The Scout Rifle

Discussion in 'EXPAT Knives®' started by Expat, Sep 12, 2016.

  1. Expat

    Expat Expat™ Knives Staff Member

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    I have no experience with elk or the Nosler but I’m a huge fan of the 165 Gamekings! And the matchkings for the range.
     
  2. JMick

    JMick Member

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    A friend of mine's parents live near Sedalia, Missouri, and when he goes back there he swings by Sierra and picks up factory seconds. I got 400 Game Kings for $40. I can't really tell why they are seconds other than I found one with a little lead smear.
    As a quick experiment I just went out and weighed a sample of 10: 2@163.0 g, 4@164.0 g and the remaining 4 were between that.
    I haven't noticed a difference, maybe if I shot little tiny groups at 1000 yards.
     
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  3. JMick

    JMick Member

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    Oh, I forgot, I quartered out and got the tenderloins, backstraps, neck roasts and all the other bits with my ESEE3
     
  4. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    Just got me one, no pics yet. Gonna run it with iron sights for now. However, I do have my CZ 527 for close range, so maybe in time, I'll decide to put a scope on it.
     
  5. JMick

    JMick Member

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    Which one did you get?
     
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  6. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    Ruger GSR.
     
  7. Odinborn

    Odinborn Member

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  8. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    .308
     
  9. JMick

    JMick Member

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    A Rifleman Went to War - Herbert W. McBride

    I recently read Herbert W. McBride's (1873-1933) A Rifleman Went to War and recognized it later echoing in Col. Jeff Cooper's (1920-2006) works.

    In TeeJaw's blog entry http://teejaw.com/herbert-w-mcbride-1873-1933/ he wrote:

    In 1987 Jeff Cooper (1920-2006) had this to say about Herbert W. McBride in the prologue to a reprint of the book:

    As a young marine I read McBride carefully and enthusiatically, and I learned more about my business from his work than from any other single source. I hope it is not true that I got all my ideas about fighting from him, as has been suggested, but I certainly got of lot of them.

    Times change, and weapons change, and the human spirit seems to lose its luster, but there will always be stout-hearted men on whom Herbert McBride’s story will not be wasted!


    From McBride's book:

    • "Argue all you want about ballistics but what a man needs when he gets into a fight is a short "handy" weapon - something with which he can take a hasty snap shot at a target that only shows for a fraction of a second and then disappears. And he wants a sight that you can look through - not for"
    • "This is just a preliminary to the general attack, which will be directed against the proposal to arm each and every infantry soldier with an automatic or semi-automatic rifle. Up to date, no soldier has been able to carry enough ammunition to take him through a day's fighting-that is, in a real battle. They say they will reduce the calibre and thus reduce the weight of the ammunition. Yeah? How much can you reduce it? You can probably cut it down from say, ten pounds to eight or, to make it more plain, by reducing he caliber from thirty to twenty-six (and keep the same velocities) you will have made a reduction such as many have represented by the difference between sixty and fifty-two or thereabouts. Let the school-boys figure out the percentage; it is not worth while."
    • Out of every hundred men in the infantry, perhaps ten are really qualified to rate as riflemen. And you cannot make these riflemen by merely designating them by name and number in orders from headquarters. They must have learned the game by long months of practice and experiment. If, in addition to thorough range training, they had the experience of hunting big game - especially goats and sheep - so much the better ; lacking that, if they have devoted much time to the pursuit of the festive woodchuck in the East or Coyote in the West, they will be well prepared for the final course of instruction which, as mentioned before is actual war experience."
    • It is a common but erroneous belief that the only necessary qualification for a sniper is to be able to shoot accurately. As a matter of fact that is only half of it - perhaps less than half. I have known, and know now, many expert riflemen who would be of little or no use in a war- at least not without a lot of additional training and experience.
    • Any shots fired into or near where you expect a target to appear can only result in greater wariness and hesitation being shown by the occupants of that place. Don't give your position away either by careless actions or promiscuous shooting. Targets will be scarce enough anyhow - make every opportunity count.
    • Next to accuracy, the most essential quality possessed by our sniper is the ability to get of his shot quickly. By this statement I do not mean the skill necessary to make a good "rapid fire" score such as we practice here in the United States, but have in mind the ability to "snap shoot" as practiced by the skilled Deer stalker hunting in thick woods.
    • I would say that the rifleshot who can't locate his target, get aligned on it, and let the shot off in less than ten seconds will prove a hopeless case. Ten seconds is much more time than will often be given, and our prospective sniper had better try to reach the point where he can aim and shoot within three seconds - which can readily be done where the range is not too long.
    • Any sort of target is generally hard to find, and once found, the cardinal rule is to keep your eye on it until it is shot or else ducks out of sight.
    • For effective use as a rifle in battle, the arm must be just as compact and "handy" as it is possible to make it and still retain accuracy and the punch. It is probably not possible to build a high power, bolt-action rifle that would be has handy as the little 30/30 carbine or "saddle gun," but that is my idea of what a handy rifle should be.
    • Whether or not the sniper can get away with the job of handling a rifle equipped with a telescope sight in battle is a question for the future. I have never heard that it had been successfully accomplished. The fact is that the rifleman has to squirm and crawl through every little hole he can find; often through deep mud and water, over rocks and through brush. It is a sure thing he will have "one hell of a job" to keep the scope from being broken or so badly disarranged as to make it useless.
    • The scope would certainly be a great help in picking out obscure targets if could be taken along.
    • Unless the rifleman has learned, in addition to his ability to hit a clearly visible target and an approximately known range, how to take advantage of all the available protective cover, he is surely out of luck (SOL, in short). it is up to him, personally and individually, for the protection of his own hide, to be able to locate the enemy and place himself in a position where he can deliver effective fire upon said enemy.
    • The net result of my observations, for practical purposes, may be reduced to a single remark: That men behaved well in proportion to as they felt themselves equal to the occasion - again, the rifleman. The Man who knows he can shoot and hit will get himself out of a bad hole.
    This book gets my highest recommendation.

    [​IMG]

    Herbert W. McBride


    Credit to http://onerifle.blogspot.com/
     
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  10. KMCMICHAEL

    KMCMICHAEL Member

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    Great book.
     
  11. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Are scout rifles still a thing or has the romance faded? I see a few for sale in the FSOT threads now.
     
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  12. Rick R

    Rick R Member

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    I think they are still well liked by those that took the time to learn how to drive one. The pseudo scouts muddy the water and are chock full of compromises. The only “true” scout rifle to the devout is the Steyr and they are too expensive for my budget. The true believers would counter that you only need the one rifle. I’m happy with my Ruger GSR. It’s compact, accurate and operates like my other Rugers,Winchesters and custom Mausers (I’m not willing to thin the herd).
     
  13. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    I think it depends on if people are followers of "scout rifle" philosophy per se or just appreciate a handy, reliable rifle (I feel like that's where they overlap). I feel like some people jumped on the "scout rifle" bandwagon and just now realizing that it's not for them. I don't plan on using my GSR is a gunfight, if there is one. I just appreciate it for its versatility and handling.
    I may or may not sell it, but if I do, it will be because I use my CZ 527 a lot more often.
     
  14. KMCMICHAEL

    KMCMICHAEL Member

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    My interest died around 1993. I made one from a Mauser with a new step barrel in .308. In fairness, it weighed too much but I saw no increase in target acquisition speed as touted by MR. Cooper.

    I also have a 7.62x39 CZ527 with QD mounts that would fill the same purpose and a lightweight Savage in 6.5 Creedmoor.
     
  15. Paycheck

    Paycheck Member

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    Got a little makeover on my scout.
    NECG peep sight and Boyds stock.
    0331191739.jpg
     
  16. Backwoods Runner

    Backwoods Runner Member

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    Been going through my collection lately and prioritizing, haven't shot my scout in 6 months and took it out to mess with a little bit. I have thought about selling it a fair bit but then I realize it truely is a do all rifle in a very popular caliber (.308). Only issue I noticed is my scope (Leopold 2.5 fixed scout) has a very faint rattle in it, rifle has never been dropped and I followed the mounting instructions... Planning to shoot it and check the zero, might have to give Leopold a call....
     
  17. OfficerLucky

    OfficerLucky Member

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    B2676913-A02B-4690-9B13-CC05B272880B.jpeg Ten shot string I did a while ago. Hand loaded Sierra gamekings
     
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  18. Backwoods Runner

    Backwoods Runner Member

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    What do you guys shoot for factory plinking rounds in your .308 GSRs? I am not set up to reload regularly and would like to start doing some of the drills posted a few pages back. I have had good luck with PPU stuff in 6.5x55 and was wondering about their .308 165 grain soft points, I can get them for 12 dollars a box, any other ideas?
     
  19. Expat

    Expat Expat™ Knives Staff Member

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    I use nothing but sterling silver bullets, never-used brass, hand loaded by virgins and polished to a glistening sheen using mermaid tear-infused unicorn chamois.

    After all, train like you fight!
     
  20. STPNWLF

    STPNWLF Member

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    o_O:rolleyes:
     
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