New 20 VT rifle in the way!

[futuretrades]

To take the bolt apart on a Cooper, the answer is YES. Without the tool, chances are you will mar the finish on the bolt if not very careful. The tool you will need is available from Todd at Woodchuck Den. Very simple, but effective, and necessary for your cooper. I do like to take all of my bolts apart for cleaning once each year, for if nothing else, to ease my mind a little. If you inadvertantly pierce a primer, chances are some of the primer will end up inside the bolt. This can cause all kinds of problems. Believe me! It happened to me with my Vangard in .223, with a load that was 2 full grains below max listed in the manual. Temps were well above 90 that day.

[fiddlefadel]

Hello Rick, regarding your comment about loaded 20VT rounds not ejecting from a M38 and withdrawing the bolt to remove the cartridge, I have not been able to move the bolt back far enough with the cartridge attached to the bolt. What is the trick?
regards
Dave

[fiddlefadel]

My buddy and I both have Cooper M38 20VTs, late last summer we were at one of our favorite Prarie Dog spots and as we were shooting the dogs stayed further and further away. After about an hour we were having to shoot at 350+ yards. My friend asked me to watch a PD that was very far away and after 2 ranging shots hit him in the head. My friend walked out to the PD and ranged back to our benches with my range finder and it was 455 yds...WOW...what a cartridge!!!

Dave

[Joe O]

Bill.....I've been much more fortunate than our friend Joe here, as all my Ruger single shots wear Lupy's, and none have given me any trouble in regard to ring spacing.....maybe I'm just livin' right, dunno:



My No.1V pictured with a Lupy VX-III 6.5-20X aboard, mounted without any trouble whatever, not even when cranked to 20X. I've read about others having this issue, but so far, it's never been a problem for me or any of my rifles. Guess much depends on the structural makeup/configuration of the user too, in addition to physical properties of the scope.

Puzzling to me RIO.I specifically bought a VX3 6.5-20x40 VHR for my K1V,and never could get proper eye relief,Garth fixed me up with offset rings,but no joy with the Med ones because the turret block hit the bottom ring mount.Went to high,which allowed full travel,now too high.I found a scope that was longer from turret block to end of occular,which works ok.I had an extra lower ring which I milled down(carefully) until it would slide under the turret block,and a med straight bottom half is on the way.The pic of your mount looks fine,and the distance between the turret block and occular apears longer than mine.(bought 2010).Fustration builds caracter.Must be a quota sometime.

[ozfox]

Rick what progies are in the picture with your ruger

[Rick in Oregon]

Rick what progies are in the picture with your ruger

ozfox: Those are what we call the "Blue Meanies", the Barnes 40gr BLC Varmint. Dry blue coating reported to eliminate or reduce fouling....seemed to work quite well, and I wish they wer still available. VERY explosive on Skippy and his pals.

[SactoBill]

I FINALLY had a chance to take the new rifle out for a quick session at lunch today. Unfortunately, I couldn't shoot that much because it wouldn't extract fired rounds. It started out well and I shot 4 rounds sighting in and then it would extract. I borrowed a cleaning rod and slightly tapped the case and pushed it out. I tried 5 additional times and nothing worked. I was using HSM factory loaded ammo. The cases were Remington 221 Fireball that HSM formed for the 20 VT.

I have a call into Cooper customer service but wondered if there is anything I should look at. It's suppose to be a new rifle and the bolt looks normal.

Here is a crappy iPhone pic:



Thanks

[Mike]

Bill, I'm not quite clear on your predicament. After you fire a round and work the bolt, does the action open and the empty case remain in the chamber? What happens if you chamber a loaded round and then try to extract it?

[SactoBill]

Mike,

I fired 4 rounds initially and was able to extract the empty case. Then for the next 5 rounds, it would fire and I can open the action and the empty case would still be in the chamber. I used a cleaning rod to push out the empty case from the front of the barrel.

I haven't tried to extract a live round.

Thanks.

Bill

[Mike]

You might try taking the bolt apart to see if something is locked up due to debris or lack of lubrication. Aside from that, I'm afraid I don't have any useful advice expect to call Cooper and talk to someone. They'll either offer advice or tell you how to send the rifle back in for evaluation. Best of luck and sorry for the trouble with your new rifle.

As an aside, did you notice anything odd after firing the fourth round?

[RAMOS]

Bill, is your extractor still present and accounted for?

[Rick in Oregon]

Bill, you might consider taking the bolt apart and check the extractor to make sure no crap is hindering it's proper operation. Also check your fired cases for indications of imperfections or crap stuck on the chamber walls. If present, your fired brass will have mirror image indentations on them. This could allow just enough resistence for the case in the chamber to not want to come out. Add a weak or impaired extractor, and you've got FTE (failure to extract). Excess carbon buildup can also occur in the chamber or neck area and must be removed or it can also cause FTE.

You should be able to insert a fired case into the chamber, close the bolt and let the extractor snap over the case rim, then open and eject the case.

Also check your fired cases to see if a bullet will easily enter the case. If not, the brass necks are too thick, and this is raising pressure and causing hard extraction. A loaded case with bullet should mic right around .228" or thereabouts. If larger by any significant degree, you've got an ammo problem causing your issue. Cooper 20VT chamber necks are cut with a SAAMI spec reamer at .232".

If none of the above apply, a call to Cooper is definitely in order to sort it out. From past experience, they'll do just that and get it right for you. They even sent me a chamber cast of my M21 MTV in 204 when I thought I was having issues with case smoking. It never repeated the event after it returned from Cooper, don't know what they did, but the rifle is 100% ever since.

As this is technically still a wildcat, you'd probably be better off if you formed your own cases and worked up a dedicated pet load for the rifle. You'd have complete control of the brass quality and chamber fit also. Just a thought, hope you get it sorted out before rat season really kicks in.

[SactoBill]

I spoke to Cooper yesterday and they think it's an extractor issue. I'm sendin it back to them. Looking closely, the extractor doesn't seem to have much grip on the rim of a case.

I checked my cases and there are no marks to indicate high pressure.

Anyhow, hopefully they can resolve it so I can work up some loads.

[RAMOS]

Bill, I have no doubt that you are in good hands and can breathe easy!

[SactoBill]

I just got off the phone with Shirley at Coopers and they fixed the extractor and shipped it back to me on the same day!

Awesome service! I can wait to take her out for some long awaited shooting session.