The Springfield Armory M6 Scout is a .22 Hornet over

.410 bore The .410 bore is one of the smallest caliber of shotgun shell commonly available (along with the 9mm Flobert rimfire cartridge, and the less common .22 rimfire shot shell). A .410 bore shotgun loaded with shot shells is well suited for small g ...

combination gun A combination gun is a firearm that usually comprises at least one rifled barrel and one smoothbore barrel, that is typically used with shot or some types of shotgun slug. Most have been break-action guns, although there have been other desig ...

that is virtually identical to the original

M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon The M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon was a specially-made .22 Hornet over .410 bore combination gun issued to United States Air Force aircrews to help forage for food in the event of a plane crash. It was issued from 1952 until the early 1970s, in conj ...

. It is also made in

.22 Long Rifle The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smo ...

over .410 bore and

.22 Magnum The .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, also called .22 WMR, .22 Magnum, .22 WMRF, .22 MRF, or .22 Mag, is a rimfire cartridge. Originally loaded with a bullet weight of delivering velocities in the range from a rifle barrel, .22 WMR is now loaded ...

over .410 bore. The Scouts are made with barrels, as opposed to the original M6's barrel length, to comply with

National Firearms Act The National Firearms Act (NFA), 73rd Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 757, was enacted on June 26, 1934, and currently codified and amended as . The law is an Act of Congress in the United States that, in general, imposes an excise tax on the manufact ...

. The later models have large over-sized trigger guards and

Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was o ...

s for mounting a wide range of sights and scopes. They come in

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

or with a

Parkerized Phosphate conversion coating is a chemical treatment applied to steel parts that creates a thin adhering layer of iron, zinc, or manganese phosphates, to achieve corrosion resistance, lubrication, or as a foundation for subsequent coatings or pai ...

finish.

Characteristics

The Springfield Armory M6 Scout is virtually identical to the original Ithaca

. The Scout is also made of stamped sheet steel, with a forged steel removable barrel assembly. The barrel assembly is connected to the stock/action group by means of a removable hinge pin. Whether folded or disassembled, the overall length for storage is approximately 18.5 inches which is the length of the barrels. Unlike nearly all other firearms, there is no "furniture" on the Scout like a butt stock or a

forearm The forearm is the region of the upper limb between the elbow and the wrist. The term forearm is used in anatomy to distinguish it from the arm, a word which is most often used to describe the entire appendage of the upper limb, but which in anat ...

. The only parts which are not steel are the rubber butt plate and cheek rest. Aircrew were instructed to wrap the barrels with

parachute cord Parachute cord (also paracord or 550 cord when referring to type-III paracord) is a lightweight nylon kernmantle rope originally used in the suspension lines of parachutes. This cord is now used as a general purpose utility cord. This versati ...

as a field expedient fore-stock.http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/v-shrake/m6.html The M6 Survival System The Scout has a rifle barrel mounted above a .410 shotgun barrel, this is known as a superposed "over-under" design. Its upper rifle barrel is chambered for

, in addition to the .22 Hornet used by the USAF M6. The Scout comes with iron sights and the later models have Picatinny rails for mounting a wide range of sights and scopes. The original USAF Ithaca M6 stock held 9 rounds of .22 Hornet ammunition and four .410 shells, and the Scout holds 12 rounds of .22 Hornet and 4 shotgun shells. For the rim-fire models, the stock holds 15 rim-fire cartridges and four shotgun shells. One other unique feature of the M6 is the "squeeze-bar trigger". Intended for use by aircrew who might be downed in any type of weather and terrain, the trigger, hammer and barrel latch are designed to be easily operated while wearing heavy gloves or mittens. To this end, the USAF Ithaca M6 was the only firearm issued to American armed forces which had no trigger guard. The amount of pressure needed to release the

sear The Sahar Elevated Access Road, abbreviated to SEAR, is a dedicated, elevated, express access road in Mumbai that connects the Western Express Highway (WEH) near Hanuman Nagar junction in Vile Parle, with the forecourts of Terminal T2 of the C ...

, combined with the practice of keeping the hammer uncocked unless preparing to fire, was considered sufficient to counter any risk of accidental discharge. Springfield Armory's version included a large over-sized trigger guard.

References

{{Multiple Barrel Firearms .22 LR firearms Combination guns Multiple-barrel firearms Rifles of the United States Shotguns of the United States Springfield Armory Inc. firearms Survival guns

Characteristics

See also

References