• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Cooper rifle question

When you buy a new cooper and the target comes with it , is that fired from factory offerings or something they load in house to produce the one hole targets ?
 
They hand load, and I was told 6 years ago, they test fire from about 50yds.
Their recipe is on the test target.

Jim
 
Yea. I was sold on the targets they provide as well till I found out they use a leupold competition 36x at 50 yards to shoot them.. u shoot 22lr at 50 yards. Not centerfire rifles.
 
Still, a bunch of us in my club have Coopers and they're all extremely accurate. The test target doesn't mean much, but then again, it doesn't have to. It's going to shoot good, count on it.
 
I'm a big fan of Coopers and appreciate their accuracy. Stories are rampant about the testing procedure and distance at Cooper. I presume it's an indoor range and I don't really care what the distance is.

If you think the included target doesn't mean much, then take your run-of-the-mill factory rifle and put a 36X scope on it and shoot some 50-yd. groups. They won't look like the Cooper ones do.

What the target and load info represent to me is the fact that Cooper cares about their product and reputation and the guns don't leave the factory 'til they perform at an impressive level.
 
Their testing procedure is well documented as 40 yds according to the test targets I have seen.
 
Im not saying they aren't good rifles or that they arent accurate. To me it seems like a gimmick that they post 40 or 50 yard groups when the industry standard group shooting is at 100. Im sure many a customer that was considering one was sold by thinking the provided target was shot at 100.
 
My Cooper 223 Varmint puts them in the same hole at 100 yards. I used their test target powder choice (H335) and started at the bottom of the recipe. I had a load worked up in less than 30 cartridges. My shooting buddy was disappointed I did not want to spend an entire season at the range tweaking the load.
 
I suppose a guy should bypass the ones with cloverleaf groups, as opposed to 1 holers!

I had a Cooper phoenix in 6.5x284, was disappointed to hear the group was fired at 42 yards, and the charge would have been barely 2600 fps. Unlike Steve, mine took awhile to come up with a load, but when I did it was 1100 of the most accurate rounds I'd ever fired.
12 custom chambers later, it still ranks as one of my most accurate guns. One day, 5 different guys, each put a head shot on an IPSC silhouette , 7"x7", at 1000 yards, off a standing bench. It's rare that you could even find five guys that would "steer" the gun the same????

For some reason, around here, Cooper doesn't have quite the stellar reputation it seems to enjoy elsewhere.
 
My .223 MTV shoots Ultramax/Black Hills ammo in the .3`s @ 100 yards.

5 shot groups,multiple shooters.

I can live with that.....
 
milo-2 said:
For some reason, around here, Cooper doesn't have quite the stellar reputation it seems to enjoy elsewhere.

The reason being, this site has many registered competition shooters who have hard statistical data on the REAL accuracy that they achieve in real world competition .....witnessed by many.....measured by experienced scorers and recorded for all to see....both the good and bad scores as ALL the shots made on the record target count....there is no do-over's or "that flyer was not counted because I pulled that one."
Using the term "one hole" group is totally meaningless.
 
Don't get me wrong. While I love my Cooper for woodchucks it is not my Holy Grail. I need a benchrest rifle now, something I can put a few hundred round thru a week. I may be wrong but I don't see the Cooper as that rifle.
 
Years ago, my trophy wife bought me a Cooper Model 22 Phoenix in 6.5-284. It was the first rifle I ever saw in 6.5-284 and I wanted it bad. The test target was impressive and I had no idea it was fired at a short distance. The rifle has lived up to my expectations as a semi-custom rifle costing less than $1500. It put most loads into .5MOA or less. It has shot a bunch of game from a MN whitetail through a small opening at 80 yards to wolves and black bears at 500+ yards to animals in Africa.

I have many rifles that are more accurate; some for hunting, many for competition but for real value there is no comparison in my opinion.

Scott
 
LHSmith said:
milo-2 said:
For some reason, around here, Cooper doesn't have quite the stellar reputation it seems to enjoy elsewhere.

The reason being, this site has many registered competition shooters who have hard statistical data on the REAL accuracy that they achieve in real world competition .....witnessed by many.....measured by experienced scorers and recorded for all to see....both the good and bad scores as ALL the shots made on the record target count....there is no do-over's or "that flyer was not counted because I pulled that one."
Using the term "one hole" group is totally meaningless.

When I stated "around here", I meant locally, amongst the custom gun community. With a Scheels in Billing and Rapid City, believe me, enough of them are purchased by happy owners! Along with Kimber's.
First off, let me say that most people aren't scoring paper targets around here, just shooting. And I've seen it myself, with some load dedication, the Cooper can be made to be real accurate, more so than most factory rifles, albeit at a slight price increase.
 
That's exactly it. These rifles are not intended to put holes in holes but dollar for dollar I don't think they can be beat. When I need another hunting rifle it will most certainly be on my short list for consideration.
 
Remember cooper arms is in Montana it would be a little hard going out side when its 10 below zero and going to the range and testing the gun.
 
This 6.5×284 Cooper is by far my favorite hunting rifle. I haven't been able to replicate the test target with it, but I don't shoot 142gSMK's or use RL22. I use 130g Accubonds and H4350, and it will keep them withen 1/2"@100 and 1 1/2"@300 if I do my part. The only issues I have with this rig is the detachable magazine(personalty prefer blind mag). The finish they use is too thin, and after the first hunt I wore it off the butt and had to do some touch up. Lastly, they did not seal under any of the metal work or recoil pad. If I were in the market for another "pretty rifle", I would still buy another Cooper.

 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
165,837
Messages
2,204,513
Members
79,157
Latest member
Bud1029
Back
Top