need help with Cooey history

Bland

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Tracked down my Father's Cooey, sort of. There were three of them at my Uncle's place and Dad could not remember which one was his (been over 50 years since he handled this gun) He bought it used just after WW11. One is a Ranger model, one is a Sureshot model and the other simply states 22 repeating model. It will be the oldest of the three and by the looks of them the Sureshot looks to have been around the longest. It has a full pistol grip as well. Any Cooey guys have any ideas on this? Thanks.
 
Ranger was Eaton's brand after the Eatonia. If the Sureshot has a full pistol grip then it's not the oldest in the group despite its looks. I would say the gun that is just marked .22 repeater is likely the oldest gun in the group. It was the first Cooey repeating rifle brought out around 1934. The Ranger name started replacing the Eatonia name not long before WWll. Of course there could be an overlap for a couple of years where the repeater branded gun was produced the same time as the Ranger branded gun so it could be either in that case depending on the time period. Your father then would have to remember which one he got. Does the Ranger gun have a full pistol grip?
 
View attachment 26527View attachment 26526

Ranger is top one
Sureshot repeater is middle
Cooey repeater 22 cal is bottom one also says Model 60

I will be spending month or so here in QC (Hemmingford area) for spring planting. I plan on refurbishing all three of these Cooeys and an old SXS that needs some major work. The SXS has been in his family since bought new in 1910 and the stock is in need of major repair. The shotgun has no collector value but major family values as his great uncle was the original owner and gave it to my cousin. These guns all belong to my cousin and they are farm tools. If I can figure out which one belonged to my Dad it will make the trip back to BC with me. Thanks for your time on this Gunsaholic.
 
Okay, the pics, along with saying the Cooey repeater says model 60 on it, changes things a bit. It is a later gun than the early ones that just said repeater. All three guns were available in the same time period so it just depends on when your father acquired it. Do any of them have phillips screws? But I think after seeing the pics I would go with your first guess that the Sure Shot is the oldest of the group.
 
I wonder if there's a place that has all the old mail order catalogues on microfilm or whatever? Simpson's (later Simpson-Sears) and Eaton's were major sources of firearms in the old days and their catalogues probably recorded a complete history of Cooey and Ranger.
 
If you go on line for Canadian gov't archives you can look up old Eaton Sears catalogues --pretty good source for Cooey info -or buy John Beltons Cooey history
 
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