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Magnum88C · August 1, 2005, 10:06 PM

First of all I think Col Cooper's scout concept is too narrowly defined. I don't have a problem if a rifle is a bit over a meter long, it doesn't have to be 6 pounds, etc. IMO a "scout" is any handy rifle that you wouldn't mind carrying all day, and can be useful from short to medium range quickly. Kind of the rifle version of John Taffin's "packin' pistol".

Only one I "scouted up" was purpose built as a utility (i.e. low-budget) scout is a Mosin M44. All I did was take the bayonet off (left the lug on) since hunting with a bayonet is not legal here, and replced the rear sight with a scope base and put on a 2.5x Leupold IER.

I originally hated "scout scopes", upon taking the advice of a friend, I found out why and fixed the problem. Problem was too high a power. The ones I'd seen were 4x or more, and that's just too much magnification differential between scanning terrain looking through the scope for my eyes.

I also prefer military bolt actions as they can still be loaded with strippers with the forward mounted scope.

FWIW, the guys with M1A SOCOMS or even 16" FAL carbines have perfectly good, serviceable scout rifles. Remember it's about what's handy for YOU to carry, not anyone else.

August 1, 2005, 10:06 PM	#11
Magnum88C Senior Member Join Date: May 18, 2004 Posts: 309	First of all I think Col Cooper's scout concept is too narrowly defined. I don't have a problem if a rifle is a bit over a meter long, it doesn't have to be 6 pounds, etc. IMO a "scout" is any handy rifle that you wouldn't mind carrying all day, and can be useful from short to medium range quickly. Kind of the rifle version of John Taffin's "packin' pistol". Only one I "scouted up" was purpose built as a utility (i.e. low-budget) scout is a Mosin M44. All I did was take the bayonet off (left the lug on) since hunting with a bayonet is not legal here, and replced the rear sight with a scope base and put on a 2.5x Leupold IER. I originally hated "scout scopes", upon taking the advice of a friend, I found out why and fixed the problem. Problem was too high a power. The ones I'd seen were 4x or more, and that's just too much magnification differential between scanning terrain looking through the scope for my eyes. I also prefer military bolt actions as they can still be loaded with strippers with the forward mounted scope. FWIW, the guys with M1A SOCOMS or even 16" FAL carbines have perfectly good, serviceable scout rifles. Remember it's about what's handy for YOU to carry, not anyone else.