The scout rifle is a conceptual class of general-purpose rifles defined and promoted by Jeff Cooper in the early 1980s[1] that bears similarities in the design and functionality of guide guns, mountain rifles, and other rifle archetypes, but with more emphasis being placed on comfortable portability and practical accuracy, rather than firepower and long range shooting.
Scout rifles are typically bolt-action carbines chambered for .308 Winchester/7.62×51mm, with an overall length of no more than 39 inches (991 millimetres), with a barrel of 19 inches (483 millimetres) or shorter, and less than 7 pounds (3 kilograms) in weight, with both iron and optical sights and fitted with practical slings (such as Ching slings) for shooting and carrying, and capable of reliably hitting man-sized targets out to 500 yards (457 metres) without telescopic sights. Typically they employ forward-mounted, low-power long-eye relief (LER) scopes or iron sights to afford easy access to the top of the rifle action for rapid manual reloading. Cooper was personally involved with the design work on the Steyr Scout, while other gun manufacturers including Ruger and Savage have since also designed rifles that roughly match Cooper's specifications.[2]
Cooper realized that rifles in the late 20th century differed little from those used by celebrated scouts such as Maj. Frederick Russell Burnham one hundred years before, and that advances in metallurgy, optics, and plastics could make the rifle a handy, light instrument "that will do a great many things equally well...".[3] Cooper's scout-rifle concept was largely influenced by the exploits of the scout Burnham in the Western United States and Africa and as such it is best suited to a man operating either alone or in a two or three man team.[4]
"The general-purpose rifle will do equally well for all but specialized hunting, as well as for fighting; thus it must be powerful enough to kill any living target of reasonable size. If you insist upon a definition of 'reasonable size', let us introduce an arbitrary mass figure of about 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms)."[5]
In 1983 a conference was convened at the Cooper's Gunsite Training Center in Arizona to examine the subject of the modernization of rifle design. The members of the conference included gunsmiths, stocksmiths, journalists, marksmanship instructors, inventors and hunters. It was called the 'First Scout Rifle Conference'. A second conference was held in October 1984.[6]
^Mann, Richard (2018). The Scout Rifle Study. Princeton, WV: Shadowland Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 9-781983-512544.
^The scout rifle: The one rifle to have if you could only have one. NRA Blog. (n.d.). https://www.nrablog.com/articles/2017/3/the-scout-rifle-the-one-rifle-to-have-if-you-could-only-have-one
^Richard Mann (10 May 2016). "Scout Rifle Shangri-La – Happy Birthday Jeff Cooper". Empty Cases. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
^Richard Mann (6 June 2016). "Can an AR be a Scout?". Shooting Illustrated. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
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