Cooper~worth the wait?

.22LRGUY

.22LRGUY

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Hey guys~I put a deposit on a factory configured Cooper rifle back in September, with an estimated end-of-September arrival. For reasons beyond the control of the dealer here in Canada, this has been delayed. Clearly, I'm married to the idea of getting one if I've put a deposit on a rifle with an iffy ETA, but I wouldn't mind hearing some glowing Cooper stories to help bolster the patience level at this end. :) My plan for the rifle is varmints starting about March 2014, but was looking forward to some load testing before the weather gets too cold this fall. Thinking I might not get lucky there, but such is life.

Hope some Cooper owners chime in.

Thanks,
.204RGUY
 
Quite honestly, a Cooper won't kill varmints any deader than any other rifle. If all you want is an accurate rifle you could probably re-barrel one of your current rifles with a premium barrel, bed the action and be away to the races. BUT, if you want a real quality and classy rifle in your stable go for it. My Cooper is a M57 Jackson Squirrel. I purchased it to get an accurate left handed rimfire for metallic silhouette and also to mark a milestone in my life. It doesn't do anything any better or worse than the rest of the rifles on the firing line, but it is the first high end rifle I have put in my safe, and I smile every time I pull it out and admire the wood, the checkering, the bluing and the fit and finish. I love it for it's intended purpose, but would be hard pressed to drag one through the bush on a hard hunt.

 
That's a beautiful piece of wood Wapitiwacker !
A buddy bought a Cooper 280 AI from Clay and he is really pleased , not only with its performance but also the overall quality of workmanship.
 
i only have one cooper a 280 excalibre. didn't require trigger tuning or bedding. put a decent load in it and it shoots. one of my least picky rifles. i love the mag as it looks like a floorplate but its removable and doesn't rattle like some. i have shot every thing from 120 tsx to 175 grandslams. shoots almost all my loads well some like the 120 tsx and 140 ab into tiny holes. i can say the rifle shoots better than i can. never shot with factory ammo just hand loads.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, just the kind of things I was hoping to hear.

wapitiwhacker said:
Quite honestly, a Cooper won't kill varmints any deader than any other rifle. If all you want is an accurate rifle you could probably re-barrel one of your current rifles with a premium barrel, bed the action and be away to the races. BUT, if you want a real quality and classy rifle in your stable go for it. My Cooper is a M57 Jackson Squirrel. I purchased it to get an accurate left handed rimfire for metallic silhouette and also to mark a milestone in my life. It doesn't do anything any better or worse than the rest of the rifles on the firing line, but it is the first high end rifle I have put in my safe, and I smile every time I pull it out and admire the wood, the checkering, the bluing and the fit and finish. I love it for it's intended purpose, but would be hard pressed to drag one through the bush on a hard hunt.

Click to expand...

That is a lovely rifle for sure and agreed, there are plenty of rifles that will get it done for less than 1/2 the price. This is sort of a "milestone" purchase for me too and I can assure you, the only rifle in this class to ever grace the safe. I have a very accurate Savage Precision 10 carbine in .223 that is able to put them in a 1/2" circle @ 100 yards all day long, but I'd like (for once) to have a centerfire rifle in the collection that is put together nicely with a higher-level of fit and finish. I have high expectations for the Cooper in terms of accuracy, and am willing to put the time into load testing. If it happens to arrive with Walnut 1/2 that nice, I'll be a happy man too! The rifle I've lined-up is a new model 51 Classic in .204 Ruger.
 
Sure its worth the wait, since waiting isn't costing you anything.

More to the point, is it worth the cost? That's a little tougher to answer, since much of it is subjective in nature. On the low-end a Cooper is going to shoot, or they will make it shoot. You won't be playing or payin' with bedding and trigger jobs/changes or pad changes to get the LOP right since Cooper actually finished building the rifle in the first place. Compared other higher end production rifles I'd say they are definitely worth the money until you get into the magnum actions where it isn't so clear-cut. $500 premium for a magnum chambering? Even as a fan I have trouble making that make sense.

If you compare it as a pure shooting tool against say a Rem/McMillan, flavour of the week barrel build then you can probably decide if its worth it with a tape measure. Its really not that hard to get a rifle that shoots is you're OK with leaving $2000-2500 at the gunsmith.

On the high-end, much will depend what value you place on AAA Claro, impeccable checkering and Turnbull colour case hardening because it is really no trick to find heavy rifles that shoot for 4 grand. On the other hand, price out some pretty lumber and hand checkering sometime and it all starts making sense again.

In the end you will make up your own mind whether it was worth it or not. I like my two, but stop short of thinking there's something magical about them. Having said that, its awfully hard to find something wrong with them either.
 
I bought one from CGN, .223 Model 21 Varminter. LOVE the rifle. Can put 5 holes in a nickel (maybe even a dime) at 200m with trivial load development.

To mark a milestone in my career, I ordered one in Jackson Game 280AI with a stainless steel barrel. Don't know why but I love the look of walnut with stainless steel barrels and they are happy to oblige. I expect to use it on some long range hunting trip in some distant future.

Clay tells me it should be here any day now.

I don't do anything but shoot at the range with my .223. My 280AI is meant for hunting so it will get scratched up. That might hurt but I'm buying these rifles to use them and they will have meaning to me if I do even if they are a bit scratched up.

Worth the money? No idea. A Sako costs less, probably shoots just as well. My FN Winchester 70 cost 1/3 the price, the wood is great and it shoots more than good enough for hunting at under an MOA with load development.

I sure do hope to enjoy the Cooper though!
 
Thanks for the thoughtful insight guys...again, much appreciated. I think when I looked at the budget, the caliber, the desire for good build quality, standard-taper barrel+walnut stock~very few factory options actually emerged. CZ was one of them, but this felt like the right moment in time to take a chance on a Cooper. (though admittedly, not a high-risk one) I don't think I'm as patient as I imagine myself to be, so I'm doing my best to only request updates every week or two...vs. daily. :)

I did have my Remington 700-loving friends do their best to talk me into having a custom rifle slapped together based on that action, but I honestly don't think I'd be saving much (if any) money by the time the dust settled. Then I'd still have a Remington that would depreciate significantly the moment I touched it. The Cooper isn't an investment piece, but there is some comfort in knowing the rifle will likely hold it's value. And shoot well without having a third party mess with it.
 
Well, if patience is your major concern and you are willing to adjust your specs somewhat, PR has a couple of nice M38s in 20 VT in their consignment section or a M21 in .204R with a stainless barrel, or Classic in 20VT in the new section. I'm sure you could have any one of them virtually tomorrow if they fit the bill.:stirthepot2:
 
Anything new will depreciate the moment you have it. The more options you get, the more it will depreciate as the next guy isn't as interested in paying for the the exact mix of options you've got.

When you are getting a one time rifle to mark some occasion though, it is nice to have it exactly the way you want it. I love the look of their stainless barrels with wood stock so I didn't mind paying a bit more knowing that I don't intend to sell it.

As a 'value for dollar' waiting for a used one is the way to go.
 
I just ordered a Cooper Phoenix in 20VT yesterday, with an expected delivery of next spring. Since factory rifles aren't common in 20VT, and my previous Coopers have been as accurate as most of my custom rifles, I decided to order a Cooper, rather than have another custom rifle built.
 
Fit, finish and function are near as perfect as can be in a firearm. Need I say more? Yes, all three shoot 1/4 sub-moa.
 
I ordered my new Model 51 204 Cooper from Clay last Feb. and was told at the time that it would be at least Nov. before it had a chance to make it to Canada. It doesn't bother me in the least to wait for it to arrive as I know it will be worth the wait. The last 204 I ordered from Clay took 13 months to arrive but I never doubted a bit that I would get it. If I would add up all the options I ordered on my Cooper and had them built into a custom rifle I'm sure the cost would be about the same but I know the Cooper will shoot well or the problem will be looked after.
 
Wow...some nice rifles here for sure~thanks guys! I've been told that once you shoot a Cooper, there is a good chance you won't want to shoot anything else. Guess time will tell on that one. The 51 Classic I've ordered is a factory-configured one, so with some luck....the delays should be minimal. See...I acknowledged the fact that "luck" might be involved. :) Getting one in a rimfire caliber~I probably shoot 300+ rimfire rounds for every centerfire round I reload, so, there is some merit in making the most useful guns the nicest. That said, it would take some real soul searching to invest this much money in a rifle....if I couldn't control the quality of what I fed it.

That HMR is a real beauty though...
 
Sometimes you get real lucky on the wood.

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Here is my Cooper Model 21 Varminter in .223 Remington. Second one, Model 52 in 280AI Jackson Game is on its way. Clay tells me that it should only be a few days away.



Here's what it can do at 200m. The one is a flyer and I knew it was as soon as I pulled the trigger.

 
I must be one of the really unlucky ones. I waited a year and a half for mine. The first one had an issue with barrel run out. It was returned to Cooper. I've tried a bunch of loads in the second one and it doesn't shoot anything less than 1.5". It is being returned again the first of the week. Another guy on here had a similar experience about the same time as me. Coincidentally, both rifles were chambered in 7mm-08. If there is one thing I do not like about the rifle it is that it has an really long throat. I'm unable to reach the lands with any 120 - 140 grain bullets and still have the cartridges fit the magazine. Most rounds would need to be 2.9" to touch the lands!

Both Cooper and Clay have been great through the whole thing and I just feel it's one of those things.
 
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