When Colonel Jeff Cooper came up with his Scout rifle concept, he put a long eye relief scope in front of the action. This was to allow reloading the rifle with five-shot stripper clips, which requires vertical clearance. The original (Steyer) Scout allowed clip loading.
Now I notice that three other manufacturers are selling so-called Scouts. Although these use a magazine, inserted from the bottom, and at least two of them cannot in fact be loaded with stripper clips, they maintain the same scope location.
I have never fired a rifle with the scope in front of the action. My question is, isn't this a disadvantage? The field of view through the scope would seem to be very small. And if there is come advantage in general, then why don't hunting rifles without clip slots--99.9% of all hunting rifles--use scopes with long eye relief?
I'm interested in any advice or opinions from those who have experience with such scopes.
