The most misunderstood rifle IN THE WORLD is the Scout Rifle.
Jeff Cooper came up with the concept of a light weight, general purpose rifle, of midrange caliber that’s capable of handling threats and big game and anything else you need a rifle for. Light weight was the most important aspect of the rifle so that you could throw if over your shoulder on the sling and just have it on you. Understand, at the time, Cooper had spent a lifetime in the Marines, Hunting in Africa, and racing Porsches like a Sir. He was a man out of his own time. A throwback to days gone by. But his Scout Rifle concept was actually just as sound then, as it is now.
It’s the rifle you have on you. The rifle that you grab when the horses are spooked and you don’t know what’s out there. It’s the rifle you can defend your homestead with and put meat on the table with. There is nothing about this that is outdated or old fashioned. People get far too hung up on the Long Eye Relief Scope as part of his concept. The purpose of this, was that the rifle could be brought up from a low ready, and get on target in a snap. At the time, there was no a lot of options in the optics world and there was no such thing as the LPVO scope. If Jeff was still with us, his Scout concept would undoubtedly include an LPVO.
I had dinner with Col Cooper, with my wife and Jeff’s daughter was there as others. It was an amazing meal and Jeff sat at the head of the table like the Duke of Awesomeness. Absolutely Majestic with his walking stick with the head of a silver Water Buffalo. At the time, the Steyr was still brand new and we discussed at some length the whole Scout Concept. Jeff liked the Steyr “Schtire” Scout well enough, but he acknowledged the shortcomings of the S.S as produced. He had some other ideas about the Scout and some things he would liked to have seen that Steyr didn’t do.
One thing, Jeff insisted that a Scout Rifle would have a Sling and if it didn’t have one, it wasn’t really a Scout. A Scout could have just iron sights, if the Shooter was sharp-eyed enough and skilled on the use of Irons. The Caliber could handle the problems you were likely to encounter, and he considered .308 to be a good choice. Because that round is good enough, and is readily available where Ammunition is sold. Wildcats miss the whole point entirely, he said. (Summation, not quotation)
There’s one other detail that everyone misses because it wasn’t talked about, but Jeff strongly recommended, Controlled Round Feed. So a Mauser, Winchester, Ruger type action and not something like the Remington 700 which doesn’t have a Controlled Round Feed. All in all, the rifle, with a loaded magazine and optic needs to be 7 Pounds or Less. Less is preferable. As light as you can get. That way you don’t leave it in the truck when it should be on your shoulder. Because that’s what the Scout is all about.
A very timely discussion in an era when extreme gun control is rearing its ugly head again. Scout rifles can fly under the radar a bit easier than Evil Black Rifles. Adapt, improvise, overcome… and shoot straight.
The discussion regarding Low Key or Acceptable Guns is pretty much Over. Anti-Gunners have taken their masks off and have outright said “We want to take away ALL GUNS.”
Hunting Rifles are Sniper Rifles now… and so on. Might as well just Embrace The Black Rifle. But Lever Actions have returned to popularity, as have Scouts. Ruger and Savage are both making GREAT options.
The Col. didn’t trust the variable optics of the day, as he considered them on the fragile side of the ruggedness he wanted for the Scout concept. The fixed 1 1/2 to 2 power scopes were more his choice, but these days I wonder what he’d say about a low-mount red or green dot sight, or a dot n’ donut version…
He had a great proposal for a fixed optic that adjusted zero on the base. I’ve played with such set ups and the concept has merit.
I’ve just not really seen one that was worth the asking price.
Steyr Scout is a neat rifle, very handy, very high quality.
The forward mount scope is fine for 50 yard plate and quick target acquisition, but I was never able to achieve near the rifle’s intrinsic accuracy with it (to a frustrating degree). Conventional eye relief scope worked much, much better for me at 100y, 200y.
The breech is NOT coned – cannot simply toss a round in the port and running the bolt. Quick & easy way around that, but a coned breech would have been nice as would CRF (good point).
As I recall, Col. Cooper’s writings at the time lent subtle, yea tactile, aspects to the Scout. Oft lost is the interplay of scope placement, bolt action and internal magazine, that made the rifle eminently suited to one hand carry. Rugged, yet graceful, this was a companion rifle one could could grasp at the balance without hinderance from glass or magazine.
Indeed. Which is where most modern Scouts fail. Big box mags hanging off it were not in the vision.
Ruger used to make a nice compact Hawkeye with a lovely wood stock, in .308… Which has always been in my mind as the perfect platform. Just needed a good Pic rail on top to mount the optic.
Consider also, a rather obscure 12 bore application of the Scout concept, Some years back, dare I say in the last century, Remington had foward scope mount slug barrels in their line up. I found the 1.75x fixed power Burris Scout Scope to be an excellent combination with ultra low rings on the 870. Conveniently, the low mount system even worked well with standard shotgun stocks. And yes, it carried well at the balance
Rifled 12 Gauges are very useful and with modern Sabot Slugs – Shockingly Effective. Israel’s IDF uses such guns in overwatch positions at check points due to the ability to put down threats wearing explosive vests, without detonating the vests. And they have of course proven themselves in the hunting fields against big game when regular rifles are prohibited.