Rifle Wood Stock Question? Defect or Upgrade?

[DarrellS]

The beauty od wood is that every one id different. I like the character.

[mpotts]

I would KEEP THAT ONE. I would pay more for the kind of grain and character you have
than that of a plain stock just my .02

[Artos]

Only accurate guns are interesting...

No problem with the stock here either...if it shot good you would have to pry it loose.

[rkmontana]

Thanks for all the thoughts here. This is my Cooper Model 52 Classic in a .280. I actually ordered it direct from Cooper back on 2008. Received it from them in late Spring 2009. The girl there told me the delay was that they were "using my gun for a photo shoot for their 2009 catalogue". When i asked her if I could get a copy of the catalogue showing my gun in it - she said they actually didnt use it in the shoot after all because the wood used on my stock was "too nice, and they didnt want customers to get the wrong idea of what actually comes on the M52 Classics". She then said "they used to put the rifles in the catalogue that had really nice wood but it was confusing to the customers because they would say why is the one in the catalogue so nice and mine so plain"

So those were her words. I got the gun, invested in a Swarovski scope thinking now I should be set for life (and for my budget) as far as deer rifles go. I proceeded to shoot it about 10 - 20 or so shells to get it sighted in.....and honestly it has sat in my gun safe ever since. I just havent seen a deer at our place worth pulling it out for in the past several years.

So i pull it out the other day just to look at it......and that spot on the stock continues to puzzel me. So I started thinking....was that spot really considered a 'nicer' piece of wood? Or was it a defect and this girl at Cooper just telling me what I wanted to hear years ago to keep me happy and from returning my gun to them?

Thats when I decided to reach out to you all because honestly I had no idea what the truth was regarding wood that looked like that.

I knew nothing of Cooper rifles but a father figure kind of hunting friend i had known my whole life told me around the deer camp one day if I wanted to get a good rifle that would last forever, be accurate, and something I could hand down to other generations that he thought Cooper M52 was the way to go.....so thats what I did after saving for a long time for it and the scope.

Long story I know.....but wanted to give a little background on how this gun came to be, and where my question came from.

Thank you all again!

[fishingsetx]

Very nice pattern! I'm with the "I'd pay extra" crowd. That stock is one of a kind and very very nice looking!