Used the lefty Ruger scout 308win rifles in 16" and 18" versions from the beginning and they're a goto for me. Mine are set up with conventional magnifying optics, and presighted red dot for front rail, and NECG detach rear iron sight. Three types of sighting arrangements on one rifle.
I like that scout rifle a lot, even with shorter barrels and if your going to run a suppressor than it's even better. Reliability has been amazing with mine but I did have to polish up the action as it was rough. Still , it feeds fine and extracts perfectly. Even in cold and freezing rain it's worked perfectly whereas the Tikka T3 choked and froze solid as did my pump shotgun, and single shot firearms and even my leverguns failed badly. So that's just my experiance and I'll admit that I'm extremely biased toward the scout, and the Ruger compact series of rifles.
