resighting an old cooey

R

ratherbefishin

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
29   0   0
I have tapped out the old ''buckhorn'' sight on my old Cooey-and would like to install a red dot in it's place.I see the Tasco red dot says it fits the 3/8 dovetail on most 22 's-is this refering to the existing dovetail on the barrel-or is ir refering to grooves cut into the barrel[which I don't have]Ifthat doesn't work-are there any non gunsmith options?This is an old $25 single shot cooey project I am just playing around with,not worth putting serious money into.The stock is a nice piece of walnut, though,and I have slimmed that down and sanded it-it should come up nice.
 
The 3/8" dovetail you need to mount the scope is the grooves on the receiver. There is mount avail from Brownells with 3/8" dovetailed grooves that will fit the contour of the Cooey receiver. The rifle will have to be drilled and tapped for the base. Try posting in the EE forum to find the base, as you will have a ton of pains in the A@@ to get one across the border from what I hear. To the best of my knowledge, there are no "no gunsmithing" options for mounting a scope on your rifle.
 
I wonder how hard it would be to cut the grooves in by either a Dremel tool or using a cutting tool chucked into my drill press and clamping the barrel into a vice,and cutting the grooves into the reciever that way in order to accomodate the 22 scope,or a red dote
 
I have seen it done with a dremel. If you are careful, you can start them that way and finish them with a three sided riffler or jewelers file. Remember to measure twice and cut once though. I would not use a drill press as a milling machine though. The quill is designed to take loads in the verticle plane, not in the horizontal. It'll eventually ruin the accuracy of your quill causing run out, etc.....
 
ratherbefishin said:
I have tapped out the old ''buckhorn'' sight on my old Cooey-
Click to expand...

Well I did more than tap the buckhorn sight out on an old Cooey left to me by my godfather, I snapped the SOB'ing blade off trying to bend it to a different angle. :mad: So, I didn't stop there, I released my inner Bubba and soldered a 3/8" nut onto the broken sight frame. :D Did this just for kicks cause the sight was hooped anyway, thinking I'd find another some day but the little sucker shoots great with my ugly creation so its been there a couple of years now.....
 
Salty said:
Well I did more than tap the buckhorn sight out on an old Cooey left to me by my godfather, I snapped the SOB'ing blade off trying to bend it to a different angle. :mad: So, I didn't stop there, I released my inner Bubba and soldered a 3/8" nut onto the broken sight frame. :D Did this just for kicks cause the sight was hooped anyway, thinking I'd find another some day but the little sucker shoots great with my ugly creation so its been there a couple of years now.....
Click to expand...


Bubba, is that you?????
:p :D
 
so far all I did this morning was refinish the walnut stock -it came up beautifully with Danish oil.I've been wondering about that idea of soldering a washer on the buckhorn rear sight ,and replacing the front sight with a firesight,if I couldn't install a scope.But looking at another 22 with a groved reciever, I don't see why it shouldn't work.If I do that,I'll probably cut the barrel to 18 1/2 ''.This is a model 75 Cooey-I have no idea of how it shoots,but the rifling looks bright
 
Last edited:
part of the fun of doing something like this is taking an old rifle,that has no collector value and refurbishing it myself.Sure,I could take it to a gunsmith ,have it drilled and tapped,reblued and the stock redone professionally-but in the end all I'd have is an old Cooey.This way I get to spend some time, play around a bit ,and maybe end up with a nice little shooter,if it is accurate at all.When I'm done ,I may end up giving it to my 13 year old son, a single shot 22 isn't a bad way to start him off.
 
ratherbefishin said:
part of the fun of doing something like this is taking an old rifle,that has no collector value and refurbishing it myself.Sure,I could take it to a gunsmith ,have it drilled and tapped,reblued and the stock redone professionally-but in the end all I'd have is an old Cooey.This way I get to spend some time, play around a bit ,and maybe end up with a nice little shooter,if it is accurate at all.When I'm done ,I may end up giving it to my 13 year old son, a single shot 22 isn't a bad way to start him off.
Click to expand...


My thoughts exactly. It will mean more to both you and the young fellow if you do the work.
 
well,I think I am going to have a crack at cutting grooves into the reciever ,I'll clamp the barrel in a padded vice mark the grooves with a straight edge,then make the initial cut with a dremel tool and finish it with a 3 cornered file.That should accomodate a 22 scope.Then the next step will be cutting and crowning the barrel,I was thinking of just using a cut off blade then filing and polishing it with emery cloth,after lighty reaming it with a drill bit.I'm having some fun anyway-but will present no threat to any gunsmith's livelyhood.Hopefully I will end up with a decent ''shooter''but have no idea of what sort of 25 yard acuracy to expect-about the average range for potting grouse and rabbits
 
Hey, bro, I've done that before, it works really well, you require something made of brass or perhaps copper and shperical, like a piece of brass rod with a hemispherical tip, 3/8 rod works really good, then you require either automotive valve grinding compound, or the clover lapping paste, this comes in various grits, Lee Valley has a good kit of various grits of aluminum oxide, just mix it with say vaseline or grease, chuck the brass rod in your variable speed drill, dip the business end of the lap in the mixture and have at the muzzle with the lap, you have to keep changing the angle of the lap to keep the wear on it even, and it will wear quite a bit if you're crowning a muzzle, it helps to roughly dress the muzzle with a say second cut file first. after you can finish with a very fine grit or a piece of fine emery paper held against the ball. Don't need a lathe at all, this is from the Clyde Baker gunsmithing book. Have a good day.
 
And another thing, Brownells sells 2 files that I would consider a basic requirement if I was going to do this job, stock numbers#080-648-160 and #080-648-060, completely straight and parallel 60 degree 3 square files with 2 safe edges. They should not require International Import Certificates for something this basic, either will set you back $12.45 U.S.Try to get a small piece of angle iron to use as a makeshift keyseat rule and a good metal scriber your job is only going to be good as the layout hein?:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom