Nh Rugerman said:
This rifle does NOT make the maximum weight of the Scout concept (6.6 lbs with scope), does not appear to have allowance to mount a bipod, does not have a back-up magazine fitted to the stock, and does not have the third sling swivel to mount the Ching Sling, etc.
Great post. A great many guns called "scout rifle" are no such thing. A forward-mounted scope does not a "scout rifle" make (and there is no such thing as a handgun "ghost ring" sight).
I was prepared to jump into this debate on your side, then took a quick look at the specs. It appears to make lengh (1 meter). Ruger calls it 7 pounds, naked. Various "official" scout weights I've seen published include the 6.6 pounds you cite, 7 pounds, and "up to a max of 3.5 kg (7.7 pounds)." Oh, "all accessories included." Does "accessories" include the scope and its rings? If so, and if scoped, this rifle probably isn't going to make it. If the scope weight is excluded from the "accessories," OR if the rifle will be used with irons only (and Cooper stated that a scope wasn't a necessary, defining condition of a scout), then I think it would be close enough to specs to please El Jefe.
A third sling point is no big deal. Bipod, detachable mag, and butt stowage for more ammo are all
optional features of a scout, if I understand the concept, not required. Not sure how Cooper would like the mini-flash hider. I suspect he wouldn't.
I don't like the
looks of the extended mag, nor understand its
need for 99.99 percent of the use this rifle would see, and I think it would interfere with handy carrying. But it's nice to have available, I suppose, and a flush lower-cap mag for everyday use shouldn't be a big deal at all.
Overall, this is one of the more interesting, handsome, and true "scout-ish" rifles I've seen.
I'd like to compare it to Snake's Projekt PMS (Poor Man's Scout), the frankenrifle I created from a horribly bubba-ed No. 5 (Jungle Carbine) Enfield. It hits the scales at 7 pounds exactly and handles, to use a cliche' that I
loathe, "like a dream." Its .303 chambering is functionally comparable to .308/7.62, and it too has a 10-round mag (removed for the pic because it too is ugly). Cost: Yard sale bubba Enfield, $75; new (surp) #2 bolt head (the rifle came with none), $25; Used ATI Enfield stock, gun show, $35; Lyman micrometer-click peep sight, came mounted on the bubba rifle, FREE; Sling swivels, Walmart, $7; Sling, spare parts box, FREE; Total $142. Will the new Ruger outshoot Projekt PMS at 200, 300, 400 yards or more? Absolutely, no question about it. But I'll bet I can give it a run for its money on any practical target at 100, and on out to somewhere close to the 200 yard line. :wink:
