The newer versions of the Ruger Gunsite Scout have an 18" barrel instead of a 16.75" barrel like mine. That extra 1.25" translates to extra velocity at almost no additional weight penalty. The one with the shorter barrel weighs 7 lb. With an 18" barrel, they weigh 7.1 lb. The gun comes with a steel 10 round removable box magazine made by Accuracy International. Ruger sells polymer replacement magazines in 3, 5, and 10 round configurations on their Shop Ruger website, which are cheaper than the steel mags and more compact. Here's a previous post of mine about the magazines:
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I can't speak to current rifle prices with all the panic buying, but I bought mine in early November, 2012, and I paid $757.00 for the rifle. A SWFA exclusive Leupold 1.5-5X33mm VX-R Firedot Scout Scope was another $600.00. So for a combined $1,400 or so (rings included), I had a compact lightweight .308 rifle with a larger capacity and a very good scout optic mounted.
This is just my opinion, but this this combination of rifle/scope is the perfect hog gun if you're going to be hunting from the ground. True, a semiauto might be better, but show me a 7 lb semiauto .308 that's available to mere mortals at mere mortal prices. Even a plain jane short barreled M1A weighs 8.5 lb. If you're hunting from a stand,
any .308 rifle will do as long as you can carry it to the stand. I have another .308 bolt rifle that has a much longer barrel (and is consequently a lot heavier) and will develop more velocity and is far more accurate if I were going to hunt from a stand, but if you're hunting on foot and your shots are all going to be inside of 350 yards or so, I think you would be very hard put to find a better hog gun at an affordable price than the Ruger Gunsite Scout.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"
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