Savage Scout vs Ruger American Ranch

D

-Doug-

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Hello,
I have a Savage 116 FCSS in 308, excellent firearm but heavy and a little to long to carry around in the brush.
I am debating trading it towards either a savage scout or Ruger American Ranch.

I am wonder what people’s thoughts are when comparing the two.
The big thing that is pushing me towards the Ruger is how much lighter it is.
The thing that is pushing me towards the Savage is the fit and finish and how much I like my current Savage (build quality seems a little nicer than the Ruger).

Plan would be to throw on a 1.75-5x32 optic.
Let me know your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks
Doug
 
In the choices you have given I take the Ranch, I have the compact in 308, except for maybe grizzly bear I'd use it to hunt anything in North America. The scout never did for me. Especially the Scout scope style, I tried it on 8x57 for the last five years I just could not get used to it.
 
If you want something relatively nicely made and light, take a look at the Browning AB3 in synthetic stocks, around $700 and they are quite nice for the price, stocks are actually decent as well.
 
-Doug- said:
... either a savage scout or Ruger American Ranch.
...
Click to expand...

The Savage is quite a bit heavier but I think it'll balance better for you, so it's your call whether you want to make shooting the rifle or carrying the rifle more pleasant.

The Savage is definitely a "nicer" rifle. Make sure you handle a Ruger American (any trim level) before buying one. They seem pretty cheap and cheerful in comparison.


There are other important differences but if you haven't mentioned them already then maybe they don't matter to you. The Savage has the scout layout (requires an LER scope), iron sights, adjustable LOP, currently available in 308, probably more that I'm missing.
 
I'm not a fan of scout style rifles meself. I went with the RAR in 450 BM and really like it for it's feel & handling qualities. At 5.5 lbs weight for the bare rifle,
the addition of a decent scope & rings will keep the whole package close to, or under 7 lbs. Despite the cheepy looking stocks, they are stable at holding the barreled action in place. I swapped out the trigger on my one for a Timney as I ain't fond of blade type units.These rifles shoot damn good at ranges that most folks hunt at.
 
If I were to go with a scout rifle I’d take the back sight off and install a normal scope mount.
The appealing part of the scout rifle is the short 16.5” barrel.
 
there's no savage that can turn me perky even a little bit, the little Ruger however does the trick, it's actually grown on me since ownership, typically the opposite happens with savage...
 
I’ve owned salvage and ruger ranch. Both accurate, both soulless and boring. I also found I dislike mags sticking out below the gun for hunting. I’m not sure if the .308 ranch has an extended mag, but the .556 ranch I had owned did and it was a pain when coyote hunting. If I wanted a cheap gun I’d look at the mentioned browning or the Winchester xpr. They don’t much for me either but the fit and finish is better than a ruger ranch and might be better than the salvage. You couldn’t pay me to carry a scout rifle hunting. YMMV
 
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