Scout rifle

The scout rifle is a general-purpose rifle first conceived by Jeff Cooper in the early 1980s. A lifelong student of small arms, Cooper realized that rifles in the late 20th century differed little from those made one hundred years before, and that advances in metallurgy, optics and plastics could make the rifle a handy, light instrument--"scarcely less handy than a swagger stick."

Drawing inspiration from several sources, specifically the Austrian Mannlicher-Schoenauer carbine[?] of 1903 and the Winchester Model 1894, Cooper defined several distinguishing characteristics of a general-purpose rifle:

• A maximum unloaded weight, with accessories, of 3.5 kilograms, 3kg optimal.
• An overall length of 1 meter.
• A forward-mounted telescopic sight of low magnification, typically 2-3 diameters. This preserves the shooters' peripheral vision, clears the ejection port of the rifle, makes possible the use of stripper clips to reload the rifle, and eliminates any chance of the scope striking one's brow during recoil.
• "Ghost ring" auxiliary iron sights: a rear sight consisting of a receiver-mounted large-aperture thin ring, and typically a square post front sight.
• A "Ching" or "CW" sling. Against common practice, Cooper advocated the use of a sling as a shooting aid. The Ching sling offers the convenience of a carrying strap and the steadiness of a target shooter's sling with the speed of a biathlete's sling. (The CW sling is a simpler version of a Ching sling, consisting of a single strap.)
• A standard chambering of .308 Winchester/7.62mm caliber; 7mm-08 for locales that forbid military chamberings; and .243 Winchester for young or recoil-shy people. Cooper also commissioned "Lion Scout," chambered for the .350 Remington Magnum cartridge.

Other optional features included a retractable bipod, detachable magazines, a butt magazine, and an accessory rail for lights and other attachments.

These features dictated short, thin barrels, synthetic stocks, and bolt actions. Scout rifles were only available from custom gunsmiths until the late 1990s, when Steyr-Mannlicher of Austria began series production of the Steyr Scout, built to Cooper's specifications. A heavy-caliber version, the "Dragoon Scout," chambered for the proprietary .376 Steyr cartridge, as well as 5.56mm caliber versions, are also produced.