Exactly what is a Scout Rifle and how can you employ it in a personal-defense situation? Rob Pincus presents the special features of the Scout Rifle as defined by Col. Jeff Cooper of Gunsite. He shows how these versatile features, such as the three-point sling and redundant sighting system, make it a useful weapon for hunting, survival, and a close-quarters home defense weapon.
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Jeff Cooper’s concept included several attributes: weight, long eye relief scope mounted forward, readily available ammo (with several criteria obvious to a hunting/fighting situation), iron sights as well as optics, box magazine, barrel length – I’m probably forgetting a few. I’ve seen several companies try to build them, but they all miss some aspect. It wouldn’t seem that hard to do, but nevertheless…
Ruger makes a “Gunsite” model in .308. Not the lightest, but close. Savage makes a good one, too. However, the tech departments at both companies told me on the phone “…do NOT run 7.62 NATO in these. I asked them because I heard the debate on the safety of this very thing. I’m sure a lot of people believe it’s not an issue. I only bring it up because of the “readily available” part of the concept.
It dawned on me that there is another round that gets overlooked in favor of the .308, and that’s the 7.62x39MM. That’s certainly readily available. And while the ballistics don’t equal the .308, it’s a decent round for most uses. A couple of companies made them for a while, but now (I believe) the only company that does is CZ. I bought a used one – CZ 527 American – (like new, with $125 of optional accessories) for around $600 total. It’s a ‘mini-Mauser’ action, so all of the benefits in a smaller size. Five round box magazine that stops at the bottom of the trigger guard, although no one makes one bigger than the factory issue, but you do get the quick change. Iron sights, and the receiver is milled for rings. (It takes proprietary rings, which don’t come with it, but I got them with this used rifle.) There’s also a short piece of rail, the mounts forward, so you can put a scout scope out front (also a separate item). The LOP is a little short for me, but it actually comes right up when I mount it, so I don’t really notice. It also has a single set trigger, which is something you almost never see – and it’s adjustable. The safety is nest to the bolt, and you just push it forward.
It was made for .311 7.62 diameter bullets, so it might suffer with American made if they have our .308 bullets, but I don’t know. (I got some LEE dies for reloading, and the set had both sizes of expanders.) Since I stuck with readily available, I ran some WPA through it – from sandbags, with iron sights, I could cover three shots with a dime. I put an old Bushnell 4x on it, and it shoots like a dream. It’s light, fast and accurate. They make them in 6 calibers, but the only other one with readily available ammo is the .223 (although again, should you put 5.56 NATO in it?).
The Springfield Armory Scout rifle is the answer. It has a detachable 20 round box magazine and is very accurate and meets all the criteria of your bolt gun.
Except weight.
Eric Ching’s sling design was an improvement on Carlos Widmann’s version of the old Bisley two point sling. Both allow the potential benefit of a looped sling as a shooting support while retaining the speed of a hasty wrap.
The demonstration here completely ignores that potential benefit and is just a hasty that can be done with any simple two point carry strap.
Todd Dow has a nice overview:
http://artoftherifle.com/using-the-ching-sling/2012/06/using-the-ching-sling.html
Good video on the Scout Rifle.
Only criticism is that the Ching sling on your rifle was improperly installed and you improperly demonstrated it’s use.
The “stop” on the long strap should be to the rear of the short strap and your left arm should be placed in front on the short strap in use. The way you demonstrated offers none of the advantage of the Ching sling.
Mike Fletcher
What kind of quick detach setup is that scope mount? Been looking for one to work with dovetailed front ring.
Hi, Marshall. No idea, that was a custom rifle built by a local gun shop in Nashville in the late 1990’s.
I want to know more about Scout Rifle as a Self or Home Defense Weapon.
Could I avail myself of a Firearm Catalog?
Could you mail it to my Home Address?
Hi, Alexander. The “scout rifle” is a concept, not a specific product. Many companies offer rifles, scopes and mounts that you could use to build one.
Reassuring that you promote the scout rifle, which is simplicity, power and reliability combined. No bells, whistles,toggles, etc. to mess with. Did I mention maneuverability? Thanks for this video . . . changed my mind on spending tight $$$ on an AR platform.