Cooey model 62 target rifle

[gunsaholic]

Among my collection, I have a Cooey model 62 target rifle from about 1940. It is a tube fed , bolt action repeater with walnut stock, hooded front target sight and rear peep that came with 2 apertures.. I have the original box for it. Anyhow, this gun is fun to shoot and is quite accurate. Was just wondering if anyone else has one of these rifles and what they thought of it. In my opinion, I don't think Cooey firearms get the recognition they deserve.

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[Diamond John]

Cooey guns are made by an affiliate of Winchester as I recall or maybe it is Winchester directly. Not the Winchester of today but the good old Winchester company. The plant in Windsor made Winchester shotgun and model 70 parts back in the day. I've had several Cooey's and while on the cheesy side they shot well. I sold Cooey single shot rifles and parts all through the 70's and they were very good boys rifles.

[gunsaholic]

Actually up to 1961, Cooey was a firearms company all of its own. They also assembled shotguns in Canada for Iver Johnson in the 20's and 30's before making their own single shot shotguns in 1948. Cooey also made some unique .22 rimfires and .25 calibre rifles over the years including the model 82 for Canadian military training. Some models are becoming quite rare. We Canadians are "protective" of our beloved Cooeys.
Cooey's son, who was then running the company, died suddenly in 1958. His father (and founder) then sold the company to Winchester in 1961 At the time of his death, Cooey's son was developing a semi-auto .22. Winchester brought it into production and it was the model 64.. In a short time, Winchester changed some of the model names and began to cut production costs and quality declined from what the guns once were. The guns were branded Winchester/Cooey. Some center fire rifles were also produced which were a cheaper version of the model 70.
In 1979, Winchester closed the doors. The building was sold to Lakefield Arms, another Canadian gun firm, along with the rights to the model 64 semi-auto .22. Lakefield Arms was bought out by Savage in 1998 and the model 64 is still in the line up. I wonder what would have happened to the company if Cooey's son hadn't passed away when he did. I wish to think that the compasny would still be a player amongst gun producers today.

[enfield303t]

Cooey had great guns for the price and at one time were owned by Winchester. I had a good friend that was a sales rep. for Winchester and correct me if I am wrong but he told me it was sold when they (Cooey) had a problem with guns shipped to a prohibited country in South America. According to my friend Cooey shipped some 12 Gauge single shot shotguns to a country the US Gov't had put on a "do not sell firearms list". He told me that Winchester got into trouble as they US considered Winchester to be responsible for the actions of the Canadian company. Apparently the judge was literally irate threatening to send someone to jail, didn't , but Winchester got rid of Cooey literally the next day

[gunsaholic]

While that may be a "romanticized" story of what happened to the Canadian Winchester/Cooey plant, I'm afraid there is a lot more that led to the demise. Just like today, the company fell victum to the times caused by labor problems, political interference and rising costs. Plus, Winchester cut corners after taking Cooey over and the quality declined at the Canadian plant. I have many guns from both the Cooey and Winchester era and you can easily see the difference in quality from the guns that were produced the last 10-15 years . As I said before, I wonder where in firearm history would Cooey be today if Cooey's son who was running the company had not died at the age of 54 resulting in the sale to Winchester?