Thoughts on my Cooper rifle

popcan

popcan

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Even after extensive reading about these rifles and asking a lot of questions of current owners (thanks to you all for your replies:)) there is still nothing like getting your paws on the real thing.

Some initial impressions:

Lighter than I thought for some reason.

I'm not ecstatic about the physical feel of the B&C stock on the Excalibur, but I'll probably get used to it. It fits me just fine, perfectly functional, and the red spider web is kinda cool, but it feels different. I put a leather shell holder on the buttstock, so it doesn't feel weird on my face.

The bolt is smooth as glass - the spiral fluting is cool!

Gap between the barrel and the stock is perfectly even all around. As it should be.

I put a 3x9 rimfire scope on, just to see how it felt scoped. It's true what they say... After handling it for even just a few minutes, all my other hunting rifles started to feel awkward and unbalanced somehow. Hard to explain but other Cooper owners probably know what I mean.

It's probably also true.... you can't just have one. I'll likely have another down the road, in a wood stock....
 
I agree with most of your observations. My only gripes with the Excalibur are that the wrist on the stock is a bit thick and the safety bugs me, but these are minor things and only my personal preferences which I can overlook.
After having and handling true lightweights like Montana's, Custom M7's and a NULA, the Excalibur hardly feels light to me though. That said, I don't mind the extra heft at times, it makes it a lot easier to shoot than a super light.
 
I have one ordered but it will be awhile before it arrives. Clay sent me a Jackson Hunter to handle. I wasn't that found of the safety also. I found the stock to barrel gap a bit on the large side, however it was even. The action was incredibly smooth and overall the rifle handle nicely. Having relatively short arms I found the LOP a bit long and ordered 13.5" as opposed to the standard 13.75". Obviously I liked it or I wouldn't have ordered one.
Let us know how it shoots?
 
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they are very nice and shoot well too. i like the mag setup it looks more like a floorplate and i like the flat metal finish too.i don't like the stock. it could be trimmer. i'm thinking more like a mcmillan win featherweight stock pattern or a rem mountain rifle pattern stock. problem is it adds $500 to an already expensive rifle.
 
bearkilr said:
Just over 6.5 lbs for short action(22" bbl) and 7.75 lbs for long action(24"bbl).
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So not as light as Popcan was saying in the other thread... Kinda what I thought but I don't have any hands on with the Excalibur.

popcan said:
? How light is "lightweight" to you? The Excalibur is as light as my Sako A-7, which is just over 6 lbs scoped....
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crazy_davey said:
So not as light as Popcan was saying in the other thread... Kinda what I thought but I don't have any hands on with the Excalibur.
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You're right... it's deceiving I think because it is better balanced, so it seems lighter.

(plus, I didn't have a scope on it yet either).

Still, it's a LOT lighter than my other .308, which is an M40 A-1 clone at something like 14lbs lol!
 
crazy_davey said:
A nice balancing rifle can certainly make a difference.
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Yup, and I think there's such a thing as too light. The short action Kimber Montana's are right on the verge of too light. I owned a RMR Alpine Extreme in 308 at one time that weighed right around 4.5 lbs. I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn offhand and it kicked worse than my 375. :D
 
bearkilr said:
The short action Kimber Montana's are right on the verge of too light.
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They most certainly take some getting used to, more than other light rifles I have owned. Now that I have the Roberts figured out it will do MOA (usually a bit better) out to 300 yards from the bench. I haven't had a chance to shoot it further, yet. I am finding it easier to shoot from field positions than off the bench though.
 
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