Ruger Scout Rifle

To be honest I think I really bought Ruger’s Gunsite Scout Rifle as I wanted an example for my collection. True I liked its M14-like looks, box magazine, compact design and easy handling and the fact that for an 18 ½” barrelled 308 Win it both shot well and did not kick too much! But how much would I use it?

The Scout offers detachable, steel 5 & 10-round box magazines; a first for Ruger on a centrefire bolt-action (22 Hornet aside). Plus the barrel-mounted, Picatinny base that allows the fitting of an intermediate eye relief scope (IER), which was Jeff Cooper’s (Scout Rifle concept originator) primary requirement. Also included are iron sights, plus you can mount a scope over the action in the normal way with Ruger’s dedicated rings.

Other practical features from Ruger where a mid-weight, grey laminate stock, an efficient rubber recoil pad and an adjustable length of pull (LOP) that gives +/- 1 ½” using 3 x ½” spacers. The foresight is a fixed blade with protectors, at the rear is a small, fully adjustable ghost ring aperture on a block that screws into the rear scope base.

Keep It Real

I initially decided to keep the Scout as Cooper intended and got myself a Leupold 2.5 x28 IER scope in Warne QD mounts. This allowed me to leave the rear sight in place and if required remove the glass and go to irons. Great idea if I was in a post apocalyptic situation and actually not a bad set up for shorter range use. The Leupold took a bit of getting used to as it’s a good few inches from the eye and I liken it to looking at a TV down a long corridor. The low magnification does not do a lot for target ID or bullet placement much past 150-yards. However, tests showed that the Scout could shoot an inch @ 100, which was pretty good. The irons came in at 4”, which is about right too!

What did impress was the accuracy potential; though liking med/heavy bullets like 168-grains etc, what it really preferred was 150-grainers. Fitting a normal, 3-9x42 scope and off a bag with Hornady 150-grain GMX Superformance, which it seems to prefer the Scout was capable of ¾” and better. A personal best was ½” though the trigger could do with a mite of weight reduction!

Teething Troubles

Recoil was also better than expected, which I put down to the stock ergonomics and effective recoil pad. Plus for a short rifle the Scout is not that light. The only real teething troubles were the steel magazines, which did seem to grip the ammo quite tight and at times you had to put some effort into pushing the bolt forward to feed. This has eased up considerably and I put it down to them being run in and losing the new feel and phosphate coating that must have caused the drag.

Since then Ruger have come up with a new, polymer design in a choice of 3, 5 and 10-shot configurations. My gut feeling is that feed will be considerably improved! I currently have 2 x10 and 1 x5-round steels, with the latter striking a good compromise for hunting. However, the 10s make the Scout competitive enough for range work with Practical Rifle being a particular consideration. Plus the short and surprisingly heavy barrel will shoot 20-rounds quickly with few worries on massive group shift on a Fig 11 target.

Up The Seat

My plan to keep the Scout as intended did not prove to be as I hoped, as the limiting factor is the IER scope! Nice optic good and bright, but the low mag does make shots much past 125-yards a bit more problematic. In fact I had to turn down a muntjac at 170 as yes, I could see it but I was not happy with the potential bullet placement error; certainly in woodland at dawn and dusk. Also when would I ever use the iron sights? However, I was also growing very comfortable with the rifle too!

Wising up I re-thought my needs. Truth is the Scout is a handy and accurate rifle, with standard 150-grain ammo you are getting around 2550 fps/2250 ft/lbs, which is not bad from its 18 1/2” tube. The Hornady GMX Superformance load ups this to 2777 fps/2450 ft/lbs with few penalties, which is impressive!

Compromise

Though realising more powerful optics were required, I did not want to lose the Scout concept, so came to a working compromise. Off came the IER scope and in its place over the action a Leupold 1.5-6x24 VX7 with dialable turrets. Its 30mm OD meant I could keep the barrel rail in place if I ever fancied fitting the IER again, as both this and the VX were in Warne QD mounts, likewise no problem fitting the rear sight either. The magnification range pretty much suited all needs out to sensible hunting distances too.

My next thought was moderation, but I did not want to lose the iron sight facility. Though I have not done it yet the compromise would be to remove the front sight and thread the barrel so I could either screw on a can or fit a muzzle brake with the sight incorporated into it. This would probably make a practical modification I could use for PR too…

The Ruger Scout Rifle is well worth consideration; look past the barrel-mounted optic and iron sights and what you have is a solid and accurate bolt-action with the added advantage of a DM box magazine that can really shoot. Liking it a lot…