Your rifle is a twin of my own. There are so many things about it that just amaze me...

The ergonomics are fantastic: it fits me better than any other rifle I own. It shoulders easily and naturally and everything is where it should be.

The Ching Sling is a great aid to shooting, a brilliant idea.

I'm amazed at the accuracy, shot after shot, especially given that pencil-thin fluted barrel.

It's got the best factory trigger I've ever felt on any firearm.

The forward scope mounting makes perfect sense once you've tried it.

The provision for single-round loading, the spare mag storage in the buttstock, the fold-down iron sights...lots of careful thought went into the design of the Scout.

It truly is my favorite rifle, the one I will never get rid of...

Basically, two reasons: The crosshairs on the Burris are somewhat finer than those on the Leupold, making long shots a little easier, at least for me. Also, the Burris has a thicker, slightly heavier tube, and seems stronger and more robust. I can't really tell a difference in the optics between the two, although I suspect that the Leupold would edge out the Burris in lab testing.

Hi Beemer Guy, I just today came across your post about the JC JC Steyr Scout Rifle. I also bought one shortly after they came out. Have been a reader and fan of Jeff for years.

I have found the Steyr Scout to be, literally, as Jeff put it, the most usable, friendly, lightweight, all-around general-purpose rifle I've ever owned. I have, over the years, owned Remington 700's (7 altogether), two Weatherby's, Winchester Model 70's, AR-15's in several calibers, and others. If you buy into the Scout concept, this rifle excels in every aspect.

No, it is not a Sniper rifle. I have my Remington 700 LTR and heavy barreled 700 Police for that.

No, it is not a prairie dog rifle. It does not shoot dogs at 600 yards. I have my Remington VS for that.

No, it is not a Buffalo, Rhino, or Water Buffalo rifle. There are calibers for that niche.

So can these self styled "experts" please stop trying to tear apart this handy little piece because it is not a "General Purpose Rifle" AND a SNIPER, TARGET, PRAIRIE DOG, AND IMMENSE AFRICAN GAME RIFLE?

I attended a 5-day Hunting Rifle course at the now defunct "THE SITE" firearms training facility in Northwestern Illinois, started by one of Gunsite's adjunct instructors, retired Navy SEAL Hershel Davis. He tried to bring Gunsite's tenets and practices out here to the midwest for us Cops and other citizens a little too poor to afford the Gunsite experience.

The course was taught by another retired SEAL, Jim Kauber, Navy Sniper extraordinnaire.

There were 8 guys in our class. I was the only Scout Rifle shooter. Most of the other attendees carried highly customized, big-caliber, big-buck rifles, including two Robars, that, according to the owners, cost $7,500.00 each.

When we did our first initial sight-in, the Scout did very well, printing a verified by calipers by the instructor 5-round group of .70 inches. I take that to be quite remarkable given the little skinny barrel. My Police Remington 700 26-inch barrel behemoth will, on a really good day on my part, shoot 5 rounds into a .50 inch group. My LTR will do about the same.

When we all marched down 100 yards to the sight-in targets, I was really pleased. My group was, by far, the smallest on the range. My step-son's, (who was shooting my LTR) was next best, at .75 inches.

I do have to mention that I served a multi-jurisdictional Police ERT unit as a Sniper for 15 years, so I do have a little experience with trigger time, but I was extremely pleased with the ragged hole on the target.

I was, as you have found, using the Federal 168 grain BTHP for best accuracy while taking the class. I have since found 2 other hunting loads that shoot pretty well: The Hornady 150 grain "Light Magnum", and the Federal Premium 165 grain Trophy Bonded. The Winchester Failsafe line did pretty good as well.

I can't stand these "gun writers" who take a box of **** quality, imported military ammo, and then bitch about 3 inch groups at 100 yards. I firmly believe that if you can afford this rifle, you ought to be putting good ammo through it.

We eventually, over the 5-day class, shot out to 600 yards. (Yes, the holdover with the Scout was crazy). But, even out to 600 yards, once I got a good holdover aiming point, the little rifle printed a 7.5 inch group. This was the smallest group fired by any of the rifles in the class. My step-son's group was second smallest again at 9 inches even.

My comments on the Jeff Cooper Steyr Scout Rifle after attending this class, and shooting it at all kinds of targets, cans, old CDs, rocks, and numerous game animals.:

1. The rifle is the lightest medium caliber rifle I have ever owned or handled. Some of the rifles in the class were in the 11-pound range with scope and bipod. The owners of those rifles were draggin' by the end of each day from carrying the weight around.

2. It is by far, the most accurate rifle I have ever owned by weight-to-group-size measurement. This is right out of the box, with no adjustments or customizing. Both of my Police sniper rifles were modified with custom triggers to get them to shoot to were they are now. They both also sport Leupold Tactical 4.5 X 14 scopes.

3. Don't be afraid of using the bipod. I used it every day during the class, extending it as I went down to prone position. It did not break, no bending of the legs, it was sturdy, stable, and did the job. The ability to pivot the rifle left and right were helpful when the terrain was not level.

4. Handling is superb. The rifle sits in your hands naturally. The gripping surfaces hit my hands in all the right places. The thumb safety is intuitive to use, making it easy to roll the safety off as you come up from either low-ready or high ready. The magazines engage and disengage with a pinch of the thumb and first finger.

The rifle shoulders smoothly. This is a trait never mentioned in "Gun Magazines", but one a shooter can appreciate. The short buttstock (adjustable of course), makes it sublimely smooth to "melt" the buttstock to the shoulder, instantly, and to the same shoulder-and-cheek-weld every time. The only other rifle I've had this experience with, (ha-ha surprisingly!) is my little 36 year-old Glenfield Model 60 .22, purchased at the Sears store for $39.00!

5. The trigger is fantastic, right out of the box. I DID adjust mine to a lighter break eventually, but I attended the class with it as it came from the factory. The take-up is even, no surprises, and the break is actually better than the Remington 700 Police rifles from the factory. The break, to me, has little palpable movement after the sear disengages. I can't feel any.

6. Barrel length- No issue. I have 26-inch barreled 700's, and they certainly don't shoot 6 inches of barrel length more accurately, nor, to me, do they provide ballistics so much better than to convince me to carry another 6 pounds beyond the little Scout Rifle's weight. The ballistics of the Scout, compared to another .308 shooter's 24-inch barreled rifle's dope, varied by about an inch to an inch and 1/2 at usable ranges (100-400 yards) That is negligable for most shooters. Again, ("Gun Magazine writers" pay heed) it is NOT A SNIPER RIFLE!) I am certainly not going to consult a Sniper Log Book, and dial in 1 inch of drop in a field hunting situation. A point blank range of about 275 yards worked well with the Scout on Deer sized targets. A hold in between the top of the back of the Deer and the heart-lung area target worked fine at 300 yards. 400 yards, to me, is only for the well-trained and experienced shooters, even with a Sniper-grade weapon. I have seen shooters in the Sniper class miss a human silohuette at 400 yards with world-class rifles.

7. I Love This Rifle!

8. Two Mule Deer, seven Coyote, a Missouri Hog, and thousands of pop cans, old CD's, rocks, blocks of wood, and all the other junk we shoot at when practicing have fallen to the Valiant Scout Rifle.

9. This might be my favorite rifle of all time.

10. Scope Reticle. Okay. I get it. Some folks think it's too thick. It seems to work fine for me. If you need a great sighting-in target for the thick reticle, go here: The Steyr Scout Rifle Page and meander around in the Scout Scope section until you see the link for "Ammo Database". There, you will find another link to "Zeroing" There are 100 and 200 yard sight-in targets. The neat trick is that the sight in target is exactly matched to the width of the thin post area of the Scout Scope reticle, such that, when viewing from 100 and 200 yards respectively, there will be just the slimmest sliver of white on each side of the thin sections of the crosshairs. This makes it easy to make sure your hold is perfectly centered. There is also a small box printed 2.8 inches high if you care to make that your 100 yard zero. This will give you a point blank range of about 275 yards.

If you don't like the thick reticle, Leupold will install the thin reticle on your Scout Scope for about $65.00

Okay, I have b abbled on here. Suffice to say, my little Jeff Cooper Steyr Scout Rifle is the best-handling, best looking, best shooting out-of-the-box, lightest, most beautiful and most focused for it's task tool I have ever owned. I like it so much I just bought another one, the Steyr Jeff Cooper Commerative Scout Rifle package, identical to the one I first purchased back in 1998 or 1999. I look forward to "breaking-in" this new addition to my armory.

By the way, I also ride a Beemer, a 1995 R100RT that was converted by the dealer before I rode it to the R100RS configuration. Great Bike! It is my third Beemer. I had a K100RS, and a K1100RS prior to the Airhead.

Ride Safe, and Shoot Straight!

-Ray
[email protected]

Since this post has been resurrected, I'll add to my #23 post since I finally used my Marlin Scout for its intended purpose.



There is nothing quite like shooting a Scout Scope with both eyes open, especially when the woods are afoot with several other 200+ pound beasts that would like to attack me!



The gentlemen at the lodge where we hunted had never shouldered a rifle with a Scout Scope before. They kept raising and lowering my Marlin with both of their eyes open and they were impressed with how well the system worked.

Finally did it!

Chose a Marlin 45-70 GBL and a Leupold 2.5 scout. The rails are XS with the integral ghost ring.

QD rings for the scope.

Has anyone tried the new Ruger scout ? I read a review and the writer apparently liked the rifle but said it was a concept way behind the times what with all the AR platforms out there. Looks to me to be plenty of interest here.

Snapping Twig, that Marlin of yours looks fantastic! Congrats!

Even though its not as fast as an semi-auto, or a leveraction I look at my Ruger #1 RSI as my "Scout" concept rifle. Still has the iron sights, mounted with a Weaver #3, and likes all differing weights of projectiles from 140's to 175gr loads. Its light compact and simple.

For the benefit of those who haven't seen it

Thanks!

Hey mm6mm6, that is a nice Boar! That is actually my Daughter's all time favorite game meat. She, since she was quite little, has made an ongoing rating chart where she rates her favorite game meals with stars - 5 Stars being the best.....

Some samples from her rating chart-

Wild Boar Pot Roast 5 Stars
Venison Tenderloin 5 Stars
Buffalo Rib Eye (Blackened) 5 Stars
Rattlesnake 4 Stars
Ostrich Breast 4 Stars
Rabbit Stew 4 Stars
Squirrel Stew 4 Stars
Pheasant (Several Ways) 4 Stars

Her chart goes on for 2 pages! It's a riot.....

Anyway, congrats on your Boar take, and good eatin'!

-Ray

I like her ratings! We just finished the last of our 14 breakfast sausage casings. Yummmm!

I have a rifle that fits the bill for me. It is a Kimber Montana in .325 WSM. It has a 17" bbl. and a blue-printed action. The bolt face has been trued and the firing pin adjusted. It has a 2-7 Burris mil dot scope on it. It is keeping my AMD-65 company. The AMD is 25.5 inches long folded.(for comparison.) The WSM spits a 220 grain bullet at @ 2700 out of the tube.

__________________
Go big or stay home

My first is a 1955 M94 30-30 with the original Detacho- Mount set-up.




Then I made one up similar to mm6mm6's, a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem., cut back to 16", glass bedded, with the AO mount and sights and Leupold 2X, wearing a Ching Sling. I also tried my hand at checkering but that wood is a little soft.

This gun shoots well, that was shot at 100yds with factory ammo.

Here are two of mine - a .357 and a .45-70.

RecoilRob, I'm very partial...but that Marlin of yours looks wonderful!

10mmAuto, those two Marlins are hunting machines!

Thank you, now I just need to get 'er out and get a peeg!

...and the "peeg" was good on Memorial Day!

The writer misses the point.

I have the Ruger! For me, this is just a sweet little carbine....that's all. The fact that it has some features like a reasonable price, detachable box magazine, rail for mounting optics, flash hider (can't hurt), etc., is all just a plus. I actually couldn't care less about Cooper's theoretical considerations, which are based on his military experience two generations ago....when it was a very different world!

I live in the southwest. I got this for a camping/truck gun. The terrain here is open, even in the wooded mountains (we don't have the thick understory like you would find in the northwest, for example). Shots will ternd to be longish, yet I am not interested in lugging around anything with a long or heavy barrel. For now, I have a red dot sight on it just to have something. Eventually, a conventionally mounted Leupold Mk 8 looks good to me, maybe.

It also has some appeal as a SHTF rifle. In an urban area, I would certainly prefer an M4, but out in the desert or mountains where you aren't dealing with masses of "zombies", a light portable reliable .308 bolt gun, makes great sense!

Off road... Could you tell us a bit about the magazine and how it fits in the rifle? Pictures would be helpful - with the mag in and out of the gun. It doesn't use a standard magazine of some type, does it? (M14/M1-A, SR25, L1A1, etc.)

If you do a search google or the Ruger forums, there are lots of in-depth reviews out there on this rifle.

Magazines are 5 or 10 rounds from Accuracy International, and not interchangeable with anything else I can recall (except maybe AI's own guns). Hard to get at one time, but Ruger now has them in stock...they are pricey. Lower priced plastic ones are in the pipeline, from what I understand. The 5 rounder is better for carrying with a sling, because it doesn't stick into your back so badly.

The magazine catch is in front of the trigger guard, and goes in pretty much straight up (you don't have to cant it like the AK or anything like that). Not sure if I like the wooden laminate stock or not. Synthetic would certainly be lighter.

I have a Husqvarna that i made like a Scout rifle
6.5x55 is the caliber, shortend and threaded for a silencer.
Shure it's ugly, but it's mine

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I used to love reading Jeff Cooper’s articles about handguns, and he was probably the greatest salesman of all time, he could sell an air conditioner to an Eskimo. He convinced me, my beloved Smith & Wesson model 39 was worthless, underpowered, and impossible to shoot well. So I got a Colt combat government model .45 which I liked a lot but still wish I had the model 39. He acted like the scout rifle was so superior to any other rifle out there, but in reality a Youth model 308 with a rifle with a 1-4X variable scope would probably work as well or better for a fourth the cost.

Just wondering: Have you ever owned or fired a Steyr Scout Rifle?

__________________
Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins

I had an early Savage Scout rifle...the trigger was not the best but that was before they had introduced their Accu-Trigger. While light the recoil was on the vicious side...poor stock design which has long been a Savage hallmark in spite of the capabilities of their products otherwise.

I once had a Springfield Armory T26 in .308...nice, nice carbine. Still kicking myself for being talked out of it for stupid money.

The closest I have today to the Scout rifle concept is my Remington 788 in .223. While it's probably too long to fit the concept and not a heavier caliber...it's incredibly accurate with even white box generic 55-grain ammunition. I have no illusions about using it in a SHTF scenario...ammo is certainly available but parts are not so it's merely a range gun today.

If there were to be a SHTF scenario today I would choose my Colt 6921 M4 or Armalite AR10...both proven designs for available calibers and parts. They might fit Cooper's Scout rifle concept but I also believe times and available firearms today have passed his concept by. A late friend who was an instructor at Gunsite for Cooper said he never understood the Colonel's fascination for the concept.

My Remington 788...the whole series from Remington was intended to be a more entry level rifle as a much lower cost than the 700 series...but have always had a reputation for shooting above their price level. Mine certainly does. It shows a Vortex scope in the pic...that's been replaced with a Redfield Wideview Ascu-Range 3-9x scope which works great.