Jeff Cooper's Scout rifle

Don't roll your eyes too hard jimbob - Coopers early career basically consisted of deriding Rex Applegate in order to push his own 'front sight' method.

I can understand the scout rifle in the context of 70's technology... But they never became popular until recently. A low magnification LER conventional scope makes no sense in an era of electronic and tritium powered optics. There are also far more options now for an accurate magazine fed rifle than back then, so the concept of a modified bolt gun makes no sense either.

IMO, a well thought out AR trumps the scout rifle concept. A low profile AR upper with a lite contour barrel, low profile backup sights, a compact electronic / tritium optic, and 10 or 20 round mag barely weighs 7 lbs. Hell, Bushmasters Carbon 15 series rifles weight less than 5lbs sans optic.

There is your handy, compact, lightweight, accurate, 300 yard carbine.
 
Never much cared for the LER scope on the Scout but more and more my favorite hunting rifles are beginning to resemble the Scout in other respects.
Cooper? Whether you agreed or disagreed with him you could still learn from him, still can. The list of folks who can shoot, teach and write as well as he could will probably fit on the back of a business card. JMHO, of course.
 
Mr.trooper, I have no gripe against the M16/AR-15 in general. My present AR is my fifth one, over thirty or so years. But as I think back on what's probably well beyond 2,000 miles of walking-hunting during these last forty-plus years, the last thing I'd ever have is a rifle I could not carry at the balance point.

I have no problem with the Scout concept. I am not impressed, overall, with the execution of the concept by the three factory efforts.

Purely my hunter's opinion, and I'll include survivalist and truck-gun usage, the Ruger should have a near-flush magazine available, and they should have had a barrel length out to the end of the flash-hider but no flash-hider.

Again, just my opinion, but I think the mag and the flash-hider are merely marketing ploys aimed at the EBR folks. I don't blame Ruger for that, since they are in business to sell guns and make a profit...
 
Purely my hunter's opinion, and I'll include survivalist and truck-gun usage, the Ruger should have a near-flush magazine available, and they should have had a barrel length out to the end of the flash-hider but no flash-hider.

Again, just my opinion, but I think the mag and the flash-hider are merely marketing ploys aimed at the EBR folks. I don't blame Ruger for that, since they are in business to sell guns and make a profit...
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Bingo. They should have made it lighter too, which wouldn't have been difficult.

As much as I dislike the long magazine and the flash hider in terms of function, there's no question they've been effective as sales tools during the current tactical fad. I just wish they hadn't named the resulting gun "The Gunsite Scout Rifle".
 
Part of Cooper's scout deal was that a scout is not supposed to get in fire fights. Sneaky snake. Go look, find out, report back. A fire fight is mission failure, since nobody is supposed to know a scout drifted through an area in his snooping.
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Then if Murphy never shows up, the scout doesn't need a rifle at all.

The problem, militarily, with the scout rifle concept, is that it's a fairweather friend only suited for when everything goes right. When things go pear shaped a low mag capacity bolt gun isn't acceptable to break contact with a larger force.
 
I wonder if Ruger had called it a "General Purpose Rifle" instead of a "Scout Rifle", would it have gotten as much criticism? Clearly, it gives riflemen things that have been misssing from bolt action rifles for decades: quality iron sights, adjustable stock, option to mount a scope two different ways, flash hider, and short barrel.

The drive towards the perfect hunting rifle has left the modern bolt action a sad shadow of the Springfields, Mausers, and Endfields that defined a true general purpose rifle.
 
Just curious, but would we even be having this conversation if it hadn't been called the "scout" rifle? What if it had been called a "Multi-purpose" rifle or a "Utility rifle" or a "does-enough-of-everything-to-cover-your-bases" rifle?

Perhaps Cooper's legacy is not Gunsite, his writings, his lessons, or anything tactical, but rather his ability to keep people arguing for years after his death.

Oh, and I really like the idea of the scout/multi-purpose/utility rifle, cause it does everything I need and nothing I don't. :D
 
I disagree with the statement that the LER scope makes no sense in an era of tritium and dot sights.

A tritium or dot sight becomes harder to shoot at as range increases because of the dots size- making shots over 100 - 150 yds a bit problematic because too much target is covered, whereas a 2.5 magnification LER scope is quite easy to hit with at longer range.

At one time I had a tasco dot sight on my lever scout and removed it in favour of a scope.
 
I like the ruger, seems these days theres needlessly light pencil barrels or huge varmint barrels, a medium profile is nice, and its a short, light (but not too light) handy carbine. Supposed to shoot nice and kick soft with the good pad. Seems like a great rifle to use, i want one with a conventional scope setup.
 
Steyr has the Scout. Not sure if it is still made to Cooper's specs.

I don't see why Cooper's specs need to be followed rigidly.

An extra inch of barrel or a few more ounces doesn't make much difference, but some don't consider them true "scout rifles" unless they meet all of Cooper's requirements.
 
None of the articles I have read on the Ruger mention blast- which I assume to be quite bad from a short barrel. Any experiences?
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seen video reviews and it seemed like they had no problem, one at a gunsite course firing inside a box and no problem.
 
The Scout Rifle was a marketing ploy to go along with the Main Battle Rifle neither term existed before Cooper thought them up.
The Scout Rifle is an answer to a question that was never asked.
 
No disrespect intended,but the folks who have the idea Mr Cooper intended for any member of our armed forces to go fight with a scout rifle....you just have it wrong.That was never the intent.There is no legitimate reason to comment whether our wily Marine Scout Sniper should go to war with a Cooper scout rifle.
It would be better to think of it in terms of a Daniel Boone longhunter rifle.A bush rifle.Another approach to a SHTF rifle.I think,unlike some of our contributors,Mr Cooper has been to places where our reality does not exist.Unlike some of our contributors,I think he did not envision Rambo-ing up ,beer gut and M1A,in the front yard ,prepared to defend the last bag of Doritos.Its a grab and run,get 35 miles from here on foot with what is in your pockets rifle.I think a lot of folks would have different dream rifles if they had to walk 3 miles from where they park the pickup to get to the range.
Given the times and places Mr Cooper expeienced,the fact he lived to an old age carries a strong element of Darwinism in the positive sense.
To the critics of Mr Cooper,please,tell us how you,yourself,have personally made a greater contribution to shooting than Mr Cooper.We all know who Mr Cooper was.I never heard of you.
 
HiBC,

Very good post, and one I mostly agree with.

The Scout Rifle should be thought of in terms of a Practical Rifle, fit for daily use and carry. Mine often rides in the truck with me, and is easy to carry on hikes while checking out other things. It would not be my choice for a battle rifle, but could serve in a pinch.

I think part of the problem is that people associate the name Scout with the military. To my knowledge it was never intended to be a military arm, but could serve the Farmer, Rancher, Homeowner, Backwoods dweller quite well in a variety of roles. Due to the Ruger's versatility I would be hard pressed to find a better rifle for the money. The sighting options alone make it worth it's price to me. Mine is wearing a traditional scope right now, but has worn an EO Tech, and will wear a Scout Scope in the future. The Iron Sights are very good too, and I shot mine that way when I first bought it.

This is a rifle that is well thought out and allows one to adapt the rifle to the mission instead of adapting the mission to the rifle. Outside of the name, Scout, I find nothing to dislike about the Ruger Gunsite Scout. I think the folks being negative about this rifle have very likely not handled and shot one, nor carried one for a few days as they go about their daily business. If they had I suspect their opinion of this rifle might change.

I am not a Cooper disciple, but I do know a smart man when I read one, and Col. Cooper was certainly that.

Biker
 
SPUSCG, the muzzle blast seemed about like most other .243/'06/.308 critters. I was wearing HearGuards, of course.
 
SPUSCG, the muzzle blast seemed about like most other .243/'06/.308 critters. I was wearing HearGuards, of course.
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thank you, good to hear, i want to get one. Cant wait to it shows up on the shelves.
 
$749 at Bud's Gunshop, not bad. I like the concept of the Scout Rifle as a non-Military arm, but fail to see what niche it fills that is not covered by my Marlin LA Rifle.

I'd be styling with am M1A flash hider on my 1895G :D
 
I wonder if Ruger had called it a "General Purpose Rifle" instead of a "Scout Rifle", would it have gotten as much criticism? Clearly, it gives riflemen things that have been misssing from bolt action rifles for decades: quality iron sights, adjustable stock, option to mount a scope two different ways, flash hider, and short barrel.
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I guess it doesn't matter. Ruger is selling them as fast as they can make 'em. I have one, and will be hunting whitetail with it this year. I like it for what it is. . . handy, easy to carry (balances well just forward the mag), and my forward mounted Leupold Scout scope makes target acquisition a quick task.

I don't get hung up on "Scout" or military usefulness, etc. I fills a need or DESIRE that I have, and that's why I bought it.
 
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