Is my SAFARI actually a COOEY?

mauser

mauser

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I recently obtained the little .22rf single-shot pictured below from a major auction over on the Left Coast. It's a cutie, but the auction house had NO info on it and I'm not having much better luck learning who made it, when, where, how many, etc., etc..

One guy suggested it looks something like a Cooey 75, so here I am, hat in hand, begging for info once more.

1SAFARIMARKED22rfSSRIFLENVSN.jpg


SPECS: Overall length 35", LOP 14", weight 3 lbs. 1 1/2 ozs., .22rf caliber but size not marked. Stock is cut from a flat plank with edges rounded and smoothed, finger grooves routed into both sides of the perch belly forestock, NO buttplate. NO discernible extractor (poke empties out with a stick maybe?), and NO safety. Simple trigger and trigger guard stamped out of steel.

ONLY markings are stamped into the flat on top of the oddball rear sight, which looks like it was PINNED onto the barrel bass ackwards! The V notch is ahead of the base, toward the muzzle! (?)

4SAFARIMARKED22rfSSRIFLENVSN-1.jpg


I think it depicts the three pyramids over the word SAFARI - possibly alluding to the continent of Africa and its notoriety for safaries - with (101) under that, which could be a model number.

One guy suggested that maybe the rear sight was put on backwards. If you look at the picture below you can see that had it been pinned on with the V notch at rear of gun, it would have covered half of the opening to get into the chamber.

SAFARIMARKED22rfSSRIFLE_edited-1.jpg


I've posted this mystery on other gun forums, Googled the name, checked it on Wickipedia, and even emailed the Daisy Museum. NOTHING! It really looks quite similar in many ways to the airguns with flat plank stocks.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me to identify this gem.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
If the bolt cocks when opened or closed, it cannot be a Cooey 75 or 39. These rifles have to be manually cocked after the bolt is closed. the sight is not on backwards, it is installed this way as the action housing was preferred over having to drill the barrel, this way the rivet also holds the barrel in place.
 
Thanks for the feedback Winnipeg Toymaker. Yep! I realize the sight was intentionally set that way, and I have other guns in the collection with similar sights.

Rifle is cocked by pulling back the cocking knob on rear. And I'm totally confused by not being able to discover ANY kind extractor system. I have semi-auto Gevarms which fire on the open bolt and don't require an extractor. But that doesn't apply to this little POS.

The poster I mentioned just said it "looked like" a Cooey 75. I still believe it was made by either Wham-O or one of the airgun companies. I have a WAMO Powermaster rifle which is VERY similar, and, yes, it was made by the toy folks at Wham-O.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
I am leaning towards something other than a firearm. Without markings, it would seem very odd for it to be a real gun.

I can't find any safari 22's in the FRT.
 
Again, yes it is rifled, and yes it has a chamber.

Just took time to check it and it is long rifle. Also, finally figured out the extraction. There is a small groove in the lower side of the bolt which probably housed the extractor, but there's no indication as to how it would have been held to the bolt.

I have a very good 'smith up in PA and will be sending it to him to figure out and repair.

However, that doesn't solve the mystery of who, where, when, how many!

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
I bought a pig in a poke, but didn't pay a whole lot for it. I thought it would go for a bit less, but evidently someone else either recognized and KNEW what it was, or was like me and just liked its looks.

However, now that it's established that it actually is a once-working firearm, in overall VG condition - except for the extractor, which is repairable - I STILL want to learn WHO, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW MANY.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
THUMBUPSMILIE.gif
 
I finally got a look at what the Cooey 75 looks like and I must agree that it MOST DEFINITELY LOOKS like the Cooey 75 I saw pictured. If any reader has a 75, please check the stock and see if it appears to have been sawn from a plank.

It also might be that it was a short-run experiment to test the market's acceptance of a less expensive version of the 75. This rifle, though it has a VERY pleasing appearance and feel, it is the BOTTOM of the barrel when it comes to cost. IF it was a test run I'd suggest it was never widely manufactured due to a weakness in the bolt design.

Anyone got any kind of research info on the early Cooey .22rfs? :confused:

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser

A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
 
First off, let's get this straight. THIS IS A FIREARM. This is not the first firearm to show up with no serial number and no really concise identification. I have a .22rf pistol with no markings other than the numeral 12 on the breechblock and the side of the grip strap!!! Yet it was OBVIOUSLY built in a very well-equipped gun making environment. Possibly a large manufacturer's prototype that didn't make the team. It DEFINITELY was not someone's home work bench project.

This Safari IS MARKED. It's just that it is marked with a thus far unknown brand or model name. How many of you had ever heard of the Tobin Boy Scout Rifle manufactured in Canada's first shotgun factory in Woodstock, Ontario? I have one and ammo box author Don Blyth of Ontario has owned FOUR of them!

I've got ads from several issues of Rod And Gun In Canada from 1909 to 1912 offering it for sale for $5. But before I dug up all that info, no one had ever heard of it!!!

this Safari (101) rifle is a factory-made firearm. If it were foreign-made US Federal rules require it be marked as such and after 1968 they required that all firearms be serial numbered. That indicates this is a rifle probably made in the US prior to 1968.

All we gotta' do now is track it down...

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
mauser said:
this Safari (101) rifle is a factory-made firearm. If it were foreign-made US Federal rules require it be marked as such and after 1968 they required that all firearms be serial numbered. That indicates this is a rifle probably made in the US prior to 1968.
Click to expand...

Like I said Ive seen similar types that were from the 30's. My guess would be further back, maybe the 20's.

The way to ID the rifle wont be the stock, my guess it will be that unique bolt hammer knob at the back.

Here's a link on someone posting back in 2006 looking for info on a Safari 101 .22 Rifle and no one every replied sadly.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1901090

Here's a posting that I guess is you in 2009 asking about the same rifle with the same pictures? :D
http://www.southernoutdoorlife.com/showthread.php?p=65155

The auction you got it from? A Safari 101 is listed as "D"
http://www.rockislandauction.com/viewitem/aid/1009/lid/263

Another auction page listing a Safari 101 .22, item number 175
http://www.reinhardtauctions.com/consignment 8-21.html
 
I would think cooey would have used their standard bolt design even on a prototype, so they are out.

I got kind of excited when i found results on other forums, unfortunately the posts all belonged to you. Very interesting piece, I hope some day you can find out the history.
 
Thanks, drache. Either you have a really AWESOME search engine to dig out all that stuff, or I just don't know how to use the ones I've got access to.

The RIA auction gun was from 2007 and MIGHT be this same rifle. I've dealt with RIA in the past so will get hold of them tomorrow and see if I can track what photos they had of it, consignor, etc..

The Firing Line reference also might be the same gun as it simply had an owner who, like me, was simply seeking info. He made no further posts so I just have to watch for his jsmith68 username - which holds little promise.

I have different user names on different forums. One of your references is my posting under the user name FloridaFialaFan. The final reference is to the Rheinhardt auction where I found and bought the Safari along with a little Taurus NIB 2" 38spcl.

Keep searching there's gotta' be another one out there.

Farlsincharge, you and I have gotta' learn drache's search secret. I agree with you on the bolt thinking. Thanks for your feedback. Keep your eyes open for another one to pop up.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
Any chance that the barrelled action could be wearing a homemade stock? Maybe someone found a broken stocked gun years ago, and being a handy sort of fellow, whittled out a stock for it in his shed?
Did you remove the action from the stock to see if there were any other proof marks etc underneath? This is sure interesting to watch.
 
Hi sgtrock,

VERY doubtful, judging from appearance. Have handled literally thousands of different firearms over my 76 years here, and have seen a large selection of non-factory stock examples from crap to artistic. This is factory.

I just took the barreled action out of the stock again to be sure. Nothing! NO other marks of any kind!

The action is ultra-simplicity. A drilled hole in the stock to hold a coiled spring which is the trigger spring. Bottom rear of the trigger has a small projection which fits down into that spring. The spring forces the sear up into position to engage the underside of the bolt and hold the firing pin to the rear when the shooter pulls the cocking knob to the rear. As I've said, no visible safety.

It will especially be interesting if I can learn from the RIA people what that Safari looked like that they sold back in 2007.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
Mauser neat gun for your single shot collection, not worth much but really differrent! It is not any variant of a Cooey for sure, I have bought shotguns out of Itally and Spain that use the "SAFARI" brand to import differrent firearms.ON another note I have a Cooey 82 Military trainer that selfs cocks, weird? I collect these so I bought it, I don't know if it was a prototype or some crafty machinist modified the bolt to make it do this? It also does not have the cocking knob? Who knows, any way nice beginners 22 you found there. Dale Z in T-Bay!!
 
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