Savage Scout Rifle

Guns Magazine, Annual, 2001 by Barrett Tillman

Well designed and well built, this general purpose rifle has everything you need and nothing you don't!

Talk to 10 riflemen and you'll get 10 opinions on what constitutes a scout rifle. Jeff Cooper, who popularized the concept some 20 years ago, established approximate parameters for length (1 meter) and weight (3 kilos), long before Steyr-Mannlicher produced its version, which appeared with Cooper's stamp of approval in 1998.

Essentially, a scout rifle is a general-purpose, bolt-action carbine in approximately .30 caliber, equipped with a forward-eye-relief scope of 2 or 2 1/2 power. It may feed from a detachable box magazine, as is the Steyr, but early examples loaded from internal magazines of three- or four-round capacity. In any case, a scout rifle is optimized for field use, which generally means hunting. Typically, it has a light- or medium-weight barrel and is fitted with a bipod and/or quick-acquisition sling such as the CW or Ching designs.

A variety of rifles have been adapted as "pseudo scouts." As the concept gained momentum, manufacturers slowly responded with built-for-the-purpose designs, including Savage's entry.

Deciding I wanted, as opposed to needed, a "millennium gun," I bought a Savage Scout on the strength of satisfied-customer reports. I've never owned a Savage, but a planned African hunt for plains game clinched the deal. A .308 bolt action with an option for a detachable optic and backup iron sights sounded like the right tool for the job. I was not disappointed.

Out Of The Box

Based on the Series 10 action that appeared in 1958, the 10FCM Scout features a simple bolt with a 20" 1:12 twist barrel in a dark-gray synthetic stock that's dual-pillar bedded. The package includes soft earplugs, a trigger lock and a big yellow target to send back with your favorite "screamer" group, in case you want to claim bragging rights. As things turned out, it's not a bad idea.

Out of the box, the Scout measures 40" overall, weighs less than 7 lbs. empty. The trigger, which is adjustable, was poor as issued. However, tweaking the set screws in the trigger group soon yielded a crisp 3.5 lb. release. That was the good news. The bad news: at 3.5 lbs., the rifle could and did fire upon closing the bolt -- a real attention-getter. After market drop-in triggers are impractical since they're intended for benchrest competition and max out at 2.5 lbs., which is unsatisfactory for a hunting rifle.

Eventually, I settled on a 4 lb. let-off that remained crisp with just a trace of creep. The rifle proved 100 percent reliable, even after several hundred rounds of vigorous bolt cycling.

The only other trouble encountered was with the four-round magazines. Of the four I ordered (two issue, two spares), three failed to remain seated, ejecting themselves after the first round was fired. Close examination revealed that the horizontal detent on the right side of each magazine was insufficient for a firm seating during recoil. Careful prying with a narrow-bladed screwdriver extended the upper surface of each slot so that the magazine latch remained engaged. Problem solved.

As a side note, some hunters and outdoorsmen argue against box magazines, insisting that "firepower" should not be part of hunting. The advantage of box magazines goes beyond maintaining a sustained rate of fire. More importantly, they provide the ability to easily switch to different types of ammunition. In a typical example, a hunter may wish to switch from 165 gr. Trophy Bonded to 180 gr. solids for more penetration. With box magazines, this can be done quickly.

After dealing with correcting the trigger and magazine problems, the Savage settled into an impressively pleasant rifle. Its inherent accuracy is amazing from a $450 firearm. With 168 gr. Federal Match, three of the first four rounds fired off the bench went into one ragged hole at 100 yards. A called flier opened the group to exactly 1" extreme spread (i.e., less than 0.7 MOA). More importantly, even with a variety of ammo, there was no significant difference between the first-round, cold-bore shot and those of following groups. The Scout consistently performed well using a Harris bipod. A typical 200-yard group from a field rest measured 3" extreme spread for five rounds. The best three measured 1 1/2".

User Friendly Features

Savage gave considerable thought to the ergonomics of the Scout. Experienced and novice riflemen comment favorably about the large bolt-handle knob. It affords easy acquisition, fast manipulation and positive closure. Similarly, placement of the magazine release on the right side of the stock permits the shooter to retain a firing grip while reloading.

Information on the rifle's condition is relayed via the cocking indicator on the right side of the receiver, just in front of the bolt handle. When the bolt is cocked (and presumably a round is chambered), the flanged indicator rises to a position easily felt by the right index finger or thumb. When decocked, the indicator partly retracts into the receiver.