Survivalist Rifle on a Budget

I have been asked many times "What gun should I get for SHTF?"
My answers vary based on what the person's idea of a disaster is but there is always one option I get people to seriously look at, The Scout Rifle.  The Scout Rifle is a concept developed by Jeff Cooper.  Cooper imagined a rifle with the following characteristics:

-Light
-In 30 cal
-Bolt action
-Long eye relief scope

Firstly, a scout rifle is light.  It is not a sniper rifle or a battle rifle and is not intended as such.  Ideally this rifle would only see use in deliberate circumstances so it should not be a burden on other day to day tasks.  I am a fan of never setting your rifle down where you can not reach it on a second’s notice so having something light that you can sling on your back while you build shelter or gather wood beats doing the same tasks with something heavy.

Secondly a scout rifle is chambered in something 30 cal.  I suspect Cooper was leaning towards the heavy hitting 30-06 (or “God’s cartridge” as my friend calls it) but I think any full power 30 cal round will do: 762x51, .308 Win, .300 Win Mag, 30-06, 7.62 Russian.  A full power cartridge is needed for its utility and range.

Thirdly a scout is bolt-action.  The average person does not have spare parts or the skills to effect repairs in the field.  The bolt action  is mechanically simple and it unlikely to ever break or fail.  Maintaining a bolt action (such as disassembly and cleaning) is also easier.  I must mention that I use a semi-auto for my survival rifle, only because I do have spare parts and the skills needed to make repairs in the case of a failure.

The final and most unique feature is a long eye-relief scope.  This scope is a low power scope (set to 2 or 3 magnification) placed above the beginning of the barrel as opposed to a traditional scope which is near the eye.  The reason for this seemingly odd design is to prevent the user from getting tunnel vision looking through an optic and maintain peripheral vision and thus situational awareness.  The long eye-relief scope magnifies only what you are looking at and after all, isn’t that all you need?  Such a scope would be labeled as  “Scout Scope”, “Long Eye-Relief” or “Pistol Scope”.

The scout rifle is not designed to do anything really well but do everything adequately.  It is a “jack of all trades” rifle.  Ruger and Styer both came out with scout rifles but they can be quite pricy especially after you add the necessary optics.

Today I will talk about how to build a scout rifle on a budget and with simple tools.

I started with a Mosin Nagant carbine.  The carbine is much shorter and lighter then its full sized brother but this guide will work equally well for a full size Mosin Nagant as well.

Next I sanded off the varnish and repainted the stock.  I used duracoat with a digital stencil on mine but you could use a olive green krylon paint.  I refinished the stock because my stock was military surplus and had many dings and scratches from use.  Exposed wood on the stock would be vulnerable to rot and I wanted to preserve its structural integrity.  Should you have one of the rare Mosin Nagant synthetic stocks you will still want to re-paint it as black stands out and is poor camoflauge.

Next I removed the rear sight with a pin punch and installed a picatinny rail.  These are kits that replace the rear sight and allow for picatinny accessories to be added.  In this case, the scope.



I searched Edmonton for a long eye-relief scope but the only gun store that had them was Cabella’s.  I didn’t want to order online because I wanted to see the optical clarity of the scope I was buying.  I got a Simons 2-7x32.  It had good optical clarity and was fairly affordable at $250.    Personally I would not go cheap on scopes.  Put the cash down and spend $200-400.  The temptation to get a NC Star pistol scope is certainly there but I advise getting something better; after all, this is a survival rifle that your life may depend on.

The final modification I did was put a rifle round sleeve on the buttstock to carry loose rounds for reloading.  I did not want to carry loose rounds in a pocket or a pouch because they would rattle.  If I decide to use stealth, I want to be stealthy.

This project’s total costs were:

Mosin Carbine: $140 at the Camrose Gun Show
Paint: $40 (est)
Scope Mount: $60
Scope: $250
Round Holder: $10

Total: $500