Here's a fun one for y'all from the Rab Lab (heh) I get these thoughts in my mind "what if....?" and I just have to know, so I dive into projects and experiments most wouldn't bother with. I found a suitable Cooey 750 on the EE, single shot bolt action model made by Winchester, which also had a surprisingly nicely figured stock. Since I was going to be re-barreling it, not just any Cooey would do, as a number of them have tube mags attached to the barrel or some other issue that would prevent one from replacing the barrel easily, but this 750 was free and clear to knock that barrel out! I had the gunsmith who fitted the barrel also drill and tap for a Weaver side mount scope base, as this model was essentially iron sight only with no means of attaching scope rings.
Now, what barrel would one fit to a Cooey?? I just wasn't going to put a Lilja or similar on it... but I did have a spare kickin' around... The old Anschütz made sporter barrel that I took off my Weatherby XXII. Hey wait a minute... wasn't that barrel a "dud"? Yes, it was. So that was part 2 of this project, first question was "Can a Cooey be accurate?", second question was "Can I fix a "dud" barrel?". Two birds, one stone, but a wee bit of a gamble... As I evaluated the take-off Annie barrel, I found that the main issue was a severe constriction in the bore several inches ahead of the chamber. Measuring the slug with a micrometer showed it to be 0.002" tighter than a slug just pushed an inch into the muzzle then back out, that ain't good! Past that restriction, the slugging felt decent, some minor inconsistencies but nothing that some lapping couldn't fix.
So, I lapped the barrel with 400 grit powder mixed into JB bore paste, making an effort to induce a taper from breech to muzzle. Slugging felt great after the lapping, but there was still that restriction... So I had to lop off a couple inches from the breech. After cutting an inch and a half off, I measured out where I felt the restriction, and marked the barrel. I just had the gunsmith remove another 1/2" off the breech, then the chambering would kill the restriction so that I wouldn't loose too much length off the barrel. The lapping washed out the rifling at the muzzle, so I had to cut a 1/2" off the muzzle to get the rifling depth back, and I recrowned with my Manson crowning tool.
Once I got the rifle back from the smith with the barrel fitted and scope base attached, I found he had also bedded the barrel at the fore-end in a way that put quite a bit of up-pressure on the barrel. I "gave it a shot"
but results were mostly "meh". I saw potential, though, but I had to work on it my way. I removed the bedding under the barrel, then prepped it for action bedding. I left a small patch of wood around the action screw hole to locate the action height, and built up a small pad under the barrel at the fore end of the stock with aluminum tape to center it. Bedding was done with Devcon steel putty.
Once that cured, I added a couple more layers of aluminum tape under the barrel to put just a slight up-pressure on it, and then full length bedded the barrel with Ultra Black gasket making compound. I polished inside the receiver with 1500 grit sandpaper and the bolt as well, since a large part of the bolt body moves with the striker and it was binding a little, so this freed it up to move smoothly and improve ignition. I had wanted to take apart the bolt and clean-up/polish the striker itself and modify the strike footprint (which is very large) but it seems a special "fork" type tool is needed to unscrew the striker from inside the bolt body. I just flooded it with gun oil, then worked it manually to get as much dirt and crap out of there as I could instead. It moved fairly smoothly, so it's probably not critical to polish the striker at this time.
Results time! I warmed up with SK Biathlon Sport, as is typical the first group from a clean, cold barrel was a write-off. It seemed to take 25 rounds to settle down and shoot, but then hey, looks like my bedding just might have done the trick
I shot Lapua Polar Biathlon next, but that target is going to be posted in a different thread
After that, RWS Rifle Match and RWS Rifle Match "S" were on deck, and that was it for the day with the Cooey. I went to 100 yards and did some killer shooting with my CZ 455 Custom in the calming winds of the late evening, man that rifle just seems to keep getting better and better. Anyway, here's the RWS targets from the Cooey.
So, I would say now that 1. Yes, a Cooey can be made accurate, and 2. I can fix a "dud" barrel. Still get some random fliers here and there, but it's shooting sub 1/2" on average, most groups under 1/2" actually, with some really nice ones too. Keeping in mind there is still less than 500 rounds down the tube with the freshly cut chamber, I expect it to continue to improve with time as the leade smooths out and becomes fluid. Already better results than I ever got with the barrel on my Weatherby XXII, and I put a couple thousand through it trying to get it to shoot the 1/2" challenge with that rifle but just had no luck. Now I know why the barrel didn't perform, and I'm glad I was able to salvage it and turn it into a neat little project. If I could only get myself a lathe....
Now, what barrel would one fit to a Cooey?? I just wasn't going to put a Lilja or similar on it... but I did have a spare kickin' around... The old Anschütz made sporter barrel that I took off my Weatherby XXII. Hey wait a minute... wasn't that barrel a "dud"? Yes, it was. So that was part 2 of this project, first question was "Can a Cooey be accurate?", second question was "Can I fix a "dud" barrel?". Two birds, one stone, but a wee bit of a gamble... As I evaluated the take-off Annie barrel, I found that the main issue was a severe constriction in the bore several inches ahead of the chamber. Measuring the slug with a micrometer showed it to be 0.002" tighter than a slug just pushed an inch into the muzzle then back out, that ain't good! Past that restriction, the slugging felt decent, some minor inconsistencies but nothing that some lapping couldn't fix.
So, I lapped the barrel with 400 grit powder mixed into JB bore paste, making an effort to induce a taper from breech to muzzle. Slugging felt great after the lapping, but there was still that restriction... So I had to lop off a couple inches from the breech. After cutting an inch and a half off, I measured out where I felt the restriction, and marked the barrel. I just had the gunsmith remove another 1/2" off the breech, then the chambering would kill the restriction so that I wouldn't loose too much length off the barrel. The lapping washed out the rifling at the muzzle, so I had to cut a 1/2" off the muzzle to get the rifling depth back, and I recrowned with my Manson crowning tool.
Once I got the rifle back from the smith with the barrel fitted and scope base attached, I found he had also bedded the barrel at the fore-end in a way that put quite a bit of up-pressure on the barrel. I "gave it a shot"
but results were mostly "meh". I saw potential, though, but I had to work on it my way. I removed the bedding under the barrel, then prepped it for action bedding. I left a small patch of wood around the action screw hole to locate the action height, and built up a small pad under the barrel at the fore end of the stock with aluminum tape to center it. Bedding was done with Devcon steel putty.Once that cured, I added a couple more layers of aluminum tape under the barrel to put just a slight up-pressure on it, and then full length bedded the barrel with Ultra Black gasket making compound. I polished inside the receiver with 1500 grit sandpaper and the bolt as well, since a large part of the bolt body moves with the striker and it was binding a little, so this freed it up to move smoothly and improve ignition. I had wanted to take apart the bolt and clean-up/polish the striker itself and modify the strike footprint (which is very large) but it seems a special "fork" type tool is needed to unscrew the striker from inside the bolt body. I just flooded it with gun oil, then worked it manually to get as much dirt and crap out of there as I could instead. It moved fairly smoothly, so it's probably not critical to polish the striker at this time.
Results time! I warmed up with SK Biathlon Sport, as is typical the first group from a clean, cold barrel was a write-off. It seemed to take 25 rounds to settle down and shoot, but then hey, looks like my bedding just might have done the trick
I shot Lapua Polar Biathlon next, but that target is going to be posted in a different thread
After that, RWS Rifle Match and RWS Rifle Match "S" were on deck, and that was it for the day with the Cooey. I went to 100 yards and did some killer shooting with my CZ 455 Custom in the calming winds of the late evening, man that rifle just seems to keep getting better and better. Anyway, here's the RWS targets from the Cooey.
So, I would say now that 1. Yes, a Cooey can be made accurate, and 2. I can fix a "dud" barrel. Still get some random fliers here and there, but it's shooting sub 1/2" on average, most groups under 1/2" actually, with some really nice ones too. Keeping in mind there is still less than 500 rounds down the tube with the freshly cut chamber, I expect it to continue to improve with time as the leade smooths out and becomes fluid. Already better results than I ever got with the barrel on my Weatherby XXII, and I put a couple thousand through it trying to get it to shoot the 1/2" challenge with that rifle but just had no luck. Now I know why the barrel didn't perform, and I'm glad I was able to salvage it and turn it into a neat little project. If I could only get myself a lathe....
