The Ruger Gunsite was specifically designed around Cooper's concept of a Scout Rifle by some of his closest friends at Gunsite and Ruger. This collaboration produced a great version of the Cooper Scout rifle which matches up well to his original guidelines. Some folks will nit pick that it may be a little heavier and longer than Cooper’s Scout Rifle guidelines, however it has still become one of Ruger’s top selling rifles and is excellent as far as I am concerned. The reasons are simple. The gun features bulletproof reliability, good usable accuracy, and most of the common sense scout rifle design elements that make it handy and user friendly. If you were only going to own one bolt action rifle, the Ruger Gunsite Scout would be it.
FIT, FEEL, FINISH, & FEATURES
For those new to guns, Ruger is and hopefully always will be synonymous with extreme rugged durability and very high quality. The Gunsite is no exception and has had a fair amount of attention paid to its design. This is the same proven Mauser style non-rotating extractor action Ruger used in the Mark 77, Hawkeye, and Guide guns. The Ruger action works infallibly, is regarded as one of the most robust actions on the market, and is fast and efficient to operate by anyone.
The Ruger Gunsite is offered only in .308 Win, however the gun is available in either left or right handed versions with 16” blued or 18” stainless barreled actions. I opted for the 18” stainless version in right handed, because after all, shouldn’t you also have the ultimate in corrosion resistance with the bolt placed on the correct side. For some reason it seems almost all the big publication writers are left handed, so I am sure they will be happy with the left handed offering.
The rifle is a brute and feels like your typical over engineered Ruger that could take everything you could throw at it; add in the corrosion resistance of the stainless version and you have something that could last indefinitely. Despite the substantive feel, the rifle is only 7.10lbs which is very light, but enough weight that recoil does not flog the shooter.
Out of the box the Ruger comes equipped with front and rear swivel studs, three ½” buttpad spacers to fit the rifle’s laminated stock to the shooter, and durable front and rear adjustable iron sights similar to what are found on the Mini-14 line.

There is a goofy looking/unique birdcage flash hider which seems to me to do an OK job at controlling flash but very little to tame the recoil. A swap to a combo brake/hider would greatly enhance the comfort of long training days with the rifle and tame down the muzzle flash a bit more in the process.

The only other extra I added during testing was an Andy’s Leather Rhodesian Scout Sling which I personally consider one of the finest leather slings you can put on a rifle. Think of it as the offspring of a National match and easily useable field sling. Technically it is the closest sling you will get to a Cooper recommended Ching Sling without adding extra swivel studs and a triple sling mount.
FUNCTION & ACCURACY
TESTING THE CONCEPT

FINAL THOUGHTS
This exercise will certainly get your heart rate up and show you ALL your horrible flaws in less than one minute. For the price of just one box of 308 ammo, you can run this drill three to four times depending on your accuracy.
If I had to only choose two or three rifles to escape with, the Gunsite would be my top choice due to its ability to eat any 308 Win or 7.62x51 Nato surplus ammo found without worrying about cycling problems of an semi-auto. Paired with the Hi-Lux scout Rifle Scope and the Andy’s Leather Rhodesian sling, it is about as perfect a field and Cooper rifle we could hope for in a modern sporting rifle.
SPECS
Caliber 308 Win
Cap. 10
Stock Black Laminate
Front Sight Post
Rear Sight Adjustable
Length of Pull 12.75" - 14.25"
Mod. # 6822
Material Stainless Steel
Barrel Matte Stainless 18.00"
Length 39.50" - 41.00"
Weight 7.10 lbs.
Option Right-Handed
MSRP $1099.00
SOURCES
Shop a huge selection of Firearms and Accessories at Brownells.com - excellent prices and huge selection.
Shop a huge selection of Firearms and Accessories at Brownells.com - excellent prices and huge selection.
Ruger - http://www.ruger.com
Hi-Lux Leatherwood - http://hi-luxoptics.com
Andy's Leather - http://www.andysleather.com/
1 comment:
I like practical gun reviews. Thank you.
No long winded high math and fine tuned measurements.
Just a briefly written review of how a rifle preforms in more real world conditions.
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