Ruger Gunsite Carbine

[W.R.Buchanan]

Curly: your deer look like our deer out here in SoCal. I live right by Lake Casitas in Ojai CA. I drove by the lake on the way home today and there is a mowed field across the road from the lake that they use as a parking lot for special events.

There is a herd of deer that graze that lot everyday and it has been steadily growing to where today it was 25 animals. All does with 2 spike bucks! Nice fat ones too. Still I doubt any of them would break 110lbs on the hoof. They were definately packing their little cheeks on the fresh grass. All of them look really clean and healthy. These are all Blacktails and Mule deer.

Since deer season is over out here they have all came out into the open again. These deer are not hunted as they are on closed BLM land, and I'm pretty sure they know it . I can get within 25 yards of them before they walk off.

I was ranging them today from my car and the farthest shot would have been right at 100yards. Not much of a shot for the Scout! The closest ones I could have hit with a rock!

Randy

[BruceB]

[QUOTE=BruceB;1486745]I find myself in a very serious dilemma."

The dilemma has been resolved.

My wife and daughter gave me that left-handed Scout this morning for Christmas. It is an absolute dandy!

The trigger breaks cleanly at about four pounds.

The scout mount has been removed, since the scope will be mounted conventionally on the receiver. A hidey-hole for the aperture sight will likely be created under the buttpad, and that will keep it available on a few minutes' notice. An Allen wrench will share the storage place.

I've had a good experience with the new Redfield 2-7X on my daughter's Browning 7mm-08, and I may just try one of those sights on the Scout. I find that 2-7 power range to be extremely practical for my purposes.


Nice rifle! They also gave me a Ruger-logo T-shirt, custom-embroidered on the back: "I finally got my Gunsite Scout!"

[762 shooter]

You had better start reloading a bunch of 308 Win.

You do not have enough.

Congratulations.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Bruce B: good to hear you got your Scout !!!.

I have the 3,5 and 10 round poly mags as well as 2 5 rnd AI mags and the 10 rndr that came with the gun.

The gun feeds much smoother off the poly mags than the steel ones. Also they are lots cheaper to buy.

I use the poly 5 rnd mags for Silhoutte shooting, and would use the 3 rounder for hunting. The 10 round ones would come in handy at Front Sight for the rifle class, or the next insurgency.

You're gonna love shooting your gun! It is an absolute creampuff to shoot and very accurate. My handloads using Recycled M80 ball bullets and 45 gr of 4895 are going sub 1" everytime I shoot. It would probably go 1/2" with Sierra Matchkings!

I'm glad you got one, Hope you're happy with it.

Hope to see you at the SHOT Show next Month.

Randy
__________________
"It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"

[Curly James]

Hey Randy,
That doe ran around 100lbs and while a little smaller than I would have liked made some darn good venison sauage. You are right tegarding the polymer mags, I picked up a three rounder and have been using it while hunting, they are much smoother feeding than the steel mags. Bruce, I have to tell you these rifles grow on you and this one has taken a lot of shooting time away from my other rifles. I have been working on developing a cast load for the tactical rifle matches this spring. I will require a load that is fairly cheap (we will average 80 to 100 rounds a match) and capable of at least five inches at 200 meters. A pleasant misery to have and I am enjoying rhe research immensely.

[AkRay]

I agree that the sling mounts should be on the side so the rifle carries better. Right now I'm thinking a 3 or 5 rd mag is the answer to carrying it with a sling.

[Artful]

Try the off side shoulder muzzle down African carry? I use that with my Mauser with WASR mags.

[Jailer]

Randy, thanks for all the updates you've done in this thread. I read through the entire thing and you've contributed a wealth of valuable info.

I traded my LR 308 for this rifle and so far I love it. Luckily my bolt is nice and smooth and runs even better after a couple drops of Slip 2000 EWL.

Still working on finding an accurate load. I've been working up loads with 8208XBR but I'm going to try some IMR 4895 next and see how that works out.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Teh new guns have all had the bolt race tolerance tightened up and they run much smoother than mine did. My Roomy jsut bought a new one last week and it was nice right out of the box. It was jsut a minor production hic-cup and has been fixed. They have gotten these guns very dialed in.

I have had very good luck with 45.0 gr of IMR 4895 and 147gr Recycled M80 ball bullets from Hi-Tech ammo.

Pretty hard to beat the .11 per bullet price and they are nice!

This load has been consistantly shooting >1" at 100yds.

I would bet on >.5" with Sierra Matchkings from this gun.

The non believers just don't know what they are missing!

Randy

[Jailer]

I'm actually waiting on payday so I can order one the NOE 311299 4 cavity molds that Al has available.

I'm looking forward to casting for this as it will be my first rifle I've cast for. Well actually my 45-70 was the first but that's more like casting and loading for a big 45 ACP. It's kind of hard to get it wrong with that one.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I just got a 2 cavity one from Al. Had a few problems getting it going but I am dialed in now and it makes very pretty boolits. You will have to be patient with it.

I got it for the Ruger .308 and my three .30-06's. My 03A3 sporter conversion will be the main .30-06 cal recipeint of these boolits.

I'm holding my desk boolit as we speak ;.)

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

Well today I shot my monthly Silhoutte Match at the Ojai Valley gun club with my RGS 77.

I sucked outright! I hit no Rams, 1 turkey, 1 pig and 2 chickens. Might need to practice a liitle before next months shoot. We had 35+ guys there today.

On another note: My roommate bought a RGS77 from Big 5 Sporting Goods last week. His is a 3500+ serial number and it is slick as glass. No bolt bind whatsoever. This gun is probably right at one year old by the time it was sold, so they have this gun totally sussed out and production working perfectly!

He is happy as a clam.

Randy

[Jailer]

Well that's too bad WR, you've been tearing it up so far with that scout.

I got my XS scout rail Friday and got it installed. Looks nice, fit is good. Aperture on the rear site is a little larger than the factory piece but it's still usable. Might see about getting a smaller aperture at some point.

For now I'm going to mount up my Falcon Menace 4-14 x 44 in a Larue LT104 for load development. Not exactly the type of scope and mount you want on this rifle but it's what I have laying around so I'm going to use it. Once load development is done I'm going to put the Leopold scout scope back on. The Leopold is nice but I need something with a bit more than 2.5x magnification for working up a load.

[MBTcustom]

I hate to be a downer but this thread is 1 week away from being open for a whole year and Curly James is the only one who has posted pictures of groups on page 4.
What gives? Are they realy that bad?
I mean I love the look and feel of them, but are they as shoddy as the M77 on accuracy? Post #192 has me worried.
It makes me nervous that nobody is putting up pictures bragging on the great groups they are getting.
$800 I better be able to put 'em all under an inch @ 100 all day long! (after some judicial fire-lapping of course. After all, its a Ruger)
Is this one just another pretty, high priced, lead slinger like the rest of the M77's.
I realy want to buy one. I realy do, but it better be able to do what a rifle is supposed to do.
Thanks!

[Jailer]

Best I've gotten is about 1 1/4 inch for 5 shots, but I'm really not that great of a shot. Someone with a bit more skill than me would be better to post groups. I'm actually looking to see what this thing does with boolits. I've got an NOE 311299 4 holer on it's way to me as we speak so I'll have results of that soon.

Trust me, if I can find something this thing likes I'll post it. I just don't think your going to see tiny ragged one hole groups from this gun though.

[Curly James]

I hate to be a downer but this thread is 1 week away from being open for a whole year and Curly James is the only one who has posted pictures of groups on page 4.
What gives? Are they realy that bad?


No,, they are not that bad, the rifle groups well with ammo it likes. My best so far is 3 rounds in under and inch with consistency. That's with a Nosler 150 grain ballistic tip boat tail with Varget powder. I have been able to place three rounds touching with this load and it has taken two deer for me this year. The other loads I have tried have stayed right close to that

The accuracy expectation for this rifle is in line with any other carbine with a 16 inch barrel and a 2.75 power scope. What you do have is a handy, extremely quick on target, and powerful rifle. What you don't have is a 9 1/2 pound, 26 inch barreled, one ragged whole at 200 yards target rifle. This little carbine is a very nice compromise and one I have been enamored with for about a year now.

Jailer,
5 rounds in 1 1/4 inches is quite good for this type of gun and I will be pleased if I can get the cast boolit loads I'm working on to do as well. We'll be starting tactical rifle matches in late February and I am looking forward to stacking the GSR up against the ARs used by the vast majority. I will be shooting these matches with cast boolits using a 155 grain boolits and a 200 grain boolit.

Anybody got a good load using Lees 200 grain cast 30 caliber in a .308 Winchester??

I will post some more photos soon.

[762 shooter]

I hate to be a downer but this thread is 1 week away from being open for a whole year and Curly James is the only one who has posted pictures of groups on page 4.
What gives? Are they realy that bad?

You won't be a downer to GSR owners. Most everyone that has shot one is impressed with the practical accuracy of the thing.

It should should shoot 2 MOA or under with just about any ammo.

1 MOA or under with the right ammo. Check out the gun blast review if you need pics.

For hunting purposes this is fine for me. If I were shooting at mice at 100 yards I would probably reduce the caliber and lengthen the barrel.

Mr. Buchanan has done some impressive things with his at 500 yards. See Posts #105, #112, and # 133.

762 shooter

[W.R.Buchanan]

Goodsteel: Post #156 there is a pic of my 7/8" group. Please read the explaination before jobbing me about the extra shots on the target.

My standard load is 45.0 gr of 4895 with 147gr recycled M80 ball bullets from Hi-tech ammo. .11 ea! I think it would do better with Sierra Matchkings. If you are looking for one hole accuracy then this is probably not your gun but 7/8" out of a 16.5" barreled carbine is pretty acceptable accuracy. My gun has about 400-450 rounds thru it and the barrel looks like a mirror!

Post #159 has pics of a bunch of sub 1" groups with cast.

Curly: so far the only cast I have shot with mine were 311299's with 21 gr of 5744. I did not get a chance to shoot them at a target, was just plinking , but they all went in the general vacinity of the dirt clod I was aiming at 50yds away from the standing position.

Randy

[MBTcustom]

Wow, I missed that whole page! I scrolled through the entire thread looking for pictures but I missed that page somehow.
I apologize if I came across abrasive, none of it was directed at you fellers, its just that for the last few years, Ruger has been doing the very best they can to lose every ounce of respect I ever had for them. My friends and I, have wasted good money several times on their products in the last few years. I bought a 10/22 that would not shoot any better than 4" group at 50 yards with any ammo. (and yes I tried several scopes). A friend of mine bought a ranch mini-14 that had the same accuracy as the .22 4" at fifty yards? I read stories on the internet that folks cant count on the #1 to diliver the accuracy that made it famous, struggling to get 1" at 100 yards, and thats a G-note worth of rifle! Finally, another friend bought a new ruger M77 (dropped over $600 on it and another $400 on a scope) and it would not shoot any better than 1.5" at 100yards no matter what load we tried.
So you can understand if I am just a touch jaded. The part that stinks is that they do such a great job finishing all of their guns that you want to buy one just to have something that looks so darn pretty!
Seeing those groups definitely makes me feel a little better though.
By the way, I dont expect perfection and pinpoint accuracy out of a short barreled carbine, but I do expect any good rifle to be able to do 1" @ 100 with handloads, and you would be surprised what a rifle will do with a decent barrel from Lilja or Krieger, no matter what the barrel length is. American manufacturers have just forgotten how to screw a strait piece of pipe onto one of their actions.
Hey Randy, who was shooting at your target when you shot that 7/8" group?
That's actually very impressive and satisfactory, both from the shooter and the rifle. Good shooting.

[BruceB]

[QUOTE "its just that for the last few years, Ruger has been doing the very best they can to lose every ounce of respect I ever had for them. My friends and I, have wasted good money several times on their products in the last few years."

I've bought a goodly number of Rugers, and FOR THE PRICE, I consider all of mine to be well worth the money. I expect this new Gunsite Scout of mine to follow suit. Just mounted a new Redfield scope on mine today, and should have it on the range within the next week or so.



"I bought a 10/22 that would not shoot any better than 4" group at 50 yards with any ammo. (and yes I tried several scopes). A friend of mine bought a ranch mini-14 that had the same accuracy as the .22 4" at fifty yards? "

NVCurmudgeon and I each bought new Mini-14s in 2010. His is a stainless ranch rifle, and mine is a Davidson's Deluxe version. BOTH of these rifles will group five rounds in the 1"-1.25" range from 100 yards....repeatedly. We are both OLD riflemen, but these rifles shoot very well for us. The performance is perfectly OK for what we expect them to do for us.




"I read stories on the internet that folks cant count on the #1 to diliver the accuracy that made it famous, struggling to get 1" at 100 yards,"

I must have missed the bulletin that said ALL rifles MUST deliver minute-of-angle groups, or they are junk. I have a lot of rifles here, and some are reliable sub-1" groupers, and some are not. News flash: We don't NEED 1" groups at 100 yards to kill big game. Varmints, sure...a lot of non-Rugers can't do the 1" routine, either. My two #1 rifles WILL group in that 1" diameter, and the .416 Rigby will do it with TEN cast bullets from 100.




"By the way, I dont expect perfection and pinpoint accuracy out of a short barreled carbine, but I do expect any good rifle to be able to do 1" @ 100 with handloads, and you would be surprised what a rifle will do with a decent barrel from Lilja or Krieger, "

So, you expect a Ruger factory rifle to shoot as well as a rifle with a $500+ custom-made barrel? Asking rather a lot, I'd say.

One factor a lot of critics fail to acknowledge is very simple, and very important. It doesn't take just an accurate rifle to make small groups. YOU NEED A SHOOTER WHO KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING. There are legions of rifle shooters who have not the faintest idea concerning how to fire a rifle from a benchrest....but they almost all have computers and Internet access. I see many of this type on every range trip.

I have no qualms about buying Rugers. If the type fits the use I have in mind, it usually suffices for the job.