Gunsite Scout Rifle, Pt. 2

by David E. Petzal

 


The Scout can’t accommodate a conventionally mounted scope and its rear ghost ring at the same time, because the ghost-ring sight screws into the receiver where the rear scope ring sits. This means you have to find somewhere to keep the sight and its mounting screw. I put them someplace where I would never lose them and then could not find them despite months of looking.
When I finally admitted that they were lost I discovered that Brownell’s, which carries everything, does not carry Scout Ghost Rings, and that the manufacturer, XS Sight Systems, doesn’t either. So I swallowed my pride and called Ruger.
If you’d like to use a rear-mounted scope and keep the ghost ring in place, XS makes the Gunsite Scout Rifle Rail, which extends from midway up the barrel to the rear of the receiver, and includes a permanent ghost ring, which can peaceably coexist with a rear-mounted scope. You remove the factory Picatinny rail and install the XS in its place. It’s $90, and, from the comments on the Internet, works perfectly. (xssights.com. You can also get it from Midway. Do I really have to give you Midway’s URL?)
Magazines. The Scout originally came with blued-steel magazines, but these seem to have fallen by the wayside, as they were expensive and would rust on you if you neglected them. They’ve been replaced by glass-filled nylon magazines that are much tougher, much less expensive, and which require no maintenance. These mags come in 3-, 5-, and 10-round versions. For hunting, the 3-round is the best, because it’s legal everywhere and fits almost flush with the bottom of the stock, letting you carry the rifle at the receiver like a Model 94. Five is nice, but what for I’m not quite certain, and 10 is the way to go if you’re tactical. The polymer magazines, by the way, come with a cap, which is a very good idea because it protects the most damage-prone part of the box.
Triggers. Having been the recipient of its share of idiot lawsuits, Ruger solemnly enjoins us not to replace any of its parts with anything not made by them, so be advised, but I have a Timney trigger in my Scout, installed by a gunsmith, and it’s a very worthwhile alteration. If you’re not fussy about triggers, you can get by fine with the factory version. If you are fussy, spend the $125 plus whatever the gunsmith charges.
(My favorite Ruger lawsuit story concerns a woman who caught her husband slippin’ round, as they used to say in the South, and maybe still do, confronted him with a loaded, cocked, single-action Ruger revolver, laid the muzzle against his chest, and proceeded to tell him the Way it Was. Unfortunately, the handgun went off in mid-speech with fatal results. And who did she sue? Sturm, Ruger. This story was told to me by someone who testified at the trial, and I believe I have the details correct, but I can’t swear to them.)
To be continued.