The Scout Rifle

The purpose of a scout rifle is to be lightwieght, short, reliable, and capable to take medium game. I'm confident that with the right load you could shoot an elk. Also, You can get a forward scope mount for a .30 carbine.
 
This article is annylizing the .30 carbine according to tests with 110 gr. fmjs. It also says in paragraph 2 that with todays loading capabilities the .30 carbine would be promising as far as terminal ballistics. We could argue about the right round for the application all day, and maybe you couldn't take elk with .30 carbine. But the rifle does make a decent choice. What about a vanguard compact in a WSM? 20" barrel, short pull, short action?
 
Ok after thinkin about it, ill withdraw .30 carbine. Had a look at the bible, cant really make it fast n heavy enough. Probably shoulda checked first. But the weatherby stays damnit!!
 
Steve does some really good stuff. As for the WSM, yes it would work fine, but so would a 308 or 300 Savage, and why beat yourself up if you don't have to. The idea behind the scout is light, short, easy to tote and handle, reasonably accurate, and powerful enough for the job. Tough to beat the 308 at that. - dan
 


The one in .308 seems wonderful. I doubt I'll find one for this price here though. Any feedback on the Weatherby?
 
Having hunted with a Steyr Scout for the last 4 years or so, I find it an unbeatable platform. The combination of little features may not add up to a rifle worth the overall price tag but if you mod something or buy something else, it will always be deficient to the original Jeff Cooper idea, and the Steyr Scout rifle.
You'll always be doing without something.
Sell 4 of your guns and get a Steyr Scout - its not rifle snobbery, its a truly handy rifle that is generally useful in the greatest variety of situations.
 
Jeff Cooper chose .308 as the scout rifle calibre for a number of valid reasons:
-Ammunition is almost universally available
-Adequate for anything short of the heaviest game
-Fits into short actions
-Can use surplus 7.62 NATO ammo if avaialable

The 7mm-08 is the alternate standard, particularly in jurisdictions where military calibres are forbidden.

.300 WSM is not in keeping with the scout concept for a number of reasons:
-Not as readily available
-Objectionable recoil and muzzle blast from a light rifle with a short barrel
-Performance advantage over .308 is diminished in a short barrel
 
I went along with Coopers Lion Scout concept. I wanted something a bit heavier than the .308 with a short length barrel. I went .358WIN, ammo being hard to find, but packs the punch with the ruger frontier 16.5 barrel where the .308 would lack
 
Good point, wsm doesn't make a rifle very "scout-ish" to shoot. I was only thinking to make the rifle a little shorter. So it seems like a .308 would be the best choice thus recomended. Although, I think weatherby is the best choice for a Budget platform. I shoot two vanguards, one in .300 wm, and one in .223. They are much smoother than a savage or Remington of the same price range. Yes the trigger is kinda harsh but that's easily remedied. At wholesale here on the prairies you can get a compact for 700 n change. The compact comes with two stocks for the growing shooter. Or in this case the scout shooter who may want the 13 1/2" pull instead one day :)
 
As stated in an earlier post, the Browning BLR would probably fill the bill so long as you're not opposed to a lever action. They are an excellent, accurate rifle and come with a good set of iron sights, however, getting a good set of Ghost Rings might be problematic, or so I've found. An interesting possibility and I must stress "POSSIBILITY" because I haven't checked this out yet, might be found with the BLR breakdown versions. If a person had let say a 308 win in the BLR breakdown, shouldn't it be possible to purchase the barrel portion of a .243, 7mm-08, or .358 and simply attach those barrels to your existing .308 receiver portion of the rifle? Well, and probably get the proper Magazine as well. Now wouldn't that be a handy, versatile little rig? As I stated earlier, I'm not certain this can be done, but it should be doable. I'm sure Browning would charge a premium for the parts, if they haven't already made it so you can't do such a thing.
 
BLR Takedown models

I downloaded the Browning parts catalog and looked up the barrel replacements for the Takedown models. An interesting note on all these parts was that the rifle had to be shipped back to the factory for this part to be replaced. So my guess would be that Browning really doesn't want people swapping barrels between rifles of the same caliber family.:( Too bad, I think it would have made for a very attractive selling feature. But then again, I haven't actually asked them.
 
I found a nice deal from some obscure classifieds , gotta love google. its a .308 frontier , 650$ mint and came with scope and case . may go conventional on the scope though.

ruger.jpg
 
sunray said:
"...weight of less than 7lbs..." Ouch!. The whole 'Scout' concept was one of Cooper's more stupid ideas.
Click to expand...

Actually they make a great high country hunting rifle, good for a knockabout day in the woods, or just about any type of situation where a lightweight, accurate, moderately powerful rifle would be useful. And if a 7 pound 308 distresses you, well, perhaps you should consider a different hobby. That really isn't very much recoil. - dan
 
358 BLR said:
As stated in an earlier post, the Browning BLR would probably fill the bill so long as you're not opposed to a lever action. Now wouldn't that be a handy, versatile little rig?
Click to expand...

It undoubtedly would be a handy lil' rig.
Col. Cooper however is the man who "tagged" the scout concept, and I doubt the BLR is what he had in mind. ;)
 
If one could settle on a single shot I'd say a Ruger No.1 would be great. Short already as there is no "action" and cut the barrel down two inches or so and you'd have a very handy rifle. Really one shot is all you SHOULD need.
 
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