Cooper .22-250s

Testing a Pair of Varmint Rifles

- John Haviland

The .22-250 Remington is a varmint cartridge that always delivers great accuracy and top velocity to hit small targets across far distances. Cooper Firearms of Montana chambers the .22-250 in a variety of bolt-action rifles, such as its Model 54 stocked with stunning wood or its new Raptor Model 22R with a Manners stock. Either way, the end result is great accuracy.

In years past, Cooper was known for its beautiful Claro walnut stocks of figured feather, flame and fiddleback. French and English walnut, maple and exotic woods are also available in grades that reach as deep as a pocketbook can afford. Stock designs include Classic, Custom Classic, Western Classic, Mannlicher, Jackson Game and Hunter and Schnabel.

Tastes change, though, and today the majority of Cooper customers, young and old, want a synthetic stock on their rifles. It’s all about utility. When a hunter buys a rifle with a synthetic stock there’s no heartbreak from scratching or ruining it. “What little interest remains in wood is in high-grade stocks,” said Glenn May, one of Cooper’s gunsmiths and sales representative.