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Just brought home my scout squad!

2K views 20 replies 12 participants last post by  WRMorrison 
#1 · (Edited)
Life has a peculiar way of working out...

I had settled on a scout squad for my next rifle, and ordered quite a few bits and pieces for it before I ever purchased it. But, my LGS was having a lot of difficulty finding one to order. So, I decided to purchase a NM loaded from a local for a really good price. I drove the 1.5 hours south to pick it up; he was working a table at a gun show. I paid the man (fine looking rifle) and decided to wander around the show to see if there was anything else I couldn't live without.

I found the usual trinkets (for 2x what they're worth...), but one vendor had an older scout squad in walnut...just what I was looking for originally. We got to talking, and long story short, we traded straight across and I brought home his scout squad with Leupold FX-II 2.5x28 instead! On first glance, it appears to be all SAI with the exception of the front sight (which is NM). I'll give SA customer service a call on Monday about the manufacture date, but I'm thinking sometime around 2000/2001.

Overall, I couldn't be happier! Now to decide whether or not to keep the Leupold where it sits or swap it for the Burris Scout 2-7x32...opinions from those who've looked through both? Also, I can tell that he (re)mounted the scope recently as it was installed backwards (fixed in the pic though).

-WRM



 
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#3 ·
I like my Scout a lot, but took off the scout mount(barrel clamps suck), and put on a Bassett mount and a Zeiss 3-9 to take fuller advantage of the long range potential. I did just order a Burris 2.75x20 Scout scope for my M48 Mauser. I thought about a variable power, but I didn't want Mr. Cooper turning over in his grave.
 
#4 ·
The NM front sight is factory standard on the Scout.

I bought mine in 2012 and started with the forward mounted scope setup using a Leatherwood Hi-Lux scope.

Just wasn't happy with the setup.

Removed the forward rail, went to a standard handguard, and installed a Bassett Picatinney mount.

Moved the Leatherwood scope to my Ruger Gunsite Scout where it works great.
 
#7 ·
The NM front sight is factory standard on the Scout.
Thanks; I was unaware of that.

Does anyone who has the scout prefer the optics in a scout mount or standard? I've talked to 2 friends of mine today, and while they've never owned an M1A scout squad, they have owned other scout models (bolt action). Both of them eventually went to a traditional scope mount as well.

I guess time will tell eventually, but just messing around in the garage, it seems pretty handy.

-WRM
 
#10 ·
Your rifle was made in 2000.

http://m14forum.com/reference/24302-sa-inc-m1a-sn-born-database-100001-up.html


I'm very partial to the 18" barreled M14's. I have two of them. One was born as a Bush rifle with the receiver mounted scope. I picked up the barrel scope mount and installed a Burris Scout scope on it and am very satisfied with the combination. I've installed the SEI Coast Guard muzzle brake on both rifles.
 
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#13 ·
I just recently bought a Scout Squad in walnut and have the Burris 2-7 Scout scope mounted in Warne QD rings. I like that set up a lot. The 7x comes in very handy when doing accuracy testing at the bench, being able to see bullet holes at 100 yds. I will keep it on 2x for general offhand shooting though. Accuracy out of the box with M80 ball was very disappointing. Handloads and Federal Gold Medal Match was better, but not all that I hoped for. I found a contact point within the barrel channel of the stock and the Op rod guide. Eliminating that with judicious use of a Dremel to remove a small amount of stock material has improved accuracy some. I also relieved the stock ferrule to NM clearance standards. I still need to shim the gas cylinder and I probably need to bed the stock to achieve proper barrel tension. I'm not looking to get match grade accuracy, but I think I can eventually get it to shoot 1.5 MOA or better. In a ten shot group, about half of the shots will be in a cluster of about 1.25 to 1.5 inches, but the remaining shots open up the groups to about 2.5 inch or more. So it looks like the gun wants to shoot sub 1.5, just have to tighten things up a bit to eliminate the inconsistencies.
 
#14 ·
I don't know if you can get less than 1.5, especially with the scout scope setup. That barrel clamp negatively impacts potential accuracy, I would think.
 
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#16 ·
Just got a Scout in walnut as well. I didn't really care for the scope mount set up. After taking off the barrel mount and front hand guard, I progressed through USGI handguard, to reinforced fiberglass handguard, to a really nice walnut handguard that I bought from Treeline, it came with the handguard clip installed and dropped right in
.
Wow, what a difference! When the weather improves, she will wear a Bassett Low Picatinny mount with a Leupold 3X9 scope.

Good luck with your rifle, I think you did well!
 
#18 ·
1.5 moa is Match grade accuracy. It is expected from a National Match rifle. A Scout/Bush rifle is expected to have Service grade accuracy, which is about 3 moa. If your rifle shoots better, then you are doing great. RNGR2

Service Rifle targets have a 10 ring that is approximately 3 moa, with an X ring of approximately 1.5 moa. This allows just about everyone to compete, but only the best to win.
 
#19 ·
I don't have any Service Rifle experience, so my frame of reference is from shooting some FTR, dominated mostly by bolt guns. There the 10 ring is 1 MOA and the X ring 0.5 MOA. But that is not my intended use, so it's not really applicable. So all I know is that there are still things I can do to improve accuracy, short of full NM upgrades. Initial groups out of the box (actually a nice zippered case) with ball ammo were about 6 MOA with some wild fliers. I have shot enough to know when they are self induced, and most of these were not.
 
#21 ·
Thanks all for the input; it's appreciated. The plan for now, is to return the Burris scout scope, Leupold rings and BC flip-up caps when they arrive and use the current setup. I'm picking up 8# of H4895 tomorrow and will use the cash from the returns for projos, primers and more brass. I'm already fairly well equipped with mags and other accessories. If in the future I decide that the scout-mounted scope isn't for me, I'll look into switching to a receiver-mounted scope. But, for my intended purposes, I have high hopes for the scout mount.

I do want to be able to remove the scope and use the irons on occasion as I do shoot XTC a few times per year. Not enough to truly be competitive, but I have a lot of fun doing it. I've got other rifles I can use for this purpose as well, but I like to give them all a few chances to "get their feet wet" so to speak. My favorite match is coming up in February; this year it's the "125th Annual Washington's Birthday Match" in Phoenix. It's the longest-running rifle match in the United States, and it's all done from the 200 yard line. This particular match is more about the camaraderie to me and less about the score.

Here's a few shootin' pics that show my love of the sport:











-WRM
 
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