Scout rifle


The scout rifle is a conceptual class of general-purpose rifles defined and promoted by Jeff Cooper in the early 1980s 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, with a barrel of or shorter, and less than in weight, with both iron and optical sights and fitted with practical slings for shooting and carrying, and capable of reliably hitting man-sized targets out to without telescopic sights. Typically they employ forward-mounted, low-power long-eye relief 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.
Cooper realized that rifles in the late 20th century differed little from those used by celebrated scouts such as Major 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". 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.
"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."
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.

Defining characteristics

Drawing inspiration from several sources, specifically the 1903 Mannlicher–Schönauer and the Winchester Model 1894 carbines, Cooper defined several distinguishing characteristics of a scout rifle:
  • Caliber: a standard chambering of.308 Winchester/7.62×51mm NATO or 7mm-08 Remington for locales that forbid civilian ownership of cartridges in chamberings adopted by military forces or for its "slightly better ballistics." As Cooper wrote, "A true Scout comes in.308 or 7mm-08." The.243 Winchester is an alternative for young, small-framed, or recoil-shy people, but needs a barrel. Cooper also commissioned "Lion Scout," chambered for the.350 Remington Magnum cartridge.
  • Action: all Cooper's prototype scout rifles were bolt-actions, however he said "if a semi-automatic action were made which was sufficiently compact and otherwise acceptable, it should certainly be considered". Cooper said the Brno ZKK 601 action is the closest to the guidelines. A bolt-action two-lug, 90° rotation was favored, as was the traditional Mauser claw extractor. The bolt knob should be smooth and round, not checkered and positioned far enough forward of the trigger to avoid pounding of the index finger during firing. The safety should be positive and include three positions. It should disconnect the trigger mechanism rather than blocking it. It should be strong and positive and work from front to rear, rear position "safe" and forward "fire."
  • Trigger: smooth and clean, and provide a crisp release.
  • Weight: an unloaded weight, with accessories, of ; with as the maximum acceptable.
  • Length: an overall length of or less and a barrel length of or less. These two characteristics place scout rifles into the general class of carbines.
  • Optics: a forward-mounted telescopic sight of low magnification, typically 2 to 3 power. This preserves the shooter's peripheral vision, keeps the ejection port open to allow the use of stripper clips to reload the rifle, and eliminates any chance of the scope striking one's brow during recoil. Cooper has stated that a telescopic sight is not mandatory.
  • Reserve sights: ghost ring auxiliary iron sights: a rear sight consisting of a receiver-mounted large-aperture thin ring, and typically a square post front sight on the receiver bridge and not on the end of the barrel, where it catches on things, breaks, snags and muddies up. This allows the rifle to be accurately aimed at short to medium ranges even if the scope becomes damaged.
  • Stock: synthetic rather than wood stocks. Heel of the butt rounded to avoid snagging on the shirt. A spare magazine stored in the butt. A retractable bipod that does not protrude from the stock.
  • Magazine: magazine should be so constructed as to protect the points of soft point spitzer bullets as they ride in the magazine. Some sort of magazine cut-off permitting the rifle to be used in the single-shot mode with the magazine in reserve. An alternative to the magazine cut-off is a detachable box magazine with a double detent which could be inserted to its first stop not allowing the bolt to feed it. When desired, the magazine could be pressed into its second stop, permitting the bolt to pick up the top cartridge.
  • Sling: a "Ching" or "CW" sling. Against common practice, Cooper advocated the use of a sling as a shooting aid. The Ching sling offers the convenience of a carrying strap and the steadiness of a target shooter's sling with the speed of a biathlete's sling.
  • Accuracy: should be capable of shooting into 2 MOA or at
These features dictated short, thin barrels, synthetic stocks, and bolt actions. Other optional features included a retractable bipod, detachable magazines, a buttstock ammunition or magazine holding pouch, and an accessory rail for mounting a flashlight, laser sight, among other attachments. The addition of some of these features often renders the rifle technically not a scout as originally defined, but this has come to be accepted by many as still conforming to the spirit if not to the letter of the concept.

Shooting and use

Although it is unusual in appearance and design when compared to traditional rifles, the features which set the scout rifle apart were selected for utility rather than appearance. The scope sight is mounted on the barrel both for stability, and some claim it also allows faster acquisition of the sighting line when the rifle is brought to the shoulder. It also keeps the breech and ejection port of the weapon clear of obstruction, allowing rapid top-loading of cartridges and clearance of jams or other obstructions.
Being slightly shorter than most full-caliber rifles increases the muzzle blast from a scout rifle, and being lightweight increases the felt recoil. Even the recoil of the.308 Winchester in a scout was described as feeling like a.300 Winchester Magnum by Gun Tests.
Should the scope be damaged, it can be rapidly removed and the ghost ring sight used.

Commercial variants

For many years, scout rifles were only available from custom gunsmiths. However, a number of manufacturers build scout rifles close to Cooper's specifications.

Steyr Scout

The version considered by some to be the benchmark is the Steyr Scout.
In 1998, Steyr Mannlicher of Austria began series production of the Steyr Scout, which is also known as the Mannlicher Scout. Jeff Cooper spent many years of reflection and working with Steyr before they began production built to the specifications developed. A heavy-caliber version is chambered for the proprietary.376 Steyr cartridge, but exceeds the overall length limit of the scout rifle specification. This version carries four rounds in the magazine, compared to five in the standard Steyr Scout. A version is also produced in the 5.56×45mm/.223 Remington round used in various current military assault rifles.
The Steyr Scout features an integral bipod, as well as storage for a spare, loaded magazine. The rifle is also designed to allow either single-shot, manually loaded fire or normal magazine feeding.
Despite being civilian rifles, Steyr Scouts were used by the Kosovo Liberation Army in the Kosovo War.
In January 2015, Steyr Arms announced that a limited edition Steyr Camo Scout would be available in three variations of hydro-dipped camouflage due to customer demand.

Savage Scout

offered the Model 10FCM Scout with their adjustable AccuTrigger, black synthetic AccuStock with aluminum spine and three-dimensional bedding cradle, a free-floating button-rifled barrel, oversized bolt knob for rapid manipulation of the bolt, ghost ring rear sight, forward scope mount, and detachable 4-round box magazine in either.308 Winchester or 7.62×39mm with a total weight of and an overall length of. It was discontinued in 2014. Savage re-introduced their Scout as the 11 Scout in 2015 and improved it by adding a 3rd sling swivel, butt spacers and an adjustable cheek-piece to a "natural" colored stock.
For 2018, the rifle was again refreshed to incorporate the "Accu-Fit" system as well as abandoning the proprietary magazine of the earlier models in favor of an Accuracy International AICS magazine, which provides greater compatibility across brands.

Ruger Frontier

offered several M77 Mark II Frontier rifles in stainless steel in various chamberings from varmint to heavy game all featuring a non-rotating, Mauser-type controlled-feed extractor and a fixed blade-type ejector.
In a review of a 7mm-08 Frontier Model 77, John Taffin wrote, "If it is possible to love an inanimate object such as a rifle, I am definitely in love. This Model 77 Mk II Frontier is everything I had been looking for in a lightweight, compact, easy-to-carry 7-08mm bolt-action rifle and more."