Show off your Scout Rifle

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Does a (repro) ZF-41 count?

Yugoslav M98-48 zf41.jpg

I did a full-blown build based on a Brno Mauser 98 in the late 1980s that I was still working on into mid-90s. Finished just in time for the Steyr Scout to hit the market. I still have it though -- she's a good shooter. Mostly shot with a red-dot sight these days.

MauserScoutRifle03.jpg

I did some rethinking on the concept after I bought my Kimber 84M Hunter and watched Lucky Gunner's video:



With light, compact electronic sights available, my idea now was that instead of backup iron sights I'd have a dual sighting system to quickly swap between when desired, favoring the conventionally mounted LPVO:

Kimber84MRD.jpg Kimber84MScope.jpg

The Warne QD levers make good registration guides to maintain reasonable zero between swaps, and the cheapo Burris TRS-25 also has an aftermarket QD lever. Basically the red dot is a backup for very low light or in case of damage to the Weaver LPVO. The barrel has been slightly shortened, but she's otherwise stock. The loaded weight is under 3 Kgs.
 
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chicharrones said:
That thing is so fugly it's cool. :cool:
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Exactly. !!!! I kind of posted that tongue-in-cheek, but that's exactly right. And it is growing on me more and more. My main critique of it would be it's slow to load, but if I actually took it on a scout, I'd have a good combat handgun with me.
 
jmr40 said:
Optics weren't a requirement, but he did specify forward mounted optics if they were used. Mostly because all of his original designs used military surplus actions which were loaded from the top via stripper clips.
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troy fairweather said:
If there's no stripper clip guide then there's no good reason to have the scope out there. I agree with Jrm40
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The ability to load with stripper clips is a potential advantage of a forward scope, but it's not required nor is it the reason for the forward mounting. A forward mounted low powered scope offers extremely fast target acquisition and that's the main reason Cooper recommended it.

IMO, Cooper thought the snap shot was a lot higher priority than it is for most people. I love the speed of a forward mounted scope, but it doesn't work well with magnifications greater than about 2.5 to 2.75. For me for general purpose hunting a conventional 2x-7 scope on 2 power is plenty fast and it has 7 power for longer shots, which I find useful. YMMV.

I do have to give Cooper a lot of credit for sitting down and doing some serious analysis of what makes a good rifle and then getting off his butt and doing it. That's more than many have done.
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
Does a (repro) ZF-41 count?
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.......... Love that ZF-41 repro. The ZF-41 was the inspiration for that K-98 in my previous post. I called it a combination of a scout rifle and a modern ZF-41 tribute rifle, LOL. I like the scout rifle concept and when I discovered that S & K made a no gunsmithing forward mount for K-98's I just had to do a 21st century ZF-41. That scout scope was on there for 11 or 12 years before it went onto the Mosin Nagant. 91/30.
 
natman said:
I love the Zastava Cub Scout. What did you use for a scope mount?
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I bought a picatinny rail blank and modified it with hacksaw blade, files, and sand paper wrapped around pipe. Painted it black, drilled/tapped the rifle's barrel, and installed it. The front contact point goes over the original rear sight location. A link to that thread is here.
 
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chicharrones said:
I still wish I had come across a nice FR8 back in the day. Coolest bolt action carbine ever, IMO.
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Back in the early 1990's when there were many on the market I came very, very close to getting one. Forgot what they were going for but it was reasonable and I've always kicked myself for passing them up when I had the chance.
 
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When those first hit the market, (FR8) my wife worked with a guy that was a gun-dealer on the side. He sent one home with her one day and said $100.00 if I wanted it. So I bought it for $100. The odd thing was that I don't think the gun was ever issued or fired. Absolute outstanding condition, wood even has "fiddleback" in it.

After a couple of SMLE's at crazy low prices, and a $40.00 Mosin-Nagant or two, the wife learned not to bring rifles home.
 
Very interesting...but why not? I have a .350 carbine also, built on a Ruger 77 with an ER.Shaw barrel. It would certainly be super intimidating having someone popping off .350 Remington Magnums at you. !!!!! Might even have some anti-material applications. ??
 
It's always been a solution looking for a problem.

Conceptually, it's not that far removed from a carbine. In that sense, Cooper wasn't really engendering anything truly novel. In the ways it differs from a carbine, the original Scout concept is comprised of choices from among comprises that were available at the time. Since then, a lot of things have improved and the Scout concept as it differs from a carbine is obsolete in the sense that it offers no practical merit over the alternatives. Notice that anyone who tries to explain its purpose inevitably refers to it as some kind of "general purpose" rifle, in vague terms without ever being specific about its practical application -- because it has none.
 
natman said:
My only complaint with the Ruger GSR is the name - if you're going to call a rifle the Gunsite Scout Rifle it ought to be made to Cooper's Scout specs. But you've got the right idea, it's a rugged all around rifle. IMO with the detachable magazine, rugged stock and sights it would make an ideal truck rifle. I just wish Ruger had called it the UTR - Ultimate Truck Rifle instead.
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At least Ruger addressed the weight issue with the polymer stock models.

Personally, I’d like to convert my GSR to an internal magazine gun. I’ve grown averse to detachable mags in certain guns and bolt action sporters are one of those types. Reality is that I won’t change a thing with my GSR because I already have a 1/2 dozen mags for the thing. Money thrown down that hole already. :D
 
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Rexster said:
I plan to follow this thread, due to personal interest. I have been following the scout rifle concept since Col. Jeff Cooper’s write-up in that early Eighties issue of Gun Digest Annual, but have never owned a rifle that truly met all of the criteria. My Lighting and Takedown Browning BLR rifles have been the closest, due to their light weight, and being chambered for .308 Winchester, but I actually like the iron sights, so, they have never been scoped. The BLR’s magazine cannot be topped-off, from the top of the rifle, while the action is open, but, then, that is not possible with the Steyr Scout, either.

The advent of truly sturdy low-powered variable optics (LPVOs) has, arguably, made a forward-mounted scout scope less necessary. This has caused some to advocate the light-weight/compact “practical” rifle, as being more realistic, in the Twenty-Twenties. OTOH, I really do like the way a Steyr Scout Rifle handles. (I have often “visited” Steyr Scouts, at a nearby gun store.)
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Top loading cartridges with the mag in the gun isn’t doable in the GSR with steel mags. You can force it with polymer mags, but it just doesn’t seem right. It’s due to the single feed top of the magazines.

I’ve mentioned here at THR how I like gadget guns, and the Steyr has some interesting gadgets in it. Built in bipod, fold down front and rear sights, spare mag storage in the stock . . . I should’ve saved up the extra money and got the Steyr. :cool:
 
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Regarding the "Scout" rifle concept, the cover of this 1966 Sports Afield Annual is of particular interest because it highlights a Remington 660 in what might be called later day Scout mode. The concept was pioneered and developed by ballistic expert Pete Brown, also shown shooting his 660, which he also hunted with in Africa. Note the date again, 1966, long before Cooper got in on the act. Scout1.JPG Scout3.JPG
 
The forward mounted scope isn't 'just' for stripper clips. A Scout rifle has to have peep sights. The forward mounted optic allowed it to be mounted very low, between the sights. Rather than over the rear sight as a normal optic would. The low powered, forward mounted scope allowed for quick "snap shooting".

I built a Scout .22 out of a Ruger American.
IMG_0513b.jpg
 
I like it and the concept. Nice and quiet. I've often thought that something like that in .22Mag would be a little better for anti-people use, and maybe taking down a small deer, although there is some nice and hot .22LR on the market. I like the Aguila .22LR "Interceptors". I carry both those and the CCI "Quiet" when out exploring with my Little Badger in .22LR. The "Quiets" for small game, and the Aguila for Wolf repellent.

Anyhow nice rifle and set-up nicely. And in either caliber, pair it with a good combat pistol that one could shoot well out to 100 yards, and plenty spare high capacity magazines, and I would not exclude it as a "scout rifle" because of it's caliber.
 
Offfhand said:
Regarding the "Scout" rifle concept, the cover of this 1966 Sports Afield Annual is of particular interest because it highlights a Remington 660 in what might be called later day Scout mode. The concept was pioneered and developed by ballistic expert Pete Brown, also shown shooting his 660, which he also hunted with in Africa. Note the date again, 1966, long before Cooper got in on the act.
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Yeah, Cooper was a bit late to the 'Scout' rifle party, ... by at least a decade and a half.

Here's a vintage '60s ad showing the 'Scout' set-up in action on a Model 600. Supposedly the Fud in the picture is Remington's Director of Marketing, back when Gun Industry execs actually shot and hunted with the firearms their companies were selling.

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Rock185 said:
Mine is a Remington 660 carbine in .350 Rem. Mag., with a Leupold M8 2x scope. What Col. Cooper called a "Super Scout".
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I've always been an M70 fan, but those 600's and 660's with the dogleg bolt always capture my attention. I need to remedy not having one in my safe. What a great hunter you have there with the 350 Rem Mag, must kick good but great to carry. Who feels the recoil with an animal in the sights anyways?
 
Another early model RGSR here with LER scope. It no longer wears that ridiculous bird cage flash arrestor.
Ruger Gun Site Rifle 200922.jpg



Waaaayyy cool! Well done, sir.
chicharrones said:
My favorite scout styled rifle is my shortened Zastava in .22 WMR, with storage for 18 cartridges in the self-made trapdoor. I went from a red dot, to a 2x scope, to the current 4x Weaver on that Zastava. 4x is well suited to that gun.

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The Ruger 77 GSR is a neat rifle…when you take off the sights, muzzle device, and scope rail to then use the standard rings and mount a conventional scope on it.

Why would you do such a thing? Just buy the standard rifle.

Well, the GSR is the only M77 in 450 Bushmaster. I wonder why they did that?
 
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