Scout Rifle World Shoot 2026

A first of its kind championship competition

Jun 13, 2026

As part of Gunsite Academy’s 50^th anniversary celebration, they will hold the first ever World Championship Scout Rifle Competition, and I’m honored to be serving as the match director. This event will occur on the 31^stof October 2026, at Gunsite Academy, and is limited to only 30 competitors who must be Gunsite Academy alumni. There will be a fantastic prize table including guns, optics, and accessories, a free dinner at the conclusion, and a good time is expected to be had by all. Register early, spots are already filling up.

This event is not just part of Gunsite Academy’s 50^th anniversary celebration, it’s also part of our country’s 250^th anniversary of existence. And of course, it’s being conducted in recognition of the rifle that was conceptualized by Gunsite Academy’s founder, Jeff Cooper. At its most basic level it is a general purpose rifle competition that should ultimately help shooters understand what best makes up the scout/general purpose rifle.

To register as a competitor click >HERE

About 15 years ago I decided I was going to learn everything I could about the Scout Rifle. It became an obsession. One that resulted in a Scout Rifle Conference at Gunsite Academy during their 40^th Anniversary year, multiple Scout Rifle safaris, countless hunts in North America, a mind boggling amount of testing, and ultimately a book. After all that, the Scout Rifle remains mostly an enigma, and it is a weapon system many modern shooters—especially those with no experience with a Scout Rifle closely approximating Jeff Cooper’s original definition—feel is outdated and antiquated.

I don’t believe that, and if I had to rely on a single rifle for the rest of my life it would very likely be a Scout Rifle. I just have so much experience with Scout Rifles, and I know their capabilities so well, for me it remains a very practical solution to the one-rifle answer.

An original Scout Rifle from the gunsmithy at Gunsite. This rifle belonged to Gunsite family member and friend, James Jeansonne. You can read about “Big Jim” in the “Fathers Know Best” link below:

Fathers Know Best

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The date of this shoot is not a coincidence, because Halloween is a time when people pose as things they’re not, and since Jeff Cooper first proposed his Scout Rifle definition in print back in the early 1980s, a lot of rifles have been dressed up as—or made to look like—Scout Rifles. It’s seemingly impossible to believe that now more than 40 years later we still do not have a factory made rifle that meets Cooper’s original Scout Rifle definition. So, with that in mind, what rifles do you permit in a Scout Rifle shoot? Well, any rifle.

You can enter this competition with any rifle you want but it will be penalized if it weighs more than 3.5 kilos, is more than a meter long, and does not generate the same muzzle energy as the original 30-06 Springfield load. Additionally, if the rifle does not have open sights and quick detachable scope rings, there is little chance you could win. (See included information sheet.) Now, allowing rifles that are not what some would consider Scout Rifles in this competition might seem to go against the grain, but it is the only practical answer because there is no single internationally accepted definition of a Scout Rifle. So, you can use any rifle you want, dressed anyway you want it dressed, and pretend—just like everyone does on Halloween.

Will a Scout Rifle win the shoot? Well, something approximating a Scout Rifle should win, because the course of fire was designed around the things Scout Rifles are supposed to do best. We’ll have to wait and see, and then we’ll have to decide which of Jeff Cooper’s varying Scout Rifle definitions we want to apply to determine if the winning rifle really is a Scout Rifle. However, I feel confident that whatever rifle comes out on top will be a very good representation of a general purpose rifle, and technically, that is exactly what a Scout Rifle is supposed to be.

Regarding what is and is not a Scout Rifle, I think everyone should keep the below words in mind. They are from 1998, and I discovered them in Cooper’s personal papers. This is not a specific elemental definition but it is an ideal Scout Rifle/general purpose rifle definition for this competition.

· The most important thing about the scout is that it is a general purpose rifle.

· It’s most outstanding characteristic is handiness.

· It is light, compact, and friendly.

· It will put ‘em where you point ‘em from arm’s length out to a range too great for any sensible attempt.

· The essential characteristics of the scout rifle are compactness and what may be called shootability.

· It is easy to carry, convenient to pack into a boat, car or airplane, powerful enough for any targets short of pachyderms, and easily provisioned throughout the world.

· It is ideally adapted to the snapshot, and quite able to group well into the vital zone of a 200-pound target out to around 400 paces under field conditions.

· When it comes to kicking and climbing, and running and jumping, leaping in and out of hunting cars, and quick selection of position, the scout begins to shine.

A lot of rifles fit that description and by the end of the day on Halloween we shall see what rises to the top. Of course, as with most any shooting competition, it is always the man behind the gun that matters most.