My Eatonia. Model 39 I think, with pictures. To scope, or not to scope, that`s the...

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Sakoman .308

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Is this gun the same as a Cooey model 39.
My dad got this rifle when he was 12 in 1960. Dad paid $2.00, & Grampy paid $3.00. The Inflation calculator on Google tells me they paid a bit over $40.00 just out of curiosity. My Dad took home many Rabbits over the years with this rifle,
but that`s not the best part. The best part was when he started taking me out in the back yard to shoot it. I was hooked Instantly, and grinning from ear to ear whenever I got to fire the rifle. Fast forward 20 years and dad takes the Eatonia and a couple other rifles to Gunsmith Sam Adams for refinishing. They turned out pretty good.
Jumping ahead another Decade sees me answering the door one Friday night, There`s my Dad handing me his Eatonia.
I have owned it for around Eight years now. Dad still comes to visit on Friday nights. I take the Eatonia to the range every now and again for some fun. I was also lucky enough to teach a nephew to shoot with it.

So the young fella has used the rifle a number of times now. He realized that he really likes scopes. I bought a rifle last year and it came with a 1.5-4.5 Tasco. I am thinking about picking up some Weaver bases and having the old gun Drilled and tapped. The young fella will really enjoy it I think. As I said before the rifle was reblued, so most of the value is sentimental. Thank`s very much for the rifle Dad!. Any thoughts on this. PS I think it`s time to polish the bolt up and get some oil on it.
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
 
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Duh.....duh.............durrilled and tapped.........................ovrec

Leaf them old gals alone.
Go find sumting else tuh drill and tap.
Olie molie....................................................:sok2
 
Mind you, Deerdr has an old one scoped and it looks pretty gooder.
Go to a gun show and find one that t'ain't awl that sweet and fill yer bewts.
 
Sell it to me before you ever think of putting a scope on it please. just saying it would be in my opinion a horrible thing to drill and tap that rifle . please leave it the way it is . you learnt how to shoot a rifle properly with iron sights so tell the kid to suck it up and learn like you did . or get a paper route and buy his own . and I would say it looks like an older model Cooey Model 39.
 
I would leave it as is. Scopes are great but I think learning to shoot with irons is a good thing. It seems nowadays that alot of younger shooters can't shoot with open sights just because they have no experience with them. When I first taught my grandson how to shoot it was using a scope. He is actually a very good shot using his marlin 60 with scope, but I bring out my bl22 with peep sights, and he can't hit the broad side of a barn and gets frustrated and doesn't even want to shoot it.
 
I don't know if I'd be inclined to say scope/no scope because after all...these guns were never built to be safe queen/collectors. However, I think if you're on the fence about it (which it sounds like you are)...then leave it as is. You can't really undo that change...at least not easily. Down the road, when you're gone...let your kid(s) do with the gun what they like. Until then, I think you'll like the gun more...and your kid(s) will probably understand.

If the urge to have a scoped 39 is too big to pass-up, you sure don't have to spend allot of $ to get one to mess around with. I'd do the scope thing on a gun without so much sentimental value and THEN if the urge is still there~go for it on the family gun.
 
I will send you a hundred bucks to buy an already drilled-and-tapped Cooey 39 from the dealer of your choice.

PM me your email address and I'll send you an EMT.

Get on the EE and check stores for an already drilled and tapped rifle. They are all over the place. Do not bugger up something with so much family history.

For that matter, do not bugger up something with so much Canadian history. Cooey and Eatons -- long gone relics of a time when Canada was a real country and not some post-nationalist virtue-signalling tyranny-in-waiting run by soy boys and ugly, hateful opportunists.

Humph.
 
MDF said:
I will send you a hundred bucks to buy an already drilled-and-tapped Cooey 39 from the dealer of your choice.

PM me your email address and I'll send you an EMT.

Get on the EE and check stores for an already drilled and tapped rifle. They are all over the place. Do not bugger up something with so much family history.

For that matter, do not bugger up something with so much Canadian history. Cooey and Eatons -- long gone relics of a time when Canada was a real country and not some post-nationalist virtue-signalling tyranny-in-waiting run by soy boys and ugly, hateful opportunists.

Humph.
Click to expand...

...........that offer open to anyone? :)
 
A couple of points that have already been discussed:

Let your nephew learn to shoot. Tell him he can scope anything he wants when he can hit soup cans at 50 metres, 10/10.

Once you drill a hole it is there forever. One day your nephew might relish that rifle when he is older as the gun he learned to shoot with, that his uncle gifted him.
 
.22LRGUY said:
...........that offer open to anyone? :)
Click to expand...

That depends.

Do you have a near-mint rifle, made by an iconic Canadian manufacturer for one of the world's once-great reatailers, from an age when Canadians saw nothing wrong with buying firearms for children from department stores or Christmas catalogs, that's been in the family for three generations, and you want to rape the thing to mount a cheap piece of crap glass and scrap metal that was made by someone who was probably shot in the back of the head at the end of their shift in the prison factory?

If that's the case, post pics and I might send you funds as well to save our heritage.
 
MDF said:
That depends.

Do you have a near-mint rifle, made by an iconic Canadian manufacturer for one of the world's once-great reatailers, from an age when Canadians saw nothing wrong with buying firearms for children from department stores or Christmas catalogs, that's been in the family for three generations, and you want to rape the thing to mount a cheap piece of crap glass and scrap metal that was made by someone who was probably shot in the back of the head at the end of their shift in the prison factory?

If that's the case, post pics and I might send you funds as well to save our heritage.
Click to expand...

Hmmm....tell us how you really feel. :)

Just kidding as you know, but I get the sentiment 100%. I have more affection for Cooeys than use for them, in spite of having owned a pretty good pile of them over the years. I'm down to a Cooey 84 in 20ga that would benefit from it's metal being refinished...but since it shoots fine (shoots very well actually) I've chosen to leave it as is. Tinkering isn't in my nature to be honest~if it works=leave it.

I do believe they're an absolute steal from a value POV, but at the end of the day...it's a $125 gun, and it's his kid(s). With that in mind, do I think it's a "good" idea? Nope, I think it would be a bit of a shame actually. They're sweet little shooters, and worth holding onto as is.
 
I agree with the other posters do not drill and tap that model its a nice piece and it would be a shame to have the Etonia Logo covered up.

On the other hand do what you want. Weaver makes a side mount for cooeys. Mind you it may cost as much as another .22 I picked up a base and rings a few years ago for a cooey 600 that was already tapped and it cost me about $60 and to get it tapped I bet you are looking at $100

There are plenty of simple bolt action rifles for sale in that range or a little more. Be on the look out for a Savage Mark I G they come up all the time in the EE for under $200.

Personally i used to have all my .22s scoped but in the last few years i have been taking the scopes off and putting them in the closet. Instead opting to get better open sights and learn how to shoot without the scope. Most of my .22 shooting is at the 20-40 yrd range anyways.
 
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