I remember reading that. Was that the thought behind the scout rifle?
I like this version:
http://ruger.com/products/gunsiteScoutRifle/models.html
Nope; Cooper started toying around with the concept of the Scout Rifle well before that I think Steyr was the first to purpose-build a rifle along the lines of Cooper’s parameters but of course, Springfield, Ruger and others have all built their submissions since. The 20/20/20/1000 was an idea he tossed out into the (shooting) public domain for discussion in one of his very last columns before he died.
I like scout rifles, this is a economical (AKA cheap) one I built up years ago from a 90 dollar buy. FN K-98 the Israelis had rebarreled to 7.62 NATO back in the 1960s. I shoot cast boolits almost exclusively, and it is very accurate with such.
Link: http://hstrial-rchambers.homestead.com/early.html#
The MN 7.62x54 at link was a $25.00 pickup, it came pre-bubbarized, so just slapped a cheek piece, scout mount and scope on and left be. It too is accurate with cast boolits and makes for a great knockabout truck gun.