Kano
AH veteran
In matters of rifles, I love a classic action, rust blued, on a fine piece of walnut. I have no affinity for stainless steel, do not like the look and feel of laminated or synthetic stocks, and find abhorrent the pad/spacers design of the Steyr and Ruger iterations of the Scout rifle...
Yet, ten days ago a friend of mine showed up on a plains game hunt with a Ruger Scout, and I got to handle it, carry it, shoot it, and hunt with it for the week-end.
Oh my. What an ugly duckling. And what a lovely rifle...!
Short (European version, 18" barrel without flash hider), light, handy, very effective sights, accurate, in a do-it-all medium caliber, this thing grew on me to the point that now I have to have one. When it's not a .458 job, it's a .308 job, and this one is (almost, we'll come to that) perfect.
The sights are simple and well made, with protective "ears" both front and rear. The materials are such that you don't worry about rain, dust, a few scratches, bumps on the ground or in the rear of the pick-up. A real tool of a rifle, made to take anything you can throw at it.
Two things I didn't like: the Picatinny rail (all these corners and angles are very uncomfortable to handle), and the 10-rounds drop magazine.
The rail can be unscrewed and removed, easy fix. If I want to install a scope, the standard Ruger rings fit the receiver.
The magazine is bulky, impedes comfortable handling of the rifle, is in the way when you want to shoot prone or taking support from a tree, and is a pain in the backside to reload. Good for would-be Scout Rangers or plinking sessions at the range, quite useless in real-life outdoors day-to-day work.
Searching the Net, I found out two things: one, many people dislike that bulky magazine, and much prefer the Ruger 3-rounds polymer magazine, which sits almost flush with the stock. Two, apparently it's easy to substitute the bottom metal with a Hawkeye bottom and magazine box, and you get a 4-rounds down, sleek rifle. I'd have to check if the feed rails in the action do work with that solution, but if they do, happy days!
My advice? If you see one of these little Scout carbines, do not pick it up... You may end up taking one back home!
Yet, ten days ago a friend of mine showed up on a plains game hunt with a Ruger Scout, and I got to handle it, carry it, shoot it, and hunt with it for the week-end.
Oh my. What an ugly duckling. And what a lovely rifle...!
Short (European version, 18" barrel without flash hider), light, handy, very effective sights, accurate, in a do-it-all medium caliber, this thing grew on me to the point that now I have to have one. When it's not a .458 job, it's a .308 job, and this one is (almost, we'll come to that) perfect.
The sights are simple and well made, with protective "ears" both front and rear. The materials are such that you don't worry about rain, dust, a few scratches, bumps on the ground or in the rear of the pick-up. A real tool of a rifle, made to take anything you can throw at it.
Two things I didn't like: the Picatinny rail (all these corners and angles are very uncomfortable to handle), and the 10-rounds drop magazine.
The rail can be unscrewed and removed, easy fix. If I want to install a scope, the standard Ruger rings fit the receiver.
The magazine is bulky, impedes comfortable handling of the rifle, is in the way when you want to shoot prone or taking support from a tree, and is a pain in the backside to reload. Good for would-be Scout Rangers or plinking sessions at the range, quite useless in real-life outdoors day-to-day work.
Searching the Net, I found out two things: one, many people dislike that bulky magazine, and much prefer the Ruger 3-rounds polymer magazine, which sits almost flush with the stock. Two, apparently it's easy to substitute the bottom metal with a Hawkeye bottom and magazine box, and you get a 4-rounds down, sleek rifle. I'd have to check if the feed rails in the action do work with that solution, but if they do, happy days!
My advice? If you see one of these little Scout carbines, do not pick it up... You may end up taking one back home!
