Fastest gun in the west: the XS lever scout

Years ago, Jeff Cooper sent me his notes following the first skull session he hosted at Gunsite devoted to the parameters, development and design of the "scout rifle." I thought the very intense discussion read more like a solution in search of a problem than a clear and logical justification for redefining rifle design I still do, but the "scout" concept does have some superior applications, and XS Sight Systems makes building a "scout" rifle a cinch.

You may remember Ashley Outdoors fielded an extensive new line of ghost-ring aperture sights for rifles and shotguns, classic express sights for handguns and shotguns, a scout scope mount, front sights featuring a reflective white strip down the middle of the blade or big, round, white beads, and even a unique loading rod for black-powder rifles.

What's In A Name?

Unfortunately, Ashley Outdoors adopted "AO" as its corporate moniker. Soon after, American Optical's attorney came calling, and it wasn't long before Ashley "AO" Outdoors changed its name to "Express Sights." Guess what? Remington's attorney soon came knocking and claimed that "Express" was part of their corporate branding, and so, Express Sights finally chose a safe acronym and name, "XS Sight Systems," and got on with business.

XS Sight Systems' latest catalog is a feast for the eyes. They still offer the complete line of original Ashley sights, plus new lines of tritium sights, and more importantly, an expanded line of scout scope mounts made expressly for lever-action rifles.

The XS scout scope mounts are designed along the lines of a cantilevered Picatinny rail accepting Weaver-style tings and crossbolts. Precision built from lightweight, tough, aircraft grade aluminum, they're cleanly finished, anodized black and complement a fine rifle.

The new lever-action scout mounts are available either as a no-gun-smithing-required mount for the Marlin Models 1894, 1895, 336 and the Winchester Model 94 Angle-Eject, or in several sizes fitting stock Mausers, SMLEs, and properly contoured commercial sporter barrels. And they're inexpensive, running from $50 to $60 depending upon the model.

The lever-action scout mounts are simple drop-ins, utilizing the rear sight dove-tail and the receiver scope base holes to bolt the mount to the gun. The Marlin scout models fit perfectly. The Winchester angle-eject model and the SMLE and Mauser models utilize an epoxy bedding compound to insure a skin-tight fit. The included mounting instructions are clear, and there's even a tech service number to call if you run into problems.

Oh Dear, No Deer

It was early fall. I was grousing about not being drawn for deer in my home state of Arizona when the phone rang. It was Dave Biggers, VP of XS, who invited me to join him on an Axis deer hunt at the Texsana ranch in the beautiful, rolling Hill Country of Texas.

There is no better tasting venison on this planet than the Axis deer, and I was anxious to put the new XS lever scout mount system to the test.

The Texsana ranch proved to be one of those great sprawling spreads graced with endless rolling hills of oaks interlaced with open meadows and limestone-lined creeks. Next to Africa, the Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio is one of the finest hunting areas on earth. It's blessed with abundant native game like deer and turkey and well populated with successfully established, free roaming exotics. It's a hunter's paradise, and it's pretty country.

Joining up with our outfitter, Antler Adventures, we retired to the ranch's rifle range. I'm not sure what I was expecting in terms of an XS scout rifle, but Biggers uncased a couple of Winchester Model 94 "Trappers" in .30-30. My Winchester Trapper sported a 16" barrel, a saddle ring, a "Duke" big loop lever, and a Leupold FX II 2.5x28mm intermediate eye relief scout scope secured in the XS mount with Leupold quick detachable rings.

The lever scout also was equipped with a set of XS iron sights consisting of a ghost ring rear and a white-lined front blade. Having two sighting systems on a hunting rifle is never a mistake. Scout Carbine

Short and light, the M94 was quick as a cat to get into action and pointed very, very nicely. And it shot very, very well with Winchester 150-grain Power Points. Before long, we were pounding PortaTarget's High Power Silhouette steels out to 300 yards regularly with our sawed-off .30-30 scouts. Rooster Cogburn would have felt right at home.

The advantage of the scout system became apparent. With your rifle shouldered, you weren't just looking through the constricted field of view of a scope. With the scout mounted, both your eyes were open and you were seeing and being aware of everything going on around you.

I was thinking this would be an ideal rig for quickly sorting out and finding a shootable trophy in a herd of animals or tracking game running through cover. As the hunt turned out, the lever scout proved to be effective on both counts.