Cooper Firearms of Montana
Affordable custom-quality rifles with an accuracy guarantee.
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Cooper Firearms of Montana is an American manufacturer of rifles founded in 1990 by Dan Cooper and two other former Kimber of Oregon employees. The company was created to build affordable custom-quality accurate rifles, with an emphasis on varmint hunting. Cooper rifles are noted for their accuracy guarantee: rimfires guarantee five shots in 0.25 inch at 50 yards, and centerfires guarantee three shots in 0.5 inch at 100 yards.
Lore & Background
Cooper Firearms of Montana was founded in 1990 by Dan Cooper and two other former Kimber of Oregon employees. The company's stated goal was to build affordable custom-quality accurate rifles, with the philosophy that 'Rifles should shoot as well as they look and vice versa.' All Cooper rifles carry an accuracy guarantee: rimfires guarantee five shots in 0.25 inch at 50 yards, and centerfires guarantee three shots in 0.5 inch at 100 yards. Rifles are built mostly for hunting, with a particular emphasis on varmint hunting, and support a wide variety of calibers including many common and popular wildcat rounds.
In 1993 Cooper created their first single-shot rifle in .223 Remington, which later became the Model 21. In 2005 they introduced their first rifles with 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. The company's models center on a few particular actions, including single-shot and repeating bolt actions, as well as a discontinued falling block action (Model 7) of which fewer than 40 exist, considered the rarest Cooper rifle.
In October 2008, a USA Today article named Dan Cooper as a financial supporter of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, leading to controversy and calls for a boycott on gun-related web forums and blogs. Cooper Firearms released a message on their website on October 28, 2008, noting the company itself had not contributed and clarifying Cooper's contributions. On October 29, 2008, the company updated the message indicating the board of directors asked Dan Cooper to step down as CEO, and on October 30, 2008, Dan Cooper confirmed he did resign as CEO.
Reader's Guide
Cooper Firearms of Montana occupies a notable position in the American rifle market as a manufacturer that aimed to combine custom quality with affordability. The company's accuracy guarantee—five shots in 0.25 inch at 50 yards for rimfires and three shots in 0.5 inch at 100 yards for centerfires—became a defining feature, and gun writers have noted that the rifles are both good-looking and well-built as well as accurate. The company's emphasis on varmint hunting led to support for a wide variety of calibers, including many wildcat rounds, appealing to a dedicated segment of shooters.
The company's history includes a series of model introductions and discontinuations, reflecting evolving market demands. The 2005 introduction of synthetic stocks marked a shift from the earlier all-wood offerings.
The 2007 introduction of the Model 52, the first Cooper repeater, expanded the product line beyond single-shot rifles. The 2008 political donation controversy involving founder Dan Cooper's support for Barack Obama's presidential campaign led to his resignation as CEO, a significant event that affected the company's public perception. The company's legacy includes a reputation for high-quality accurate rifles, with certain discontinued models—such as the Model 7 falling block action—becoming rare collector's items.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Cooper Firearms of Montana (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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