In the 1980’s, a pioneer in the world of firearm training instruction named Jeff Cooper began to promote the concept of the scout rifle, an easy-carrying rifle that “will do a great many things equally well” Strictly speaking, these were mostly .308 bolt action rifles, so they set out to make their own version of a scout rifle using their own lever action know-how. At the heart of it all lies one of their most popular centerfire rifles, the All-Weather .45-70 Side Gate.