Bipod broke my stock!!! Ever seen this?

[YZ-80]

When you consider what the rifle is made for and the caliber the idea that one would not employ a bi-pod on occasion is patently absurd. It's made for stalking in high country, glassing, etc. Anyone who's taking even 250+ yards shots off-hand at game is a helluva a lot better rifleman than I am. I get the OP modified it but this is making me madder than Rachel Maddow at a C-PAC convention!

 

[WiscGunner]

Unfortunate issue for such a pricey rifle. Not at all a bad price for a package of good components but their choice of wording is very telling to me. Their words seem to profess the stock is of their manufacture and not surprising as a real stock maker wouldn't put their name on this. It is also very important to understand it is NOT a carbon fiber stock and it is NOT a kevlar stock. Their words are clear on this in a "CYA in court" kinda way yet most customers would assume this is a so-called "carbon fiber stock" or " kevlar stock" which it is NOT.

The pictures of the broken stock clearly support their wording.

You can see quite clearly this is a mono-material stock of a thin layer of epoxy like material that was manually sprinkled with "reinforcing fibers". These fibers are very clearly clumped in areas and utterly absent in others making the stock a "swiss cheese" of weak points. This NOT how a real carbon fiber stock is made which is why you get so much of a better product from a real stock from Manners, etc.

Not to bash your purchase but this stock is completely worthless for its purpose by design. Cooper should be ashamed to use such garbage!

 

[bukico]

Never seen that before but by judging the break and the direction of the failure and how it propagated through the stock there had to be defect somewhere in the stock or was created during the installation. How many rounds has been through the rifle? Approximate? Or do you know? Classic fatigue failure.
Kyle (Protean Innovations) - we make bipods - look us up!

 

[J E Custom]

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig, I would not recommend wasting your time trying to fix it because it would probably fail again in a different area when you least expect it and with the materials used I doubt any repair would bond.

Unfortunately, this is one of those lessons we learn by, and as long as long as we don't repeat the same mistake. it can be a good learning experience.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Gone Ballistic]

Doubt epoxy would adhere to the foam center. Very porous and unlikely to hold. Maybe fit an aluminum rod into both (broke off end and remaining stock) and epoxy the rod in and try using some kind of fiberglass resin to connect the stock at the break. Never know. Could work.

It needs to be pinned. The way I have fixed these in the past is I have purchased a fiberglass 3/8" diameter electric fence post from a farm supply store. I use coarse sandpaper and sand off the smooth surface until I expose the fibers and cut off the length I am going to use. In his case I would cut 5-6 inches. Then I would use a chisel to split it into 4ths by putting it in my vise and use chisel with hammer from the top of the piece. Drilling opposing holes, half the length of the rod piece on each side I want butting together, fill holes and insert the 4 pieces of rod into the 4 holes I drilled into both parts of the forestock. I would also use epoxy to cover both inside parts of the break and push them together with the top of the stock, turned upside down on a piece of thin aluminum foil, which will be easier to remove once it sets. Afterwards some sanding and finishing.

 

[del2les]

No problem. A little super glue and some camo duct tape and your good to go.

Seriously, that is a shame.

 

[Weatherby Fan]

Should have bought a Wildcat Stock !
Wow must have been some torque in there coupled with the recoil .....

 

[Okanogan]

While I don't own a Cooper the thread still makes me nervous, though just a little. I recently got a custom 6.5 SAUM with a Manners Ultraclassic very light weight stock (16-18oz). I ordered it with two studs up front and so didn't need to do any modifications myself for the bi-pod. I asked for an Swiss Arca plate to be mounted as well after I had placed the order and GAP came back immediately and told me they wouldn't do it because there wasn't enough material in that area of the stock to insure it wouldn't cause a problem. For me this thread just reinforces the idea that I should probably be a little gentle with the stock (e.g., not crank down hard on my Hogg Saddle).

If I had seen threads like this before picking the stock for my rifle and known I couldn't mount the Arca plate, I may have stuck with the Manners EH1 that I have elsewhere rather than trying to save the last 10 oz of weight. It would seem like a good idea to ask your custom builder about any limitations in advance if you are planning on considering one of the newer super light stocks.

 

[Nate T]

My company states that folks can't hand load but it doesn't mean we won't warranty a rifle if it's not directly attributable to flat out user error/abuse. And as I look at this, strictly from my vantage point, that should not happen with a stock of that nature. There are ways to reinforce the front stud and the manufacturer has to know that anyone who hunts seriously will need a bipod from time to time. I'd politely call them and ask them to do the right thing for you.

 

[Timnterra]

That's frustrating for sure, it really surprises me that cooper thinks their reputation is worth that little. I had a similar experience with a rifle that fell from my shoulder when the sling failed. It totally ruined my hunt as I was in the middle of putting a stock on a deer and had to hike two miles back to the truck to retrieve my backup rifle. Looks like cooper make their stocks the same way greyboe does by injection molded foam with bits of fiberglass.

 

[charliewhisky]

I'm having trouble believing this just happened. I was shooting off a bipod from the bench and this happened. I added the pic rail and additional t-nut to this stock but it broke through the factory installed one (I installed the one further forward). This is a super lightweight carbon fiber and Kevlar stock.

the rifle manufacturer stated that they do not recommend use of a bipod on this model so there is no warranty coverage.

anyway, it's either a freak deal or needs to be a word of caution to anyone using a super lightweight stock. I can't imagine a stock that you can't use a bipod with...View attachment 200558View attachment 200559View attachment 200560View attachment 200561View attachment 200562View attachment 200563

I'm guessing that the bipod anchored the stock and the 30 Win Mag recoil pulled the stock apart at the weakest point.

 

[Bob2650]

The right thing for Cooper to do is replace the stock with the customer's choice of stocks that will meet the requirements. This may involve paying the difference in price. If the stock is replaced with an identical unit then he still has a weak stock.

 

[nksmfamjp]

You guys with all those T nuts and excessive barrel channel fitting ought to look at this too. These stocks really need a better core to hang all the crap we want on them and we probably ought to drill all the core out and back with full epoxy chopped fiber pillars.

that T nut meth looks weak.

 

[VLD Pilot]

Unfortunate issue for such a pricey rifle. Not at all a bad price for a package of good components but their choice of wording is very telling to me. Their words seem to profess the stock is of their manufacture and not surprising as a real stock maker wouldn't put their name on this. It is also very important to understand it is NOT a carbon fiber stock and it is NOT a kevlar stock. Their words are clear on this in a "CYA in court" kinda way yet most customers would assume this is a so-called "carbon fiber stock" or " kevlar stock" which it is NOT. View attachment 200649

The pictures of the broken stock clearly support their wording.
View attachment 200650
You can see quite clearly this is a mono-material stock of a thin layer of epoxy like material that was manually sprinkled with "reinforcing fibers". These fibers are very clearly clumped in areas and utterly absent in others making the stock a "swiss cheese" of weak points. This NOT how a real carbon fiber stock is made which is why you get so much of a better product from a real stock from Manners, etc.

Not to bash your purchase but this stock is completely worthless for its purpose by design. Cooper should be ashamed to use such garbage!

Cooper sacrificed weight for quality, plain and simple. Poor design to ensure strength and durability. I would not want another one like it.