Ze Scout Rifle has arrived!

[Greg Bell]

Yay!

I finally got my brand-spankin' new Jeff Cooper Scout rifle (manufactured in August). Unfortunately, I was unable to shoot it today. But...


1. Great handling. Jeff Cooper is right when he praises how fast handling the gun is.
2. Smooth Action. The bolt action is butter smooth. The finish is excellent.
3. Trigger. The trigger's travel is nearly non-existent. The weight quite low (and adjustable!).
4. The reserve sites are much better than I expected. They are easy to deploy and would be perfectly fine for their intended purpose.
5. The fit and finish is excellent.



Ahh...now I can quit missing my Steyr Mountain rifle w/Zeiss.

[DT Guy]

I now officially hate you. :D


Been wanting one of the Colonel's babies for a while-be sure to report how it shoots!


Larry

[NYPD9415]

What caliber?

One of our ESU units has a pair in 7.62 for up close and personal stuff

[Greg Bell]

I have now had a chance to go over my Steyr head to toe.

1. The adjustable stock spacers are excellent. I prefer a short stock, so I simply removed the spacers and left the butt-pad in place.

2. The trigger is perfect. I can't stress enough how important this is.

3. The reserve mag well has a spring loaded plate inside it (nice touch). It makes sure the mag is held snug in the stock while allowing it to self-adjust for 10 round mags.

4. It is very lightweight. It is amazing that Steyr was able stuff 2 mags, an extra mag well, a full length picatinny rail, bipods, a flashlight rail, 5 flush swivel sling points, a completely safe bolt system (no praying here), a storage compartment hatch, VERY sturdy scope mounts and Leupold optics in a .308 that weighs 6.9 pounds!

5. A damn handy bipod. While it certainly isn't as brutally tough as the one on my H&K, it is completely invisible unless you choose to deploy it. Further it swivels nicely for uneven terrain.

6. The dual position mags are a nice touch. I'm surprised other manufacturers don't bring this feature back.

7. The Scout optic system is a good idea. It is almost foolproof and allows for a very quick mount. I'm not totally sold on it (and it has limitations), but it is excellent--although it clearly asks more of the shooter at long ranges (200 yards plus).

Hopefully it will work well at the range this weekend. If it does, my other rifles are going into storage for a while!

[4V50 Gary]

Congratulations. Give us a range report after you take it out. :)

[Greg Bell]

Good news. :)

I snuck out of work early today and took off to the range to test the scout.

All groups shot @ 100 yards in crazy wind.

1. 2.1 inches. 3 shots of unknown winchester that had been sitting in a coffee mug. Two on top of each other, one up and right. Oh, and I accidently left the rubber barrel cap on and blew it to pieces! :)

2. .4 inches. 2 shots of above unknown Winchester

3. 1.4 inches. 150 Grain Core-Lokt PSP

4. 1 inch. Almost perfectly dead-center after correcting for windage on scope.

5. 1.4 inches. Above. Adjusted for elevation to hit 200 yard marker on Scout target from Fr. Frogs web site.

6. 2.3 inches. I swear the target moved in the wind!

7. 1.1 inches. The target was still moving in the wind!! But it worked out fine.

8. Five shots fired offhand into a 1 foot steel plate stuck in the backdrop. Excellent "tink" noise. Still, my Mauser "Klangs!" No matter how shaky I was in the wind the thing hit home!

Then I put the Steyr down and shot my SIG 220.

And later...

150 gr Hornaday SST

9. .9 inches

10. .8 inches (freaking windy--best group of the day!!)

11. 1.3 inches

12. 1 inch

It started getting dark so I packed up and left.


I think that was some DAMN fine shooting for an amateur rifle shooter with a 2.5 power scope. The Steyr can clearly shoot beyond my meager abilities. I wish my eyes weren't crap and I didn't shake like a leaf with epilepsy!