Of course, a major element was the cartridge for which the scout rifle was chambered. It needed sufficient power and accuracy out to 300 yards, but it also had to be small enough to function through a compact action. And, since a man on a long scouting mission carries all his own ammunition, an adequate supply needs to be light. Dozens of cartridges fit that bill. My own choice would be the .250-3000, but anything from the .243 Winchester to the .308 would do. Cooper himself favored something along the line of the 7mm-08. Today’s darling, the 6.5 Creedmoor, would be ideal.
By 1989, a dozen of Cooper’s admirers had custom rifles in progress, but already he was experiencing a kind of “mission creep.” There was now a formula for a “super scout,” and even plans for a “lion scout.” The latter was a rifle suitable for African hunting—lions in dense brush and so on—and the array of so-called scout cartridges had expanded beyond recognition. The image of a lone scout on a horse had been updated to embrace three men in a Bren-gun carrier, cavorting behind enemy lines, and suitably armed for the purpose.
What happened to Cooper’s scout-rifle idea after that, after it fell into the hands of rifle companies and their marketing departments, is almost an object lesson in how a good idea can be turned by committee into a bad idea—or at least, one that falls far short of the original vision. Everyone, it seemed, had an idea of how to “improve” it, by using magnum cartridges, longer barrels, even bipods. Ever try to fit a rifle with a bipod into a saddle scabbard? Don’t.
Looking back to 1952, 30 years before Cooper floated his idea, Winchester had introduced a rifle that was almost ideal. The original Winchester Model 70 Featherweight, chambered for the .308 Winchester, could hardly have been improved upon. Within a few years, the Featherweight had been so adulterated by chambering it for such cartridges as the .264 Winchester Magnum that it was a travesty. It was abandoned, with shudders, when the Model 70 line was revamped in 1964.
Much the same thing has happened as one company after another has come out with a “scout” model, some proclaiming the blessing either of Cooper or his heirs. Most resemble Cooper’s original vision the way a Humvee resembles a horse.
WHILE I ADMIRE JEFF COOPER’S INTENTION OF CREATING THE IDEAL RIFLE, experience tells me it’s almost a forlorn hope. If there were, say, 10 individual increments required for perfection, even someone having a rifle made to order would be lucky to get 8 out of the 10. And, as Cooper pointed out, getting even one increment wrong can sabotage the whole thing.
Having read and thought about this, off and on, for 35 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that the central problem lies with a couple of almostcontradictions in the specifications he laid out. One is the sighting system, and it’s nearly impossible to grapple with. He wanted the scope forward of the action, partly to accommodate stripper clips. Right there, he is demanding the use of a military action such as the Mauser 98, since no commercial action uses them. Then there is the problem of a highquality, low-power scope with sufficient eye relief, and after that, a mount to put it up on the barrel.
