Cooper vs Custom 700?!?

[timmymic]

I am looking for a new gun and the cooper pheonix has everything I could ask for except I really want a manners t-4 style stock! I am looking for something for coyote hunting and maybe some PRS style competition, do you guys think I could get a 700 with a manners stock and a bartlien barrel to shoot like a Cooper? I would have the work done by Northwest Action Works - Custom long range hunting and tactical rifles.

 

[adam32]

Nothing special about a Cooper. A 700 with any name brand barrel can shoot just as well all day every day.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I think you can get it to shoot better than a Cooper if you use a Krieger, Benchmark, or Bartlein cut-rifled barrel.

Coopers are overpriced, IMO.

 

[J E Custom]

I have not been impressed with the accuracy of the coopers I have seen, especially for the price.

I am sure that some will shoot well, but a well built rifle with a premium barrel will and should
out perform the production rifle.

Just an opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[Outlaw6.0]

While I don't completely agree that Cooper's are over priced, I do agree with most that the 700 can be made to shoot as good as any Cooper.

Personally, I'd love to have a Cooper in my stable but alas, just a safe full of 700's & clones.



t

 

[Greyfox]

I think you can go either way and end up with a solid LR shooter. I have a few customs, and a Cooper 52 in 6.5-284 that I have been shooting for several years. I will have to say that the my Cooper can shoot right with my customs and it has become my preferred long range hunter. My buddy just bought the same rifle. We set it up, and in the same day using my load recipe he was hitting softball sized rocks consistenly out at 800 yards. The action is custom grade, smooth as silk and the workmanship, top notch. I have become a Cooper fan. iMO

 

[Jud96]

I agree with others, the Coopers seem to be a hefty price compared to what kind of groups they lay down. I personally have never dealt with one, but have seen plenty of them on here and other sites that don't impress me. You can pickup a 700 donor, a nice stock, and a match grade barrel and still come out under the price of a Cooper.

 

[timmymic]

Awesome guys thanks a lot I was hoping this was gunna be the answer!

 

[scottishkat]

I still own several 700 CDL'S including a 6.5-06 custom with a Hart bbl. I also own a cooper excalibur in 6.5x284. The cooper shoots as well or better than all with some development. The action on the cooper is far better than any 700 and the rifle is put together as well as any custom 700. Cooper's customer service is excellent.

If I had a complaint about the cooper it would be the safety more of a switch than a safety. I find the cooper is priced high but they make a fine firearm. If you can build your rifle with a Krieger or Bartlien for the same price I would go the custom route.

Good luck and shoot straight.

 

[lewwetzel]

Let's see....trued 700 action, aftermarket trigger, high-$ Manners stock, match-grade barrel and a smith to finish-chamber/put it all together (that is, if you can find a trustworthy, skilled full-time gunsmith in this day and age)...
Oh, and who's gonna guarantee its accuracy and give it a warranty?
And, good luck when you or your widow tries to sell your one-off Custom for half of what you put in it or what a used Cooper will sell for.

 

[Jud96]

Let's see....trued 700 action, aftermarket trigger, high-$ Manners stock, match-grade barrel and a smith to finish-chamber/put it all together (that is, if you can find a trustworthy, skilled full-time gunsmith in this day and age)...
Oh, and who's gonna guarantee its accuracy and give it a warranty?
And, good luck when you or your widow tries to sell your one-off Custom for half of what you put in it or what a used Cooper will sell for.

I would buy the Remington because it is trued, custom barreled, Manners stock, trigger, and it has no choice but to shoot. Don't see where the Coopers are worth it, look like fancy 700s to me.

 

[Mikecr]

+1 lewwetzel
You already know(or should know) a Cooper will shoot, and you already know(or should know) a 700 is a relatively bad investment.
Maybe extreme, but IMO a 700 based 'custom'/mess represents zero actual value.

 

[Trickymissfit]

I still own several 700 CDL'S including a 6.5-06 custom with a Hart bbl. I also own a cooper excalibur in 6.5x284. The cooper shoots as well or better than all with some development. The action on the cooper is far better than any 700 and the rifle is put together as well as any custom 700. Cooper's customer service is excellent.

If I had a complaint about the cooper it would be the safety more of a switch than a safety. I find the cooper is priced high but they make a fine firearm. If you can build your rifle with a Krieger or Bartlien for the same price I would go the custom route.

Good luck and shoot straight.

I've never done any work on a Cooper centerfire, but expect they are as good as their rim fires. I help a buddy rebuild a Cooper rim fire a few years back, and I noticed right away that it had a Jewel trigger and a cut rifle barrel supplied by a well known barrel maker. That rifle out of the box and shooting 100 meter matches shooting sub 5/8th' five shot groups. After a couple thousand rounds thru it we did a barrel set back with a 52D chamber (Manson Reamer). It gained about .10" on the group size, and was shooting .30" groups at fifty yards. Good enough for a #10 finish at Calfee's Saturday night shoot. Added a home built tuner and saw it shooting sub .20" groups regularly. Finished in the top five at the same meet. The rifle is a solid sub half inch shooter at 100 yards right now. A top ten finish at that shoot is really saying something, and a top five against the big boys (best rim fire shooters out there) is really saying something! I wouldn't hesitate buying a Cooper!
gary

 

[MudRunner2005]

I can't help but laugh at some of these posts... When you're dead and gone, who gives a crap what brand your rifle is? No matter what brand it is, custom or not, you're woman most likely isn't gonna know what it's worth. And that's not a shot at women, that's just a fact that most women don't know jack crap about guns or gun values. Some do, but a vast majority don't have a clue.

Also, Remington 700 customs being a mess? Really? Trued by a competent smith is trued and squared, regardless of brand. So if it's built right, regardless of brand, it should be a shooter.