My Ideal Practical Rifle

My ideal practical rifle is a spin-off of a modernized version of Col. Cooper’s classic ‘Scout Rifle’.

A What?

For what that means in detail (and see where the cover photo came from), check out this video:

For what that means simply: A lightweight bolt or lever gun, with red dot or low power variable scope, chambered in a short-action length cartridge, with a sling. This set of guidelines should give the end user a handy rifle that can be carried up & down rough terrain, can take game out to intermediate distances, but remains viable up close. Since this is still a rifle meant to be rolled into a combat usage, detachable box mags are recommended.

My only variation to this setup would be a left-handed action. I shoot long guns off my left shoulder, so getting an action to match is a necessity. I’ve owned bolt guns with normal actions for a long time but they are always awkward and slow in any position beyond prone. Some people have lived with it for decades and have just gotten used to it. Some would even say that they are better off with it than if I were to give them a left-handed action. To them I say this: ‘Bolt guns were developed with the bolt and ejection port on the right side for a reason. It just works better if you’re right handed. If most people were left handed, then that stuff would be on the other side. It isn’t 1955 anymore, I can get guns that are made to be run left handed. I don’t have to fight a backwards system just to get to the level of proficiency that a right-handed shooter can get to in mere minutes, and I don’t intend to.’ This is the same reason I only own left-hand-eject AR uppers. Okay, enough POU discussion. Let’s get down to details.

Parts Breakdown

Rifle action: Left-handed, short-action bolt action of some sort. Probably a Savage, due to their barrel change simplicity, and my deep-seated distaste for Remington. Tikka and Ruger are also acceptable options.

Barrel: 16″ or 16.5″ medium-to-light contour barrel chambered in probably 8.6 Creedmoor, with a barrel twist suitable to stabilizing subsonic projectiles, and a threaded muzzle for suppressor use. I have no idea who would be the manufacturer. If you have suggestions, I’m always open to them.

Stock: No idea. Wood, synthetic, not really sure it matters beyond using detachable box mags. If I get a Tikka action, I may get this kind of stock from the factory, ditto for Ruger. I’m also not above getting something that fits my action and sending it off to be machined for a box mag system. More money, sure, but having a machine that is perfectly set up for you is one of life’s great pleasures.

Magazines: I’d like to say ‘Magpul .308 Pmags’, but I doubt that would be a realistic option. It will more than likely end up being AICS mags. THat’s not necessarily a bad thing, they are the current standard for this style of application, but they are expensive. Magpul does make an AICS-pattern mag that’s more affordable, so there’s that.

Sling: I’ll make that a game-time decision

Optic: Probably a 1-8x low power variable optic (LVPO). I’m not even going to list options, because by the time I need to put glass on this baby the LVPO market will have totally been replaced. What costs $3,000 today may only cost $1,200 by then, so there’s no point in even trying.

Backup Optic: Depending on the scope & mount combo, I may not even worry about this. If I did have glass and rings that I didn’t trust to take a 10 ft fall onto rock and retain zero, I’d just run a red dot in low or medium height rings. Probably a Holosun.

Silencer: This gets tricky. Not only will the market have changed between now & when this project actually gets moving, but I plan to put this in line behind Project Epicyon. That means I’ll have a .460″ rifle-rated (probably) can. Will I really need a .338″ can as well? If I go direct thread, then yes, but if I go with QD muzzle devices then I’d be fine. Of course, switching back and forth may get bothersome, and make logistics more challenging, so I may end up getting something .338-specific anyway. But that’s in the far-future, and I’ll leave those mental logic-loops for my future brain to take care of.

I think that’s it. I believe I have the major components addressed, though if I’ve missed any please let me know in the comments.

Final Thoughts

As I write this, I realize that I haven’t given much thought as to how this gun integrates into my collection with Epicyon in it. Epicyon would be a fast, handy, 8 lb hunting gun with a 16″ barrel in a hard-hitting cartridge. That’s a lot of overlap with my ‘ideal’ hunting rig. I don’t like to have redundancy in my safe, because that’s money spent on not increasing my capabilities. Granted, this ‘ideal’ hunting gun would have double or quadruple the effective range of Epicyon, but I don’t do much hunting as-is and don’t really intend on doing much more in the future.

Maybe I ought to change the caliber from .338-cal to .224-cal and make a varmint rifle? The only hunting I see myself doing much of is either hog hunting or prairie dogs, and the above rifle with a few tweaks would be great for laying waste to a prairie dog town. Change the chambering, lengthen the barrel, add some more magnification…

What do you guys think? Are there some aspects I’ve neglected to consider? Should I just fill my safe with all kinds of bang sticks for the fun of it? Leave me a comment with the word ‘pineapple’ so I know you read the whole thing.

See ya next Friday. -S_S