Question for Cooper owners?

[deertroy1]

My new rifle arrived and I got to take it to the range for the first time. I followed the break in procedure recommended by Cooper. The only ammo I had was a box of 140gr Remington factory rounds and some handloads that were left over from another rifle (the load has shot very well in several other 7mm-08's).
The first 6 shots were used to get the rifle sighted in. This is the first bolt action I have not been able to get on the paper by bore sighting and I've done a lot of them. Strange. Not sure if there's something weird going on with the bedding or what?
The first group fired with a clean barrel for each shot (shots 7-9) grouped 2.4" for three shots with the Remington factory load.
The next group fired with the barrel fouled grouped four rounds in 1.54".
The next group fired with the same handload grouped four rounds in 1.46". However, the first shot from a clean bore was out of the group. The next three went into .51".
The final group was again with the Remington factory load and it was 2.4" for five rounds.
The barrel seemed to foul pretty bad at first but improved some as more shots were fired. It still fouls noticeably more than my Hart barreled 300 Win Mag. The test target also seems not as good as others I've seen posted. It does work out to just under 1/2" at 100 yds. if it was fired at approx. 44yds.

I'm curious from other Cooper owners if this is this typical for how other Coopers shot during the break in period? I have a total of 22 shots through the rifle with no attempt at load development.
I was moving my scope between some of the groups so ignore the point of impact.

 

[Mikecr]

You might atleast develop a load for it

 

[deertroy1]

I plan to develop a load. I just got it a couple days ago and only had time to shoot it the once. I was just curious how owners of other Coopers found they shot during the first twenty or so rounds?

 

[tkelkhunter]

I bought a Cooper 56 in 300 win mag a month ago. I started shooting 215 bergers right away and shot this group after 15 shots. I was and have been pleased.

 

[deertroy1]

I've got some 140gr Bergers I'm going to try when I get a chance. It seems like it rains here every weekend!!

 

[skyfish25]

A couple things to check.

* A call to Cooper and check action screws? Just maybe? Have no idea what they recommend.
* Check all scope mounts, I know. We both have done it so many times correct. This got me a couple years ago.
* It might shoot a lot better after the first shot or two. Or a fouled(dirty) bore.

I picked up a Cooper 54 in 6.5 Creedmoor. It groups well, but shoots best dirty. I would not take hunting on a clean bore. I usually shoot a five shot group before I check group size. I always leave dirty if I'm going hunting soon.

Nice looking rifle by the way, great chambering IMO. Your 139 gr load might be the ticket. I'd like to see 3 groups of that on a dirty bore. Great bullet, and inexpensive as well.

In every hunting rifle of mine Except the Creedmoor, my Hornady bullets were best at .005-.006 jump. If your mag will take that. My Creedmoor seems to like jump, like .080 or more.

 

[deertroy1]

I torqued the action screws to Coopers recommendations before I took it to the range. 35 in/lbs front and 25 in/lbs rear. I rechecked the mounts and all were good. I'm little concerned as to why even after I get it sighted in it shows about 10" difference when sighting through the bore at the target and the scope cross hairs. It's like something isn't straight. I checked a couple of my other bolt guns and both the cross hairs and the bore seem to agree.

 

[Mikecr]

Why sweat all the abstracts?
Find a good load and enjoy your Cooper

 

[deertroy1]

These rifles are not exactly cheap. They should not only shoot but also should be technically correct. If I wanted to shoot at extreme range I've already lost 10 MOA of adjustment from my scope because something is out of whack. I waited over 14 months for the rifle to arrive. With that much time I and money spent I do not think it's asking to much for the product to be correct.

 

[tkelkhunter]

I understand you are upset but it is a gun. I use to sell a lot of coopers and even good companies make an error every now and then. Cooper stands behind there guns. Box it up and send it back to them if you think there is a problem. It will at give you some peace. They do make a good product.

 

[deertroy1]

That's what I'm going to do. Like you said, if nothing else for peace of mind. I'm not so much upset as disappointed after waiting over a year for the rifle.

 

[Mikecr]

Cooper fired the gun before sending it out. They know there is no issue on their end.
There are so many things that can make ANY gun seem to shoot bad -that are not caused by the gun.

At most, I'd give them a heads up about your results so far, and get consensus that you'll actually isolate the problem to the gun before sending it back.
Until this is done your scope could be bad, it's mounting, your ammo, your cleaning, your rest/bags/hold, etc.

There was a 3-4 rifle test in a gun rag years ago where they through a Speedy Gonzalas benchrest gun into the mix. Shocking to many, and very discrediting to the testing was that Speedy's gun shot worst among off the shelf factory guns -with factory ammo.
But this was simply a matter of taking a gun out of it's element, and ALL guns can be made to shoot poorly when this is done.

 

[deertroy1]

Cooper fired the gun before sending it out. They know there is no issue on their end.
There are so many things that can make ANY gun seem to shoot bad -that are not caused by the gun.

At most, I'd give them a heads up about your results so far, and get consensus that you'll actually isolate the problem to the gun before sending it back.
Until this is done your scope could be bad, it's mounting, your ammo, your cleaning, your rest/bags/hold, etc.

There was a 3-4 rifle test in a gun rag years ago where they through a Speedy Gonzalas benchrest gun into the mix. Shocking to many, and very discrediting to the testing was that Speedy's gun shot worst among off the shelf factory guns -with factory ammo.
But this was simply a matter of taking a gun out of it's element, and ALL guns can be made to shoot poorly when this is done.

We eliminated the scope and the mounts and yes I did contact Cooper. They think it might and I quote "might" be a barrel run out issue. This is because of the problem with things being so out of whack while bore sighting. The only way to be sure is have them have a look so that's what I did. There were a few other minor issues as well.