"I was very interested to hear the group explored the Krag action. I love my Krag Not-Scout. If only those damned Norwegians had designed a stronger bolt...."
Precisely. The Krag was one of the rifles that was so.. right... for so many reasons for adaptation to a Scout. Magazine cutoff, abilty to be topped off in the easiest way imaginable, smooth bolt.. the works. The side loading feature was universally well liked. I had a cut down rifle that had been made into a carbine that we shot and studied. I liked enough that I had a personal deer rifle made from it, with a full length Manlicher stock, ghost ring rear sight, and three flush mounted Pachmeyer sling studs for a Ching Sling. Obviously I drew portions of the Scout into this rifle, which is another keystone in my rack. I'll drag it out for photos later. "If only" it had been suitable for .308... if only... <sigh>...
The "I have a car" comment is interesting, and assumes that we drive home after each day or three out hunting. In my "big years" of hunting I traveled around from Florida to Canada and west to Colorado and up to Alaska in my Cessna 310, limited in weight capacity, and always packed with camping and hunting gear to the gills. I would go out on a six month trip, hunting and shooting in a wide range of environments and for a wide range of game. One handgun, one rifle. The Scout did exactly what it was designed to do, and that was to be a reasonable compromise when it was not the perfect tool, noting that very very often it was not a compromise at all. Yeah, shooting Prarie Dogs wasn't it's forte but then again... well, it stiff connected with plenty and we enjoyed much amusement doing so.
The Scout never had any military use seriously envisioned, no matter how articulate the attempt to use what I've written to say otherwise. It was and is a modern version of a foragers and woodsmans rifle, great at some things, adequate at others, and very rarely inadequate at anything. Cooper, like most of us, were and are hunters, not soldiers. The concept was optimized to suit us. The mission was what we wanted, and we wanted a generally universal rifle for uses exactly like my 6 month Cessna-Safari's. I dunno what else to say.
"I wasn't "there", but I was out here, along with many others, reading what the Col. wrote about his concept of the Scout rifle. The idea I got was not mid 1800s, but mid to late 1700s. As I read, lurking between the lines he wrote were the Minutemen. and the type of rifle they had—a personally owned, rifle, generally suited for hunting most types of game, but with military usefulness if circumstances necessitated such use. I never got the idea that Cooper envisioned civilians in anything other than a guerrilla role, like the Minutemen, sniping from cover, hitting and running. And his idea of the Scout rifle was what he thought was the kind of hunting rifle best suited to that role."
I can't really disagree with anything in this well written post other than to say that while suitable for the "Minuteman Role", as described above, it was never *seriously* thought to be anything other than paying some homage to that concept. Of course we all have this shadow of the ultimate use of our RKBA hovering over us, as it's part of our culture. Heck, I still have our family musket famously used by great-great-great grandpappy to shoot a redcoat at the Battle of Brandywine. With all of that recognized, we certainly were not building a rifle optimized for civil conflict, but certainly a rifle built as a Scout would be useful in that role as well. Hunting deer and hunting men in assymetric warfare look suspiciously the same when viewed clinically. There will always be a fair overlap in the tools selected for either.
Art, I bet that little Sako is a dream to shoot. Lovely things. Several were built into "Honest Scouts" with huge success.
Please smile as you read the following. It's truly intended in the spirit of getting a smile, OK?
Trust me? Humor mode engaged?
I've been competing in practical precision / field / sniper and F-class matches....
<yawns... lymbic system active... stretches... blood pressure rises... man contemplates beating chest>.. It's... coming... out.... Oh NO!! I must... suppress monkey... brain... response..... OK...... trying... Damn it, I hate it when this happens.... (sigh)... must it always end in violence?
Oh NO! It's happened... the inevitable "my chest beating is more manly than yours" moment in all debates...
<Enter chest-beating Monkey Brain mode for ten seconds>.
Youngster, I was shooting IPSC when Cooper had hair and we shot from concealment under sports-coats. I've been engaged in playing the adversary in air-to-air combat excercises flying real Russian MiGs for decades and can use a NR-23 or NS-37mm automatic cannon in a MiG to shred a towed target dart any day of the week. Know what? Neither those things nor shooting your target-range competitions has diddly squat to do with the concept of actually using the utility of a Scout Rifle as a practical field rifle for general purpose hunting of
live animals in the 200 kilo class, so let's keep the chest beating to a minimum, preferably zero. Deal?
<monkey brain mode off, re-enter genteel diplomatic debate mode now>
It's not a contest in chest beating. Please don't make it one. I can't hit squat at 1400 yards. You're apparently not a hunter. Let's appreciate each others expertise.
"Why does the "Scout Rifle" cause agitation in some people?"
For some it's probably insecurity (no matter what side you take). For me, it's just rejection of simple misuse of the term. It's like calling a Springfield 03 a Mauser (and yes, I *know* that a Springfield is a Mauser derivitive). Look: I love all sorts of good firearms, not supposing any particular category to be "superior" to others. I posess English and German double rifles, love my Krag, have a definitive collection of AK's, over 100 Mauser 98's, a reasonable collection (about 30) of semi-auto military battle rifles built between 1935 and 1965, a sub-collection of military sniper rifles from 1940 to 1960, AR's & SIGS out the kazoo, fine sporting rifles by the dozen, as well as about 50 Cap & Ball pistols which I shoot with glee.
I appreciate ALL good firearms design. I just don't call a revolver a pistol, a Springfield a Mauser, or a magazine a clip. Neither do I diminish the term "Scout" by applying it to things that are not. Perhaps it's pride in having played a small part in it's development, and the desire to preserve its heritage.
I hope I've made you think. And laugh a bit. I hate it when the monkey rises in the throat...
Willie
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