Is the Scout Rifle Dead?

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Bill Mazelin said:
I first began reading Col. Cooper in Guns & Ammo Magazine back in the early 80s when he had his “Cooper’s Corner” column. That was also where I was first introduced to his Scout Rifle concept. I must admit, I’m a big fan of the idea. I’ve used my Ruger GSR in multiple locations on the planet. Alaska, California, Wyoming, & South Africa. My wife Carrie & I were on all 3 Scout Rifle Safaris hosted by Richard Mann in ‘17-‘19 in Kimberley South Africa. My brother went with us too in ‘18. All of us have the rifles set up the same way, topped with the Leupold VXR, 1.5-5x33mm Scout Scope with the fire dot duplex reticle. I also now have the only true Scout Rifle I’ve ever seen, it was going to be rifle in South Africa this June, but that trip was scrubbed. It’s a Melvin Forbes NULA rifle with a scout conversion by Jim Brockman.
A short, light, handy and even a “friendly” rifle as Cooper described makes a lot of sense in the field. The real drawback is the lack of really good EER/LER optics.
If Cooper was still around to tinker with the concept, I’m sure some things would’ve evolved. A good LPVO is a way better optic choice than a scout scope, or a red dot. Everything is a trade off. Personally I prefer more of a “stalking rifle” now - still a short, light, handy, easy to silence rifle with a good piece of glass on it, like the new FE/Gunwerks collaboration rifle, “The Pygmy.”
If you want to go down the rabbit hole, get a copy of Richard’s book “The Scout Rifle Study” it’s on Amazon. The definitive work on the concept.
Photo 1: my true custom Scout Rifle
Photo 2: my Ruger GSR on a hunt on Kodiak Island, AK, 2019.
Photo 3: two of my Marlin lever guns set up as “lever scouts.”
Photos 4 & 5: my wife’s Boswell’s Custom stalking rifle. 16” barrel, 6.5CM, Ti action CF barrel & stock.
Photo 6: the original Scout rifle Safari crew from 2017
Photo 7: the cover of Richard’s book.
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My first rifle my dad ever bought me was a Ruger GSR in .223. It has the exact same stock as yours and I had so much fun with it. There were many free range hill country blackbuck that were taken with that gun.
 
Chad Adams said:
I always loved Cooper's Scout Rifle concept when I was first getting into guns. I still do. But with true 1-8x and 1-10x variable scopes, really badass bipods, and even a much wider range of calibers that challenge .308, not that you need to, a rifleman can really check all of Cooper's boxes without sacrificing what the scout rail demands in terms of shooting. Again, I still think they are cool. But the question is this - does anyone out there think this is the rifle's most elite form, given the Scout criteria???
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Well, in doing some brief ewe toobz research on this I found what I guess may be another question here;
1.) Is the current Ruger marketing Team getting lazy? I saw the "on the Scout" guy's SHOT show run down of the Ruger booth and it appears they have just slapped a longer pic rail onto the American Gen2 series, and are just calling it the New Scout series; 5.556, 35W (Yahoo!), x39, and more. Marketing Team is (2) guys who made some decisions in the whitetail opener, while everyone else in the office was hunting? IDK...
2.) There was a different channel interviewing an elder of the Scout Rogues, he had (3) Scouts in his office including a NULA. He posited that the Col.'s original 6.6 pound requirement, which he said was a # including the optic, was almost impossible to do.

So, if the new Ruger Marketing team doesn't know what the Col's criteria is/was, yes, a Marketing Team has killed the Scout. It's our responsibility to resurrect it. ( Has this been your sneaky intention all along? I like it....)
 
Ron Dan said:
I am on a quest to convince Leupold to bring back a scout scope.
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Sweet. Was it anything like this, coming in a 6 ozs?
1772637462046.png
Testing my bolt-build mettle with a Vanguard Black Hills in 300WM, had na extra one of these laying around...the glass is actually not too shabby, light AF...
 
Milo'sSyndicate said:
Sweet. Was it anything like this, coming in a 6 ozs?
View attachment 3040
Testing my bolt-build mettle with a Vanguard Black Hills in 300WM, had na extra one of these laying around...the glass is actually not too shabby, light AF...
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Their last run at a scout scope was a great option at a reasonable price. If I remember correctly, sales volume just couldn’t justify it.

1772637706743.png
 
Milo'sSyndicate said:
Sweet. Was it anything like this, coming in a 6 ozs?
View attachment 3040
Testing my bolt-build mettle with a Vanguard Black Hills in 300WM, had na extra one of these laying around...the glass is actually not too shabby, light AF...
Click to expand...
In the traditional mounting for a scout rifle (way forward on the barrel) it would need to be a long eye relief scope, similar to pistol scopes. Otherwise, any scope would work.
I have a few like @milossyndicate is suggesting and love them for my ARs and 300 blackout
 
Al Shifty Schultz said:
In the traditional mounting for a scout rifle (way forward on the barrel) it would need to be a long eye relief scope, similar to pistol scopes. Otherwise, any scope would work.
I have a few like @milossyndicate is suggesting and love them for my ARs and 300 blackout
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Yup, I had just pulled it off the LWRC, replaced it with a PA SLX 3x, so it was laying on the bench still and I figured WTF not try it out for 300WM slamming around test...Float the barrel, bed the stock, re-torque the action screws. First just gonna see how she shoots outta the box...
 
@milossyndicate I like vortex products... Back when we were T-n-E ing various scopes for our sniper rifles, we only found two that would consistently and accurately complete "box" drills... Nightforce and Vortex... We ended up using a Vortex Razor for our DMRs (ARs) and the Nightforce ATACR on our sniper rifles...

The "Box" drills were conducted at 100 yards first shot was normal zero... Then we would adjust the POI 1 inch up and from a rest see where the bullet actually impacted.. then we would adjust 1 inch right and see, then 1 inch down and see then 1 inch left and see...

The only two scopes that consistently adjusted the impacts and returned (and held zero) were the Vortex and the Nightforce.. several other big name brands couldn't do it surprisingly...

I've been a fan ever since..
 
I personally think that what gets missed most in the Scout Rifle conversation is Cooper's constant admonishment to thoroughly know ones gun and to train with it.

To points above... yes, every rifle configuration is a compromise. That's the nature of the beast, and one can fiddle with that beast endlessly in pursuit of the perfect set-up. And, the most likely use-case for any gun will drive where one compromises and chooses not to. But, for a GP rifle, while the Scout Concept was the "aspirational unicorn" that it was... it's ability to do many things well, and not be a specific, purpose-driven, pigeon-holed boomstick was its beauty. Again, that's one guy talking.

Further, I'd opine that a full understanding of the whys of Cooper's ideal configuration are necessary to fully understanding the gun. And, that's a mix of biomechanical human reality and mechanical platform constraint, amplified by the tech at the time vs the explosion of tech in recent decades.

Lastly, where the rifle lacked in one specific application or another, it was intended that the rifleman hone his craft to the point of making a general purpose rifle VERY good at whatever task he chose to apply it to and trained to make possible. The bridge there is familiarity and training. And, that training time behind the gun, on the range, dry practicing, etc is where most would-be (true) riflemen drop the ball.

Every tool has its limitations. Doesn't matter if it's a rip hammer or a scout rifle. The artistry happens in the tuned tool and trained human fusion.

I'm not sure that Cooper is the origin of the quote, but it's certainly been widely attributed to him and fits his philosophy generally, but...

"Beware the man with one gun. He probably knows how to use it."

//L
 
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Jason Vincent said:
Ok, fuckers. You actually have to build the rifle to be part of this. Don’t tell everyone what you’re building. I’m going to post some rules under JV’s announcements.
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This made me laugh. Hard.

I was thinking the same thing...

Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
~ Sun Tsu
 
Al Shifty Schultz said:
I'm a huge fan of Mr. Cooper but I think that the idea of the "scout rifle" has morphed or evolved over time from Cooper's era.. technology has improved, cartridges, optics, stock materials, etc... I've always supported the concept, and I embraced the M1A Scout set-up (not necessarily what Mr. Cooper envisioned) but I would say that the black rifles, the Q Fix's, etc... take the concept to the next level, depending upon your choice of optics, etc.
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100% agree with this. I think the Q-fix, ARs are superior. Serve the same purposes, but even better.
 
Jake V said:
100% agree with this. I think the Q-fix, ARs are superior. Serve the same purposes, but even better.
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I recently retired my original custom built scout from 1992, I went with a Sig Cross Sawtooth as my modern alternative (it was between that and a Q Fix). After a year on the range and a very active hunting season, I can say the Sawtooth does everything objectively better than my original scout, it's lighter, much more accurate, and just about as fast with an LVPO. I'm sure a properly set up Fix or lightweight AR10 would be the same.

What the Sawtooth gives up to the old custom rifle is hard to quantify....it isn't nearly as sleek and handy as the old bolt action scout. Handiness is often underrated and discounted, and a lot of it may be "eye of the beholder" kind of situation, but it's 100% a thing. The Sawtooth just feels a little clunky next to the svelte older edition. I guess everything is a tradeoff of some sort.

The whole Scout rifle concept is really about an almost unreachable ideal from the 70s and 80s....that can now be reached from several different platforms with technology that didn't exist back then. We are living in a golden age of firearms innovation and I say embrace it, and maybe we can figure out what todays ideal would be.
 
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