M82 Cooey history and disassembly

[summerside sniper]

Ok guys I need your help on this one. I'm looking to get a .22 Cooey M82 before the end of Dec. I know almost absolutely nothing about these rifles. The one I'm looking to buy is a Canadian Trainer. I know they were single shot, but thats it. Anybody have the history of the rifles? As well, I can't find anything on the disassembly/assembly of the rifle, bolt, etc. Anybody have anything that can help me out when I get it???

Information

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[green]

Model 82 was a militarized version of the Model 78 Target Rifle with the addition of two bands and a seperate fore end. Military ones had a lozenge shaped inspector stamp on the barrel and a seial number stamped on the bottom of the pistol grip. Those made for private sale lacked these marks.

Disassembly
Open bolt, clear chamber, pull trigger and remove bolt to rear.
Remove band screws and bands
Remove fore end
Unscrew large screw ahead of tigger guard and lift barrel and receiver from stock.

50000 plus made for govt during WW2, remained on issue to cadet corps into the 1990s.

[stencollector]

In Canadian service they were known as the C2B1 rifle, and most had the bolts taken away from the cadet units and the rifles were used for drill purposes.

Intersting story about these guns: in 99, while travelling to Wainwright thorugh my old base of MooseJaw, we stopped to visit the weapons shop. The weapons tech had a half triwall full of the cooey 82 wooden stocks. He had demilled a bunch of the rifles from the area cadet corps, and had thrown away the barrelled receivers into the scrap metal bins. Now he was retaining the wooden stocks to prove that the guns had been disposed of, since they had all the serial numbers on them.

Most frustrating thing about the 82, (and most other cooeys for that matter) was loading a round, taking careful aim, careful breathing, squeezing the trigger, then...... nothing. You had to cock the bolt with each shot.

[A square 10]

this is #9858 , its rear ramp sight and rear peep sight fasteners were used to secure the scope - quick reversal [5 min] back to original config ,


it shoots quite nicely , albeit slowly ,

this target was shot at 75yds

[VonXulu]

Hi just perusing the old threads, turns out I have Cooey M82 #7986. Anyone know about when this rifle may have been made? It has the lozenge shaped stamp with the C/arrowhead 75 on the receiver and the numbers on the bottom of the pistol grip along with the C/arrowhead.

[gunsaholic]

Responding to an old thread as I just came on board. The Cooey model 82 was available in two versions, the full length Mannlicher stock or the shorter target stock with hooded front target sight. I have both versions. Both are stamped on the barrel with the oval that contains the C arrowhead 75 but only the Mannlicher version has the military serial number stamped into the pistol grip. There were Government orders for 34,810 of these military stamped versions. The model 82 was also made for the public and were produced into the late 1940's. Cooey produced the model 78 target rifle from 1938 until 1942 changing the style of the stock in 1939. Cooey also produced a model 62 tube fed target rifle from 1939 to roughly 1944.

[patcan]

This thread just keeps coming back. Does anyone know how the bolt assembly comes undone. I just picked one up and would like to clean it up but I don't want to damage anything in the process. any info would be appreciated.

[smellie]

Bolt comes apart same as any other Cooey, friend, which means that (1) you need tools to do it, notably slim punches, and (2) you really don't want to do it.

Best thing to do is just to flush the thing off/out with a good cleaner, then oil lightly.

The barrels in these critters had genuine Cooey 8-groove rifling, not very deep at all but with fairly wide lands. It lasts about two-thirds of forever but it doesn't seem to respond well to modern ultra-velocity loads. For best results with any Cooey, shoot with Standard-velocity ammunition or, just for a treat, a box of Remington Subsonics. You well could be surprised at just how very well these things can shoot!

Cooey was one of the contractors for the Ross Rifle Company and made the rear sights for many, many Mark III Ross Rifles. Their sights are marked with a little oval stamp containing the initials "HWC" for Howard W. Cooey. Following the First World War, Cooey decided to get into the rifle-making business himself and designed the Cooey "Safety Bolt" mechanism. About as safe as any mechanism can be made, this bolt was loved and cursed by three generations of gopher-shooters. It requires the rifle to be cocked manually following loading a round into the chamber. Interestingly, when the first Cooey rifles hit the market in the 1920s, they enjoyed substantial sales in the USA, despite their price tag of $6.50 versus the $2.50 that you could lay out for an American rifle. The Cooey 8-groove barrel really was that good!

Government Model 82 production was all during World War 2, as has been mentioned. They fired untold millions of rounds on firearms familiariation and qualification courses, were available for formal or informal target practice on RCAF bases everywhere (much cheaper than practising with the 12 Brownings on a Hurricane!). As the military got rid of them, mostly in the 1950s, they made their way to smalltown hardware stores and started in expending more millions of rounds. They are a very real part of WW2 history but have been ignored largely until recent years.

That's sure a pretty one in the photo!
.

[2flasargent]

I"ve got one with the stock stamped C4xx. Receiver is pitted externally, but the bore is mirror. It shoots in the league with my M44 easily. I can use 2x2 post-it notes at 50 yards for targets. Fun little trainer gun for the g'kids.