Винтовка разведчика: концепция и характеристики

Class of general purpose rifles
The scout rifle is a conceptual class of general purpose rifles defined and promoted by Jeff Cooper in the early 1980s that bears similarities in the design and functionality of guide guns, mountain rifles, and other rifle archetypes, but with more emphasis being placed on comfortable portability and practical accuracy, rather than firepower and long range shooting. Scout rifles are typically bolt action carbines chambered for .308 Winchester/7.62×51mm, with an overall length of no more than , with a barrel of or shorter, and less than in weight, with both iron and optical sights and fitted with practical slings (such as Ching slings) for shooting and carrying, and capable of reliably hitting man sized targets out to without telescopic sights. Typically they employ forward mounted, low power long eye relief (LER) scopes or iron sights to afford easy access to the top of the rifle action for rapid manual reloading. Cooper was personally involved with the design work on the Steyr Scout, while other gun manufacturers including Ruger and Savage have since also designed rifles that roughly match Cooper's specifications. Cooper realized that rifles in the late 20th century differed little from those used by celebrated scouts such as Maj. Frederick Russell Burnham one hundred years before, and that advances in metallurgy, optics, and plastics could make the rifle a handy, light instrument "that will do a great many things equally well ". Cooper's scout rifle concept was largely influenced by the exploits of the scout Burnham in the Western United States and Africa and as such it is best suited to a man operating either alone or in a two or three man team. "The general purpose rifle will do equally well for all but specialized hunting, as well as for fighting; thus it must be powerful enough to kill any living target of reasonable size. If you insist upon a definition of 'reasonable size', let us introduce an arbitrary mass figure of about ." In 1983 a conference was convened at the Cooper's Gunsite Training Center in Arizona to examine the subject of the modernization of rifle design. The members of the conference included gunsmiths, stocksmiths, journalists, marksmanship instructors, inventors and hunters. It was called the 'First Scout Rifle Conference'. A second conference was held in October 1984.

Although it is unusual in appearance and design when compared to traditional rifles, the features which set the scout rifle apart were selected for utility rather than appearance. The scope sight is mounted on the barrel both for stability, and some claim it also allows faster acquisition of the sighting line when the rifle is brought to the shoulder. It also keeps the breech and ejection port of the weapon clear of obstruction, allowing rapid top loading of cartridges and clearance of jams or other obstructions. Being slightly shorter than most full caliber rifles increases the muzzle blast from a scout rifle, and being lightweight increases the felt recoil (to a significant level in the Steyr Dragoon Scout due to its .376 Steyr cartridge). Even the recoil of the .308 Winchester in a scout was described as feeling like a .300 Winchester Magnum by Gun Tests. Should the scope be damaged, it can be rapidly removed and the ghost ring sight used.

For many years scout rifles were only available from custom gunsmiths. However, a number of manufacturers build scout rifles close to Cooper's specifications.

The version considered by some to be the benchmark is the Steyr Scout. In 1998, Steyr–Mannlicher of Austria began series production of the Steyr Scout, which is also known as the Mannlicher Scout. Jeff Cooper spent many years of reflection and working with Steyr before they began production built to the specifications developed. A heavy caliber version is chambered for the proprietary .376 Steyr cartridge, but exceeds (by approximately one inch) the overall length limit of the scout rifle specification. This version carries four rounds in the magazine, compared to five in the standard Steyr Scout. A version is also produced in the 5.56×45mm/.223 Remington round used in various current military carbines. The Steyr Scout features an integral bipod, as well as storage for a spare, loaded magazine. The rifle is also designed to allow either single shot, manually loaded fire or normal magazine feeding.

Savage Arms offered the Model 10FCM Scout with their adjustable AccuTrigger (allowing the owner to safely adjust trigger pull weight to anywhere between without the need of a gunsmith), black synthetic AccuStock with aluminum spine and three dimensional bedding cradle, a free floating button rifled barrel, oversized bolt knob for rapid manipulation of the bolt, ghost ring rear sight, forward scope mount, and detachable 4 round box magazine in either .308 Winchester or 7.62×39mm with a total weight of and an overall length of It was discontinued in 2014. Savage re introduced their Scout as the 11 Scout in 2015 and improved it by adding a 3rd sling swivel, butt spacers and an adjustable cheek piece to a "natural" colored stock. For 2018, the rifle was again refreshed to incorporate the "Accu Fit" system as well as abandoning the proprietary magazine of the earlier models in favor of an Accuracy International AICS magazine, which provides greater compatibility across brands.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. offered several M77 Mark II Frontier rifles in stainless steel in various chamberings from varmint to heavy game all featuring a non rotating, Mauser type controlled feed extractor and a fixed blade type ejector. In a review of a 7mm 08 Frontier Model 77, John Taffin, wrote, "If it is possible to love an inanimate object such as a rifle, I am definitely in love. This Model 77 Mk II Frontier is everything I had been looking for in a lightweight, compact, easy to carry 7 08mm bolt action rifle and more."

In 2011, Ruger introduced the Ruger Gunsite Scout, a re designed scout rifle based on their Model 77 action and developed with Gunsite Training Center. The new rifle debuted at the 2011 SHOT show bearing the adopted name "Gunsite Scout Rifle" mounted on the grip cap.

At the 2015 SHOT Show, O. F. Mossberg & Sons introduced a scout rifle based on their MVP platform. The Mossberg MVP Scout was originally offered in both 5.56x45mm and .308 Winchester chamberings (though by 2020, the 5.56mm variant was no longer listed on Mossberg's website). The MVP platform is notable for being designed to feed from either AR 15 compatible STANAG magazines (in the 5.56mm variant) or AR 10 and M1A/M14 compatible magazines (in the .308 variant). The MVP Scout features a synthetic matte black receiver, a medium threaded bull barrel that comes stock with an A2 style flash hider, an extended Picatinny rail as well as a ghost ring rear sight and fiber optic front sight. The .308 caliber MVP Scout weights .

Scout variant of Howa Model 1500. Comes with threaded barrel and available in .308 Winchester only.