Scout rifle, circa 2016

[Sensei]

Current production .308 Winchester Unique Alpine AG Kodiak Scout JPR-1 rifle, AICS magazine system, controlled-feed bolt, controlled ejection and three-position safety.

Attachment 110637

Unfortunately, I do not believe that UA has a presence in the US. Here is a post from a couple of years ago on a different forum that explains the rationale behind the rifle:

Hello All!

And thank you for discussing our products in this wonderful forum, upfront please apologize for our bad English skills and let me introduce ourselves, we are the Unique Alpine Team from Bavaria.

Unique Alpine is probably more known for its modular high precision rifles like the TPG-3 a high-end tool used by special forces.
In 2018 our Team here at Unique Alpine decided to offer our knowledge and expertise also to other markets, so we started to design two new lines in our portfolio, the JPR-1 line (Jagd-Präzisions-Repetierer meaning in English “Precision-Hunting-Repeater”) and the UPG-1 line (Univeral-Präzisions-Gewehr meaning in English “Universal-Precision-Rifle”)

Today, unfortunately we are not present in the United States (believe us, we are most sorry for that) but we are working hard to start serving and supporting the community of hunters, rifle enthusiasts, sportsman and professionals within the United States. Just give us a little time, since it is not easy to find the right approach to start a company within the US as we are only a midsized company with 40 employees highly dedicated to quality and precision manufacturing.

Saying this we were really surprised that we found this blog, where our products are discussed, so we thought, well why not tell you folks a little bit about our stuff that we produce and explain why it looks the way it looks and why we call it “Scout”.

We are aware about Jeff Cooper’s definition about a Scout Rifle and what his great ideas behind it were. Meaning, we do know that our two models, the “Kodiak” or in this case the “Kodiak Scout” as well the “Nordland Scout” are not really 100% according Jeff Cooper’s Scout Rifles defining characteristics. Well, we are less than 40 inches, we do have detachable box type magazines (AICS standard) with a 10rd capacity (or 5rd flush fit) but we are with 7,9 pounds a little over weight and maybe we could put also the 1913 Milspec rail slightly lower for a scout scope. But with our heavy weight 16.5inch barrel with a “SUB MOA” guarantee, we may outperform many others, which might be closer to the original Scout specs.
But all this deviation of the “Real Stuff” can be explained.

So, let me start, since we are from Bavaria, we not only like our beer, we also like our rifles (both might be nowadays not anymore politically correct, but in Bavaria we don’t care about it), that is why we put a lot of thought in our products and the “Kodiak” was designed with the Canadian Mounted Police Solicitation in mind. That is why you see a lot of the features integrated in this rifle (Heavy Barrel, Laminated Wood Stock, Open Sights, etc.) so one of your fellows (donwin) was not so far out with what he was guessing, even if we did not submit the rifle to the solicitation.

But why we call it a “Kodiak Scout” and put a rail on it? Here the answer, the rail here in Bavaria is not used for a “Scout Scope” it is primarily to mount a night vision or thermal device in front of the rifle scope. So, while on one hand you will find a lot of the features described in the scout rifle characteristics by Jeff Cooper, we deviated from some features to be able to match with some specific need here in Bavaria and Europe.

Speaking about the “Nordland” it is pretty much the same, we are using here the stock of a very good friend, Oscar Haugen, a passionate hunter and the CEO of GRS Stock from Norway, so we using here the outstanding knowledge of ergonomics and combine it with unmatched precision and hold it pretty open with a long rail (1913 MilSpec) interface to adapt any scope and Night Vision Device on it.

We hope that this could explain a little, so let us apologize for the confusion.

However, as long we are not physically over in the United States, everyone is more than invited to visit our Homepage www.unique-alpine.com, we are more than happy and glad to hear your comments on our products, who knows maybe we should start a new project of a 100% Scout Rifle according the characteristics set by Jeff Cooper, meaning every input is always highly welcome!

And hopefully see you soon in the US.

Best Regards and stay healthy!

Your Unique Alpine Team

[Rex G]

Interesting! Thanks for the heads-up. Not sure I can justify paying a Steyr level of money, this late in life, but, I might be able to down-size enough firearms to make this happen.

Edited to add: No worries; I am not dying. Just old enough to have too many firearms, few are which are fun to shoot, anymore.

I really should keep telling myself that my two Browning BLR Takedown rifles, one blued and one stainless, are as as “scout” as I will ever need. Notably, I have yet to mount an optic or scout scope on either one, largely because I like the BLR rear sight, which must be sacrificed to enable installing the forward optic/scope mount. (When I go into the field/woods, it is thick SE Texas vegetation, which is why my default long gun has long been a shotgun.) I might well, instead, experiment with mounting the optic on the receiver, which enables leaving the irons in place.

[308Rifle]

I also agree about Cooper wanting to force things. I paid too much attention to him in the 80s and 90s but over time I realized he was trying to insist that certain things were black and white when the truth was more nuanced. The letters that I exchanged him about the Scout and rifles in general only reminded me of this.

So that you know where I come from...

The specs/concepts that make up the Scout Rifle are Cooper's creation. When someone creates something there is a certain amount of respect due for their efforts and creation. When someone does something like toss a forward mounted scope on a Mosin and calls it "their scout rifle"... nope sorry. That is no different than taking a Honda CR-X del sol and slapping some Ferrari decals on it and trying to claim that is "their" Ferrari 308. No one rightly takes you seriously and looks at you a little funny. So, if someone wants a Scout Rifle they should buy a Steyer, OR make an actual attempt to understand the concept, what Cooper was going for, and respect the concept/creation and try and actually build something actually close. So, the first point is respecting the creation. The second, if you don't actually have something truly close how can you honestly evaluate and speak to authoritatively. Right or wrong, Cooper based his concept on a whole lot more thought and personal field experience (key word there is personal, so representative of a sample of one) than anyone one of us probably have. Yet, it was those singular experiences that shaped the choices and thoughts he had for the Scout Rifle concept.

Whether he intended to or not, what he left us was more a concept and less a recipe. But a concept with some boundaries that because they are part of his creation, we should respect. BUT that still leaves a lot of wiggle room in implementing a Scout Rifle build.

Like most, I was initially influenced by Cooper's writings about the Scout Rifle. But shamefully, it wasn't until I started following Richard Mann's writings that I was able to let go of the idea that Cooper gave us a recipe, when what he really gave us was a concept.

When I had a Scout, I spent a lot of time on exercises like Snaps, Rifle Bounce, and Rifle 10. Afterwards, I got a pre-64 Model 70 in 308 in a Pacific Research stock with a 4x Leupold. My scores were much the same with both rifles, and I killed blacktails with the Winchester like was a death ray. Going through 500 rounds of FMJ ball each summer getting ready for deer season and the fact that it fit me especially well were likely the reasons, not the optics.

This January, I shot Snaps for the first time in about a year. I used a Model 70 in 30-06 and the Nightforce SHV. I was shooting at 100 yards, and I averaged 2-3 seconds per shot with groups just over 10”--ragged but acceptable. Oddly enough, I started with the scope at 3x but shot better and more quickly with it at 5x. These may not be proper snap shots—I think you’re supposed to keep both eyes open—but if not, then they’re close.

This July, I shot Snaps for the first time since then. I used a Remington 700 Youth model in 308 with a 4-5 pound trigger and 4x Leupold, and a 22” Remington 700 in a Bell & Carlson stock with a 1-4 Trijicon Credo and a 2-pound trigger. Neither makes weight. Groups with both were acceptable and about the same size, but the Credo was hopeless at 1x so I cranked it up to 4x. At 25 yards, I averaged 1.52 seconds with the Youth model and 1.86 with the 22” rifle.

Again, these may not be proper snap shots, but I suspect that they’re close. Even from the grave, the Colonel may be trying to force us to shoot Snaps his way.

So now that you know where I came from and where I am at today (I have had my Steyr over 10 years now), take the snapshot and scout scope. My understanding is he wanted a sighting system that was more efficient and quicker to use than irons, accurate, and aided the person with 20/20 vision to hit their target at ranges they could see without vision correction. By forward mounting the scope you could get better situational awareness, and if built right the cross hair would "float out there" and the scope housing would effectively "disappear". (Note, being able to load via stripper clips was NOT a factor in the wanting a forward mounting scope). He also didn't trust the scopes of his day, he felt they were too fragile. So, by focusing on distances a person with 20/20 uncorrected vision could see targets and hit them, he did away with the need to have significant magnification, which he appeared to consider the "Achilles heel' of scopes. He appeared to view fixed, low power scopes within this context to be sufficient and more reliable. Based on his writings, it wasn't until the mid 90s I believe that it was brought to his attention the low light issue. Again, based on his writing he does not appear to have a hunting style that would require taking into account low light. Otherwise, he would have talked about in the first couple decades of writing about the scout rifle. And since he didn't dwell on it and harp on it after it was brought to his attention the way he did about wanting a left-handed Steyr, I have to wonder how important he considered the issue? Given the Scout is supposed to be GP rifle, it does seem to be an important issue address. The Leupold VX-R Scout scope moved the goal post on this, not enough people apparently noticed, and the scope is now discontinued.

The snapshot appears to be influenced by his dangerous game hunting and wanting to be able to take that quick shot when the deer jumps up right in front of you.

(Okie, I figure you likely know all this already, but just in case someone else does not....)

Which brings me to your comments about your snapshot shooting and a more traditional scope. Since I have started (actually a lot longer than that implies) thinking more in terms of principles, and less a literal recipe. IF you are trying to build a Scout Rifle, and for any number of reasons a forward mounted scope isn't working for you (me it was lack of focus adjustments, which I need because my shooting eye is NOT 20/20 anymore) BUT you find an LPVO or traditional scope which are designed such that you can still meet the principles that he was going for with the forward mounted scout scope, why not use it. You don't lose anything, and you stay within the concept.

Most LPVO and traditional scopes won't be able to do this, but there are exceptions. Remember, general purpose rifle, if you are literally limited to the forward mounted scope how "general" is the rifle? Of course, by the same token if you aren't learning to use/understand the forward mounted scope...how "general" is the rifle? But it is also fair to say the options available make it hard to take advantage what a forward mounted scope has to offer, IF build correctly and with quality materials. I was literally on the path to LPVOs and ditch the forward mounted scope until I got my hands on a VX-R. If the VX-R was the standard by which we measured a forward mounted scope these discussions would be a lot different. There would still be those that don't get it, doesn't work for them etc. But they would for sure be different.

I also wrote to Finn Aagaard. He reminded me that while Cooper publicly championed the “true” Scout, the one he had built for his daughter was a 30-06 and about half a pound overweight. He also told me that the winner of each class shoot-off usually used a sporter with the scope in the conventional position. So, there’s that…

Interestingly, despite being the creator of the concept, and its most vocal champion... Richard Mann in researching his book on the Scout Rifle found ZERO evidence that Cooper himself ever had a "pure scout" built to his desired ideal recipe, and like the vast majority of us the closest he ever got was also the Steyr.

[okie john]

In the early 90s, I worked with a guy who had a Mosin with a Scout scope. He hated that I called it the “Club Scout,” but the name stuck.

My Scout was a 30-06 on a commercial 98. It had an 18” barrel, peep sights, 12” LOP, a properly mounted 2.75x Burris Scout scope, Ching sling, Timney trigger, and a camo paint job like Sweetheart’s. I even had it milled for clip slots. It was a bit overweight, remarkably accurate, and easy to use quickly. These days, I use a Remington 700 Youth model in 308. It has a 20” barrel, a 13” LOP, and a 4x Leupold that I’ll probably replace with a Trijicon 1-4 after bear season. It’s 39” long and weighs 7.5 lbs. (3.4 kg) with the sling. It’s missing a couple of things like the detachable magazine and bipod, but I’m north of 60 and since the perfect forward-mounted scope doesn’t exist, I’m going to spend my remaining years hunting this one as-is.

Interestingly, despite being the creator of the concept, and its most vocal champion... Richard Mann in researching his book on the Scout Rifle found ZERO evidence that Cooper himself ever had a "pure scout" built to his desired ideal recipe, and like the vast majority of us the closest he ever got was also the Steyr.

I had never thought of it in those terms. That must have been frustrating.


Okie John