Another .308 bolt action scout rifle thread...

[Magnum Wheel Man]

been wanting a rifle that falls into the scout concept of being pretty universal...

I'm also after something that plays well with my "nice" bolt actions, & doesn't have that "ugly wart" look... so... without rehashing everything over, 80 times, I've been bouncing back & forth between the stainless & Walnut version or the Ruger Rifle, & the Mossberg MVP Varmint ( never actually seen one yet )

just for fun, I went to Boyd's web sight, & noticed I can buy several stock styles for the Ruger ( as well as for the Savage scout rifle... which I don't like the look of the plastic stock on that one ) ( I'm tall, & have really long arms, so the short Ruger stock has been a major hang up for me ) if I purchased the Boyd's stock, I could buy the stainless / laminate rifle, lowering my initial cost, & could outfit the Ruger closer to some of my nice Remington 700 BDL's

another hang up is the ugly single stack 10 round magazine on the Ruger... I see the plastic ones they sell are much shorter, but quite "utilitarian" looking...

I was doing some reading on a scout rifle forum I ran across, & found that Alpha Industries "type" 1 magazine can easily be made to fit the Ruger Rifle, & it's black Teflon coated stainless steel, & is a double to single feed magazine, it's both much nicer looking, & over an inch shorter...

http://www.alphaindmfg.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=50

so I plan on purchasing with my year end bonus... & right now the Ruger stainless rifle ( with a Boyd's walnut stock with a LOP to fit me ) is at the top of my list... so I'm watching the scout forums for more info on these mags...

that Mossberg Varmint rifle could easily bump it off the top of the list, if I actually saw one, or got a few reviews from owners... but they seem slow to be released???

If I go with the Ruger, I'll want to remove the rail, & conventionally mount a scope... I do want to save the rear peep sight, may put a storage area under the recoil pad, to hold the sight, or thought about even putting a small "Ruger type" mount under the barrel, in front of the stock, to keep the sight with the rifle...

anyone here tried these mags in their Ruger??? anyone have & or handled & shot the Mossberg .308 Varmint, or want to talk me into the Savage, now that I know I could switch out the stock...

 

[bamaranger]

Varmint v. Predator

The Scout rifle has originally described had particular length and weight specs, all intended to qualify it for GP work, and to be carried easily and used at medium range on medium targets. (loose translation)

The MVP "Varmint" has the longer 22" bbl and a stock intended for prone or bench shooting. It is really to long and likely heavy to be a GP scout. And its intended role is longer range shooting at corresponding smaller (appearing anyway) targets. About all it has in common with a "scout" is that the Ruger Scout has a similar action (bolt) with a big box mag. And the Ruger scout is a bit long and heavy on the original specs if I read right. I think even the Styer was a tad plump.

You sure you don't mean the Mossberg MVP Patrol, or Predator? These are both shorter and lighter.....prerequisites for a true scout. The intermediate eye relief "scoutscope" was another deal breaker.......I'm not sure if such an arrangement is available for the MVP.

The Ruger Frontier was likely as close to spec as a real defined USA scout as we've come. Of course, it did not have an uber box, nor did it come in tac-black, and of course, its discontinued now.

 

[Mobuck]

The "scout" concept combines several features and altering those negates the "scout" label. I didn't buy into the idea from the beginning but I do have a couple of Mausers that resemble (in a very basic way) the scout carbines-forward mounted low powered scope, stripper clip compatible, shorter than normal stock, and larger than normal controls.
Scout carbines are supposed to be utilitarian and adding features to make them "nice" contradicts that. A good recoil pad may be the exception as it promotes better shooting and helps hold the stock on the shoulder while manipulating the bolt properly.

 

[taylorce1]

If you can find one used look for a Ruger Frontier rifle. They were offered with a quarter rib for scout scope mounting while maintain a more traditional scope mounting option. They were way more attractive rifles than the scouts being offered today.

Didn't see bamaranger beat me to the suggestion.