Do you have any experience with any of the scout rifles?

Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper's ideal of a general-purpose rifle, which he dubbed a "scout rifle". Was a bolt-action carbine chambered in .30 caliber (7.62 mm), less than 1 meter in length, less than 3 kilograms in weight, with iron sights, a forward mounted optical sight (long eye relief scope), and fitted with a practical sling (such as Ching sling). Cooper defined his goal: "... a general-purpose rifle is a conveniently portable, individually operated firearm, capable of striking a single decisive blow, on a live target of up to 200 kilos in weight, at any distance at which the operator can shoot with the precision necessary to place a shot in a vital area of the target". The version considered by many to be the benchmark is the Steyr Scout. But other companies are now in the fray with the Savage Scout, Ruger Gunsite Scout, Mossberg MVP and also Springfield armory although theirs are not a true scout in the sense of being bolt action, the Scout Squad and the SOCOM 16.

Many on the AR-15 side of things think the rifle is a waste of time. And there is no need for it. Personally I don't think you can argue the simplicity and dependability of a bolt action rifle. And in the configuration that Col. Cooper envisioned, it is a good concept. How do you feel, is there a place for a rifle like this?
http://www.ruger.com/products/gunsiteScoutRifle/models.html http://www.mossberg.com/category/series/mvp-series/mvp-scout/
http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/11Scout http://www.steyrarms.com/products/hunting-rifles/scout/ http://www.springfield-armory.com/products/m1a-scout-squad/