Purists do get a little carried away sometimes.
There are a few basic characteristics that define a scout. Purist forget that they aren't as rigid as you would think.
Here is the key characteristics
http://www.steyrscout.org/project.htm
And as mentioned above, the forward mounted scope is NOT required to be a "scout".
It is my impression that Cooper felt over all weight, length, accuracy potential, and caliber was much more important to the concept of what made a rifle a "scout" verse just being another rifle.
According to Cooper, there are some good reasons to go with a low powered, forward mounted scope. his arguments for such a setup are worth of consideration.
While the forward mounted scope is an encouraged characteristic/feature, it's not defining one. simply having a forward mounted scope does not make a rifle a scout any more than not having one mean you don't have a scout.
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