2019 Scout Rifle Build

[Lost River]

Friends,


The 2016 Scout rifle thread has been (and is) a fantastic thread.

That said, with recent introductions and advancements, I thought we might want to look at what we might build or buy if we were starting over today.

Personally, I was driving back from Reno to southern ID last night, and had time to contemplate.


This is the punchline. I probably would not go with a bolt action as my one/all around gun for what I do.

A while back I had the chance to shoot some of the new AR-10 type offerings from Savage, and they impressed me more than a little in their accuracy. Reliability was 100%, so there was not much to talk about there.

Today, If I was looking for an all around "practical rifle" that I did not have to concern myself with the laws of "ban states" or other such restrictive nonsense, and was looking purely at what the best tool for the job was, I would opt for one of the compact Savage MSRs in .308.

https://www.savagearms.com/firearms/.../msr-10-hunter

Specs as follows:

A 16" MSR .308.

7.8 #s base

Top it with a 2.5-10 compact Nightforce in a lightweight mount.

2-point sling such as a V-tac

Fed with 10 round Magpul mags.

20 rounder optional.

May or may not stick a bipod on, most likely I would.


When I had a chance to shoot samples of these out at Parma ID, a while back, I was duly impressed. Normally when you shoot an AR, you think "Nice gun, but I'd swap the trigger. It needs a new brake, probably swap the xx", etc, etc.

The Savage was G2G right out of the box. Nice trigger. It actually has a brake on it that is effective, the gun fits people well.

I personally don't normally associate Savage with ARs, and certainly not exceptionally well executed ARs. That should change.



I think these are truly sleepers. These are hitting pretty far above what I would have expected.


Post Christmas is a tough time financially, otherwise I would already have one .


2019 could be the year of the Savage Semi Auto Scout Rifle.



The real question is .308 or 6.5 Creedmoor...

16" or 18" barrel...



Thoughts...

[DamonL]

You can thank @P.E. Kelley for helping Savage to get that rifle right, since he was involved in the development.

It's funny but @GJM is exploring the same concept.

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....iber-semi-auto

I don't think it will be light enough for a real Scout, but I would give up the weight for the semi-auto action. I like your 2019 concept.

16" for .308
18" for 6.5

[littlejerry]

The Savage caught my eye when it was introduced. Both the price and weight are low, but real-world reviews are few and far between.

A friend purchased the MSR15, and it's a nice rifle for the price. Not revolutionary or anything, just a good rifle for the price. I've been hoping th MSR10 would be similar.

I'd like to see some real world Chrono numbers from the 6.5 and .308 to help make the decision. While I want a Creed I'm worried about factory ammo not playing nice with the gas system. Also concerned about how much of a velocity bump you get vs a 16-18in Grendel in the 120 weight class.

[ranger]

I built a lightweight 6.8 SPC AR a few years ago. Had it out to the range yesterday. 14.5 inch barrel with AAC 51T flash hider pinned-welded to make 16+ inches. AERO precision scope mount with Vortex Razor LH 1.5-8x32 scope. Very handy and with "75% of the punch of 308" or such. Ammo is reasonably available and there are some very good factory loads available including the Federal 90 Bonded if you can find it not to mention Federal Fusion. I built it with the shorter barrel so it would reduce overall length when suppressor installed - that said, I like the way it handles unsuppressed. You can make same rifle with 16, 18, or 20 inch barrels.

[Poconnor]

Good timing. I was just researching PTR 91’s since I didn’t know of a good AR10 that wasn’t crazy expensive. I have long wanted an AR10 service rifle with equal reliability and durability of a colt 6920. A super accurate AR10 would be nice but I don’t want to spend $3000 bucks. I would rather put the money towards a scope

[msstate56]

I built a lightweight 6.8 SPC AR a few years ago. Had it out to the range yesterday. 14.5 inch barrel with AAC 51T flash hider pinned-welded to make 16+ inches. AERO precision scope mount with Vortex Razor LH 1.5-8x32 scope. Very handy and with "75% of the punch of 308" or such. Ammo is reasonably available and there are some very good factory loads available including the Federal 90 Bonded if you can find it not to mention Federal Fusion. I built it with the shorter barrel so it would reduce overall length when suppressor installed - that said, I like the way it handles unsuppressed. You can make same rifle with 16, 18, or 20 inch barrels.

I’ve had a 16” 6.8 SPC AR-15 for years. It’s my favorite rifle and has killed many deer and hogs. I topped it with a 2.5-10x32 Nightforce compact. It’s rediculously accurate (0.5 moa) out to 500 yards. I’ve tried many loads, but my standard these days is a 120gr Hornady SST. I’ve got a .308 AR-10, .308 precision rifle, or .300 Win Mag available- but I pretty much always grab my 6.8 if heading to the woods. It’s especially nice with a TBAC Ultra 7.

[drummer]

The Savage MSR10 definitely looks like a decent option. As i've said before, I've only handled one at a gunshot, not shot one but they handle nice. There's a couple of things I noticed, the gas blocks aren't pinned and the castle nuts aren't staked. The adjustable gas block may be a nice feature.

The new Colt 6.5 creedmoors are another interesting new option.

[OlongJohnson]

I like the 6.8 as well. Won't meet George's needs, but works pretty well anywhere a .30-30 would get you by.

Picked up a couple hundred rounds of Fusion from PSA a couple months back for $0.35/rd shipped after rebate.

[NH Shooter]

I’ve had a 16” 6.8 SPC AR-15 for years.

Does it use proprietary magazines, or will a standard 5.56 mag work?

I assume a 6.8 SPC upper fits a standard 5.56 lower? Retaining the smaller size and lighter weight vs. the larger .308 rifles is appealing.

[JHC]

I'd say 6.5 Creedmoor if it is to maximize the modern. Sure 6.5 isn't as ubiquitous as .308 today. But a lot of smart rifle people think it is headed for that territory as the medium game caliber standard.


P.S. - that was an ironically funny punch line.