Allrighty, I am at my computer now and can offer a little more insight than is practical on my phone!
I bought this gun primarily because I am going on a hog hunt (coincidentally, I am leaving tomorrow) and I simply didn't want to take my 7mmRemMag, and because my only other legitimate hunting rifle is a Model 94 that was my dads and is simply in to good a shape for its age to take outdoors. The .308 is a good, easy to find round, so that was always the direction I was heading in. It really came down between this, an AR-10 of some sort, or a Hawkeye (I love my Ruger rifles, you see!)
I chose the Scout not because of the ability to mount a scope forward, which I will likely never do. Instead I bought it because I personally like have irons, because you can still mount a scope in the traditional fashion (and I have), and because with the rail I can mount a red dot on it should I so choose. I have tried all three things, and all work as well as advertised. Also, while I did make sure that I found the gun comfortable, I won't lie: I think it looks cool.
In shooting the Scout, I really had a "Ooooooh, I see" moment when I realized what Cooper was always talking about. This thing handles fast, and while I intend to use it almost entirely as a hunting arm, with some paper punching thrown in for fun, I certainly can see where this would be a solid arm to meet the general needs as described by Cooper. It shoots soft and accurately with a trigger thats good enough that I don't have any nitpicks about it. Also, I love the carbine size. Fantastic woods gun, though so far my experience with carrying it in the woods have been more me hiking the river with it one day just to test it out.
I won't be getting rid of mine, but it does have it's issues, or at least it has things I don't like. First and foremost, the plastic spacers that come with the gun that allow you to adjust length of pull (which is a great idea) fit in a less that pleasing way. It's not bad, but considering the rest of the gun is nicely finished and well put together, it's just sort of a smear that I wish wasn't there. Secondly, I am not a huge fan of the style of the irons. I don't hate them, but I wish they were more along the lines of an AR aperture setup instead of the mini-14 arrangement. Thats a personal qualm, but I shoot the smaller aperature better than the larger one, and my 100 yard groups confirmed that given that they hovered around 3 inches, give or take. Accuracy was perfectly acceptable, but I know that I can shoot an AR better than that at 100 and because I have also shot the Scout with a scope on it, I know that it is much better (reduced groups by half or more) than what those irons would indicate. Still, they are perfectly acceptable for what I intend to do, so it's more of a personal quibble.
Other than that, I have no complaints. I have run about 100 rounds downrange to familiarize, zero and have fun, and with every shot I am glad I chose this rifle. It's a little more expensive than what a Hawkeye would have been, and certainly more expensive that the Ruger American is, but it has features neither of those have, and importantly to me, it's a carbine. I am the type of guy that doesn't change hunting rifles very often. My 7mag has been with me since I was 15 years old, and until just very recently, it was more than sufficient for all my hunting requirements. Chances are very strong that this will be the last hunting rifle I buy for a very long time, if in fact I ever buy another one.
