Give an American a handy, accurate, magazine-fed bolt gun in a caliber like .308 Win. and he can do many things, including win battles, defend castles, take deer and wild pigs, and have a blast dinging targets nearly as far as he can see. Keep it under $700, too? Mossberg is onto something.
There are essentially three definitions of the scout rifle. First, there’s Col. Jeff Cooper’s definition, which is largely credited for setting the parameters of such a firearm. The popular definition, meanwhile, is any bolt-action rifle with an extended-eye-relief scope. And finally, there’s the definition(s) conjured by everyone else. The Mossberg MVP Scout clearly meets the last two.
The Sharps Rifle Company (SRC) developed the .25-45 Sharps cartridge and introduced it in 2012. Not to be confused with Shiloh Sharps—a company that makes historically correct blackpowder cartridge rifles—SRC is for all practical purposes built around this one cartridge, which is designed to replicate .250 Savage ballistics in an AR-15. Four years after its introduction, most hunters have never heard of the .25-45 Sharps. That’s about to change.
If a new rifle cartridge is not supported by one of the main ammunition manufacturers, it doesn’t seem to get much traction. This is unfortunate, specifically in the case of the .25-45 Sharps, because it provides an easy-to-obtain ballistic advantage over the two most popular AR-15 chamberings: the .223 Rem. and the .300 Blackout.
The Scout Rifle Study, a web-based book written by AmericanHunter.org contributor Richard Mann, has announced a new sweepstakes for its online subscribers, old and new. If you subscribe to the publication before the end of August 2017, you will be entered for a chance to win a Scout Rifle prize package that's valued at more than $1,300.
The new SIG Sauer BDX app/rangefinder/scope system will show you exactly which aiming point to use for a direct hit out to 800 yards. As SIG advertises, just “connect the dot.”