Cooper Test Shooters: Dan Cooper?

[danny]

I heard some rumors that Dan Cooper used to test fire and initial some of the early rifles. I have an early rifle that looks like it could have Dan Cooper's initials on it, but I can't be certain. Do any of you hard core/early Cooper buyers have a test target on it that you know is signed/initialed by Dan Cooper? Mine looks like a D6 or DG with the 6 or G dropped below the D, and connected, which could be a stylized C. I will see if I can post that part of the test target later.

Thanks,

Danny

 

[Hal]

I heard some rumors that Dan Cooper used to test fire and initial some of the early rifles. I have an early rifle that looks like it could have Dan Cooper's initials on it, but I can't be certain. Do any of you hard core/early Cooper buyers have a test target on it that you know is signed/initialed by Dan Cooper? Mine looks like a D6 or DG with the 6 or G dropped below the D, and connected, which could be a stylized C. I will see if I can post that part of the test target later.

Thanks,

Danny

You might check over on saubier.com . Some of the member have several Coopers.

Hal

 

[ab_bentley]

You might check over on saubier.com . Some of the member have several Coopers.

Hal

Remember, Dan Cooper donated a few thousand dollars to the Obama campaign.

 

[thekriebles]

I don't have a test target, but his initials are DLC.

 

[danny]

Remember, Dan Cooper donated a few thousand dollars to the Obama campaign.

Yes,
I remember. While that is bad, he did start the company, so having one test fired by him would be unique. I was talking with them today. It crossed my mind that one could have mentioned that there was still time left to bring him back so that he could donate to the campaign of the Clintons. Would that have been in bad form?

Danny

 

[swd]

I've had a couple Coopers from the Dan era. I refer to them around my friends as my "pinko commie rifles".

 

[drover]

Perhaps Dan Pickett, he used to shoot a lot of their test targets early on. I think I would recognize his initials if you can post the test target.
I also have a couple of things with Dan Cooper's signature, but not his initials, perhaps I could get a better idea for you by doing comparison of the signature vs. the initials.

drover

 

[danny]

Here is the test target. Shirley has told me that she would not know if this was signed off by Dan Cooper, and that the person that would know is out till next week, and that I should resend the image and request to her on or after that time.

Danny

 

[drover]

Perhaps Dan Pickett, he used to shoot a lot of their test targets early on. I think I would recognize his initials if you can post the test target.
I also have a couple of things with Dan Cooper's signature, but not his initials, perhaps I could get a better idea for you by doing comparison of the signature vs. the initials.

drover

Yep, it looks like Dan Cooper's initals to me when comparing them to his signature. It looks to me like you have the real-deal.

drover

 

[Hal]

Danny

Is the load 18gr of 4895 ?

Hal

 

[JAlfred]

Danny

Is the load 18gr of 4895 ?

Hal

4198?

 

[danny]

Guys,
It is surely 4198. I would say that it is pretty sure to be 18/4198, but I am not quite as certain as with the powder type. I quickly looked up the load, and it seems to be a bit low???

Danny

 

[Hal]

I had 4198 written down and typed 4895 , that's how wrecks happen. My bad.
Thanks for the reply.

Could you get your rifle to match the factor test groups ?

Hal

 

[danny]

I had 4198 written down and typed 4895 , that's how wrecks happen.
Thanks for the reply.

Could you get your rifle to match the factor test groups ?

Hal

Hal, no....but that was only because I shot it only twice so far. Once was with some leftover Remington factory ammo that was partially used in my former Remington 700 BDL. The other time, I used this once fired brass, fully sized, and with Hornady 25gr. V-Max. The first problem was that the brass fired in the Remington 700 looked sort of like brass fired in an AR or Garand, you know, it has a kind of body swelling just ahead of the bolt, but in he chamber. I got lucky in that the first six rounds fired were first fired in the Cooper. All of the next rounds in the higher powder loading were first fired in the Remington and would not even come close to functioning in the Cooper, so I was dead in the water. The first six rounds fired went "somewhere". Not out in the "Wild Blue Yonder", but certainly not where they should have gone. In a different thread, we determined that Cooper uses 10 twist barrels which, according to the calculations on JBM, are a bit too slow to be optimum for the longer 25 gr. V-Max. JBM categorized the twist as "marginally stable" once calculated. I went back to view the holes, and while they were not a bullet profile shape, they wete not perfectly round, though darn close. They were ever so slightly oblong or teardrop shaped, something you could overlook if not looking for it. As these were lower speed starting loads, and that some have reported great accuracy with these bullets in some Cooper 17 Remington Rifles, I do not yet know if they would stabililize enough with enough accuracy in my rifle.

Danny

 

[drover]

Yep, it looks like Dan Cooper's initals to me when comparing them to his signature. It looks to me like you have the real-deal.

drover

Here you go, this is a pic of Dan Cooper's signature, notice that the D and C are practically identical to the D and C on your test target.

 

[danny]

Here you go, this is a pic of Dan Cooper's signature, notice that the D and C are practically identical to the D and C on your test target.

Drover,
Have to agree there on that one. I wondered about it for a while before looking into it. I really appreciate the help.

Danny

 

[yotehater]

Is there any mention of the yardage that group was shot at? I have shot some pretty awesome 3 shot groups at 50 yds.

 

[boltfluter]

I think someone mentioned they are shot at 47 yards. Kind of misleading if you ask me. At that distance, it better be one hole or there is a serious problem.

Paul

www.boltfluting.com

 

[IdahoSharpshooter]

He sure made a mess of his business by his political contributions. I sold both of mine when the news came out...

 

[qwk]

I know this thread is old, but Dan did test some early rifles.