Ruger Gunsite Scout

Have any of yall handled the new Ruger Gunsite Scout and if so what is your opinion? My dad has been trying to decide on what rifle he wants to get and we took a look at the Gunsite at Cabelas. Ruger only advertises a Gunsite with laminate stock with matte finished steel, but Cabelas had a stainless steel version with a wood stock and it was a great looking gun. I like how short and handy it is, but I am not really sold on the 10 round magazine but 5 round magazine's are available. I do feel that the Gunsite is overpriced at $899.

He is still unsure what he wants, but does have the option of converting his T/C Encore pistol to a rifle. By him going that route he gets the benefit of having a rifle that still has the same overall length as the Gunsite, but maybe loses the faster reload speed. I dont think he would really be handicapped by going with a single shot since 98% of the time we never have the need or get the chance for a second shot.

I like the Gunsite Scout rifle from Ruger, but then again I am a fan of the Ruger rifles, owning quite a few.

I love when someone at the range tells me that Ruger rifles are not accurate and then I proceed to out shoot him with my Ruger.

However, it should be noted that most of my Ruger rifles (all but two now) have been worked over and redone by a gunsmith to make them more accurate.

More accurate out of the box, not sure, its been hit and miss with Rugers. Some shoot well right out of the box, some need some work.

I have shot the new Gunsite rifle a few times at the range and I like it and I want one. However, the sample rifle the range owns needs some gunsmith attention.

I like the short handiness of the rifle and the 5 and 10 round magazines are nice for if you need to crank a lot of rounds fast. Trigger needs some love to make it more crisp, it is a tad creepy and needs to be refined so that it breaks cleanly.

Magazine ejection is not as positive as I'd like, but then again it does not toss the magazine a mile away like my HK91 does.

I would like to pillar and glass bed the action because the one at the range is a tad loose and the barrel needs to be floated. Might be because it a range loaner though, not sure if it came from the factory that way.

My main complaint is I hate that damn muzzle flash suppressor. I want to tear it off and put a AAC Blackout on it for a AAC can.

As an avid T/C Encore and Contender collector and shooter, I'd say that either would be a good choice but I'd lean more to the Encore as it has a much better trigger (possibly with gunsmith or a sharp person help) than the Gunsite rifle.

Most of my hunting is done with a single shot. In the rare occasion that I have needed a second shot, I was able to get another round crammed in the chamber when I caught up to the critter if I need it.

If you shoot the single shots like the folks used to shoot the old English double dangerous game rifles, with a round in your fingers of the non-trigger hand, you would be surprised how fast you can reload a single shot - especially when the adrenaline is pumping.

Main problem with the Gunsite rifle is the price. For that amount of cash you can buy a real nice Encore barrel and might have enough left over for a scope and rings as well as a butt stock.

I think the Gunsite your range has is an early version. The newer ones now have the free floated barrel. The trigger on the one we looked at was really nice and crisp. I think they would have been better off to get rid of the flash hider and go with 2" more of barrel.

I am even thinking about getting a Encore frame and building up a rifle or pistol. I hear all kinds of info about buying the Encore as a pistol so that you can convert it to a rifle no problem but not being able to convert to pistol if you buy it as a rifle. I called T/C today and asked about buying just a frame and if you had to order a frame as a pistol or rifle and they said there was not a difference as the frames are not serialized differently for pistol and rifle. They said just be sure not to have a rifle stock on with a barrel less then 16". I really want a engraved custom shop frame but they said since they just moved their factory locations that custom shop stuff would not really be available till next spring or summer.

Ruger followed what the Army did with its rifles reducing the twist from 1-12 with a 24" barrel to 1-10 with a 20" barrel.

I'd rather keep the barrel short and stiffer but would like some flutes not because they actually help cooling, but because it would reduce the weight a little.

If you search Guns America, Gunbroker, etc there are lots of those engraved Encore frames running around. They are stupidly priced though because you cannot get them anywhere else.

EA Brown has several of the Engraved and gold inlaid Encore frames in SS or blue for around $400 IIRC in SS. Better hurry though because they are going fast.

http://www.eabco.com/Engraved_Encore_Frames.html