That sounds like something that would happen to me if I bet money on something like that, too bad, would have been nice to shut that guy up.

What is your Cooper chambered in?

Its a varminter in 22-250. I've got a pet load with the bullet seated at the jamb. Its no 6 ppc but it sure shoots some sweet groups. I'm not going to say that it will shoot .0 groups all the time but I think its fairly reasonable to say that it will shoot .25" groups consistantly. I've been meaning to shoot it in a varmint for score event some time. I love my Cooper. I hear some people complain about them but not me.

OBTW I've got the trigger adjusted to about 11 ounces. It cetainly isn't safe for hunting but it sure is sweet for punching paper.

The really bad news is: the next time I stopped by the gun shop everybody had already heard how he had out shot me, and how much of a blow hard I was, etc. He really laid it on thick. Guess I had it comin' though. I'll just take my licks. :x He failed to mention that he didn't shoot a good group all day and that my failing attempt was a fluke deal . Just that he had beat me badly. Which I guess he did if you look at it that way. In my younger days I think I would have slugged him in the mouth. But, I guess we all grow up eventually.

Hey let me tell you another story about me losing $100:

It was a few years back. This was before I knew anything about benchrest rifle or the 6 PPC cartridge. I have this friend who is an avid gun collector, shooter, builder, wildcatter etc. You probably know the type. He's got more reloading manuals and gun magazines than the library of congress. Well, he's getting ready for a prairie dog hunt that I wasn't involved with and asked if I had any small rifle primers that he could talk me out of. It seemed that he had cleaned out about every store within driving distance and still didn't think that he had enough. Apparently 2500 rounds just isn't quite enough. So I said that I though I had a couple thousand winchester primers I could be talked out of. Anyway, this led us into a discussion on shooting and reloading and the most accurate guns that we collectively owned.

He told me that he had some decent shooters. But, he had one special rifle that shot better than any of the others. I asked how well it shot, to which he replied simply: "one holer" Being from the Show-Me State I immediately called BS. He said that he would just show me. So off we went.

We got to his house and he pulls out his 6 PPC. I'd never seen anything like it. It was gorgeous. It had a stock hand made from a piece of english walnut that easily could have been worth $2000 by itself. The action was a stainless Neiska Bay (which I had never heard of before) and absolutely glimmered. So out the back door to his home grown range.

He set up the front rest (Hart base with windage top) of a make I had never seen before. Then he comminsed to shooting five shots through one ragged hole. I argued that he had maybe shot the first two through the same hole and then shot off the paper to fool me. This comment pissed him off. So he said that he would prove it to me if I wanted to bet $100. I should have let it drop there, but I didn't.

So we walk down to the target and staple a target behind the stand leaving the orginal target on the front and walk back to the bench. He then shot a sixth bullet through the same hole. We walk down place another target on the back, and repeat. When he got done he had shot another 5 rounds through the same hole with the final 5 having paper backers to prove that each round had gone through.

Well, needless to say I payed my $100 dumdfounded. I wasn't even sure what I had just saw. 10 rounds through one ragged hole. I think he measured it later and it was something like .28?" outside of the widest points. If you subtract the diameter of the 6 mm bullet (.243") thats like a .04 group center to center. He later admitted that it was the best he has ever shot. He said that my arguing pissed him off and it he really concentrated.

It should be told that his home grown range is in the center of a hollow between two tall hills. This effectively creates a wind break on both sides of the range. So a cross wind is nearly non-existant. occassionally, he gets a head or tail wind if the wind comes out of the due north or south. But, there is very little wind to effect bullet flight. Its as close to shooting in a tunnel as you can get without being in one. I've shot some very good groups myself at his range. Its very good for load development when you don't need the added variable of wind.