Cooey: The Winchester years

Herbert William Cooey opened the HW Cooey Machine Shop in Toronto in 1903 as a "Mechanical Expert & Practical Machinist." During the First World War, his company made peep sights for the Ross Rifle Mk II & III. In 1919, he introduced his award-winning .22 ca. single-shot bolt action, the Cooey Canuck. He also added "and Arms Company" to the name. Production of the Canuck, Eatonia, Ace, and Bisley Sport soon forced a move. In 1929, Cooey bought a four-and-a-half storey former woolen/felt mill on the south side of King Street West at Tremaine from the Town of Cobourg. Business expanded to include several versions of the Ace, bolt-action repeaters, and various house brands. Cooey also assembled single- and double-barrel shotguns for Iver Johnson. By 1935, Cooey switched from model names to numbers. Production included .22 single-shot Model 39, Model 75, Model 78, and repeaters including the Model 35 (pump) and Model 60. In 1937, the family business incorporated as a limited company. Herbert retired and his son Hubert became company president. Promising future During the Second World War, Cooey switched from sporting to military firearms. They produced 34,810 Model 82 .22 cal. training rifles designed to look like Lee-Enfields. After the war, Hubert developed Cooey’s hinge-action, single- barrel shotgun, the Model 84, released in 1948. He updated its machinery to increase production. To expand its product line, Hubert also designed a semi-automatic .22. Unfortunately, 54-year-old Hubert died of a heart attack on Oct. 4, 1958. Eighty-year-old Herbert came out of retirement briefly. He sold the company to American-owned Olin-Mathieson Chemical Corporation under its Winchester-Western Division in April 1961. HW Cooey died on Feb. 27, 1962, but ensured that Cooey lived on. Olin Winchester, Western (Canada) Division On April 6, 1961, the Cobourg Sentinel Star outlined the purchase agreement, reporting “Cooey is one of Canada’s oldest and most respected names in the firearms field…The Cooey brand name and firearms will be continued and expanded…Winchester-Western Ltd. will be established at the Cobourg location for the ‘distribution of its line of firearms of a class or kind non-competitive to the Cooey Models.’” Olin left Cooey alone initially. They needed to address Winchester’s own outdated production methods in New Haven, Conn. In 1964, Winchester launched redesigned mass-produced firearms like the “new” Model 70 rifle, Model 94 lever-action, and the Model 12 replacement, the 1200. Winchester also launched Hubert’s semi-auto design — the Cooey