Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles AR & tactical rifles, the thread title says.

The in between? the Scout rifle, or close versions?

Anyone find them interesting? Short reasonably light bolt actions with backup sights for the lower powered scopes.

Quick to reload in a viable chambering.

Hunt or defend is a couple of my ways of seeing them.

Thoughts?

A solution in search of a problem.

Especially in the age of good LPVOs.

Heavier, slower, lower capacity.
I don't see an upside.

I think the Ruger Scout in .308 would make a good ranch rifle, especially if shooting suppressed and/or with a thermal. I use a Tikka T3x w/ 5rd mags for thermal/suppressed and it works well. Especially when moving around all night looking for pigs, easy/quiet to load/unload in the dark and to make safe by keeping the bolt open when getting in/out of the truck.

But I also use a POF Revolution 16.5" AR-308 thermal/suppressed too. I've also had the POF jam hard in the middle of a dark night. AR's and suppressors are dirty business, and you really need to stay on top of cleaning/lube to avoid issues.

WTF are you asking?

OK.

Cooper's Scout rifle concept was the first of the modern LARPing rifle builds.

A short, light, capable, rifle with magnification wasn't anything new when Cooper starting his Scout rifle manifesto. The rest of the very specific requirements that he argued for were to fuel the imagination. No different than EOTWAWKI builds today.

The flat-top AR pretty much answered the mail for all that "scout rifle" notion.

Pick your chambering, bbl length, optic, irons, furniture etc.....like Burger King, have it your way.

More scoutier than a "Scout" rifle. Lighter too.

I’m a hunter and recreational shooter, not a soldier or scout, nor a wannbe of either. I have no need for extended magazines, or even the clip-loading guide that IIRC Cooper mentioned, and I find forward-mounted scopes slow me down. If I think a fight is in the offing, I’m gonna have something else or several somethings, not a bolt gun. Most of the commercial “scout” rifles depart from the original concept, being too heavy and too short of barrel, and have too much schitt hanging out that I don’t need, including front sights with wings, rails on the barrel, and big boxes of ammo underneath that would be more conveniently carried in a pocket.

I’m with Pappy, my Kimber Montana’s with good scopes on them are my scout rifles. I would like to have one in 308 with maybe an 18” barrel and a suppressor but that’s it.

I agree.

Scout rifles now are:

A-Truck guns (with an LPVO or RDS);

B- "Compliance" rifles in states with bans.

BMT

Ruger offered the Scout in 223 for a time & I'd think no way it has an edge over an AR. Like MM says, the flattop AR answers any Scout question in that caliber. Ruger wised up, or their sales wised them up, their Scout in 223 is no longer cataloged.

The Scout in a more serious caliber at one time was only challenged by pretty heavy & large AR10's, M1A's & the like. I have an M1A & have had a FAL & HK91. Great rifles but not as general purpose as a Scout IMO.

Now enter the lighter weight AR10's that are becoming available,,,,, a game changer for sure IMO. I've bought a Saint Victor & while it's not as light as a couple others, it's bearable & not far off from a syn. stocked Ruger Scout.

That leaves the Scout pretty much like BMT says. But besides a great truck gun, it's a great grab n go rifle. I use a stock pouch that holds a spare 6 round mag that if I have the gun I have a bit of extra ammo. I use a near flush 3 rounder in the gun. I like the center feed of AICS mags. My scope is conventionally mounted which makes it a Pseudo Scout I guess, but still a handy rifle.

Not sure of the year Cooper devised the criteria, but it dated for sure now.

The first scout rifle conference was in 1983. So the scout rifle idea is before that.

Yes, very dated. Optics, ARs, and ammo are all substantially better.

BMT

I put together a El Cheapo Scout Rifle using a RAR Ranch in 5.56 with a Skinner scout rail with a peep at the rear and a A2 post up front. Running a Burris scout 2.75x fixed and added a big rubber ball bolt knob.

Really short and handy if I'm not running suppressed and I'm liking the both eyes open when shooting it. Looking forward to trying it on coyotes in a few months.

Wanna variable burris scout scope?

I have a take off in very very good condition.

BMT

gfy inc. does not endorse this product...

My fave cartridge is the .270 Win.
In August of 2019, I had shoulder replacement surgery. Being horribly right-handed, i shifted to an AR15 to reduce recoil and still shoot right-handed!
So I adopted the 6.8mm Rem SPC (.277") in a DIY AR and have been quite satisfied.

Loading mags and hunting with a MSR (black rifle?) is okay by me. That it can double as a tactical rifle is also okay by me. 🤷‍♂️

That looks like a damn handy setup.

LOL

I like short barreled rifles , have had the Ruger scout 308 with Burris 2.5-8 I think was the power range . Wood stock it shot most stuff under an inch , hand loads , 10&5 rd mag . Was a dandy little rifle , then I came across the Ruger Ranch in 300aac , fell in love with that little rifle .
A deer killing machine inside a 100 yds , truthfully never shot anything past 60 couple yds , nothing went more than 30 yds from impact
Then got my hands on a Ruger compact 308 , holy [bleep] , what a shooter .
Then a black diamond 300aac , another head turner .
Finally decided to let the scout go back to the original owner as he would ask me about every now and then .
He lit up like a Christmas tree when I handed that puppy to him .
Now the Ruger Ranch and compact are my favorite guns with the black diamond gaining ground .
Kenneth

That Ruger Ranch in 223 gettin a lot of attention round here. 2 good friends have them & both are shooting & working great. A compliance rifle for one of them, just in case. No damn wonder Ruger dropped the Scout in 223.

Ruger also offers an American Predator in 308 with an 18" barrel. A detractor IMO is it's the standard mag model which has been known to be problematic. If a person likes the AICS mag, short barrel bolt gun this could be fitted with the AICS type stock that Ruger offers for less an a C note & still have a handy rifle for a reasonable price.

My nephew lives in a "ban" state. He uses the Ruger 308 predator to hunt hogs and as his home defense rifle.

BMT

Haters gonna hate.

There's a bolt action rifle called the Fix by Q out there that might just be a good modern candidate for the Scout rifle concept. The action and barrel are in a polymer/alloy stock that is fully adjustable and folds.

The whole rifle is very lightweight and is available with a box mag in popular calibers like the 308 and 6.5 CM.

The price is on the hefty side but it seems like it is well designed and thought out. If I was going Scout Rifle I would take a close look at this one. It is 36.6 inches long and 6.4 lbs in weight so it is within the original Scout Rifle parameters as defined by Jeff Cooper.

https://www.tagfirearms.com/the-fix-16-65cm.html

I've got a friend or two who have purchased the Sig Cross as a scout rifle concept.

That wasn't their only reason, but one said he felt like it was a good mix of compactness for a truck gun, while still having decent range and good accuracy.

A solid AR in the same caliber would definitely be a better fit though.

I have a Ruger Gunsite scout (stainless, LH).

Have a Vortext 1-6 LPVO on it.

BMT

T3 ceracoated sporter in 308, 20” barrel, sporter stock modified to take CTR bottom metal and CTR mags and with a cheek rest swiped off of a CTR stock. SWFA 6x MQ in Sportsmatch rings, ASR brake.

May put a LPVO on it, we’ll see.

The cheek rest makes a material positive difference in scope alignment with my eye.

My “General Purpose Rifle.”

Nice -- complete with the Gunsite Raven sticker.

I have been using a Ruger American Ranch Rifle in 7.62x39 as a swamp bumming around rifle. It has a Weaver 30mm scope, 1.5-4,5X, illuminated German #4 reticle. My hand loads. It’s close to perfect.

Good, light carry rifle
Good caliber for swamp walking
Good scope with one of my favorite reticles
Scope is illuminated to boot
Hand loads

Yes. I'd say that's just about perfect.

7.62x39?

Cooper is rolling over in his grave

LOL