Ruger Gunsite Scout scope setup

[Sherman A. House DDS]

I have a poly stock, Ruger Gunsite in .308. It has the OEM, “Scout Mount,” for forward mounted optics. I’ve noticed that there exists an XS rail product that allows the user to install optics in the forward mount (Scout) or conventional position.

I have a Leupold Mk 4 LRT 3.5-10 that is currently not in use, and I could put it on this Rifle.

My use is primarily for training...I plan to take the Gunsite Scout course AND Randy Cain’s GP Rifle Course in the immediate future.

My question to the cognoscenti is, should I roll with the XS long rail and the Mk4, or get a Scout scope setup for this? I have other conventional scoped hunting rifles, so that’s where my familiarity, in terms of usage lies.

Please advise and thanks.


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[HCM]

The LRT scope and the GSR are a bit of a mismatch.

For the uses you describe I would recommend a conventionally mounted low power variable scope with illumination 1-4, 1-6 or 1-8.

The scout scope concept was developed to fill the niche currently occupied by red dot sights and LPV scopes. An optic which is better than conventional hunting scopes for snap shooting and better than irons for precision. It was a good soloution given the technology available at the time but there are better options now. Another factor which made Col Cooper such a fan of the forward mounted scout is the fact Cooper was cross eye dominant.

[Sherman A. House DDS]

The LRT scope and the GSR are a bit of a mismatch.

For the uses you describe I would recommend a conventionally mounted low power variable scope with illumination 1-4, 1-6 or 1-8.

The scout scope concept was developed to fill the niche currently occupied by red dot sights and LPV scopes. An optic which is better than conventional hunting scopes for snap shooting and better than irons for precision. It was a good soloution given the technology available at the time but there are better options now. Another factor which made Col Cooper such a fan of the forward mounted scout is the fact Cooper was cross eye dominant.

Awesome! Makes sense! What scopes in the Leupold line matches that? The VXR?


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[HCM]

Awesome! Makes sense! What scopes in the Leupold line matches that? The VXR?


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VXR 1.25-4, 2-7

Also VX6 1-6

Mk4 1.5-5 and 2-8

I would also take a hard look at the Vortex PST II -1-6 and the Trijicon accupower 1-4 in that price range. Trijicon and Burris have some 1-8 optics's just over $1k which are ideal.

Burris has a 1-6 worth looking at.

[HCM]

Here is a good video from Lucky gunner with a "practical rifle" in this case a Tikka with a Leupold VXR- Patrol 1.25-4.


http://youtu.be/-x7N8hLI2yM

[Lester Polfus]

There are quite a few discussions regarding Scout Rifles, scout-ish rifles, and practical rifles over on the Hill People Gear Forum. I think both of the Hill brothers are Randy Cain Practical Rifle alums as well.

[GJM]

With great LPV scopes and red dots now, the argument for an IER scout scope is thin. Perhaps a Winchester lever gun, a very heavy caliber rifle that you want the action open for loading and mounting fixed aperture sights, or "to go with your scout rifle to work day."

[Sigfan26]

I have a poly stock, Ruger Gunsite in .308. It has the OEM, “Scout Mount,” for forward mounted optics. I’ve noticed that there exists an XS rail product that allows the user to install optics in the forward mount (Scout) or conventional position.

I have a Leupold Mk 4 LRT 3.5-10 that is currently not in use, and I could put it on this Rifle.

My use is primarily for training...I plan to take the Gunsite Scout course AND Randy Cain’s GP Rifle Course in the immediate future.

My question to the cognoscenti is, should I roll with the XS long rail and the Mk4, or get a Scout scope setup for this? I have other conventional scoped hunting rifles, so that’s where my familiarity, in terms of usage lies.

Please advise and thanks.


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I have one too (the project has kinda fallen on the back burner, though). My thought was to put the XS Rail on it, a Trijicon 1-8 Accupower in QD rings, and then use the forward section for an offset light setup. I'm seriously considering replacing the GSR with a Q "The Fix" now, though, so it will probably, eventually, get sold


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[GJM]

Any field reports on the Fix?

[Sigfan26]

Any field reports on the Fix?

Nothing aside from the write up and test in Recoil that I've seen. They seem to be just entering the field.


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[jandbj]

20860I too have the polymer stocked GSR. Have been trying out a Burris Scout 2.75x20 and a small Bushnell TRS-25 thus far. I also have a conventional Leupold 2.5x20 that's on deck to try out with this rifle. If I go that route I'll likely just use the Ruger rings. If you don't have any compelling need for the back up sights, I'd stick to the Ruger rings for a conventional scope. The rifle already needs a slight cheek riser for me with any of the listed scopes mounted in the lowest rings and mounts available. The XS rail adds another 1/2" at least to the height above bore.

One other thing Doc, if you want to go with one of the 30mm Leupold scopes, Ruger will usually swap the unused supplied rings for a set of 30mm ones at no charge other than the cost of mailing your rings back to them. I've done this on both my GSR & 77/357 when I needed lower rings than the supplied ones.

[schüler]

Highly recommend you try to physically eyeball the recommendations made even if just across the sporting goods store. The farther the better, side by side comparison if possible, the little things (big factors) will start to stand out. I prefer FFP milrad, really appreciate HD/low CA glass at extended range.

+ Eye relief and ease of view, especially at max magnification
+ Eye distance/head position same between 1x and max magnification?
+ Ease of changing magnification quickly without breaking position or using repetitive movements
+ Reticle/illum visibility; too fine a reticle can get lost in background, too thick can hamper precision.

[SteveB]

When I was at Gunsite 15 years ago for 270, state-of-the-art practical rifles looked like this:

20872

Scout scopes are old tech, with well-documented shortcomings. Those rifles had stripper clip notches machined into the receivers; reloading involved shoving 5-round stripper clips into the action, frequently on the move. This necessitated an open action. When I took Randy Cain's practical rifle course (2012?), I used the same rifle with a receiver-mounted LPV. Huge improvement. With the advent of reliable DBM's, you can't beat a properly set-up rifle with an LPV and DBM for speed and versatility. This one has a Leupold 2-7X VXR and an FN mag kit:

20873

A few words about the courses: I'd start with Randy. He is an outstanding teacher of fundamentals, like natural point of aim, for instance. You will shoot from up close to 200 yards on a square range, with a lot of drilling on loading the rifle. This is a strength, IMO, of Cain long gun courses: Loading the gun with movement and time pressure is a skill he teaches well for both rifle and shotgun. Much easier with a DBM! Gunsite is a great facility, with a variety of ranges you won't find many other places. (BTW, shooting steel at 400 yards with a scout scope quickly shows you one significant weakness of that optic.) Finally, I believe that these courses should be shot with a bolt gun, not an SA rifle. At Gunsite, there is a shoot-off, and it's hard for a great bolt gun shooter to beat a good SA shooter. Nonetheless, if you hunt with a bolt rifle, these courses will be the very best things you can do to improve your skillset.

[GJM]

OMG, look at the funny clothes people wore back then. Probably a 1911 somewhere in that picture.

[Sherman A. House DDS]

Awful lot of khaki there!

Good info folks!


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[XXXsilverXXX]

Will the long rail from xs sights work well enough or does that just defeat the whole purpose?

[Chuck Whitlock]

My thought was to put the XS Rail on it, a Trijicon 1-8 Accupower in QD rings, and then use the forward section for an offset light setup.

I had thought about buying the XS rail, too.

One question I've not had answered yet........What is the viability of using an extended AR scope mount, backwards, on the factory forward rail? I'm thinking it would 'float' the scope in a conventional position, but it might be too high.

[nate89]

I had a Ruger scout for several years with the XS rail. It worked very well and allowed me to low mount a 1-4 PST which is what I used for a while. As was mentioned earlier, with the quality LPVO (1-4, 1-6 etc.) the intermediate eye relief optics just don't really have a practical place, in my opinion only, anymore for what I want.

[That Guy]

One question I've not had answered yet........What is the viability of using an extended AR scope mount, backwards, on the factory forward rail? I'm thinking it would 'float' the scope in a conventional position, but it might be too high.

I've thought about that, too, but the way AR scope mounts raise the optic above the rail, I really don't think that would work at all. You'd end up with the scope mounted ridiculously high.

In fact, I have a Leupold 2.5x IER scope in the lowest Leupold QRW rings I could find, and I think even with this setup the stock is too low. (I do get a perfect cheek rest when using the iron sights.)

I'd love to see more LPV's with about a 6" eye relief. One could mount one on the stock rail, get almost a conventional scope location, and still retain that backup iron sight. Alas, I haven't been able to find many options like that. Leupold does make their variable zoom scout scope which sounds like that might work. Bushnell used to make a 1.25-8x32 scope like that, which sounds like it would work really great for this application. (In fact I do believe I've seen pictures of one mounted really, really low on a Ruger Scout stock rail.) Naturally, they've discontinued making that scope. Both of those scopes come with just a duplex reticle (although the Leupold's is at least illuminated). Personally, I'd like at least some sort of a BDC for approximate hold-overs at longer ranges.

[Hambo]

I have a poly stock, Ruger Gunsite in .308. It has the OEM, “Scout Mount,” for forward mounted optics. I’ve noticed that there exists an XS rail product that allows the user to install optics in the forward mount (Scout) or conventional position.

I have a Leupold Mk 4 LRT 3.5-10 that is currently not in use, and I could put it on this Rifle.

My use is primarily for training...I plan to take the Gunsite Scout course AND Randy Cain’s GP Rifle Course in the immediate future.

My question to the cognoscenti is, should I roll with the XS long rail and the Mk4, or get a Scout scope setup for this? I have other conventional scoped hunting rifles, so that’s where my familiarity, in terms of usage lies.

Please advise and thanks.


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I've owned a couple of scouts and have some random thoughts on them. Most of the scout rifles today don't meet all of Cooper's criteria. On the other hand, thanks be to God, we're not in the 1970s. Today I'd skip the whole forward mounted optic part and put a low powered variable over the action. It I wanted to switch to something else it would be a dot, and I'd forego irons entirely.

[Sherman A. House DDS]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171021/8aad6f2e2e5fd8ed9b73e679958acb12.jpg

Here’s what I’ve got running so far. I probably PE’d a bit with my questions here, without really doing all of my due diligence on Scout rifles. I spent the last week reading in between patients.

I initially zeroed the irons, and was really pleased with the recoil impulse, ease of loading, and trigger pull weight of the rifle. For as light as it is, the muzzle break does a great job of dumbing the recoil down to that of an M4. I could very easily shoot this all day, a thousand times.

One thing I didn’t like is the metal Ruger OEM magazines. They are like an M14 magazine that tapers up into two very sharp feed lips that don’t allow the user to easily push rounds down into the magazine. They load like a giant pistol mag, from the front of the magazine.

So, I ordered a bunch of the Ruger OEM plastic mags, which alleviate all of the aforementioned issues. I like the reduction in actual volume of the box itself. I put the H1 with a ADM low mount and the Murray Leather quick slide holster on it. I may get another rifle identical or at least in the Ruger Scout line, ditch the rear sight, and use the factory Low rings to mount a LPV and add it to my GP rifle case. We’ll see. All of the other GP rifles are 45-70. So, you know...ouch.


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[jandbj]

Neatest thing I've found about these rifles is that yes it does sound like a bomb going off at the end of a 16" barrel, but the recoil is so mild on these that you truly forget that it's a 6lb .308. The squishy recoil pad and stock shape are just magical in my eyes.

Also noticed that in spite of being a tall guy, the people's dentist is running the GSR with no stock spacers. :cool:

[Sherman A. House DDS]

Neatest thing I've found about these rifles is that yes it does sound like a bomb going off at the end of a 16" barrel, but the recoil is so mild on these that you truly forget that it's a 6lb .308. The squishy recoil pad and stock shape are just magical in my eyes.

Also noticed that in spite of being a tall guy, the people's dentist is running the GSR with no stock spacers. :cool:

Indeed. The shorter, the better!


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[jandbj]

Put 75 rounds through my GSR today. Scout scope holding zero just fine. Took that off for a bit to check the irons and they're dead on as well. I like having options with this thing!