I was just wondering if anyone could tell me the pros and cons, as well as to which applications one my be better suited for in contrast to theother one. All of my rifles have the traditional style mounts. My next one I was thinking of trying the scout mount style. Thanks

I view thew Scout Scope as a sort of cross between good iron sights and a scope.
You throw up a Scout Rifle and you see the image, slightly magnified, and the reticle superimposed on it. The rest of what you see is everything around the scope image. That makes it very fast on target. It also allows one to carry the rifle with an encircling grip. It also put the scope and mount weight out ahead of the ejection port for more of a weight forward balance which some of find helpful.
On the other hand, it isn't practical to use with much magnification. That and it's distance from the eye doesn't allow you to see the target much better. For that reason, a 4X scope, conventionally mounted, allows one to see significantly better. E

I think if your stock fits you properly a conventional mount is just as fast and the optics are significantly better with more options.

I've got a Burris 2.75 Scout on my Marlin 45/70. It's fast and allows me to carry around the reciever. It's not much magnification, but this isn't a long range outfit. In my expereience it allows me to more precisely place my bullets at the ranges I shoot them out of this gun, 0-200 than with irons. FOV is very limited, but I dig it and would use it again maybe on something else in the future.

It's been done to death - the Scout can't be aimed nearly so close to the sun, the Scout can't be used as well for light gathering and so doesn't do nearly so well in low light, the Scout can't be high magnification, nor parallax adjustable (nor need it pretty much)- fit is a sometimes thing depending on climate and clothing and position hence all the adjustments in tactical or long range stocks but the Scout is pretty much optimized for field not bench or prone positions.

Folks might consider the range of optical sights goes from a big Nightforce say intended for long range on a hard kicker down to a T1 intended for short range on a light kicking carbine.

The Scout scope and rifle is handy for a woods walking retired loafer who might take shots as he finds them. Likely enough any particular shot if known in advance and walked through with maybe airgunning, visualization and dry fire practice will be more precise with a conventional mount - but not always the same conventional mounted scope.

Try it, you might like it. I bought a Steyr Scout and followed up with Dragoon because I liked it - but I don't have a Scout scope on my .220 Swift or some others.

Another Jedi rifleman ex-spurt who doesn't own a shooting timer.

.................I have a Ruger Frontier which can go either way; scout or conventional scope. I have both. Most of the time however, I use my conventional scope.

Pros to the scout scope;

Area directly above the receiver is clear which allows one to carry the rifle by the receiver if choosing to and for easier receiver access.

Don`t have to ever worry about getting scope whacked from too much recoil if using a powerful round.

Fast both eyes open target acquisition and aiming. But certain conventional scopes also have that same capability.

Lighter in weight.....By contrast the Leupy and Burris scouts are lighter than most conventional scopes.

Cons to the scout scope;

Restricted FOVs looking through the scope......But with the non-aiming eye also open, you can make up for the lack of FOV through the scope itself. Takes some practice to master if your eyes are capable.

Lack of magnification.......Fixed power scouts like the Leupy @ 2.5x, and the Burris @ 2.75x, don`t quite satisfy everyone where more magnification power is needed especially when at the range. If one were to use an EER variable pistol scope (which some can also double as scout scopes), when increasing the magnification the FOVs shrink rapidly.

Light gathering.......The 20mm tube for the Burris scout isn`t the better light gathering scope. The 28mm obj Leupy scout would be better in that regard.

To be honest. If you have no problems now with any eye relief issues (getting scope bonked), no light gathering issues, plus no other shooting and hunting problems with any of the conventional scopes you have now, then why change things?

If I were to choose say between a 2.5x Leupy scout vs a 2.5x FX2 conventional scope, assuming I wanted just a 2.5x, I`d pick the conventional scope. Better FOVs, still with very good eye relief, along with the same fast target acquisition.

Stripper clips is the only reason that I would run a scout style mounted optic. I never understood the forward mounted optic and removable magizine concept.

I dont consider myself a Jedi but after having the opportunity to train along side men such as Bennie Cooley and Michael Voight I have used a timer once or twice to see if I could pick up a speed advantage. After putting it on the clock many times in training and matches my experience leads me to a true zero magnification like an aimport or eotech for CQB applications (mounted almost anywhere on the rail). As soon as the range extends a bit or if magnifaction is needed for target identification I would rather have a simple 1.5x6 mounted in a conventional manner. If scout optics were a speed advantage there would be plenty of guys running them.

I have tried the scout concept twice for extended periods, once on a .35 Whelen and once on a gunsite scout at the ranch. I saw merit in both but could not see enough advantages to a conventional scope except in very narrow applications. I encourage everyone to experiment and find what works for them and apply it in the field accordingly.

Thanks for the input guys, I kind of figured like Varmit "If scout optics were a speed advantage there would be plenty of guys running them."

I agree with E on this, I have 2 gun's that have scout scopes they work awesome but are limited to about 125 yards max.
I like using them for close range coyote hunting in heavy cover where ranges are very close like say 20 to 100 yards.
The best way I can describe a scout scope is that they fill a niche but not very versatile.

Here is a web site full of information about your question.
It is The Scout Rifle Community. ScoutRifle.org
I had the same questions you have when I was considering a Scout Rifle. Now have a custom on a Remington 700 Ti with Burris Scout scope. In my opinion it is a very specialized rifle. Best for moving targets or close woods shots. Nothing better for Whitetail deer or hogs under these conditions.
Just putting a forward mounted scope on a rifle does not make it a true Scout Rifle. It must be setup the right way for you to gain the benefits of its intended purpose. If you try to use it other than the reasons it was designed then you are going to be disappointed. But I believe this is true of a lot of weapons. The only way you are going to know is after your experence with one setup the correct way. Now that I have used a Scout Rifle its a keeper for life.
Good Luck.