Second, how utterly cool is this? I’ve seen a few prepackaged survival kits from the Cold War but I’ve never seen one packaged in a tin like this. I can’t help but think that tin was the plastic 5-gallon-bucket of its day. Fascinating.
And speaking of other cool things, I found this on a Tumblr link:
Is that gorgeous or what? I have a Ruger Scout Rifle with a stock that is eerily identical to that. I’m not sure about the practicality of the Scout Rifle, but I admire the logic that goes into making the gear selections necessary to meet the ‘Scout’ guidelines. The SMLE is an interesting choice, but offers pretty much everything you need…magazine fed, stripper clip guide, rugged action, etc. The cartridge is a tad funky, but if that’s a deal breaker there are always Ishapore .308’s to use as a platform. Really, though, I have a Scout Rifle and I just can’t really put my finger on what I would use it for.
Love the rifles. A competitively-priced alternative is the CZ 550 in .308win. Comes with nice iron sights & takes 5 & 10-round (staggered) detachable magazines.
http://Www.civildefensemuseum.com
Third times the trick LOL
If you read Zero long enough you would know just how awesome he and his CZ is. Ma Bell has nothing on him. Reach out and touch someone indeed. NOG
If you like “scout rifle” types, I feel that the lowly SKS is a good pick. Especially the Paratrooper shorties. The round works quite well, and is quite cheap. The Chinese SKS is a pretty good rifle, Initial cost is reasonable too. This deserves some looking at.
The SKS fails on several counts: Cooper’s requirements were that the caliber be .308 Win. The .303 Brit. can at least be loaded up to give .308-ish performance. Not so the 7.62×39. The rifle must have a forward mounted scope, this is a tough thing to do on the SKS and most mounts that allow it would render the open sights unusable, which would fail the requirement for backup iron sights. And, finally, 2MOA accuracy at 200 yards is a stretch for almost every SKS I’ve ever met.
Unfortunately, I have been on the receiving end of the SKS, and it is formidable. Lots of G.I.’s died from their wounds. Oh, BTW, Cooper is dead……………
That may be the case, but neither of those change the definition and specs that Cooper set.
I’ve never seen that survival kit before….nice!
And an Enfield as a Scout? I’m guessing it wouldn’t make Coopers’ weight requirements..otherwise a great choice for an action.
How many Scouts fit Coopers weight or length requirements?
Very few. Most lose it in the weight department.
I hate to admit it but I actually like the Mossberg Scout rifles, well from images. I’ve handled the MVP Patrol which should be very similar in weight and balance etc. but I’ve not seen one of their Scouts in the wild to fondle. Nor, can I find a whole lot on the actual accuracy of either model, a fair number “it’s pretty good” or “it’s not so great”, but very little actual range test / documented results. I can only assume that as far as these lower cost guns go, Mossberg is not the next Savage and that the gun is not Minute, much less Sub-Minute Of Angel accurate.
Mossberg has a long history of pump action shotguns, but their legacy on bolt action rifles is mighty thin. Any firearm I buy is purchased with an eye towards long-term logistics. While the Mossberg might be a very nice product, I’d be less likely to buy one since I have no idea if they’ll still be making them in ten years when I need parts. Additionally, aftermarket support is probably much, much more limited than, say, another company that has a long history of making a particular rifle (Sav110,Rem700,Win70,etc).
“Any firearm I buy is purchased with an eye towards long-term logistics.” so what did you buy … a CZ550. Now I know its kind of got your name on it but its not got the aftermarket support of say a Sav110,Rem700,Win70,etc.
You’re assuming the CZ550 is a primary long arm and that there arent others in the rack that were purchased under those parameters. I have ‘fun’ guns, and I have the usual survivalist guns. The fun guns don’t factor into my preps so they don’t have to follow the same rules.
OK I’ll give you that.
Now I’ve been nice to every one this year I don’t have to do it again, this year I decided to get it over with early.
What scope and mounts do you have on the CZ550 I don’t think you have ever said?
Steel CZ rings, Farrell base.
The scout rifle is a solution in search of a problem. While I greatly respect Col Cooper (rip) it’s requirements were fairly arbitrary then and arbitrary AND antiquated now.
Quick reloads for a bolt gun? If you need quick reloads your screwed cuz the gun is too slow (unless you were a pre WW1 British marksmanship training NCO with an Enfield) There is a reason we run semi auto .AR 308’s with 20 round detachable mags at work.
If the more general goal is a light handy bolt rifle to take on the field for hunting which is accurate at reasonable distances you don’t need a special snowflake rifle. Buy a Savage hog hunter for $400 ish and a non derp tier scope. 550-700 out the door.
I’m not saying people shouldn’t buy sweet guns they want. I’m saying we can get all the capability we legitimately need our of fairly affordable firearms.
I just don’t get the whole scout rifle thing.
I always love seeing old civil defense stuff.
You wouldn’t last long on that civil defense kit…it is like snack time for the group after the bomb goes off…
You don’t get much exercise in a fallout shelter. At the website they say the food provided came to 700 calories (mostly carbohydrates) per day – divided into 6 servings per day. I suppose eating often was to stave off boredom. Eating nothing but crackers & hard candies would play hob with my digestive system!
As a kid (I’m 50) I remember that style of can. It was used for lots of differnt
things in all sizes. Baking goods is what I remember most, but plastic was
already taking over. Everone had them in the barn or garage for storage.
Down side was needing a scewdriver for the lid and when they started
rusting they went quick.
Keep up the good work been reading your blog a Long time.
Very cool carbine up there. That round is not very common in the U.S. and surplus is getting extremely rare to find. But the package for wood carry is sound, along with a 10 shot magazine that is stripper clip friendly – hell yes ! That feature alone to me is a big plus.