{"id":2773,"date":"2020-07-28T08:47:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T08:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/?p=2773"},"modified":"2020-08-05T19:43:42","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T19:43:42","slug":"scout-rifle-2-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/scout-rifle-2-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Scout Rifle 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New Take On The General Purpose Rifle<\/span><\/h1>\n

In Part One of this series<\/span><\/a>, we talked about some of the men who inspired the Scout Rifle. <\/span>In Part Two<\/span><\/a>, we looked at some of the trends in technology that have guided the concept of a general purpose rifle. Now let\u2019s look at today\u2019s gun culture, and see what a general purpose rifle for today\u2019s gun owner might look like.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s begin by talking about what America\u2019s gun owners look like. Over the years, there has been a shift in who is buying guns in the United States. <\/span>The people buying guns these days tend to be more urban than ever before<\/span><\/a>. Women and minorities are buying guns in ever-increasing numbers. In short, we are in the midst of a shift in American gun culture. We are moving from Gun Culture 1.0 to Gun Culture 2.0.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gun Culture 1.0 was all about hunting and the great outdoors. Target shooting, when it happened, was done in the backyard or on public lands. Self-defense was important, but not the #1 reason for owning a gun. <\/span>This is different for Gun Culture 2.0<\/span><\/a>, which places self-defense at the top of the pyramid, followed by competition, training and target shooting. <\/span>Hunting is still a thing for Gun Culture 2.0<\/span><\/a>, but it is way down on the lists of reasons to buy a gun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Given that reality, what would a \u201cdo it all,\u201d general-purpose rifle look like for Gun Culture 2.0? First, it would need to be based on the AR platform. The unparalleled modularity of the AR makes it adaptable to almost any situation, and it has become <\/span>the most-popular rifle in America today<\/span><\/a>. Aside from being a first-rate defensive firearm, AR-patten guns are also used in competition, hunting, and general plinking at the range.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at some of the starting points we have for a general-purpose rifle for Gun Culture 2.0.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Scout Rifle\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

As I said before, I think the scout rifle is a terrific idea, and is perfect of it\u2019s intended uses. However, those uses reflect the priorities of Gun Culture 1.0. When Jeff Cooper first dreamed up the scout rifle, hunting was the main reason why people bought guns. Cooper saw it as a gun that could take just about anything on four (or two) legs. Self-defense was in the mix, but it was meant to be used for one quick, well-aimed shot. Then, the shooter would beat a hasty retreat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In essence, the scout rifle was meant as a gun for the great outdoors. It is not meant to be used in an urban (or even suburban) setting. In addition to this, competition is a priority for Gun Culture 2.0. IPSC, the first nationwide practical shooting match, was created by Jeff Cooper (yep, the same man who invented the scout rifle) as a way to test what defensive gear worked best in something approaching a \u201creal world\u201d scenario<\/a>. Unfortunately, there is no real place for the scout rifle in the competitive shooting sports. It doesn\u2019t have the tack-driving accuracy of a <\/span>precision rifle<\/span><\/a>, and its bolt action and limited capacity make it a poor (very poor) choice for 3 Gun. Let\u2019s look at some other choices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The AR-15<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"AR-15<\/a>

The AR-15 is lightweight and fast, but lacks the power to be a true general purpose rifle<\/p><\/div>\n

At first glance, the AR-15 is the perfect \u201cdo it all\u201d rifle for Gun Culture 2.0. It\u2019s lightweight, and \u00a0a very effective self defense gun. It\u2019s the preferred rifle for 3 Gun competitions and also a fairly decent hunting gun. However, it\u2019s that last point, hunting, where things get a little weird for using the AR-15 as a general purpose rifle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunting may not be the #1 priority for today\u2019s gun owners like it is for Gun Culture 2.0. However, it is still a priority, and the .223\/5.56mm round fired from most AR-15s just does not have the power to ethically harvest most North American game. Yes, .223 can be used for hogs, and it\u2019s also a great cartridge for <\/span>coyotes and other predators.<\/span><\/a> However, it is marginal for deer, and anything larger is just not recommended for .223. There is, however, an alternative that provides a lot of advantages of the AR platform, with a larger, more-powerful round.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Enter the AR-10<\/span><\/h3>\n

In his definitive study on the topic<\/span><\/a>, Richard Mann compared the semi-automatic AR-10 to bolt-action scout rifles, and the AR-10 came out quite well. However, the original definition of a scout rifle was a lightweight, general purpose rifle that could be used world-wide. The AR-10, like pretty much all AR-pattern guns, is a semi-automatic rifle, and such guns are restricted for civilian ownership all over the world. An AR-10 just does not make the cut, if you go by the parameters of the original scout rifle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, as we said before, those parameters reflect the parameters of Gun Culture 1.0. Not only am I not going to Africa to whack a wildebeest, I have no desire to go there because my right to self-defense is so restricted in that continent. A scout rifle for Gun Culture 2.0, therefore, must take into account that self-defense, competition, defensive training and hunting, in that order, and the AR-10 works well for those activities. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But a scout rifle was meant to be a general purpose rifle that worked well in a variety of situations. It also had a specific set of parameters to meet, which were:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n