Beyond the Scout Rifle

 

Is it Time to Rethink the General Purpose Rifle?

In 1984, Jeff Cooper wrote that the "purpose of a rifle is to allow the rifleman to strike a decisive blow to the limit of his vision."  He then proceeded to define the "limit of vision" as "the greatest distance at which 20-20 eyes, unaided, can clearly discern the vital zone of the animal engaged."

 

That was his criteria when he set about developing the Scout Rifle concept.  Using that idea is how we ended up with many of the features on the Scout and that goes a long way toward explaining why the scout scope was selected.  Unaided 20-20 vision can see a white target board at something approaching 600 yards.  An elk silhouetted against the sky might have a clearly visible vital zone at 400;  a deer standing in a pasture at noon, maybe 250 and a sika deer in swampy cover maybe 40 yards.  For those targets, at those ranges, a scout scope works quite well.  Not coincidentally, most real-world hunting takes place inside 300 yards and I’d wager to say that East of the Mississippi, probably inside 150. 

 

A scout rifle with a scout scope also works extremely well in a training range setting where the targets are easily visible to the naked eye.  A shooter who understands the scout scope can pull off some amazing feats with a bolt gun and a scout scope.  The scout concept works well in the right circumstances.

 

But is that truly “general purpose?”  Does that really encompass what we expect a rifle to do?  It surely did in the 1980’s but does it still?

 

In the last 10 years, all the energy of the firearms industry has moved toward long range shooting.  The barrels, stocks, optics, mounting systems, gear and accessories, cartridges, bullets and most importantly, the training has advanced by leaps and bounds.  Competition followed this trend.  Everybody, it seems is focused upon developing a better understanding of how to get a bullet on target at longer ranges that we ever imagined.

 

In the not-too-distant past, the 1000 yard shot was viewed as unachievable by the common rifleman.  That was the domain of the sniper and the benchrest shooter.  Today, there are countless training classes and competitions that start at 1000 and go on from there. 

 

Long range shooting, however is a specialty skill.  It was so specialized at the time that it was not included in the realm of things Cooper considered important.  Cooper pointed out that specializing is relatively easy.  Define a goal and develop a solution that achieves that specific goal better than anything else.  What is difficult is generalizing.  Meaning, you find a solution that may not be ideal for any one task, but will work acceptably well for many (or most) tasks. 

 

The Big Issue:

The question becomes, what can we learn from the long range community that we can use to make a GP rifle more general in purpose?  How can we take the scout concept and build upon it to achieve a better general purpose rifle?  We don’t want to lose the handiness that makes the scout so attractive.  We don’t want to sacrifice performance at shorter ranges in order to be effective at longer ranges. The idea is to take the accumulated lessons learned from the long range community and adapt what we can to the general purpose rifle.  

I think it can be done but it takes real effort to not fall into the trap of specializing.  Once you start down a rabbit hole of improving one aspect, it is very easy to forget that the goal is a better overall gun and not a better long range rifle.

 

Here is my plan.  It is a multi-part plan and it starts with equipment but doesn’t end there.  It ends with training and competition to prove the plan.  Let’s start with the equipment though.

 

To begin, I start with a Steyr Scout in .308.  The stock is heavily modified from previous projects.  The full description of how to get a lighter weight stock for a Steyr Scout is described here:  The Three Kilo Scout Rifle.  The bottom line to this is to get rid of the factory bipod on the Scout.  It adds 8 ounces, is bulky, non-adjustable, flimsy and folds the wrong way under load.

The next thing is to figure out a better bipod solution.  You can always just drill a hole in front of the front swivel socket and add a conventional sling swivel post and use that for adding a QD bipod from Harris or any other company.  If you retained the metal UIT rail, it is easy to get an adapter like this one:  https://www.amazon.com/Hammers-Swivel-Adapter-Competition-Anschutz/dp/B083XNN7CR

My rifle has one unique feature and that is I shortened it to 16” and threaded the barrel for a suppressor.  I didn’t want to destroy the handling characteristics of the completed package so I wanted to start out as short and light as possible before adding the suppressor. 

 

I can’t understate how important that suppressor is.  For hunting, it allows me to hear the bullet impact without ringing in my ear.  Beyond that though, it reduces the recoil to a much more manageable level.  Shooting an 8 pound .308 for a few groups isn’t a big deal but all day in training will leave a vicious bruise.  The suppressor turns it into a kitten.  

I have two suppressors and recently discovered that one of them has inconsistent effects on accuracy.  The Silencerco Harvester has been consistently accurate and quiet.  I mean bizarrely quiet.  It also has a built-in muzzle brake which seems to work.  It is long, but light.  At almost 9", it is longer than I'd like but it only adds 11 ounces and that is worth it.  Someday, I may spend the money and upgrade to a Thunder Beast 5" but for now, this will do.

 

Finally, we come to the big decision.  The optic. 

 

My goal was not to find the best long range optic.  It was to find an optic that would be capable of long range shooting without sacrificing what I enjoy so much with the GP rifle.  I know from years of experience and several training classes that the low end of magnification needed to be no more than 3 power and preferably a bit less.  In my experience, 2.5X is the sweet spot for anything out to 100 yards for all practical shooting situations. 

 

The top end needed to be close to 10 power.  The US military M24 sniper rifle between 1988 and 2014 wore a Leupold Mark 4 10X scope so I knew that while more is always better for long shots, long range shooting can be done with 10 power magnification. 

 

I was unconcerned about front focal plane versus second focal plane.  Long range shooters have a real need for FFP, just like they need more than 10 power magnification.  But for snap shots on lower power, FFP has the disadvantage of being more difficult to find in the glass.  A properly designed FFP reticle can overcome this to a degree but I never considered it important to have an FFP scope since my top end magnification would be relatively low.

 

Reticle choice is a big consideration.  I wanted something that had both elevation and windage reference marks.  Most hunting scopes have a simple duplex reticle with neither elevation nor windage reference points.  There are several low power variable optics (LPVO) that have elevation but very few that also have windage marks. They often have a BDC reticle which assumes a specific velocity and bullet profile which is never exactly correct.

 

I also wanted a scope that used MRAD, rather than MOA adjustments and marks on the reticle.  The reason for this is training.  Every trainer I’ve looked at says they don’t care.  They can train in either mode.  If you listen to them however, they universally speak in MRADs.  This is especially true when they discuss wind calls.  When I take a class and go out to learn long range shooting, I want to speak the same language as the instructors and other shooters so I settled on MRAD.  This may not be important to others and may be less important than I imagine but that was my thinking.

(Edit on 10/31/22) Upon discussions with a number of knowledgeable people on this, I think I'm too hung up on MOA versus MRAD.  Yes, most of the long range community uses MRAD but either works just fine.  Any instructor can teach either and there are easy ways to work within the "language" of the shooters using MRAD.  

 

Finally, I wanted to be able to dial elevation in the field.  That means target style turrets.  This isn't hyper critical but for training, I think it will make things easier.  (Edit on 10/31/22)  Capped turrets do have the advantage in hunting scenarios and times when you want to set it and forget it.  

(Edit on 11/4/22) There are a number of scopes that fit some or all of this criteria but not as many as I would have thought.  There are plenty of LPVO’s and lots of long range scopes, but not a lot that split the difference.  There are a number of companies that are using Chinese glass which may or may not be good in the long term.  I have a strong preference for second focal plane scopes so that throws out a number of others.  It really came down to a Leupold Mark 3 3-9X40, the Nightforce NXS 2.5-10X42 or the Nightforce SHV 3-10X42. 

 

I started by ordering the Leupold Mark 3.  I like the weight and the features and it cost considerably less than the Nightforce.  It was advertised as having 36 mils of total internal adjustment.  That should have meant 18 up and 18 down.  It turns out it only has 18 total.  That means 9 up and 9 down.  My rifle and scope (using TPS rings) required that I come up by 4 mils to achieve a 100 yard zero, leaving me only 5 mils of upward adjustability. 

 

I called Leupold and they admitted that their web site is in error.  They said it should show 15 mils of total internal adjustment.  I have no idea why mine was 18 but it was.  They made some generous offers on exchanging it with them but they didn’t have anything else that really fit my criteria.  To get a refund, the best way was to send it back to Optics Planet which is what I did.

 

Since I had already mounted the scope, Optics Planet could only offer store credit which I figured was fair and I accepted that with the intent of buying the NXS scope.  I even sold a rifle in order to afford that upgrade but that didn’t work out either.  They are backordered for months on that scope. 

 

That meant I was down to the Nightforce SHV 3-10X42 which turns out to be a better option than I had originally thought.  This scope has MOA adjustments and reticle but I have since been set straight on this.  It really doesn’t matter.  I’m familiar and comfortable with MOA anyway and I have picked up a few ideas on how to translate between mil and MOA well enough that for my non-specialized uses, this is just fine.

 

The SHV uses the exact same glass as the NXS but they cut a number of corners in terms of features.  The illumination doesn’t switch between red and green.  It doesn’t include a power throw lever.  It has a capped turret which lacks a zero stop but does allow for dialing elevation.  It weighs 2 ounces more. 

 

It also costs $600 less which means for the same money, I can afford 400 rounds of match grade ammo and still have money left over.  I’m also experimenting with a DIY zero stop which will be the subject of future articles if it works. 

 

So far, I really like the SHV.  It was advertised as having 90 MOA of internal adjustment. (45 up and 45 down).  I opened the box and spun the dial.  It actually has 104.  I had to use some of that for sighting in but I still have 46 left.  According to my ballistic calculator, I need 43.4 to reach to 1000 yards which is the absolute extreme edge of that I think this could be capable of. 

 

The package weight is a bit more than I’d like.  Including the scope, sling and bipod, it is 9 pounds, 4.5 ounces.  When hunting here in VA, I’ll leave the bipod off but leave the suppressor on and that brings it down to 8 pounds, 7.4 ounces.  For the curious, removing the suppressor lowers the package to 7 pounds, 11 ounces.  It is still light and handy but not really in the range of a true scout.  

 

Training:

 

I had already decided to take a training class from Bang Steel in Wytheville VA at www.bangsteel.com.  They are relatively close to me and their prices are amazing.  Their web site is great at describing their philosophy.  They say they can take a willing student out to 1000 yards with a common hunting rifle.  That’s the attitude I need.  But then I saw that they have an article on their web site that describes exactly what I’ve been discussing here.  They call it the “Machaira” rifle which is a Greek word for a  short sword or large knife.  Here is a copy from their web site:

 

Looks kinda familiar, doesn’t it?  They are looking at exactly the kind of thing I’ve been describing here.  They didn’t approach it from the perspective of a GP rifle but merely a usable hunting rifle that a person might already have in their closet.  I like it a lot.  I’m looking forward to training with these guys in the spring of 2023.  Here's a link to their site:  http://www.bangsteel.com/philosophy....html

 

Competition:

 

There is one last element to this idea.  That is to test it.  Once I have some training and the DOPE on this rifle, I want to see if I can actually put it to use under pressure.  Range shooting and classes can't duplicate the field conditions like a well designed competition can.  There are a LOT of long range shooting competitions around the country but here on the East coast, most are PRS matches which have a reputation for being a bit… gamey.  I don’t think that’s going to be a good fit for me.  Instead, I’ll be looking at either a Guardian or NRL Hunter match that I can travel to.  I know I will not be “competitive” with the long range specialists, but I want to see if I can engage targets with this package.  That’s down the road a bit but it definitely plays into my plans for this “beyond scout” project.

 

Finally:

This is not a long range specialty rifle.  It isn’t even a long range hunting rifle.  It is also not a scout rifle.  It is a general purpose rifle that takes the concept of  GP out to longer ranges… say 800 to 1000 yards perhaps.  It retains many of the features of the scout rifle and pays homage to its roots. 

Remember the goal:  A better general purpose rifle.  It is not a better long range rifle or a better scout rifle.  It is a rifle that can do more things well than anything else in the industry.  

 

As of this writing, it is untested.  I will be updating this as I progress through training and competitions.  I believe the idea has merit.  I hope that the firearm industry notices things like this and Bang Steel’s Machaira concept.  This needs developed.  I believe this could be the future of the GP rifle.