cluttonfred
Member
Valid points, of course, Bruce, it's your gun. My purpose in citing what I understood to be COL Cooper's definition of a scout rifle was purely to establish a baseline for the discussion.
Personally I am also kicking around ideas for a lower-powered (.30-30, .223, 7.62x39mm, .44 mag or .357 mag) scout-style carbine for short ranges (<300 yards or <200 yards for pistol calibers). It would be a light, handy, rugged and relatively inexpensive general purpose urban/suburban/woods gun with both iron sights and a forward mounted low-power, fixed magnification scope or red dot. The choice of a manual repeater vs. a semi-auto is dictated by cost, reliability and politics, otherwise I'd just get a Mini-14, Mini-30, SKS, Saiga, etc. to go with my M-1 Carbine and be done with it.
Light and cheap ammo is a draw as well--I have my Garand, M1917 Enfield, and Lee-Enfield No. 4 for longer ranges, but ammo is expensive and heavy to carry in any quantity. Such a "baby scout" carbine wouldn't be a "proper" scout rifle but would suffice for 99% of situations in which I can imagine needing a long gun for self-defense.
We have already mentioned some of the candidates in this thread: Ruger American Compact or another economy bolt action (.223), CZ 527 Carbine (.223 or 7.62x39mm), Marlin 336 (.30-30) or a pistol caliber lever-gun, even the Ruger 77/44 or 77/357. So far, no one choice jumps out as ideal: barrel too long, no iron sights, awkward when prone, not my preferred caliber, too expensive, etc. Suggestions welcome!
Personally I am also kicking around ideas for a lower-powered (.30-30, .223, 7.62x39mm, .44 mag or .357 mag) scout-style carbine for short ranges (<300 yards or <200 yards for pistol calibers). It would be a light, handy, rugged and relatively inexpensive general purpose urban/suburban/woods gun with both iron sights and a forward mounted low-power, fixed magnification scope or red dot. The choice of a manual repeater vs. a semi-auto is dictated by cost, reliability and politics, otherwise I'd just get a Mini-14, Mini-30, SKS, Saiga, etc. to go with my M-1 Carbine and be done with it.
Light and cheap ammo is a draw as well--I have my Garand, M1917 Enfield, and Lee-Enfield No. 4 for longer ranges, but ammo is expensive and heavy to carry in any quantity. Such a "baby scout" carbine wouldn't be a "proper" scout rifle but would suffice for 99% of situations in which I can imagine needing a long gun for self-defense.
We have already mentioned some of the candidates in this thread: Ruger American Compact or another economy bolt action (.223), CZ 527 Carbine (.223 or 7.62x39mm), Marlin 336 (.30-30) or a pistol caliber lever-gun, even the Ruger 77/44 or 77/357. So far, no one choice jumps out as ideal: barrel too long, no iron sights, awkward when prone, not my preferred caliber, too expensive, etc. Suggestions welcome!
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