Ruger Scout

The History of Sturm, Ruger & Co.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., more commonly known as Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company headquartered in Southport, Connecticut. Founded in 1949 by Alexander McCormick Sturm and William B. Ruger in a rented machine shop in Connecticut, the company has since become one of the largest firearm manufacturers in the world - shadowed only by Remington and perhaps Smith & Wesson.

Ruger is widely recognized for producing firearms that span a broad spectrum of uses such as bolt-action rifles and pistols, semi-automatic rifles, single-shot rifles, shotguns, and revolvers. As recognition of its quality products grew so did the public’s interest in investing in the company’s shares. Ruger went public in 1969 and grew exponentially since then, and it is on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:RGR) since 1990.

In 2020, Ruger made another big move with their acquisition of Marlin Firearms from Remington Outdoor Company.

For decades now both newbie and seasoned shooters have been consistently trusting Ruger’s guns for their excellent accuracy and superior long-term performance as evidenced by its continued success over all these years.

Today, Ruger’s most popular products include the Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic rifle, the .22 rimfire semi-automatic pistol Ruger MK IV, the bolt-action Ruger American rifle, the tried and tested Ruger No.1, and, of course, the timeless Ruger Security-Six revolvers.

Ruger Scout Rifle Review

Ruger Scout Rifle, chambered for .308 Win.

Figure 1: Synthetic stock Ruger Scout Rifle in .308 Winchester (Source: Ruger)

Ruger Scout Rifle “the one rifle to have if you could have only one”, as Ruger puts it, is your typical scout rifle with a touch of the Ruger M77 feel to it.

It has a forward-mounted Picatinny rail and a built-in sighting system with an adjustable ghost ring rear aperture. The latter can be removed if needed and the standard Ruger rings can be mounted instead.

The action is of the controlled feed style. It is based on the Mauser-type controlled round feed extractor, which seemingly remains some sort of an idol for Ruger rifles to this day. The stainless-steel bolt runs and operates smoothly. It has a rounded bolt handle and two opposing locking lugs.

As mentioned above, the standard Ruger rings can be mounted on the receiver since just like other Ruger rifles, Ruger Scout Rifle, too, has an integral scope mounting system machined directly on the solid-steel receiver. The rings are usually included when the rifle is purchased.

The barrel is free-floating and is cold hammer-forged. The length varies depending on the variant, and it ranges from 409 mm to 475 mm (16.10 and 18.70 inches, respectively). The stock material also depends on the variant. The base model of the rifle came with a durable laminate stock, but synthetic and even American walnut options soon followed. The rifle can also be fitted for different-sized shooters since three spacers are included to make the best use of the soft-rubber buttpad.

The safety of the rifle is ensured by the three-position winged safety on the right side of the action, behind the bolt handle. The safety wing is easy to operate, and its accessibility is especially welcome on the “all-purpose” rifle.

Of course, the box magazine is detachable and has a capacity for up to 10 rounds. It is detached with the push of the trigger guard-mounted mag release revel. As with the M77 model, the trigger of the Ruger Scout Rifle is also standard. The rifle doesn’t feature the Ruger Marksman Adjustable^TM trigger, which is a shame, but understandable for a scout rifle that must stay true to a certain level of pedigree, at least to some extent.

Ruger Scout Rifle Calibers

According to Colonel Jeff Cooper’s guidelines, a proper scout rifle should be chambered for a .308 Winchester. Well, as the years passed, manufacturers started increasingly interpreting these guidelines in their own way. Today, there are just as many different scout rifles as there are gun manufacturers, and one thing is for sure: Cooper’s .308 Winchester guideline is at least to some extent forgotten. While the majority of rifle manufacturers still offer scout rifles chambered in .308, they usually also offer variants that deviate from this rule.

The same goes for the Ruger Scout Rifle, which can be chambered for:

.308 Win.
.350 Legend
.450 Bushmaster

Ruger Scout Rifle Variants

There are several Ruger Scout Rifle variants available, usually differentiating only by stock material or chambering. As with the other Ruger rifles, these variants are only separated by different model numbers, except for the distributor exclusives, which are named after the distributors.

Ruger Scout Rifle receiver

Figure 2: The forward-mounted Picatinny rail on the Ruger Scout Rifle

Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger Scout Rifle

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger Scout Rifle

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension.

Therefore, all rifles that come with a Picatinny rail will have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable with Ruger Scout Rifle.

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger Scout Rifle

There’s a similar situation with two-piece scope mounts. Any rifle that has a Picatinny rail mounted on its mounting surface will have two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with Ruger Scout Rifle, too.

Best Scope Mounts for Ruger Scout Rifle

Fixed Scope Mounts for Ruger Scout Rifle

We would recommend these 30 mm Optik Arms rings if you are looking for a quality fixed scope-mounting solution. They are made of steel and come with a 10-year warranty:

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Ruger Scout Rifle

The great thing about detachable repeatable scope mounts is that you can easily detach and re-attach your optics without any tools while retaining zero the whole time. This is why some rifle owners are prepared to pay top dollar for these mounts.

We recommend the EAW QD Roll-off Mount for Picatinny, 30 mm for your Ruger Scout Rifle. It is made of still, is manufactured in Germany, and has a 30-year warranty:

Scope Mounts for the Ruger Integral Scope Mounting System

As mentioned above, you can choose to ignore the forward-mounted Picatinny rail and instead mount a more standard scope mount on the Ruger Scout Rifle, since it also has the Ruger system machined into the receiver.

If you are looking for scope mounts to mount on the Ruger integral receiver, you can view Scope Mounts for Ruger M77 (SA). These mounts will fit on the Ruger Scout Rifle.

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: [email protected]

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VIDEO

Check out our article on Clip-on Adapters Mounting Standards

Nowadays, modern hunting requires modern equipment. It is believed that clear image while observing wildlife before making decisions or taking the shot, is crucial. If we want to be humane/ethical and make right decisions for wildlife, we have to observe properly and have a perfect view of the animal for two reasons: choosing the right animal and taking a clean shot. This is much harder to achieve in low light conditions or during the night, therefore there are some effective options on the market: night vision, digital night vision and thermal imaging attachments (so called clip-on devices). Night vision attachments are known for decades. They were invented for military purposes, but commercial market accepted them with excitement when it became possible to buy them. In recent times, thermal imaging clip-on are becoming more and more popular and there are many reasons for that.

Rusan Q-R one-piece adapter for Pulsar Krypton

Rusan Q-R one-piece adapter for Pulsar Krypton

Main advantages of thermal imaging over the night vision possibilities

Long detection range
Effective in wooden areas (seeing through bushes);
Good image in fog or heavy rain;
Not sensitive to daylight
Does not require an additional light source.

Night Vision Optics comparing to Thermal imaging

However, affordable night vision optics can be found on the market and they still have some advantages, comparing to thermal imaging:

Realistic image with good resolution;
Seeing details on animals (also at longer ranges);
Higher optical magnification.

When we are talking about night vision or thermal imaging, we can either talk about goggles and monoculars for observing or night / thermal scopes and clip-on systems, meant for installation on rifles. To be exact, clip on systems are meant for attaching to the riflescopes on rifles. The most convenient of all solutions on rifles are definitely clip on scopes (either night vision or thermal imaging – depends on the need). With this solutions, there is no need for switching scopes, you just have to attach clip on scope when needed. There is also no need for re-zeroing your riflescope when attaching or detaching clip on scope on it.

PARD NV007 Adapter

PARD NV007 Adapter

Adapters for Dedal clip-on attachments

Dedal is probably the most known name when talking night vision clip ons. It is so well known that most of the other producers of clip on mounts and night vision / thermal imaging products use their connection standard.

Dedal night vision devices (models 541, 552) directly fit to Swarovski 50mm scopes. Swarovski’s inner thread in front of objective lens is the same as on Dedal devices (M52/37). The length of thread is 10 mm and this is the most known connection standard (made by Dedal and used by all others). If you are using different Scope with different thread and diameter, adapters are needed.

Adapters for Pulsar Core clip-on attachments

Over the years, Pulsar became more and more successful with their thermal imaging products and today there are also very popular their mounting standards for clip on devices: Pulsar Core standard and Pulsar Forward standard.

Pulsar Core mounting standard was first introduced with their DFA75 model and later became known all on Core models. The original Pulsar adapter is produced in three different dimensions (42, 50 and 56 mm). If you have rifle scopes of different dimensions, Rusan and Smartclip, both provide adapters for Pulsar from 30 to 80 mm. Sadly, original Pulsar adapters are quite thick and if you want more elegant design, you can pick a Smartclip or Rusan adapter. All these Pulsar Core adapters use two pins (or clips) which is the main difference, compared to Pulsar Forward adapters that use four pins.

Rusan Q-R adapter for Dedal 540-552, Jahnke, Lahoux

Rusan Q-R adapter for Dedal 540-552, Jahnke, Lahoux

Adapters for Pulsar Forward clip-on attachments

Pulsar Forward standard was introduced for use on their F155 / F135 clip on models and stayed on the market for their newer F455 model. It is different from Core adapters, because it uses four pins. You could also use two pin Core adapter on F155 / F135 models, however it will not be as fix as with adapter that uses four pins. If you are Forward model owner, you can use different possibilies of adapters for your scope (similar to Core models, but for Forward models): original Pulsar adapter, Rusan adapter or Smartclip adapter. Smartclip is a one-piece adapter of elegant design, Rusan adapters are mostly made from two-pieces (56mm and 62mm are the only dimensions for which Rusan adapters are made from single piece) and also looks elegant and original Pulsar adapter that looks quite robust. For the original option you also need more space between the barrel and the objective bell (approximately 8 mm), while using aftermarket adapters need only 3-4 milimeters. Similar to Core adapters, dimensions are limited with original Pulsar adapter to 42, 50 and 56 mm, with Rusan adapters from 30 mm all the way up to 80 mm and with Smartclips in similar dimension span.

Original Pulsar adapters for Core and Forward models are quite affordable, although it is advised to leave them on the scope when you install them if you do not want to lose plastic inserts (which is quite a downside).

Above all, it is also important to know that all of these adapters can withstand recoils of more powerful calibers without problems.

Ruger Scout

The History of Sturm, Ruger & Co.