Cooey Model 60 occasionally won't quite open...

Dark Alley Dan

Dark Alley Dan

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Hey there.

I have a Model 60 that's been in the family for three generations. In an effort to get some use out of it, I've decided to use it as a course gun for the CFSC. I'd like something tube fed in .22 that folks will likely encounter out in the world, and the 60 meets that requirement.

Part of making it suitable for use is trimming the firing pin. I don't like neutering guns, so I bought a cheap, correct bolt assembly at auction, and (hoping to avoid the notoriously difficult disassmbly process) ground down the tip of the firing pin. All appears well.

However, on reassembly, the bolt occasionally hangs up a half-inch from going fully to the rear. It's a HARD hangup. I'm hitting something that doesn't want to move and won't be bullied out of the way. To make it really frustrating, it does this only about 50% of the time.

I think the offending bit is the little sheetmetal "flag" that rises up on opening, pushing the tip of the mag follower upward. I think it operates as a kind of ejector, or slides the next cartridge up under the extractors.

Cooey 1.jpg

Cooey 2.jpg

I've reassembled the rifle with its original bolt and all appears well, although it too was hanging up for a bit. Haven't adjusted anything, haven't lubricated anything. It's just decided to work again.

What in the name of Herbert W. Cooey is going on here?
 
Might be from camera angle, but it looks to me - in first picture - is that "stud" straight 90 degrees to the barrel? Maybe that dovetail cut in barrel has loosened or opened up? Meaning tension or angle of that through-bolt might have changed? I think those were also setting the tension and location of the mag tube, besides holding the stock to the metal - basically a "wild assed guess" since I do not have the thing in hand, and I have never experienced that phenomenon, despite 50 years with Model 60's and Model 600's
 
^ ^ + + I believe he's right about that . Too bad the 1st pic is blurry but it does look 'loose' there. That would not allow the 'full travel' of the lifter (upper part above that 'oval loop') so the bolt cannot completely pull it up.
And the 'tip of the follower' is the 'ejector', likely the bullet cases are 'controlled feed' into the extractors. That 'tip' will kick out the 'last empty'. I have a Stevens 66 that has a similar function, but no Cooeys to compare.
 
Rounds coming from the magazine are pushed up the bolt face, under the extractors, as the lifter is cammed upwards. As the new round is pushed up into position, the fired case is pushed up and out, being freed from the extractors.
I suspect that the lifter is fouling on something. You could try adjusting the pressure on the magazine tube resulting from the take down stud pressing up on it. Pressure is necessary to keep the magazine engaged with the bolt; adjust as necessary for positive function without unnecessary drag. Some lubrication might be a good idea.
Another thought - is the upcoming round catching on a protruding firing pin? Bottom of the firing pin is angled so that the case rim pushes it back into the bolt face if necessary.
As an instructional piece, you might find the Model 60 a bit hard on dummy rounds which are being reused repeatedly.
 
Thanks, guys. Apologies for the sh!t pics.

The dovetail appears hell for tight, so we're good there. No unnecessary movement. That being said, the stud and the loop are canted forward no more than three or four degrees. God knows how. She's had a life.

I think you might be on to something regarding the tightness of the stud that passes through the rear loop. That's the only thing that's changed at all, aside from using a new bolt. In buggering about with it, I appear to have found the right spot for it to function reliably. Is there a method to determine exactly how snug that bolt should be? Or does one screw it in and out by half-turns until it's happy?
 
My own recollection was to turn in and out until the bolt ran free - not sure that I ever used a "spec" - if the through-bolt has a flat spot on the end, might want to get that at or close to the mag tube. Probably why the dovetail and saddle meant to be "straight" 90 degrees - no flat spot. No clue at all if this has anything to do with your issue - but I found sometimes a distant misalignment affects function that does not have apparent immediate cause.
 
OK, bit of an update, and marginally better pics:

IMG_5128.JPG

Here's the hangup - the lifter (the sheet metal tab that pushes the cartridge up behind the twin extractors) can't seem to slide 'em in there like it should. They come in nose-down and bind up. I think this is a function of the aluminum dummies. Their rim thickness appears a titch gernerous compared to dummies based on regular .22LR.

The regular dummies - not the fancy AL ones - feed intermittently. The first one wants to bypass the extractors altogether and jump out of the gun completely. Subsequent ones cue up better, but not perfectly. They seem to function best when they're handled with a less-than-subtle hand, like most farm equipment. Run the bolt like you mean it, and the gun seems more likely to behave.

IMG_5132.JPG

It doesn't appear bent or otherwise abused.

IMG_5130.JPG

Is that slightly-nose-down angle typical of the lifter?

Maybe I'm just trying to break the chicken salad rule here - can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t. These were inexpensive utility guns when new, and years of use have done little to improve them. We tend to deify Cooey as a Canadian product, but they had more in common with Mossberg than Browning...
 
The lifter looks OK. It pushes the cartridge up, and the cartridge is held perpendicular to the bolt by the extractors, ready to go straight into the chamber. The round does not lie on the lifter angled up to the chamber.
 
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