. You raised a great kid there and waiting to see some range and kill pixs.

Great story!! Thanks for posting

Good on you, Darrik....

P.S., my birthday is in April! A used Cooper would be fine. Thanks!

For anybody interested; I did a little load work with the new Cooper. This is two three shot groups back-to-back but a day apart.





My "heavy game" load work is done. Now it's time to just play and enjoy the rifle. I have only shot 30 rounds thru the gun and am sure it will do nothing but get better as it gets broken-in more. I have appreciated all the kind words. Have a good day.

Found a promising starting load today with the Cooper! Varget and 120 NBT's. 43.5 and 44.5 of Varget seemed to be sub moa at 100 yards. Max load looked great but it had a "sticky" bolt with 45.0 grains of Varget. Weather today was humid, overcast with 77 degrees. The rifle took forever to try to cool down. I tried H4350 which would put two through the same hole and then throw one an inch or so but better than the 140's! I'm starting to be happy with the accuracy.

Bad news now: While firing from the rest I discovered I had put a "hole" in my Cooper stock on the comb! The only thing I can figure is while shooting the 7th shot, the recoil of the gun which isn't much hit the edge of my ear muffs and apparently broke a hole in the stock? I can't win. I hope Cooper will help me out with this? I will try to post a pic.

They use Bell & Carlson stocks I think. Same as Winchester uses on their Extreme Weather model. I would think that Cooper will replace it no questions asked. I have never seen such a thing. Must have been a bad spot in the stock.

Thats what I was thinking that it didn't "cure or harden like it should have", everything else appeared solid, it acted like a "soft spot" in it? I thought it was sweat at first on it not realizing after the shot a "hole" formed?

I'm glad I got it shooting the 120 NBT though and once this is fixed it should be ready for some deer/hogs this season.

Shortaction, what is max load for Big Game using 120's? Thanks.

I've shot up to 50 in a couple of rifles, buts its too hot in dad's current Cooper. I'd be looking at 44ish of RL15 with 120's.

Don't have any RL 15 but I have some big game so I may see if it "tightens" the groups even more? Didn't have starting or max load data that I could find on it. Think I will start at 43.0 grains and work up? That sound about a good place to start? Thanks.

Nosler lists a starting load of 48.0 gr. with the 120 gr. Ballistic Tip. They show a max of 52.0 gr. I've never been comfortable with a load above 50.0 gr. and as SAS said even 50.0 was too hot in my new one. Having said that, IME Big Game seems to work best in the upper end of the spectrum. I too have pretty much switched over to RL 15. Keep at it Essox, you'll get there.

Thanks lastround. First order of business is to get the stock fixed then I will be back in business. I guess I can get rid of the H4350 I have. IMR 4064 is my next powder to try for the heck of it, but with the Varget producing I may have found "the load"?

Essox,
A lot of guys here on the fire use Varget in their 7mm-08s. Maybe I just haven't tried it enough, but I've not had much luck with it. I wish it would work as it is a great powder. (And we have a good supply on hand for my son's 308)

If you want to try 140s again, two of my 08s did pretty well with H4350. Mule Deer likes H4350 and Big Game in this caliber, but maybe I should let him speak for himself.

The load I just posted with pictures of targets is my first excursion using bullets heavier than 120 gr. with RL 15, but I am certainly happy with the Partition results and chrony readings of +/- 2800 fps. Good luck and if you call Cooper tommorow, ask for Josh Hill in customer service. He has been very helpful in the past.

Lastround, I whacked a pretty good CO mulie 2 seasons back with those 140gr NPs, at 355 yards. They are a wicked bullet, that's a great choice.

Thanks Tanner,

Darrik and I have a pretty nice inventory of those, so I am really glad to have them shoot so well. Now a plinking bullet and load and I'll be fixed.

Thanks Lastround, I will be contacting Cooper tomorrow to see what they can do for me? I think I will be set on the 120 NBT unless they will not work for large hogs or deer? I think they have been beefed up some by Nosler and should work well on pigs. I will try to find a sturdier bullet for black bear/elk/aoudad.

I do like the 140's alot, even 10 years ago they were knocking deer flat out of a 7 rem mag without too much issue. Had only one doe get punched dead center in the chest and she was not recovered by my buddy. So I thought they would do awesome at 7mm-08 velocities.

Update

Contacted Cooper today and spoke with a Mr. Glenn. Mr Glenn explained during the process "air pockets" can form and get painted over. He thought that is what had taken place with my stock. I will be sending it back to them for repair. No questions, No hard time just correcting the problem. I'm happy.

Sounds like a good explanation of what probably happened. I hope when you get it back you have lots of fun and lots of good shooting.

Thankyou. I hope so too, I need to take some game with this rifle! I spent too much not to use it hunting ;o). I will definitely buy another Cooper one of these days!

Thought I would give another range report on the new Cooper I reported on two weeks ago. My load work with the 140 gr. Partition pictured earlier left me extremely satisfied as I have never gotten that kind of accuracy with that bullet before.

After today's work with the 120 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip, I am even more excited about the rifle. The first two three shot groups...



Made a three click "down" adjustment and.........



Man I'm lovin' this rifle and Reloader 15. Load work done with this bullet too. Now if Fall seasons will just get here so I can kill stuff. Thanks again, D

Nice. I'm waiting on mine to be fixed and sent back! Doing some more reloading tomorrow for it. What is you COAL? I have yet to play with it. I'm using the recommended 2.800.

Essox, that load was just selected randomly with past experience lending a hand. My magazine length is 2.862" and the overall length to the lands with the 120 gr. BT is 2.878. I tried to load .020" less than the magazine length so it would feed ok. I ended up at 2.840" OAL and tried it. I am not changing a thing. I pressure shot three different charges working up. I loaded a half a grain less than the Nosler manual's maximum with RL 15. Chronied at 3050 fps so I'm done. One more bullet I'm gonna try is the 120 TTSX. It has shot great in all my '08s, so it should work in this one too. Good luck with your rifle too.

Kick @ss! Well go kill some stuff with it!

I'm anxious to get "her" back and then hope to have some good news to post? Thanks.

I just got a new all stainless M54 Jackson Hunter in 7mm-08, which is the same as the Excalibur except for the stock. Unfortunately for me, after waiting a year and a half, there was an issue with barrel runout. Also the bolt cut out in the stock was not centered at all. I returned the rifle over two months ago and haven't got it back yet! With that said, I think this is the exception rather than the rule and I'm looking forward to actually hunting with my new Cooper.

I'm really wanting one of those Jackson's in 7-08.

I shot a couple elk two years ago with my daughters 7-08 and 140 gr Accubonds. Daughter used it to kill 4 more when she was in highschool... boy that seems like a long time ago.
Okay back to the thread, I've had 5 Coopers, and still have 3 of them. The other two had such beautifully upgraded wood I just couldn't bring myself to take them elk hunting.
Accuracy has been great with all of them.
I had never heard they will rebarrel one that is shot out at no cost. This could be good news as the barrel on my 22-250 is just about toast. I had intended to send it back to them for another barrel anyway.
It looks like you got a good one lastround, in rifle and son!

Wow that is some time to be waiting on a fix? Hope they get the work done soon? Nice looking rifle, I like the fluted bolt on yours. Seems like the ones I have seen recently have fluted bolts. I'm waiting on mine as well so keeping fingers crossed, in the meantime I need to think of another caliber I "need" for another Cooper.

Me too!

I found the hold up on mine? I contacted them and they stated they are waiting on a stock to replace mine. They are unsure of when the next order of stocks will arrive? I guess I will be waiting a little longer? I was hoping to get it out this season.

Cooper's synthetic stocks are manufactured by Bell & Carlson so they are at the mercy of an outside source. I'll bet it will not take too long.

It could take a while. I ordered mine with a slightly shorter LOP 13.5" vs 13.75" and it delayed things significantly!