...I underlined the Colonel's words in your above quote to point out something that has been implied but perhaps needs to be made explicit in this discussion: that while the Scout Rifle term or concept was never copyrighted or patented in a generic sense, the Steyr Scout Rifle was a trademarked rifle which I presume Col. Cooper had some stake in the production of, and presumably some share in the profits as well. As such I think latter-day accolytes may in fact be right in stating that he "owns" the term, at least in some limited sense...
...somewhere in the one of the
Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip books, Jeff addresses that he had no equity position in any Scout Rifle endeavor, received no royalty, finders fee or override on any of them. His concept may have evolved over years starting with his Remington 600 (or 660), however the actual definition, refinement and manifestation was calculated---he held a few "conferences" where shooters he respected attended and they outlined a canonicity per se of what was not a Scout. It was a case of Intelligent Design not evolution. The species may have transmuted, but it hasn't and won't evolve without the suspension of core doctine.
Again, splitting vernacular hairs--quite honestly, I'd opt for the AR10 too.
