Why do people think the scout is intended to be a military rifle? It is and always was a general purpose rifle.
People seem to get hung up on the name and assume it was intended for military scouts, but his writings on the subject never mentioned it as a combat weapon, that I saw anyway.
I believe Cooper named it that because it was something a scout could have carried back when there was such a thing, but he didn't seem to have any illusions about that.
Proceedings of the first Scout Rifle Conference said:The objective of the conference was declared to be the critical evaluation of the all-purpose utility rifle, as it exists in standard as well as component form at this time, and as it may be improved in the future
People seem to get hung up on the name and assume it was intended for military scouts, but his writings on the subject never mentioned it as a combat weapon, that I saw anyway.
I believe Cooper named it that because it was something a scout could have carried back when there was such a thing, but he didn't seem to have any illusions about that.
Jeff Cooper in 1984 said:"Times have changed, and the true scout is no longer found in today's armies. The enemy is located from the air, pinned by artillery , and then smashed by mechanized infantry and tanks. The scout's rifle has been replaced by the Sturmgewehr, and the character and qualities of the rifle for use by a lone rifleman have been all but forgotten."