Gunsight Scout Rifle

[Kenneth L. Walters]

For 50 yard plinking what would be a good scope for this gun?

 

[Snake45]

50 yards? Just use the iron sights.

 

[skipper49]

Snake is dead right. I just bought one of these rifles Saturday,and if my shots were gonna be inside 75 yards,I'd not clutter the trim lines of this little beauty with a scope. To get the most "usability" out of the Scout however, I'm probably going to mount a Leopold Scout Scope.
You could also run a red dot or a holograph sight quite nicely.

Skip

 

[Kenneth L. Walters]

I realize that 50 yards isn't all that far. But that is the range I practice at with a variety of rifles. Some with rather crude iron sights. Some with Montana Vintage Arms tang sights. All this with cast bullets.

But I want to see what improvement I get by switching to fmj bullets and a scope.

So I'm in the market for a scope and I know virtually nothing about scopes.

 

[wwb]

Weaver has a 1.5-4X20 handgun scope that would be a good option on a scout rifle..... without that huge objective bell, it will mount nice and low.

1.5X is low enough that most folks with a good dominant eye can shoot with both eyes open.... quick target acquisition and a really wide field of view. 4X is more than adequate for 200 yard shots (unless you're trying to hit a squirrel in the left ear).

Natchez Shooting Supply, Midway USA, or Optics Planet are all places to check for price and availability.

 

[Kenneth L. Walters]

That was helpful. Thank you.

 

[wetidlerjr]

Go with a good red dot or one of the 1-4 tactical scopes used on ARs. The iron sight suggestion isn't what you want unless you are just plinkin' cans. :mrgreen:

 

[wwb]

Go with a good red dot or one of the 1-4 tactical scopes used on ARs.......

A scope intended for an AR won't have enough eye relief to use on a scout rifle.

 

[RJ556]

And also some handgun scopes as mentioned above, will have too much eye relief for "scout mounting". I once tried to use a Burris 3x handgun scope in a scout mount position and I could not get my head back far enough on the stock for a proper sight picture.

 

[flcracker64]

Leupold and Burris Scout scopes have just the right amount of eye relief for these rifles.

 

[mike7mm08]

I have a Burris 1.5x4 pistol scope mounted on a 358 BLR on the scout mount. Works great. I wanted a scout scope but I wanted lower power than what is offered. The 1.5 is perfect. I have more power if needed. But If I think I will need higher magnification I have a 2x7 scope for the receiver. Both scopes are mounted in detachable rings.

Doing a similar setup for this rifle would be the way to go I think. For carrying and fast shooting the scout scope would be great. Need to do some dedicated methodical long range work drop a 3x9 or greater onto the receiver. With the quality of the rings available today no need to worry about zero wondering enough to be problem.

 

[Jeff Quinn]

The 1.1 to 8 power Leupold that I used in the review is an excellent choice for arms-length or at several hundred yards. However, it costs $3200.

 

[skipper49]

That was NOT a nice thing to do,Bro. Jeff
But, one can dream!

Skip

 

[sargents1]

Right, so not counting Mr. Quinn's rather expensive suggestion.

If you feel you must have a magnified optic, I vote for one of those new Redfield scopes. They make a 2-7X scope that runs about 130$. They are made by Leupold in the USA and if they are as good as everyone says, then they are a good bargain.

The new Scout Rifle allows mounting a scope in the "Scout" position, or in traditionally located scope mounts. My preference is for a traditionally mounted scope (unless its a red-dot) because this allows for a much wider field of view than a Scout mount.

The only qualm I have with this arrangement is that to do this, it looks like you need to remove that excellent rear sight that Ruger has equipped the Gunsite Scout rifle with.

 

[skipper49]

I agree with your thoughts on scope position. The ONLY reason I'm going to try a foward mount first(never done that before), is to try and keep the rear sight in place. Like you,I think losing the rear would be a shame. Most rifles of this type are made sans sights, and I for one thought that having good irons as a backup was a great idea.
Thanks for the input.

Skip

 

[Snake45]

The only qualm I have with this arrangement is that to do this, it looks like you need to remove that excellent rear sight that Ruger has equipped the Gunsite Scout rifle with.

And if you're going to do that and mount the scope conventionally, why buy the Scout Rifle in the first place? Better to start with something more "conventional."

 

[Jeff Quinn]

The only qualm I have with this arrangement is that to do this, it looks like you need to remove that excellent rear sight that Ruger has equipped the Gunsite Scout rifle with.

And if you're going to do that and mount the scope conventionally, why buy the Scout Rifle in the first place? Better to start with something more "conventional."

Personally, I prefer the scope mounted over the receiver. It is especially beneficial at dusk and dawn, as a scout scope does not give the shooter the benefit of gathering and magnifying the light.

The Gunsite Scout is still a good choice, however. You still get the benefit of the short overall length, the flash suppressor, the adjustable length-of-pull, and the detachable ten-shot box magazine.

Jeff

 

[Snake45]

The only qualm I have with this arrangement is that to do this, it looks like you need to remove that excellent rear sight that Ruger has equipped the Gunsite Scout rifle with.

And if you're going to do that and mount the scope conventionally, why buy the Scout Rifle in the first place? Better to start with something more "conventional."

Personally, I prefer the scope mounted over the receiver. It is especially beneficial at dusk and dawn, as a scout scope does not give the shooter the benefit of gathering and magnifying the light.

The Gunsite Scout is still a good choice, however. You still get the benefit of the short overall length, the flash suppressor, the adjustable length-of-pull, and the detachable ten-shot box magazine.

Jeff

It's not a bad choice, of course, but if I wanted a short, light, conventionally scoped rifle, and wanted the most "bang for the buck," I'd start with a used 77, Rem 700, Savage, etc, have the barrel cut or possibly even rebarrel it, and go from there. The GS's flash hider doesn't thrill me, I'd set the length of pull up the way I want it and leave it alone, and I dislike the big 10-round box mag and would be replacing that anyway.

In other words, I wouldn't pay extra for the GS's very GS features unless I wanted to use them. Just sayin'. :wink:

 

[Trey Whitley]

The Gunsite doesn't get me hot & bothered, and I probably wouldn't want my ONLY rifle configured in a Scout setup, but I've found the forward-mounted scope to be very useful in a couple of particular instances:

1) Teaching my kids to shoot scoped rifles with both eyes open (I've done this with a 10/22 and a 7mm-08 Frontier); and
2) Hog hunting in the thick, wet creek bottoms I like to frequent- I keep a Frontier in 358 solely for this purpose.

Frankly, I'm very surprised that more dangerous game rifles aren't set up with scout scopes...you eliminate ocular bell cuts, have immediate unfettered access to the action for topping off the magazine, maintain "eyes-open" target acquistion, and still get better sighting than irons.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

I thought the whole point of the forward mounted scope was so you could be more aware of the surroundings, then snap the rifle up for a quick shot with the low power scope just sort of helping out. That is, it's not a target configuration for super-accurate shooting, but a very mission-specific thing. Which makes me question the use of a bolt action as the base - but then, we already covered that somewhere.

Given all that I've sort of cooled on the Scout, myself. Its "mission" is not something I have a need for.

Now my attention is being directed to the Rem VTR...

-- Sam

 

[Snake45]

Which makes me question the use of a bolt action as the base -

-- Sam

As I understand it, a bolt action is the lightest possible repeating action in the defining chambering (full-power centerfire rifle), so it can most easily make the strict (albeit completely arbitrary) "scout rifle" weight limit. If a full-power semiauto or lever could have been built within the weight limit, I'm sure Col. Cooper would have been all ears about it. It's not REQUIRED that a "scout" be a bolt-action, but it pretty much works out that way. :wink:

 

[sargents1]

The only qualm I have with this arrangement is that to do this, it looks like you need to remove that excellent rear sight that Ruger has equipped the Gunsite Scout rifle with.

And if you're going to do that and mount the scope conventionally, why buy the Scout Rifle in the first place? Better to start with something more "conventional."

Why buy a scout rifle and then put a regular scope on it? Lesseee, its a sweet little carbine that packs full power punch. I can shoot a bolt almost as fast as a lever gun, its got 10rd detachable mags, its got that adjustable stock, flash hider and I am a sucker for accessory rails. Plus I like being able to mount a red-dot just forward of the reciever. Oh, and I love the sights.

I like the options, the doo-dads and the adjustability.

I havent rushed out to get one of these, but I am not buying any guns for a while. But I am interested to see what these actually go for.

 

[wetidlerjr]

Go with a good red dot or one of the 1-4 tactical scopes used on ARs.......

A scope intended for an AR won't have enough eye relief to use on a scout rifle.

An AR style scope can be mounted on a "Scout" rifle so that the eye relief is usable. A reverse mounted cantilever mount is one way. :wink:

 

[Snake45]

Go with a good red dot or one of the 1-4 tactical scopes used on ARs.......

A scope intended for an AR won't have enough eye relief to use on a scout rifle.

An AR style scope can be mounted on a "Scout" rifle so that the eye relief is usable. A reverse mounted cantilever mount is one way. :wink:

Also, many of the 1X red dot sights don't seem to have critical eye relief, so you can mount them anywhere. At least my cheap one doesn't. :?