I was thinking the same thing just the other day. With the exception of just a few scout rifles, most are now useless when compared to pulse rifles. Pulse rifles have more consistent damage close up and at range, have higher DPS overall, and can drop a guardian in less shots than most scout rifles (again very few exceptions) My "The Calling" scout rifle, which i got from a FWC package, can 4 shot head shot, and 5 shot body shot someone in the crucible. Keep in mind that this is a legendary scout rifle. The Strangers Rifle can 3 shot head shot and 4 shot body shot someone in the crucible and its a blue you get after finishing the Destiny tutorial. The Red Death is even crazier, with the ability to 2 shot head shot someone, and I think 3 or 4 shot body shot someone in crucible. People who say that "scout rifles beat pulse rifles at range" aren't factoring in the majority of Destiny's crucible maps. Most maps are small or medium sized maps which means you can't take advantage of a scout rifles increased range over a pulse rifle. Therefore making scout rifles, from a statistical standpoint, useless (unless you REALLY like scout rifles, there's no reason to even bother with them).