I've tried posting to gather info or opinions about this rifle before, but it seems to be taboo judjing from the lack of replies...

Anyone dare to comment?

I have a SteyrMannlicher "M" in 30.06.
I wish I had a ProHunter in .243 and a Scout in .308 but they want way too much money for the Scout.
I think it's a great rifle!

Slingster and I both have Steyr Scouts in .308 Win, and he also has a .376 Steyr. My .376 Steyr is a ProHunter model. I know a lot of people who have Steyr Scouts, but who are not posters on AR.

John Schaefer also runs a Steyr Scout webpage.

http://www.steyrscout.org/project.htm

I guess I didn't see your previous posts, or I would have answered.

As far as conspiracy theories go, here is my favorite. You can buy a SS and thereby replace a lot of other rifles that you will never buy. The manufactures of those other rifles have figured that out, so you will not see them making a rifle to compete with the SS. I expect they have told the gun rags that future ad revenues might be linked to more coverage of their rifles and less stuff on the SS.

jim dodd

EXPRESS I am very familiar with the Jeff Cooper scout rifle concept. I have fired 2 early scout rifles form Jeff"s gunsmith works. One was built on a BRUNO action, the other on a SAKO action. I have handled a STEYR scout but have not fired one. I have owned several STEYR rifles and they have all been superb shooters. I have a "scout" M1 Garand [308]. The reason I do not have a scout bolt rifle is because I am right handed and left eye dominate. The scout scope principle does not work for me. I am much better off with a conventional mounted scope of low power, or variable. When I use the Garand I close my left eye just as I do with a conventional scope, It is still a good way to mount a scope on a garand for hunting. With that said, my General Purpose Rifle is the Remington Model 7 in 308. Mine is the model with the green fiberglass stock 18" bbl, with a scope in QD mounts, [iron sights sighted in]. With the exception of a "sniper rifle" if I had to bet money on a shot to 600 yards this is the rifle I would use. When I hold a scout rifle left handed I "see" the advantages of the scout scope, and they are valid. Hunter Jim is correct the scout rifle concept is so good as to make you realize that it is the only rifle you need in its power class. I recommend you "handle" the STEYR scout and if you like it buy it. Also you can remove the scout scope and mount a different scope for different conditions. For example a scope with a lit reticle for pig hunting at night or Leopard hunting. A scout rifle is like a double rifle...once you use it some... and realize what it is all about, you know it is the REAL DEAL.

Express,
I've found some pretty good deals on SteyrMannlichers recently at Ozark Guns.
For the money- The stainless ProHunter Mountain in .308 with a 20" barrel for $709 would be really hard to beat.
(see page-2)


ProHunter- Mountain with 20" barrel & 10 round magazine


SteyrScout with 19" barrel

[ 02-18-2003, 02:11: Message edited by: CaptJack ]

These are great guns my department took a couple to test as patrol rifles,and passed on them due to cost only,for me the only draw back is its not left hand bolt, I realy whish ole Cooper could have convinced them to built it that way. I keep a scout model of the M1A1 on hand for hunts and work and it is fast to get on target with

I know you asked about the Styer and it is a fine gun. I choose the cost savings route and purchased the Savage Scout in 308 and it is quite a shooter. I have not put a bipod on mine and probably never will. I have the Burris Scout scope and it is very bright. I took this rifle hunting for our first time last October and while unsuccessful the scope was easy to see through at all light levels and the rifle easy to carry. there are a few items on the Styer modle I like better and they are the integrated magazine keeper
in the stock and I like the idea of a built in bipod even though I'd rarely use it.

You can make an argument that a good bolt action .308 can do many jobs, but to say a Scout has it all over a conventional bolt gun is really not true.
I've had both - a custom scout on a Rem. Model 7 and a couple of conventional .308's.
The scouts are really light, and, thanks to the forward scope, balance well. But shift the scope to a conventional position and you loose some of that forward weight.
The twilight performance of a 2.5X scope, including a Scout Scope is pretty dismal, something like 6.6. A standard 4X has a TF of 10.6, and a good 6X42's TF is 15.9.
Frankly, even is heavy cover, I find a 6X really useful. It helps me to see parially obscured targets better. Or find a hole to shoot through. The twilight performance is another nice thing to have. E

As HunterJim posted above, I have both .308 and .376 Steyr Scouts. I like them a lot, including the heavy reticled Scout scope.

My nitpicks about them (besides the cost) are: a rather small ejection port; the buttstock magazine occasionally pops out under recoil; occasional failures to ignite when using some military surplus ammo with very hard primers (but then it's a hunting rifle and one should be using hunting ammo); and the placement of the middle and buttstock sling sockets on the side of the stock, which doesn't allow the Ching Sling to drape properly. They could also have more robust shoulder stops in their magazines.

On the other hand, they're very accurate, light, and handy with superb ergonomics (at least for me), so on balance I think they're great.

I had a custom Scout built about ten years ago and hunted with it for many years. I loved it, as did all who shot it, but I can't see partially obscured targets past about 150m in a 2.5x scope. (Finn Aagaard and Jack O'Connor both had the same problem with 2.5x scopes.) Unfortunately, I hunt Pacific Northwest jungle, where everything is partially obscured. Exchanging several letters with Col. Cooper smartened me up about a lot of things, but it did not improve my vision, and my general purpose rifles all have conventional 4x scopes now.

The most important thing the Scout teaches us is not to think we can substitute gear for ability. Any rifle from a 7x57 to a 375 with good sights and a good trigger will cleanly take any animal in North America short of the great bears--if the shooter is up to it. Making it short and light helps, and adding a sling increases your reach, but if you can shoot, whether you have a Steyr scout or a pawnshop Mauser, you won't need another rifle for a long, long time.

The Scout is Jeff Cooper's answer to the problem of the general purpose rifle. It's an excellent answer--so good you truly must try it to believe it or even understand it. But it's not the only answer.

Please don't ever tell my wife I said any of this. Okie John.

Here's my own version in 9,3x62

I have a Remington 660 in 308 with a Burris scout scope which I love but it's not the real "scout" according to the Cooper doctrine. I've been trying to build a "true scout" for several years and have it to the point of a Mexican model 98 1936 action bbled to 308. I can't find a stock with the built in bipod. Brent Clifton has dropped out of sight and I can't fine another stock which qualifies. Any ideas?

Bob,

I don't know of one to replace the Clifton.

But the only time I have used the bipod on the SS is to assist in cleaning or as a rest to keep the rifle off the ground.

I would go without the bipod.

jim dodd

I was at the range a while back and a guy had a Steyr Scout in 223. He had a 2.5X scope mounted conventionally. It was very accurate from the bench at 200yards-about 1-1.5" groups, which I thought was good considering the scope power. I thought off-hand it was a little light, and the integral bipod is neat, but when you open it up it sounds like its going to break.
Its a neat rifle though, and seems worth the money for what you get.

Thanks Jim, There are several companies that make "scout" stocks without the bipod and I guess that's the way I'll go. Wonder whatever happened to Brent Clifton? After the article in the American Rifleman I would have thought he was on his way to success.

Looking at my post now, I think I maligned Scouts more than I intended. You owe it to yourself to put a few hundred rounds through a Scout if you haven't yet. Even if it's "only" a Savage, the advantages of the Scout-pattern rifle will become obvious. Also, if we get enough people working on the magnification problem, we might solve it. Okie John.

Andre

How about telling us a little more about your rifle?

It's got me intrigued. Looks like a good bear defense gun.

Bob You can always attach a Harris bipod if you have a need for one. There are very few times in big game hunting where you can use a bipod. Put a harris in your traveling kit, but mostly a sling [Ching or Hasty] will work.
P.S. you do any pig hunting around Breckenridge? I have seen some between there and Throckmorton, and between Albany and Throckmorton. Do ya'll have a gun store in town? I drive through there all the time.

Gatehouse,
I had it built as my foul weather drive hunting gun as I'm reluctant to expose my 9,3x74R FN-Browning O/U . My scout started from a German K98 WWII action + 20" Delcour 9,3x62 barrel + Leupold 2X EER scope in modified (sunk in) Burris mount + Butler Creek synthetic stock with Ching sling. It fulfils my needs perfectly in terms of efficiency, handiness and being a genuine knock-about rifle. BTW, we don't have bears in Belgium but I suppose it would do very well on them indeed.

Hey N E 450 No 2, We have a small place south of town where we hunt whitetails, turkey, pigs, dove, and quail. I mostly carry a gun around and watch grandkids hunt. I have not killed a pig there but my oldest son got a nice one in 2001. We take deer every year, also different varmits, yotes and a couple of times bobcats. The picture of the puma that Huffaker posted several months ago was taken by an auto camera on a ranch about five miles east of us. I have a cousin who has a small place north of town where we see puma tracks frequently.

Regarding gun stores, other than Wally World there are two, Trammel's downtown and EZ Pawn on West Walker. Trammel is a young guy, graduate of the Colorado school and has done some work for me, 22 Cheetah on a Ruger Mark II, etc. He does good work. EZ pawn is owned by a guy I grew up with. When I'm between contracts I go to his shop every morning along with other old farts to gossip, general BS, and fun conversation. The last gun I got there was a Remington made 1917 Enfield which I'm going to rebbl to some 33. I got a 358 Winnie take off bbl from a Remington 660 here on the forum and my buddy at EZ pawn is looking for a 660 in 243 or 308 for me to rebbl with this 358. Next time you drive through call me and I'll buy you a cuppa coffee.

I also have my first scout that I built on a .308 Win Tikka Battue platform. This rifle has a 20" barrel, and detachable box magazine. The iron sights came off, and a gunsmith friend mounted a Ruger number 1 rear sight base on the barrel, and the scope goes on that (the Ruger part fits without modification). I used a Burris long-eye relief model, this was before Leupold introduced their version.

I took this rifle to Gunsite and used it for a rifle course -- it worked very well.

I think what is important is to get a light, short and handy rifle and give the concept a try. You don't need a bipod or a Ching Sling to begin, and you can use an ad hoc method to get a forward mount scope. You really can use a conventionally mounted scope to start, and put that on later too. A lot of people have never handled and used a "small rifle" or carbine, and have not had the great experience yet.

jim dodd

Bob e-mail me your number and I'll give you a call next time I drive through. Ill have to check out the EZ pawn.
The 358 Win. would make a good "super scout".

Gentlemen,

We are in the process of load development for the Steyr Scout.

I started this project last year, but I am afraid it was put on the backburner until yesterday.

So far I have tried only two bullets in it. The Nosler Ballistic Tip 150 grain, and the Sierra Match King 168 grain bullets.

I will start posting the results in the morning on the Reloading Forum.

I have also tried 3 factory ammo we have here. 2 lots of FN military FMJ 150 grain ammo, and one lot of Norma 150 SP. The Military ammo did not fair so well from the accuracy point of view, while the Norma shot under an inch - exact size will be posted in teh morning, along with velocities as well.

Anyone with any special requests - powder or bullets wise - we will be happy to comply with as long as we have them.

Saeed,

John Schaefer has an excellent site on the Steyr Scout.

http://www.steyrscout.org/project.htm

He was involved in the development of the rifle, and is a great source for information and experience.

jim dodd