 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Firearms |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Stevensville, Montana |
Key people | Dan Cooper, Founder |
| Products | Firearms, weapon |
| Revenue | unknown |
Number of employees | 38 [1] |
| Website | www.cooperfirearms.com |
Cooper Firearms of Montana was founded in 1990 by Dan Cooper and two other former Kimber of Oregon employees.
Cooper was created to build affordable custom-quality accurate rifles. As they put it "Rifles should shoot as well as they look and vice versa". [2] All Cooper rifles carry an accuracy guarantee. The guarantee for rimfires is 5 shots in .25 in (6.4 mm) at 50 yards (46 m), [3] while for centerfires it is 3 shots in .5 in (13 mm) at 100 yards (91 m).
Rifles are built mostly for hunting, with an emphasis on varmint hunting. As such, a wide variety of calibers is supported, including many common and popular wildcat rounds.
Cooper has achieved a reputation for high-quality accurate rifles. [4] [5] Gun writers have noted that the rifles are both good-looking and well-built as well as accurate. [6] [7]
In 1993 Cooper created their first single-shot rifle in .223 Remington. This rifle later became their Model 21. In 2005 they made their first rifles that had synthetic stocks. Previously all rifles had wood in a variety of grades. In 2007 the first Cooper repeater (non single-shot) rifle was created - the Model 52. [8]
Rifles center on a few particular actions. In 2007 a centerfire repeater (Model 52) was added in a few calibers. [9] [10]
On October 27, 2008 a USA Today article featuring executives supporting Barack Obama for president was published naming Dan Cooper as a financial supporter of the campaign. [11] Scandal soon erupted across gun-related web forums and blogs when it was made public that Dan Cooper supported a pro-gun control Presidential candidate and had donated several thousand dollars to his campaign. Gun owners and blogs reacted to the news calling for a boycott of his company. [1]
By October 28, 2008 Cooper Firearms released a message on their website, noting that the company itself had not contributed in any fashion, and clarifying Cooper's contributions. [12]
On October 29, 2008 Cooper Firearms updated the message on their website indicating the board of directors asked Dan Cooper to step down as CEO of the company. [13] In an October 30, 2008 article from USA Today Dan Cooper confirmed that he did indeed resign as CEO. [1]
Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many centuries passed before multi-shot repeater designs became commonplace.
A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires one round at each pull of the trigger. For comparison, a bolt-action rifle requires the user to cycle the bolt manually before they can fire a second time, and a fully automatic rifle fires continuously until the trigger is released.
Bolt action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by directly manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon.
In firearms terminology, an action is the functional mechanism of a breech-loading firearm that handles the ammunition cartridges, or the method by which that mechanism works. Actions are technically not present on muzzleloaders, as all those are single-shot firearms with a closed off breech with the powder and projectile manually loaded from the muzzle. Instead, the muzzleloader ignition mechanism is referred to as the lock.
A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm, is a repeating firearm whose action mechanism automatically loads a following round of cartridge into the chamber (self-loading) and prepares it for subsequent firing, but requires the shooter to manually actuate the trigger in order to discharge each shot. Typically, this involves the weapon's action utilizing the excess energy released during the preceding shot to unlock and move the bolt, extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism, and loading a new cartridge into the firing chamber, all without input from the user. To fire again, however, the user must actively release the trigger, allow it to "reset", before pulling the trigger again to fire off the next round. As a result, each trigger pull only discharges a single round from a semi-automatic weapon, as opposed to a fully automatic weapon, which will shoot continuously as long as the ammunition is replete and the trigger is kept depressed.
Lever action is a type of action for repeating firearms that uses a manually operated cocking handle located around the trigger guard area that pivots forward to move the bolt via internal linkages, which will feed and extract cartridges into and out of the chamber, and cock the firing pin mechanism. This contrasts to other type of repeating actions such as the bolt-action, pump-action, semi-automatic, or automatic/selective-fire actions. A firearm using this operating mechanism is colloquially referred to as a levergun.
Savage Arms is an American gunmaker based in Westfield, Massachusetts, with operations in Canada. Savage makes a variety of rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns. The company is best known for the Model 99 lever-action rifle, no longer in production, and the .300 Savage. Savage was a subsidiary of Vista Outdoor until 2019 when it was spun off.
.22 Short is a variety of .22 caliber (5.6 mm) rimfire ammunition. Developed in 1857 for the first Smith & Wesson revolver, the .22 rimfire was the first American metallic cartridge. The original loading was a 29 or 30 gr bullet and 4 gr of black powder. The original .22 rimfire cartridge was renamed .22 Short with the introduction of the .22 Long in 1871.
The .17 Remington was introduced in 1971 by Remington Arms Company for their model 700 rifles.
The .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, also called .22 WMR, .22 Magnum, .22 WMRF, .22 MRF, or .22 Mag, is a rimfire cartridge. Originally loaded with a bullet weight of 40 grains (2.6 g) delivering velocities in the 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s) range from a rifle barrel, .22 WMR is now loaded with bullet weights ranging from 50 grains (3.2 g) at 1,530 feet per second (470 m/s) to 30 grains (1.9 g) at 2,200 feet per second (670 m/s).
SAKO, Limited is a Finnish firearm and ammunition manufacturer located in Riihimäki, Tavastia Proper in southern Finland. It also has owned the Tikka brand of bolt-action rifles since 1983, and is now owned by the Italian firearm holding company Beretta Holding.
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership in 1931 and was bought by the Western Cartridge Company, forerunner of the Olin Corporation. The Winchester brand name is still owned by the Olin Corporation, which makes ammunition under that name. The Winchester name is also used under license for firearms produced by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group – FN Herstal of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Ogden, Utah.
Marlin Firearms Co. is an American manufacturer of semi-automatic, lever-action and bolt-action rifles. In the past, the company made shotguns, derringers and revolvers based in Madison, North Carolina. Marlin owned the firearm manufacturer H&R Firearms. In 2007, Remington Arms, part of the Remington Outdoor Company, acquired Marlin Firearms. Remington produced Marlin-brand firearms at its Kentucky and New York manufacturing facilities. In 2020, Sturm, Ruger & Co. bought the company from bankrupt Remington Outdoor Company.
Thompson/Center Arms was an American firearms company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company was best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson/Center also manufactures muzzle-loading rifles and was credited with creating the resurgence of their use in the 1970s.
H&R 1871, LLC, or more commonly known as Harrington & Richardson, is an American brand of firearms and a subsidiary of JJE Capital Holdings. H&R ceased production February 27, 2015.
The Remington XP-100 is a bolt-action pistol produced by Remington Arms from 1963 to 1998. The XP-100 was one of the first handguns designed for long-range shooting, and introduced the .221 Fireball and 6×45mm. The XP-100 was noted for its accuracy and is still viewed as competitive today in the sport of handgun varminting, which it helped create, as well as in metallic silhouette shooting.
.22 caliber, or 5.6 mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm).
The 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum or 5mm RFM is a bottlenecked rimfire cartridge introduced by Remington Arms Company in 1969. Remington chambered it in a pair of bolt-action rifles, the Model 591 and Model 592, but this ammunition never became very popular, and the rifles were discontinued in 1974. About 52,000 rifles and 30,000 barrels for the T/C Contender pistol were sold during its brief production run. Remington discontinued the cartridge itself in 1982, leaving owners with no source of ammunition.
Remington Arms Model 600 was a push feed bolt-action rifle produced by Remington Arms from 1964–1968. While it is commonly believed that production ended in 1967, according to Remington representatives records indicate that it actually ended in 1968. This Model was the precursor to the Model 660 ; the Model Mohawk 600 ; and the Model 673.
Varmint rifle is an American English term for a small-caliber precision firearm or high-powered airgun primarily used for both varmint hunting and pest control. These tasks include killing three types of pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock:
Rimfire rifles produced by Cooper Firearms of Montana must produce extremely small groups before being declared ready for shipment.
They have earned a reputation for making rifles of exceptional high quality that possess unsurpassed tact-driving [sic] accuracy.
It was truly handsome, and contrary to its nice appearance, I subsequently learned it was the least expensive offering in their entire catalog...One of the Cooper rifle's claims to fame is, superior accuracy
Not only does it deliver outstanding accuracy, it does so with refinement, elegance and distinction.
Regarding the USA Today Article. Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc. did not contribute and does not support in any fashion the campaign of Senator Obama. Nine months ago Dan Cooper (personally) made an online donation to the campaign in an effort to help defeat Hillary Clinton and in protest of American plant closures and the shipping of jobs overseas. Three months ago he made yet another donation to the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee totaling over twice that given to Obama campaign.
The employees, shareholders and board of directors of Cooper Firearms of Montana do not share the personal political views of Dan Cooper. ... The board of directors has asked Mr. Cooper to resign as President of Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc.