Cooey 'Ranger' Identification

So...
Long story short, your rifle (Thirsty Fox that is) is an Eaton's branded Cooey 75. Probably made some time after the war, but probably before the time when Winchester bought out Cooey in 1961.
 
Thirsty_Fox said:
I recently picked up a "Ranger .22 CAL" that appears to be a Cooey model 75 single shot with a 26" barrel.

I'm wondering if anyone has any idea of the background of this model. I suspect it was branded as "Ranger" to be sold at some outlet (or generically). No serial number on it so I think it would be pre-1960s. It has a metal buttplate.

Thanks!



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I have one and it's marked Winchester ranger, made by cooey.
 
2cylolson; All 75's said:
I know it says that in Belton's book but I'm not so sure about that. I have a model 75 style marked Ranger and it has a 24" barrel. I mentioned this to John a couple of years before he passed and he admitted that never say never when talking about Cooeys as there were several variants produced in lower numbers.
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When you say "75 style" what do you mean by that? Stock style?
Eaton's catalog listed several Rangers but never gave the corresponding Cooey number to my knowledge.
They did call them by "senior" "junior" etc. and gave the barrel lengths. Several of them had 24" barrels but would have been based on the 39, Ace, etc.
If it was marked as a Cooey however, and marked as a 75, it should have a 27" barrel. Unless someone has cut it down.

As you say though... never say never. And that goes for just about everything. :)
 
There was also apparently a "Mohawk 75" that may have been 24".
And an older 39 and older 75 are very much the same except for length and can in fact be hard to tell apart in pictures. Especially from angles.
This is an interesting web site with lots of pictures but somewhat confusing:

https://marcetmel.wixsite.com/cooey

Enjoy!
 
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Thirsty_Fox said:
I recently picked up a "Ranger .22 CAL" that appears to be a Cooey model 75 single shot with a 26" barrel.

I'm wondering if anyone has any idea of the background of this model. I suspect it was branded as "Ranger" to be sold at some outlet (or generically). No serial number on it so I think it would be pre-1960s. It has a metal buttplate.

Thanks!



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Your Ranger is a "House Brand" of Eatons . Sure Shot was the "House Brand " for Simpsons. I have several of both.
 
2cylolson said:
There was also apparently a "Mohawk 75" that may have been 24".
:
https://marcetmel.wixsite.com/cooey
Enjoy!
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Where are you getting that information from? If you want to refer to Belton's book, it says 27". I have a Mohawk and it is 27". But what I was referring to earlier is not every variant is in John Belton's book. Just as there may indeed be a Mohawk with a 24" barrel, why couldn't there be the Ranger model 75 type with a 24" barrel and I mean with the whale belly stock? I don't think John Belton's book is not open to corrections or additions. The thing is we will likely never know the accurate details on some of the Cooeys and their variants to say with certainty if they are right or wrong.
 
2cylolson said:
I'm only saying...
If the barrel is stamped "Cooey"and also stamped "75" or "78" or "82", it should have been a 27" barrel from the factory. Nothing more.
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Don't get me wrong, I'm not being argumentative and apologize if it sounded (or came across) that way. Just looking for info as there are a number of things not known about various Cooeys. John Belton's book can't be taken as gospel when it comes to Cooeys. Rather it was the only book written about them. Even he eluded to the fact there there are/were variants that he didn't come across. So what I was saying is the 27" barrel length is coming from John Belton's book. Does this mean for certain that those models all had 27" barrels throughout all the production years and for all the various store brand retailers? When you mentioned that there might have been Mohawks with 24" barrels I was curious to know where you heard or read that as that is not what it says in Belton's book if that is where information is being taken from. But it also goes to the fact that I said Belton's book can't be taken as the absolute so you may indeed be correct. Which then also relates to my questioning as to why the model 75 made for a store brand could not have had a 24" barrel. Actually, the model 55 had a 24" barrel. It was in production at the time the 75 came out. Could some of the 24" barrels have been put on early guns? As I say, there are facts we are not going to know for certain . Just as earlier a member showed a photo of a 75 with a whale belly stock with a curved up forearm at the end. I said it was not original. He said he had seen a few. Wasn't 3 days later I saw the exact same style gun for sale on an online auction. So you never know.
 
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gunsaholic said:
Just looking for info as there are a number of things not known about various Cooeys. John Belton's book can't be taken as gospel when it comes to Cooeys.
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Must agree, but it is the only real source of Cooey info we have.
Besides the small tid bits members share on here.
A while back while searching things Cooey I found Canadian Author Scott Jamieson from Ontario. Wrote him a few times.
He is gathering any info for his up coming book.
Here's the thread I started back laqst January...didn't get very far.

Be Part of the New Book, COOEY ARMS 1903-1980
 
I do actually agree with everything you say.
We don't and can't know all of the specifications Cooey built to for various house brands.
I could be wrong but I do still think that if it's "branded" as a Cooey 75 it will have a 27" barrel. If you've seen one otherwise I am interested in learning about it.

I do find Belton's book to be somewhat confused/confusing and even a little self contradictory.
I look forward to new research, info, and books on Cooeys.
As I said, I think they were grossly under rated, under appreciated, and deserving of more attention.

And I am sure all of us here love out Cooeys! :)
 
2cylolson said:
I do actually agree with everything you say.
We don't and can't know all of the specifications Cooey built to for various house brands.
I could be wrong but I do still think that if it's "branded" as a Cooey 75 it will have a 27" barrel. If you've seen one otherwise I am interested in learning about it.

I do find Belton's book to be somewhat confused/confusing and even a little self contradictory.
I look forward to new research, info, and books on Cooeys.
As I said, I think they were grossly under rated, under appreciated, and deserving of more attention.

And I am sure all of us here love out Cooeys! :)
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Can only speak to the one I have. I never bothered seeking to see if others were out there. As mentioned though, mine is branded Ranger but is the 75 whale belly style. I also have the model 55 with same length barrel which overlapped in production time.
 
gunsaholic said:
Don't get me wrong, I'm not being argumentative and apologize if it sounded (or came across) that way. Just looking for info as there are a number of things not known about various Cooeys. John Belton's book can't be taken as gospel when it comes to Cooeys. Rather it was the only book written about them. Even he eluded to the fact there there are/were variants that he didn't come across. So what I was saying is the 27" barrel length is coming from John Belton's book. Does this mean for certain that those models all had 27" barrels throughout all the production years and for all the various store brand retailers? When you mentioned that there might have been Mohawks with 24" barrels I was curious to know where you heard or read that as that is not what it says in Belton's book if that is where information is being taken from. But it also goes to the fact that I said Belton's book can't be taken as the absolute so you may indeed be correct. Which then also relates to my questioning as to why the model 75 made for a store brand could not have had a 24" barrel. Actually, the model 55 had a 24" barrel. It was in production at the time the 75 came out. Could some of the 24" barrels have been put on early guns? As I say, there are facts we are not going to know for certain . Just as earlier a member showed a photo of a 75 with a whale belly stock with a curved up forearm at the end. I said it was not original. He said he had seen a few. Wasn't 3 days later I saw the exact same style gun for sale on an online auction. So you never know.
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Quite a few of the "Cooey 75"s that I've seen locally have had 24" barrels according to their owners. I figured that was the standard size for the 75, while the 39 can be 24" or 22", and the 82s are 27".

I wish it were a well-documented production history but here we are!
 
2cylolson said:
Ranger was without question the name used on Cooeys sold through EATONS.
We still have Dad's first rifle he ordered through Eaton's when he was about 14 years old. And It is one of the first "Ranger" marked Cooey 75's.
Just previous to that time the Eaton's rifles were called "Eatonia" but the name gradually changed to "Ranger" (in the exact script pictured by Thirsty Fox above) around about 1937.
I actually have copies of old Eaton's catalogs listing the exact rifle Thirsty Fox has.
Eaton's also sold the Model 82 and of course the old 39.


Simpson's store on the other hand sold Cooeys under the name "SureShot" and I have one of those myself (which is a Cooey 75 as well).
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2cylolson said:
I should add...
The 75 appears to have been first produced around 1939 or possibly 1938 as stated above.
At that time however it did NOT have the "whale belly stock". Dad's rifle has the same straight style of stock used on the 39 at that time.
I've been trying to find exactly when the change to the "whale belly" occurred but the most I can say on that is it was probably post-WW2. Probably following the design of the 82 stock.
Interestingly... the SureShot 75 I have from Simpson's, which I believe to be from the late 50's or very early 60's, has the straight non whale bellied stock again.
I also have a couple of 82's with the Cooey peep sights and an 82 with the regular sights
Cooey also made the 78, which was a 75 with the flat spot milled off the back of the barrel and peep sights installed. I don't have one of those but wish I did.
All 75's, 78's, and 82's used the 27 inch barrel with only real difference being whether that flat spot was milled out or not. And the name roll stamped in of course.

Cooeys were about the most under rated, highly accurate and high quality steel barrels out there. Dad was absolutely deadly with his.
Someone once told me they had never seen a "shot out" Cooey barrel. Neither have I.
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2cylolson said:
So...
Long story short, your rifle (Thirsty Fox that is) is an Eaton's branded Cooey 75. Probably made some time after the war, but probably before the time when Winchester bought out Cooey in 1961.
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Thank you for your replies. I do believe you are correct that it is an Eaton's-branded Cooey 75 from sometime between 1940 and 1955 (due to flat-screws only).

I'd be interested to see the catalogue listing if you happen to come across it.

I'd like to find a rear sling swivel for it as this one is missing. I'm actually surprised at how light such a large wooden rifle is -- much lighter than my Savage Mk II G and Henry H001... similar to the Marlin 795. I really like it.
 
Hi Thirsty
I actually have a couple of catalogs showing your rifle myself, but don't don't know how to attach my own pictures.
So here is a link to a page of a 1948-49 Eaton's catalog I found online:

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/canadian-mail-order-catalogues/Pages/item.aspx?PageId=6536&

Your rifle should be item #29.
 
That website has an archive of several catalogs, some in english some in french.
Pick a catalog year, then just search "guns" in english, or "arms" in french.

There is enough stuff there to keep me entertained for hours.
Hope yo enjoy it as much as I do!
 
And here is a really interesting page from the 1945 Simpson's catalog showing both the Sure Shot house brand of the Cooey 75 and the Cooey 82. Both with 27" barrels and the whale belly on the 75 (and of course on the 82):

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/disco...order-catalogues/Pages/item.aspx?PageId=5259&

My Sure Shot has the straight stock... so now I really don't know when it was made. Did they go back to the straight stock later?
 
2cylolson said:
Hi Thirsty
I actually have a couple of catalogs showing your rifle myself, but don't don't know how to attach my own pictures.
So here is a link to a page of a 1948-49 Eaton's catalog I found online:

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/canadian-mail-order-catalogues/Pages/item.aspx?PageId=6536&

Your rifle should be item #29.
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That sure looks like it! Great find. Interesting how they say "Made especially for EATON'S by a well-known manufacturer".

2cylolson said:
Here's a page from 1939-40:

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/disco...l-order-catalogues/Pages/item.aspx?PageId=437

Note that the whale belly stock was already there then.
Dad's rifle had to have been from 1 or 2 years before then as it isn't whale bellied.
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I'm surprised that the Eatonia and Ranger models were sold at the same time. I wonder if there was simply enough stock to facilitate this or if they were made in tandem for that year.

Seems like your dad's could be a very early Model 75, maybe 1938 or 1939, or if perhaps there was some variation in the stocks for a bit. With Cooey, who knows!

Curious what the "Ranger 85" was, too... 'Ranger'-branded with a box magazine but I don't recognize it to be a Cooey model.
 
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