Ruger Scout Rifle!!!

A couple of years ago Dave Spaulding (2010 Law Enforcement Trainer of the Year), Ken Jorgensen from Ruger, Ed Head from Gunsite and I sat down in a conference room at Gunsite to put together our "wish lists" for  what we called a "sport/utility rifle," the heir to Col. Jeff Cooper's scout rifle project.

Today, we have the results of that meeting...from Ruger this afternoon:

Ruger Introduces New Platform in Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. is proud to announce the Ruger® Gunsite Scout Rifle, the ideal "fighting carbine" in .308 Winchester that is a credible rendition of Col. Jeff Cooper's Scout Rifle concept. Cooper called for a relatively lightweight, hard hitting, do-all rifle that in the hands of an accomplished shooter was able to place accurate, sustained fire out to long ranges, yet was quick-handling and light enough for all-day carry.

Developed in conjunction with Gunsite instructor Ed Head, the Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle is a new platform in the Ruger M77® family. While the Scout Rifle has M77 features such as controlled round feed and integral scope mounts (scope rings included), the 10-round detachable box magazine is the first clue this isn't your grandfather's Ruger rifle.

"Ruger has taken an in depth look at the intended purpose of a Scout Rifle and developed a full-featured rifle designed to meet the Scout Rifle criteria of hunt, fight, defend," says Head. "This firearm offers outstanding features in an affordable, versatile and reliable rifle designed to deliver .308 Winchester performance in a variety of situations. It is compact, lightweight, offers 10-round box magazines, can be fit to the individual shooter, and accommodates a host of optics. It is a serious rifle for those serious about rifles."

The Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle has a 16.5" medium contour, cold hammer-forged, alloy steel barrel with a Mini-14® protected non-glare post front sight and receiver mounted, adjustable ghost ring rear sight for out-of-the-box usability. A forward mounted Picatinny rail offers options in mounting an assortment of optics - including Scout Scopes available from Burris® and Leupold®, for "both eyes open" sighting and super-fast target acquisition.

A Mini-14/SR-556® flash suppressor is effective on reducing the muzzle flash that may be present on some .308 Winchester loads when fired out of the short (16.5") barrel. The 5/8-24 muzzle threads allow most standard .30 caliber muzzle accessories - flash suppressors, muzzle brakes, and sound suppressors - to be installed.

The Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle features a matte black oxide alloy steel barrel and receiver on a black laminate stock with sling swivel studs and checkered grip and forearm. A soft rubber recoil pad, with three 1/2" spacers allows the length of pull to be adjusted and allow the rifle to be properly sized for different shooters, or to give the shooter the proper fit with outerwear or defensive gear of varying thickness. With its compact size and weighing in at just under seven pounds, the Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle combines ease of carry and shooting for the serious Scout Rifle enthusiast.

The rifle's trigger guard and magazine well are formed with glass-reinforced nylon. The magazine release is a push-forward Mini-14 paddle just ahead of the trigger guard. "Gunsite Scout Rifle" is engraved on the grip cap of the laminated, weather resistant stock, and the receiver is roll-marked "Ruger Gunsite Scout", commemorating the collaboration of Ruger with Gunsite Academy, America's oldest private firearms training facility.

As they say, beware the man with one gun, for he probably knows how to use it. Never has this been more true than with the Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle, the one rifle to have if you could only have one. It is the perfect lightweight, hard-hitting, do-it-all bolt-action rifle - where rugged, reliable Ruger meets the practical, tactical.

I've had the chance to put a lot of rounds through this rifle, both on AR-platform based courses and out to 300 yards, and IT IS SUPERB! My wish list was a gun aimed squarely at the TBD/SURVIVAL market, a gun that would deliver major caliber results for self-defense and then do double duty as an easy-to-carry hunting rifle. I envisioned the gun as a companion to an MBR like my FAL or an M1A...and a lot easier to schlepp around!

I shot the gun with the excellent Burris 2.75 Scout Scope and quickly fell in love with it. We will have video up on DRTV tomorrow, including a conversation between me and Dave Spaulding on our thoughts about the little rifle.

My personal gun will be delivered this week, the same gun I shot in the tests. I'm going to stick with the Burris Scout for awhile. In truth, I like the Ruger more than the Steyr for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the adjustable laminate stock. The 5 and 10 round magazines are Accuracy International standard, so available from multiple suppliers. We originally wanted M1A or AR-10 mags, but there were issues in mag consistency (and varying "standards") that just couldn't be overcome. The AI standard is an excellent choice, though.

The rifle comes with rings for the standard Ruger integral mounts, but our pals at XS Sights have an interesting solution in prototype — extending the forward rail to the rear, giving one the option of mountings scopes traditionally, at an intermediate length or in the full scout forward mode. It also gives one the option of mounting a red dot optic and a 3X clip-on magnifier, a la the Aimpoint.

I (along with the Usual Suspects) am in the process of developing a training course for the rifle aimed at TBD/SURVIVAL viewers...I'll keep you all in the loop!

This just in from Ed Head: "By the way, since I saw all of you last I have completed accuracy testing with 6 different loads (5 consecutive 5 shot groups...etc.). With most of the hunting loads the average is in the 1.5 to 2 inch range but with both Remington and Federal match my rifle is a 1 incher at 100 yards. Getting off the bench and using a bipod I got 1.5 inch groups at 200 and 2.5 inch groups at 300...under 1 MOA, with the match ammo. So, yes, this rifle is absolutely effective inside the 300 yard envelope, and, I would think, beyond."