Cooper Firearms of Montana - New Muzzleloader

[Sabotloader]

Crowhunter1 started the discussion about these new inline muzzleloaders being manufactured in Montana and I have done some further digging on the subject.  From everything I can see and find the guys building these ML's and the rifles are top notch people.

http://www.cooperfirearms.com

I believe they did have Toby Bridges test and review the rifle and he did have really positive comments about the rifle, but, and I apologize to Mr. Bridges, I really do not take a lot of his reviews at face value, kinda like believing everything that Randy Wakeman has to say.

Anyway I have been trying to find out more about the rifle.  This is a picture of one of the rifles.



The receiver LOOKS like a long action Remington 700, but really is not - they build (Copper) their own receiver.  And even in this picture I have or think I have found out they do have a shorter action that they are going to use in the final version of the rifle...


Here are some of the rifle specs as listed by Steve of Cooper

MODEL 22 ML SPECIFICATIONS:

• ACTION: Stainless or Blued (Chrome Moly) steel with one rear locking lug bolt action muzzle loader. *see foot note.
• MAGAZINE: N/A
• EXTRACTION: Primer is held captive in a slotted bolt face, which allows positive extraction from the breech plug & easy manual removal from the bolt face.
• EJECTION: N/A
• TRIGGER: Timney single stage trigger.
• ACTION DIMENSIONS: 8.25” x 1.3”
• AVAILABLE CALIBERS: 50
• SAFETY: Two position on tang.
• PASSIVE SAFETIES: Bolt handle acts as safety lug when in the locked (in battery) position. Action has gas vent holes.
• WEIGHT: 7.75 #
• LENGTH: 44 ¾” with 26” barrel
• BARREL: Stainless or blued (Chrome Moly) steel, 26” 50 caliber 1x28 twist. Barrel has 11 degree target crown beveled to facilitate loading from the muzzle. *see foot note
• BREECH PLUG: Stainless steel, removable with supplied tool.
• STOCKS: Walnut or exotic species with hand checkering (various grades) or laminate (various color schemes). All stocks are glass bedded.
 Available in Classic, Custom classic, western classic, Schnabel, and Jackson game.
• IGNITION: #209 shotgun primer
• RAM ROD: Easton carbon fiber core with aluminum sheath, extendable, brass tips threaded 10/32 for accessories.
• SIGHTING EQUIPMENT: Action is drilled & tapped to accept standard Cooper scope bases or the Ken Farrell picatinney rail for the Model 22 action.
 Open sights are an option & are New England Custom Guns top mount variety.

 The Model 22 ML is rated to handle standard “Magnum” (150 grains, volume) of black powder or a substitute. It IS rated to handle Black Horn 209 powder. It is NOT rated for smokeless powder.
 * Action cannot be converted to fire center fire cartridges.

Sure does look like a nice rifle...

And I just read they are planning a Western Edition

[whacker1]

I am intrigued.  curious to see how they orchestrate breach plug removal and cleaning.

keep the info coming.

[fair-chase]

I've been following the thread on the "other" forum.

Looks great, but I think the price point is going to be it's downfall. Cooper is predicting the price to fall somewhere between 1,500 and 3,000. If it does end up being closer to the 3K mark, I think they will price themselves out of the market all together. That's just asking way too much for a semi-custom with a mid grade stock. Plus, it's a muzzleloader. Guaranteed not to shoot any better than if you were to rebarrel an old $100 hawken. So what are you really getting for your money???

  Maybe I'm missing something here. I'd be a buyer at sub 1K, but I just don't see the value beyond that.

It does look good though. 

[teanawayslayer]

Great looking rifle but doesn't appear nw legal. That's a bummer.

[Sabotloader]

Great looking rifle but doesn't appear nw legal. That's a bummer.

Cooper is talking about it already - so it might happen...

Interesting fact that a guy from Cooper collected...

I have noticed that ID, WA, & OR have similar muzzleloading regs & there are several "Northwest compliant" rifles out there. I looked it up & if my research is correct, then 226,000 + muzzleloader hunting licenses were sold in 2014 in those states, with 199,000+ being in ID.

 

[MountainDevil54]

One thing that bothers me is how short that ramrod is. Why not go full length to the barrel and have extra for swabbing the bore 

[jjhunter]

My Cooper rifles are top notch and worth every penny.   I am sure that the muzzy rifles will be the same.   I'll take a phoenix when they become available.

[Ibcnurun]

I've been following the thread on the "other" forum.

Looks great, but I think the price point is going to be it's downfall. Cooper is predicting the price to fall somewhere between 1,500 and 3,000. If it does end up being closer to the 3K mark, I think they will price themselves out of the market all together. That's just asking way too much for a semi-custom with a mid grade stock. Plus, it's a muzzleloader. Guaranteed not to shoot any better than if you were to rebarrel an old $100 hawken. So what are you really getting for your money???

  Maybe I'm missing something here. I'd be a buyer at sub 1K, but I just don't see the value beyond that.

It does look good though. 

True, but I think there is plenty of room in the market space for this - even at a little more money. As far as in-line rifles go, especially NW legal, there truly are limited product choices that Cooper can capatilize on. From what I read on these boards I am not alone with this. The Traditions in line rifles have their issues when modified to be NW legal. I know mine mimicked what I had read and been warned. It fired flawlessly for 80-100 shots. After that, highly unreliable, not trustworthy, plus a metallurgy issue. Thank you Cabelas for taking it back. Wanted to replace it with a Knight, but my initial contact with that company at the time gave little confidence and appeared that they were still in in the process of working out out their customer service protocol. Of course if you call at the right time, in the right season and talk with the right person - if they pick-up the phone - then your experience is probably different. Even at that I think the safety system on their rifles is a bit odd. Instead I decided to beg and borrow my way through the last 5 ML seasons, perhaps waiting for this moment.

It is probably a good assumption that Cooper will get this right based on their reputation in the market place. 

[kerrdog]

It looks heavy.

[jackelope]

It looks heavy.

Looks like it weighs 7.75#

[kerrdog]

Is that heavy?