Bought a Ruger Gunsite Scout

[getitdone1]

Bought a Ruger Gunsite Scout rifle/carbine yesterday. 16.5" barrel with flash suppressor. Ought to be plenty of muzzle blast ! Chambered for the .308 Winchester cartridge.

Only negative I see thus far is the bolt does not work as easy or as smoothly as I'd like. Any suggestions to help with this? Could be the stainless steel the bolt is made of is not as slick working as typical regular steel bolt. Maybe it's mostly the nature of the 77 action. I'm sure some of you know.

Wondering how to protect the barrel threads if I decide I want to use it without the flash suppressor?? It'd be over 2" shorter without this suppressor. Might also be a little quieter.

Be back here with a range report in a few days.

If you own this gun, how do you like it?

Don

[arjunky]

I've had a few rugers that bind a little if the actions screws were too tight or uneven.
Byron

[1894c]

BlainG has one, he seems to like it allot -- I think it's his go-to-rifle when the revolution moves up north on I-5, if his southern position becomes over-run he can fall back to my northern position where the final stand will take place...just saying... :)

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[Blaine]

BlainG has one, he seems to like it allot -- I think it's his go-to-rifle when the revolution moves up north on I-5, if his southern position becomes over-run he can fall back to my northern position where the final stand will take place...just saying...

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I'm highly embarrassed to say that though I have the scope mounted, the weather has been way too nasty to go out....I don't care for the fancy, covered range with all the bubbae on them.

[pshort]

Howdy,
Nice rifle... Here's a thread protector from Brownells:

http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/ba ... 27073.aspx

It's the bottom one, 296-000-105WB. (Don't install it like the reviewer did!)
I have one of these for my GSR...

Paul

[getitdone1]

I'm also wondering If I can adjust the trigger pull/lbs. or that must be done by a gunsmith?

They say it has the new LC6 trigger that's supposed to be an improvement over the one they used in the model 77 for many years.

I may not need to adjust it.

It is truly a solidly built little rifle. It has a couple of things over a semi-auto and they are: superior trigger and reliability. Two really biggies!

Don

[pshort]

Howdy again,
It just happens that I replaced my original trigger return spring with a PFS LC6, available from

http://WWW.erniethegunsmith.com ..

The hunter lightweight trigger spring for the LC6 Hawkeye is the one I got...
Works perfectly for me, YMMV...

Paul

[Malamute]

They are popular with a number of folks. Some of the aspects Ruger went with don't appeal to me, but it should be a good general purpose rifle.

Some of the Model 77's I've handled have been extremely slick in the action, yours may just need some working to slick it up. or a little polishing. Some use non-imbedding valve lapping compound on the rails and work the bolt a while.

Don, theres a 43 page thread about scouts in general, and the Ruger more often then not over at the Bushcraftusa site. You may enjoy the read, and learn a bit from those that have them.

http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showthrea ... fle-Thread

[piller]

I looked at one in a gunstore in Waxahachie, TX a couple of days ago. I just don't have any .308 right now, and am not really interested in it. If it were made in 7mm-08 I would buy it right now. No real reason, but I like the 7mm-08 better. I noticed that the bolt was sort of stiff. I just put that down to it being new and needing a little oil and breaking it in. My first Remington M700 is now as smooth as I could ask for, but it was sort of stiff back when I first got it. About 18 years and a hundred or so rounds per year and it is now working as smooth as greased glass.

[getitdone1]

Thanks for all of your responses.

I probably won't do anything with it's trigger. Have to shoot it first to know for sure. It's wasn't bad when I "snapped" it a couple of times. Even though it's not supposed to hurt to dry fire certain guns I really never like to do it without fired casings with primers in chambers or snap caps. Don't like to over do it even with them.

The wooden laminated stock is kind of special. It appears really strong and the checkering on it is very good.

The Picatinny rail in front of the receiver is nice and I expect I'll mount my Burris Fast Fire holographic sight on that and as close to me as possible. I believe that gun and this sight will be a real winning combo. The expensive Trijicon would be best but I'm not about to spend that much on sights.

I expect I'll be removing the flash suppressor but will try it both on and off before deciding.

Small item but trigger is stainless and non-serrated/smooth. Like both.

I've just never gotten into peep sights but I'm going to give the one on this gun a real try--for once. Then I'm going to compare the targets between shooting with peeps and with Burris Fast Fire. I know the results ahead of time but still will be an interesting comparison. Certainly the Burris Fast Fire will make target acquisition faster and no matter what the angle of my eye is to that dot. Pretty nice.

Being able to adjust the length of pull with the butt pad spacers is a real nice feature. I was thinking about putting another spacer on it but when I put my heavy jacket on and shouldered the gun I had to be careful to not snag the rather tacky rubber butt pad on the jacket. Therefore I'm leaving it on the short side unless I do something to slick-up the rubber butt pad.

If this gun does not prove-out I'll be getting an Ishapore Lee Enfield Jungle Carbine in .308 and may get one and compare the two guns side-by-side. I'm sure the Enfield will have a faster bolt and really like it's short 60 degree throw. They may come-out about even due to the, I think, considerably lighter weight of the Ruger.

Any way things go--it's gonna be fun ! "Gun Fun." Been at it a long time.

Don

[Griff]

[quote="BlaineG"]...bubbae...[quote]WHOYA!!! A new word! I'd often wondered about the proper plural form!

[Malamute]

Theres always Cletii.

[Old Ironsights]

I have one in the Safe right now. Sadly(?) it's not mine. I bought it with FD funds for the State FD Association raffle/fundraiser.

But I still get to foldle it.

I really like it overall, with only one real gripe... and that's the Proprietary Ruger Magazine. IMO if it would take an M1, FAL, CETME or other MilSpec mag, it would be the bees knees. But with the overly expensive, 10 round only, proprietary mags... (sigh)...

[OldWin]

I have one and love it. Mine is blued and the bolt was fairly smooth when new but not great. It has smoothed up considerably with use. They are generally very good shooters and surprisingly accurate. I have a Leupold IER 2.5x scout scope in QD rings and an Aimpoint Micro with a throw lever for mine. I can switch between these and the irons depending on what I'm doing without loss of zero.
Its a great setup. Very versatile and useful rifle.

[Old Ironsights]

[1886]

I bought mine the same day you bought yours. I traded a new Savage Scout. I have heard nothing but great reviews about the Ruger Scout. I have not shot mine. It will wear a Leatherwood Hi-Lux 2x7 LER designed for the Ruger Scout with steel QD rings. I will stay with that set up for now. I have heard good reviews about the XS rail and the Elite 6500 1.25x8 scope. I am curious about the trigger and may bed the action. We will see. Congrats and good luck with your new shooter. 1886.

[pshort]

Howdy,
I thought the original mags were a bit too long, so after some research, I got some Ruger plastic mags. They work fine as long as you keep the dust covers on the loaded mags. The lips tend to spread if they sit around loaded too long..
What I found and really like are the steel mags that are double stack and single feed from:

http://www.alphaindmfg.com/store/index. ... duct_id=51

Paul

[Malamute]

Keep in mind with the Rugers, don't over torque the middle action screw. As I understand it, it's only supposed to be torqued VERY little, as in just barely enough top keep the screw from falling out. They may not all be that sensitive, but I've read a number of reports of greatly improved accuracy performance when the screw was backed off and torqued to proper spec.

[Old Ironsights]

Howdy,
I thought the original mags were a bit too long, so after some research, I got some Ruger plastic mags. They work fine as long as you keep the dust covers on the loaded mags. The lips tend to spread if they sit around loaded too long..
What I found and really like are the steel mags that are double stack and single feed from:

http://www.alphaindmfg.com/store/index. ... duct_id=51

Paul

Those might be worth the $70... if they were 20rd mags instead of shorty 10s...

[getitdone1]

Well, even before shooting it I've got a complaint. The steel, 10 rd magazine that came with this gun is really hard to load. I haven't had a lot of guns with removable magazines but surely they could have done better than this.

I'm going to order the Ruger polymer and expect I'll let that 10 rd steel thing--sit.

I especially want the 3 round polymer since it will extend below the stock the least and I think allow a one hand carry without feeling overly obtrusive. Seems funny to me that the 10, 5 and 3 round Ruger polymer magazines are all the 29.95 price. The 10 round requires at least twice the material of the 3 round. ???????

Temporarily installed my Burris FastFire reflex sight on the picatinny rail and sure looks nice there. Will shoot the gun first with factory irons at targets and then install the FastFire. The FastFire looks good on the gun and I notice I will not have to remove either of the factory iron sights in order to use it. Just use a "chin weld" rather than a "cheek weld."

A real handy, ruggedly built gun. Wouldn't want it heavier and that's where I have a real problem with the military battle rifles.

Don

[AJMD429]

Wow. I really like those after-market magazines...!


http://gunsumerreports.com/review_alpha ... ine_p1.php

Much more compact than the 'factory' ones...

[pshort]

You got it, Doc.. That's the ones I picked up.. Excellent mags...

Paul

[OldWin]

Yes, the factory steel is tough to get the last few cartridges in. If you remove the floorplate from the mag, there is a plastic spacer in there that really doesn't do anything. If you remove it the mag will still work fine but be easier to load.

I use the Ruger polymer mags in the 5 & 10 rnd. flavors. I'm not a huge fan of detachable mags for a scout rifle. I prefer stripper clips like my 03A3 scout uses.

[getitdone1]

Yes, the factory steel is tough to get the last few cartridges in. If you remove the floorplate from the mag, there is a plastic spacer in there that really doesn't do anything. If you remove it the mag will still work fine but be easier to load.

I use the Ruger polymer mags in the 5 & 10 rnd. flavors. I'm not a huge fan of detachable mags for a scout rifle. I prefer stripper clips like my 03A3 scout uses.

OldWin,

Is your 03A3 scout as light as the Ruger Gunsite Scout? Sounds like an interesting gun--and, a gun with a lot of history. 5 round stripper clips for your 03A3? It's barrel length? Is this a custom gun or were some of these 03A3 scout guns used by our military?

Don

[OldWin]

Don,

Thank you for the interest. Yes, my 03 is a custom rifle. I built it myself last year. No, it doesn't make scout weight, it is technically a p-scout. It weighs about eight pounds but I've never been one to stress over weight within reason. To me, its more than made up for by its robustness and usefulness. I find it faster to reload with a stripper clip than to change a magazine. Mags can also be lost or damaged and are more difficult to carry. I have a complete spare bolt all heasdspaced to the 03 that can be swapped in at any time also. I cut and crowned the barrel at 19.5", bedded it in a Ramline stock, drilled and tapped the barrel for pedestal bases, and put a Williams front sight on to be used in conjunction with the factory 03A3 rear sight.
Don't get me wrong, I love my GSR, but they don't make scout weight either. I also trust my 03 to survive under field conditions for extended periods of time better than the GSR.

[AkRay]

Is there anyone out there who can rebore one of these
to 358 Winchester?

[getitdone1]

Here's an excellent review--with plenty of pictures--of this gun.

http://www.gunsumerreports.com/review_r ... -gs_p1.php

There are also many other reviews of other products at this site.

Don

[Ray Newman]

"5 round stripper clips for your 03A3?"
--getitdone1

getitdone1: Not unusual. The Springfield M1903 and its variants only held 5 rounds.

Magazines can be loaded very quickly with stripper clips. The British trained troops to load the Lee-Enfield magazine via stripper clips rather than switch magazines. The first SMLE (Short Rifle magazine Lee-Enfield) had a short section of chain to secure the magazine to the rifle, so if removed/dropped it could not become lost. On some older SMLE's this staple is still visible on the trigger guard.

If I recall correctly, one of the drawbacks of the US Krag rifle was its inability to quickly load from stripper clips when face to face with the 7mm Spanish Mauser rifle in Cuba in '98.

Earlier you mentioned possibly obtaining an Ishapore 2A "jungle carbine". That rifle has the barrel sight, not the receiver sight as on the No. 5 Lee-Enfield, AKA Jungle Carbine. Depending on your eyesight, the barrel sight on the Ishapore may not work as well as the No. 5 sight. Also pay attention as to how well the butt stock fits the receiver.

[MrMurphy]

The Ruger magazine is not 'proprietary' it is the AI (Accuracy International) magazine, which has been in military service with the Brits for 10+ years. Apparently, they tried going with the M14 magazine but there was enough variety in the wide amount of M14 magazines they could not make all of them reliably feed.

The AI mag is specifically made to feed bolt guns and is very reliable doing so.

[1886]

Is there anyone out there who can rebore one of these
to 358 Winchester?

Try JES Reboring. 1886. http://35caliber.com/