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| from Guns & Ammo March 2006 |
Thoughts From The Gunner's Guru -- March 2006
By Col. (Ret.) Jeff Cooper
The Scout Rifle does not need a telescope sight. I used a Scout I extensively in Central America mounting a ghost ring only. The features of the Steyr Scout now offered are primarily mine, except for the superb stock design, which is the result of Zedrosser and Bilgeri at Steyr. This stock is, in my opinion, a triumph--marvelously comfortable for almost everyone. I do not think it needs the optional length of pull. A short stock is no handicap to a man with long arms, whereas a long stock is uncomfortable for a shooter with short arms. I suggest simply abandoning the stock spacers on the Steyr Scout and leaving it short.
What should a young male of 21 know, and what should he be able to do? There are no conclusive answers to those questions, but they are certainly worth asking. A young man should know how this country is run and how it got that way. He should know the Federalist Papers and de Tocqueville, and he should know recent world history. If he does not know what has been tried in the past, he cannot very well avoid those pitfalls as they come up in the future.
A young man should be computer literate and, moreover, should know Hemingway from James Joyce. He should know how to drive a car well--such as is not covered in Driver's Ed. He should know how to fly a light airplane. He should know how to shoot well. He should know elementary geography, both worldwide and local. He should have a cursory knowledge of both zoology and botany. He should know the fundamentals of agriculture and corporate economy. He should be well qualified in armed combat, boxing, wrestling and judo, or its equivalent. He should know how to manage a motorcycle. He should be comfortable in at least one foreign language, more if appropriate to his background. He should be familiar with remedial medicine. These things should be accomplished before a son leaves his father's household.
On his latest adventure, Bob Brown of Soldier of Fortune collected a very nice Alaskan brownie with one shot taken from a shore-skirting skiff at very short range. In the same time frame, though not in the same excursion, his daughter Lindy harvested a very nice barren-ground caribou, also with one shot, from her Mannlicher Scout using the 168-grain Barnes X-bullet. The trophy will not make the record book, but the meat is splendid in steaks, hamburger and sausage. Lindy's shot was taken from braced sitting, using the looped sling, at 125 yards.
Lindy was able to do some fine game spotting in Alaska. She sighted a beluga, a wolverine and a flaming-red fox, which few people have seen. The beluga is the white whale, and pure white he is, though not huge. This one popped out of the icy waters of Prince William Sound just in time for a quick sighting.
Out in the boonies west of Anchorage, Lindy ran onto the wolverine, which is a rare item. I had always thought that wolverines were pure black, but this one showed a good measure of white fur. The wolverine is a notorious camp-wrecker and sometimes takes to tearing up hunting establishments with a will. He is certainly one of the fiercer animals, and though he is not large, he is known to intimidate both wolf packs and bears.
It has been suggested that the reason for the production of the .700 Nitro Express was the unavailability of anything bigger than a .600 Nitro Express. For the same reason, we now have a .50 ACP pistol.
Larry Mudgett, distinguished paladin of the Los Angeles Police Department, has retired from law enforcement and has come to Gunsite as an intermittent staffer. Larry's record is too great to be touched upon in a note, but it has to be said that he understands pistolcraft, both in theory and in practice. Additionally, he is an outstanding teacher. He will be a credit to the enterprise.
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