I picked up the Cooper M54 22/250 down in Cruces in November of 2011 when I was home for a few days from Iraq. It was my reward to myself for being shot at for an entire year and not dying. I was going to buy a red Corvette for $110,000, but after my wife told me she would break the car in, I changed my mind and got the rifle.
Because of the vagaries of my nomadic existence the next few years, I didn't fire the gun much. It sat in the safe the entire year of 2012. I fired the first rounds through it on 3/5/13 and took it out for a total of five days that year. It certainly didn't meet my expectations for magical performance. It didn't leave the safe again until October of 2015, which is when I was forced to retire.
Use in 2016 was fairly heavy as I took it out for a total of 17 days during the year. It sat out most of 2017 although I did take it out once in October. I took it out 7 days in 2019. It sat for most of 2020, and I just started working with it again this week.
I now have 364 rounds through it by my records although a few went unaccounted for. Over 9 years. That's barely broke in in some circles.
During my ownership, this rifle has been more like a project gun to me than a finely tuned custom instrument. I polished a ridged circle off from around the crown. Cases would stick in the chamber with moderate loads. I flex honed it for that. In 2016, it went back to Montana to have an ejection issue ironed out. On the periphery, my scope acted up and I sent it up to Leupold for a look see and repair. My original chronograph started going wonky, so my data got skewed. That took a while to recognize. It was only 25 years old after all....
Suddenly, in December of 2019, the gun decided that it was finally broke in and had no more problems, and I finally figured out what made it tick and it started shooting. It is even apparently shooting the hated Hornady bullets now, by the looks of the last ladder tests I shot this week. Got to know how to hold them and how to load them. It took me a while to get the gear and gain the knowledge to load the match ammo tailored to what this gun likes.
Now, maybe it will be the coyote gun I bought it to be in the first place. Has it been interesting? Yep. Worth the money? Nope, probably not.
View attachment 964923
Because of the vagaries of my nomadic existence the next few years, I didn't fire the gun much. It sat in the safe the entire year of 2012. I fired the first rounds through it on 3/5/13 and took it out for a total of five days that year. It certainly didn't meet my expectations for magical performance. It didn't leave the safe again until October of 2015, which is when I was forced to retire.
Use in 2016 was fairly heavy as I took it out for a total of 17 days during the year. It sat out most of 2017 although I did take it out once in October. I took it out 7 days in 2019. It sat for most of 2020, and I just started working with it again this week.
I now have 364 rounds through it by my records although a few went unaccounted for. Over 9 years. That's barely broke in in some circles.
During my ownership, this rifle has been more like a project gun to me than a finely tuned custom instrument. I polished a ridged circle off from around the crown. Cases would stick in the chamber with moderate loads. I flex honed it for that. In 2016, it went back to Montana to have an ejection issue ironed out. On the periphery, my scope acted up and I sent it up to Leupold for a look see and repair. My original chronograph started going wonky, so my data got skewed. That took a while to recognize. It was only 25 years old after all....
Suddenly, in December of 2019, the gun decided that it was finally broke in and had no more problems, and I finally figured out what made it tick and it started shooting. It is even apparently shooting the hated Hornady bullets now, by the looks of the last ladder tests I shot this week. Got to know how to hold them and how to load them. It took me a while to get the gear and gain the knowledge to load the match ammo tailored to what this gun likes.
Now, maybe it will be the coyote gun I bought it to be in the first place. Has it been interesting? Yep. Worth the money? Nope, probably not.
View attachment 964923
