The Scout Rifle is a class of rifle defined by Jeff Cooper. As a class, it is intended to be the one gun to own, if you can only own one. It is intended to be able to down mid-sized to large game, as well as provide a long range "defense" platform. As an instrument for survival, the Scout Rifle is a basic necessity, providing a means to project force out to a good distance, both for food and as a means to protect yourself. A "proper" Scout will be a bolt action rifle with most or all of the following characteristics:

Additionally, these next few are more negotiable.

Bolt actions are chosen for this application to save weight, and also to help with fire discipline. An excellent way to prevent ammunition wastage is to force the shooter to cycle the action manually, which will lower their rate of fire and at least ameliorate some wastage. A completely non-negotiable characteristic is that the rifle be able to shoot two MOA at two hundred meters, with the iron sights. This gives a group of approximately ten centimeters/four inches at that range. 

Some arms manufacturers have been making rifles of this type, typically designated the (company name) Scout. Some rifles already exist which fit some but not all of the first list of characteristics, and are typically called pseudo-scouts. These include, but are not limited to:

Any bolt-action .308 can be made into a Scout with the addition of parts such as a scope mount, Picatinny rails, iron sights, sling mounts, and other accessories. Feel free to do it yourself


The first in the Survival Nodes series.