What is "the best" scope for a scout rifle?

​ I hear this question all the time, particularly on Facebook.  The question is usually about a specific brand or magnification, but the question really should be about the type of scope.

Before I start, let me provide a brief background so you know that this is coming form a person who has some experience with this.  I've hunted with practical and scout style rifles for 30 years.  I've taken probably close to 100 deer in the Virginia Piedmont which is mixed farm and woodland.  I've taken 4 practical/scout rifle classes.  I have a steel target "woods walk" range on my property.  I've owned fixed power from Leupold and Burris.  I've owned the variable scout scopes from both manufacturers.  I've owned several low power conventional variables from Leupold.  I've experimented and studied the problems.  I've made it my goal to find the best general purpose optic for my purposes.  

There are three basic types of scope a person can get on a scout rifle.  A conventional scope, a scout scope or an intermediate scope.  It is the intermediate scope that causes some issues because manufacturers call them scout scopes but they really are not.  Scout rifle purists don't like them because they are not true scout scopes and I'll get into the details of that momentarily.  

Scout Scopes:

A true scout scope will have an eye relief of 9 to 12 inches.  At one time, Jeff Cooper actually said it could be as short as 6" but that is generally ignored because an eye relief that short contradicts some other scout rifle features.  

Advantages:

- Allows the rifle to be carried in the field with the hand wrapped around the action which is very handy.

-  Allows the use of stripper clips.

- Leaves the top of the action open for easier loading from the top

- Places the ocular bell far from the eye so the shooter doesn't get hit with it during recoil.

- Speed.  It is incredibly fast to get onto target.  This is not to be understated.  If the magnification is below 3 power, your eye does something very cool.  If you throw the rifle to your shoulder and keep both eyes open, you'll see your target with both eyes with your distance vision.  The image in your dominant eye will have a magnified image with the reticle imprinted on it.  It is a cool trick and makes the snap shot stunningly fast.

It is this last advantage that makes a true scout scope so desirable.  It is why Cooper latched onto it.  It works better with the scope mounted low to the bore.  The magnified image in your dominant eye takes up only a small portion of your total field of view.  It gives the shooter great situational awareness.  On a range or in a training class, it excels beyond anything else.

This isn't a free lunch though.  With the ocular lens so far from your eye, bad things happen in low light.  Those same things happen if the target is obscured by brush or camouflage.  Because that lens takes up such a small portion of your overall field of view, it means that there is a very small screen in which to find discreet target indicators.  Targets that are easy to see in a conventional scope such as deer standing in a wood line at dusk at 100 yards fade into invisibility.

This caused me a lot of problems a few years ago.  I had been aware of the problem at dusk, but it had not cost me the opportunity at a deer until one particular day.  It wasn't even at dusk.  It was in broad daylight.  I came over a rise and used my binoculars to scan a brushy draw about 150 yards down a hill.  I saw a herd of deer filtering through the brush.  I got into a steady position and put up my rifle.  I couldn't find them.  It was like they vanished.  I checked again with the binos and they were still there and were easily visible.  Again to the scout scope and I could not for the life of me find a target indicator that would allow for an ethical shot.  It was extremely frustrating and started my quest for a better solution.

Several years later, after switching to a low power conventional scope for a while, I tried the Burris 2-7 Scout.  I figured my problem had been one of magnification so being able to crank up the power would fix things.  It helped a little, but didn't cure things.  The ocular lens is still too far from my eye to allow for really good target discernment.  It isn't a particularly good lens in the first place and was not as bright as other scopes and had a distinct fish-eye effect at the edges and I gave up on that as well.

Conventional Low Power Variable Optic (LPVO):

After giving up on the scout scope back in 2006 (might have been 2007), I decided to try a LPVO.  I found the best one I could get at the time which was a Leupold Mark 4 1.5-5X MR-T with an illuminated reticle.  I like this scope a lot.  It is not as fast at a scout scope for snap shots.  A scope that is 4" from your eye doesn't allow for the wide open field of view of a scout scope and one can quickly get "lost in the scope" even at low magnification.  It isn't horrible either.  At 1.5 power, it is pretty quick.  The big advantage though is low light performance.  I could hunt right to the end of legal shooting light with no problems.  Longer targets in the woods were no issue.  Essentially, anything inside 300 yards was easy and that wasn't just targets on a range.  If I could find it in my binoculars, I could find it in the scope and that made it a superior scope for a general purpose rifle.

A LPVO is a really solid choice for a GP rifle.  It has a couple of downsides.  Having an ocular lens 4" from your eye means hat brims often get in the way.  That may not sound like a big deal and on a range, it isn't.  In the hunting field where you may need to get off a shot quickly, it can be.  Anything that distracts from the act of shooting at the critical moment is a problem.  As I mentioned, it is also slower because when you raise the gun to your face, you must cover your target with the scope and then find it again in the scope.  Scout scopes don't have this issue since you keep your focus on the target while the gun comes up and then just allow the dominant eye to pick up the magnified image.

The advancement of the AR platform in the last few years has created a huge market for good quality LPVOs.  Some people want a true 1X magnification at the low end and while I don't see the need for that, they exist.  There are plenty of scopes with illuminated reticles with a high end magnification of 6 to 8 power and any one of them would be appropriate on a general purpose rifle.  

The Compromise:

An intermediate eye relief scope will have between 6 to 7 inches of eye relief and some still call this a "scout scope" but it really isn't.  Leupold has made two of these and they discontinued one of them.  I've written about this so much at www.scoutrifle.org that one person actually made a chart and labeled the intermediate position as the "Cliffy Position" after my username there.  I have apparently been fairly convincing that this is far and away the best way to set up a general purpose rifle.  It gives the shooter the best of both worlds with very little given up to either the scout or conventional scopes.

What I have learned is that the Leupold VX-R Scout 1.5-5X scope is that it works just as well as some higher end LPVOs in low light and is nearly as fast as a scout at the snap shot.

The odd thing about the VX-R is that it doesn't allow the scope to be mounted in either the scout nor the conventional rings of a Steyr Scout.  The rear ring needs to use the front conventional slot and the front ring uses one of the rear scout scope slots on the top of the receiver.  That places the ocular lens 6" from my eye and that opened up a whole new reality.

Speed:

The VX-R does occlude more of my vision than a scout scope, but it has another trick up its sleeve.  It has an illuminated red dot reticle.  That allows for something different.  The correct way to use a rifle reticle is to focus on the target until it is time to verify sight alignment.  At that point, one changes focus to the reticle itself.  It is a brief thing and is the equivalent to the pistol shooter focusing on the front sight.  With a red dot, this is not required.  That glowing dot just imposes itself on the target in the vision of your dominant eye and you really don't have to shift focus.  It makes up for the slight loss of speed because of this.  It is truly remarkable.

Low light, hidden and camouflaged targets:

The ocular lens of the VX-R is not only closer to my eye, but the lens itself is 50% larger in surface area than the scout scope.  When the gun comes to my shoulder, that means the lens occludes much more of my vision and makes it very easy to find minute target indicators.  Like a LPVO, if I can see it in my binos, I can see it in the scope.  

What really amazed me was the low light performance.  Some of this is the quality of the lens but I'm certain that the large lens and its proximity to my eye helps a lot.  Last hunting season, I noticed that I could see deer even past legal shooting light.  I wasn't sure if I was imaging this or if it really was that good.  Then I was able to prove that is was that good.  

I took a Randy Cain Practical Rifle class which included a night shoot.  At dusk, he had all the shooters get into the prone position and wait for a called shot.  They were to stand up when they could not see the target clearly enough to take a killing shot.  The targets were camouflaged and were in color coded stands.  The class had 14 shooters with a mix of optics.  There were a few moon scopes, several LPVOs, a few scouts and my VX-R.  Over the next 20 minutes, we stayed on the line.  I didn't realize when other shooters stood up.  At one point, the colors were starting to fade and I had to bear down to ensure I had an ethical shot.  I did.  Randy called for one more shot and only two of us fired.  After that shot, both of us put up our hands and stood up. 

I look at at my watch and did a quick calculation.  It was 40 minutes after sunset.  I had been able to see the target clearly enough in my scope to see the kill zone and to see the color of my target stand a full 10 minutes past legal hunting hours.  The other scope that did this?  A Leupold Mark 6 1-6X scope which is a $1600 optic.  The VX-R proved that it gives up nothing to a LPVO in low light.

Other advantages:

The VX-R doesn't allow one to carry the rifle by wrapping the hand around the action, but it does put the ocular lens far away enough from the face that the brim of a hat doesn't get in the way.  There is no chance of getting hit by the ocular bell during recoil.  Being mounted on a Steyr means access to the top of the receiver is moot.

The other Leupold:

The VX Freedom 1.5-4X and the earlier VX-II 1.5-4X scout scopes are also listed at 6 to 7 inches of eye relief.  They are good scopes and are very light weight.  They are smaller than the VX-R and not as bright in low light.  They are brighter than the Burris 2-7 Scout and I have not compared it to a fixed power scout scope.  Both the VX Freedom and VX-II scout have very long ocular bell housings and that does complicate mounting.  They cannot be mounted in the same way as the VX-R and it will end up closer to 7" by the time you're done.  They are still handy and good in low light and I consider them to be the best intermediate option now that Leupold discontinued the VX-R.

So what is the best scope to put on a scout rifle?  If you can find a VX-R, that is clearly the best bet but finding one is no easy task.  Unless Leupold decides to make them again, the options are slim.  Other than that, one needs to ask themselves some serious questions.  Is this gun for range use or hunting?  Is the hunting in low light?  How much is speed an issue?  Weight is a consideration as well and most LPVOs tend to be on the heavy side (notable exception is the Leupold VX-IIIi 1.5-5X which is less than 10 ounces).  If I didn't already own the VX-R and I was setting up a scout rifle for true general purpose use, I'd chose a LPVO but would always keep my eye open for new offerings in the market.  If somebody made a scout scope with the same advantages as the VX-R, I'd certainly give it a try.

Jeff Cooper General Rifle Class by Tom Russell

 I'm always at a loss as to how to start these reviews.  The bottom line is, it was a fantastic class, but there's a lot to unpack in describing it.

Facilities:

The class is held at the NRA's Whittington Center in Raton New Mexico and it is an amazing facility.  The range is named the Jeff Cooper Range and it shows.  It has both steel and paper targets at 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards, along with a berm at 50 and room for more steel going out to ranges that my rangefinder couldn't figure out.  Additionally, there is a valley next to it for a rifle walk, a classroom with chairs and decks for gun cleaning and it is decorated with all manner of Cooper memorabilia.  There is a well-head outside with running water.  The ghost of Jeff Cooper seems close at hand.

Beyond the range, there is competitor housing on the premises which was a nice place to gather during breakfast and lunch.  There is a concessions trailer with brisket sandwiches that are out of this world.  There are multiple ranges spread out for every shooting discipline plus a gift shop and museum.  Additionally, there is even a ghost town and abandoned mine where we took a long hike on Wednesday evening.  My friend Hank described it as Disneyland with guns.  

Trainers:

Tom Russell was both a friend and instructor with Jeff Cooper and was present at the Whittington Center with Jeff when Steyr introduced the Scout Rifle back in 1997.  He is knowledgeable and a good communicator.  All commands were clear and there was never a question about the expectation.  He ran a solid course from start to finish.  He also has a fair amount of hunting experience, particularly in Africa.  Many of his anecdotes and reinforcing stories were drawn from his African experiences.  

Ethan Russell is Tom's 19 year old son and he acted as an assistant and line coach.  He has a promising future and did a great job of helping to keep things moving.  He found his voice and was able to call out hits clearly when needed.  

Aaron Thompson is a friend of Tom's who also acted as an assistant and coach.  If I understood it correctly, he is working on becoming an instructor himself.  He will do well in that.  His commands were also clear and made sense.  He was encouraging when needed and did a great job of keeping things moving.

Students:

I'm not going to give a bio of everybody but suffice to say, it was a really good mix.  There were no students who slowed the group down nor made us roll our eyes.  Everybody was dialed in at least enough to keep up.  There was one older gentleman who had not owned a gun until 3 years ago and only recently ever shot a rifle.  There was a 14 year old son of one of the other participants who really showed a lot of advancement during the week.  There were several of us who have taken multiple firearm classes including a few rifle classes.  The camaraderie was genuine and not a single person would I ever wish to avoid in the future.  That is a rare thing and I think it contributed to a fantastic overall experience.

The guns:

There were 5 Steyr Scouts, one custom Ruger 77 and two custom Howa rifles in the class.  The gentleman with the Ruger also has a Steyr that he brought out for one day.  The rookie of the bunch started out with two stock spacers and by Thursday, I talked him into removing them and he was very grateful.  He also opted to try it without the bipod and really liked how this improved the handling of the rifle.  The gentleman with the Ruger also tried removing the bipod and also enjoyed the handling of it.  My friend Hank and I both had rifles without them and I am more convinced than ever that the gun should be made without them to save weight and make them more handy overall.  

Optics:

Most participants had the 2.5X Leupold scout scope.  The guy with the Ruger had the VX Freedom 1.5-4X scout.  Hank and I both had the Leupold VX-R 1.5-5X Scout scope.  In the class, there really isn't much difference.  The advantage of the VX-R isn't felt until the sun starts to set or the targets get hard to see due to camouflage.  I did like being able to turn up to 5X at longer targets and I noticed Ruger guy turned up to 4X at 300+ yards.  While it was nice, it wasn't totally necessary because the targets were white and contrasted nicely with the background.

The drills:

Snapshots - Cooper said that the Scout Rifle is ideally suited for the snapshot so this was a big part of the training.  Once and sometimes twice a day, we would work on these.  The drill was to start at 10 yards at the sound of a buzzer, fire at the head of a standard IPSC target.  Then do it again.  And again.  Then move to 25 and do the same thing.  And then to 50 but this time to the A zone of the body.  That's 45 rounds in pretty short order.  This drill exposes weaknesses in gun handling, flinches and awareness.  

Positions - We practiced standing, kneeling (only a little), squatting, sitting, prone, braced standing and Hawkins prone.  We drilled getting into and out of these positions over and over.  

Longer range - During the week, we practiced out ot 300 yards, mostly in prone and by Friday, we started ringing steel at 400 and 500 yards.  We discussed using the center post as the aiming point and how to roughly figure hold-over.  This was not a long range precision class but we got the general idea of longer range shooting and some did very well even at 500 yards with a 2.5X scout scope.  

Challenges - We were timed on the Rifle Bounce and Rifle 10 drills.  These were fun but Rifle 10 will wear you out at 6500 feet elevation.  

    - Rifle bounce consists of starting from a standing position and engaging a steel popper at 100 yards.  Once that is hit, drop to sitting and hit a popper at 200.  Next, move to prone and hit a popper at 300.  My best time was woeful at 29 seconds.  One guy in our group was lightning fast at 16 seconds.  It is hard to move to all three positions in that amount of time, let alone hit a target.  

    - Rifle 10 required improvisation.  The shooter starts from a standing position and drops to prone at the buzzer and engages a paper target at 300 yards with 2 rounds.  Then, he runs forward 25 yards and choses a position and fires 2 more shots.  Advance 25 and 2 more.  Advance 25 and two more.  Advance 25 (now 175 yards from the target) and fire 2 more but those shots must be from standing.  Par time is 2 minutes and I did it the fastest at 2:22 which means I lost points but not as many as the rest of the guys.  I scored a 30 after the time deduction and that was far and away the best score that day.  From what I understand, a score of 40 is considered "good".  I was totally gassed and am sure my two misses were the last two from standing.  

    -Rifle walk. Each student was taken on a one-on-one walk with Tom into a narrow valley.  I didn't enjoy the first one and that is because it was designed to teach some lessons that are uncomfortable.  I will not go into detail because I don't want to give anything away but the second time through was much more rewarding (although I did drop to prone in some cactus).

Shoot-off: 

There were two parts to this.  One was to see who had the best accuracy in the snap shots at 25 and 50 yards.  Doc Troy won that but Hank was close behind.  The other part was a man-on-man double elimination bracket where the course of fire was pretty simple.  Begin from standing and engage one steel target at 60 yards and then drop to the position of your choice and engage a steel target at 200.  Best 3 out of 5 wins the set.  This was a blast and there was a lot of cheering and we got to find out who hates losing.  That would be me.  Fortunately, I didn't lose.  I won the whole thing against some very good shooters.  Second place went to a guy who was new to scout rifles but pretty dialed in otherwise and third place went to the 14 year old who showed dramatic improvement during the week.

Class time:

We did spend time in the class discussing everything from mindset, current events, shot placement (game and otherwise), history of the concept, the future of the concept including discussions of suppressors, sling choices, hunting, movement and other random topics.  This is the only place I might change some things.  The emphasis on African hunting was interesting, but not always pertinent to anything most of us will ever experience.  

Extra curricular activities:

On Wednesday evening, we took a long hike to the Van Houton mine and ghost town.  We carried rifles but not for shooting.  It was a long walk and for some of the guys, it was the first time they had carried a rifle in this kind of situation.  Aside from the relaxation and team building, it was instructive to learn how a light weight rifle carries over long distance.  It was a very positive experience.

On Thursday, we all drove about 45 minutes South to Cimarron and the St James Hotel which is a historic inn on the Santa Fe trail.  It is also where Cooper celebrated a birthday and was the last man to shoot a hole in the ceiling (cool story behind that).  Again, great team building.

Hank and I were the only ones who didn't stay at the Whittington Center and we discovered a fantastic little Mexican restaurant which is where we all met for dinner on two other nights.  The food was great and the staff were visibly appreciative of the business and treated us like royalty.  If you go, make sure to try Casa Lemus in Raton.  

Overall thoughts:

I can't overstate how good this was.  The guys who came in as rookies had dramatic improvements.  The guys with more experience all learned more and advanced their skill sets.  Everybody walked away as better shooters and have a foundation upon which to build.  It is a big time commitment to take 5.5 days and travel to New Mexico, but it was definitely worth it.  At no point did I feel bored or frustrated (well, except for the 1st rifle walk but that was the point).  

Bottom line is, if you are looking to make use of a general purpose rifle, this is a great way to learn it or to hone your skills with one.  It isn't the only way but the overall experience is really beyond compare.  

The 3 Kilogram Scout Rifle

The light idea:

Three kilograms.  Six pounds, 10 ounces.  Pretty simple, right?  That was the original goal of the first Scout Rifle Conference.  Of all the criteria listed for the scout rifle, that is the one that vexes people the most.  It isn't the only criteria, but it is the one that is most difficult to attain.  It is so difficult that even Jeff Cooper modified it several times.  If one reads Richard Mann's book on the history and development of the scout rifle concept, you'll see that at various times, Cooper listed 3.3 and 3.5 kilograms as the goal but never explained the difference.  Most would agree that 3 kilograms is the theoretical ideal, but that as long as the finished product is less than 3.5, and all other criteria are met, it is a "true" scout rifle.  Cooper declared the Steyr Scout to be the final and ultimate word on what constitutes a scout rifle.

So is it possible to get a rifle to the 3 kilo mark and still retain the rest of the features in order to qualify as a scout rifle?  There are a number of custom rifles floating around that have done it, but they are one-off rifles and are VERY expensive.  I don't know of one that has a detachable magazine.  It is damn hard to do.

Hard, but not impossible.  I did it and so can you.

Parts is Parts:

There are really two things that need to be done in order to achieve the Holy Grail of weight on a scout rifle.  The first is to use lighter accessories.  Find the lightest components for everything.  Here's some suggestions:

Scope:  I love the Leupold VXR and think it is far and away the best scope for general purpose use.  It is bright and crisp and works better at dusk than anything I've used short of a conventional Swarovski.  It also weighs 14.2 ounces.  The Burris 2-7 scout is preferred by many but it still weighs several ounces more than other options.  The Leupold VX Freedom 1.5-4X Scout weighs 9.2 ounces and the FX 2.5X scout weighs 7 ounces.  For the purposes of this experiment, I used the VXII scout (identical to the VX Freedom) and I find it to be the 2nd best general purpose scope around.  It isn't quite as good in low light but is better than the others.  

Scope rings:  I didn't put these on the scale, but the Weaver Quad-Lock rings are noticeably lighter than the Leupold QD rings.  Watch out though... what they call "medium" is very low.  If my ocular bell were over the receiver, it wouldn't fit and I'd need to use high.  As it is, the objective bell is touching the rail.  

Sling:  If you use Andy's Leather Ching Sling https://www.andysleather.com/products/scout-rifle-ching-sling, switch out the brass buckle for a Chicago screw.  It isn't as quick to change length, but it weighs less.  Trim the excess leather.  Even doing this, that sling is 2 ounces heavier than the Wilderness Tactical Ching https://www.thewilderness.com/ching-sling/ which is what I used.  I'm not sure you can still get that sling with the Pachmayr or Millet hammerheads now but I had one around.  

Recoil pad:  In order to have a quick change recoil pad system on the Steyr, they have an attachment piece in the stock.  That adds weight.  Remove it and buy a Pachmyar Decelerator model 200B in medium https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1006517292?pid=974626  The screw holes are already in the right place so it is fairly easy to fit.  You'll need a spacer as well https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1115185384 .  I used a 1/16" plastic spacer.  If you don't use that, you'll collapse the pad when you tighten it down.  This modification can be done without permanently altering the original stock as long as you are careful with fitting the pad.  Use a belt sander or sanding disc to fit it to the stock.

WECSOG:

The next thing to do is to get rid of the bipod.  Let's face it... nobody uses these things in the field anyway.  Yes, they are cool at the range, but in real world use, they only add weight and bulk.  I'll list three ways you can accomplish this:

1.  Remove the bipod from your existing stock and don't modify anything else.  This is extremely easy.  Swing the bipod legs down and you'll see a small pin near the front of the stock.  Drive that pin out.  The bipod will now slide forward and out.  Replace the pin and you're done.  The downside to this is that you now have a number of sharp edges on the stock.  You can use it and shoot with it like this.  I did this for an entire deer hunting season to see if I missed the bipod.  I didn't and I liked how trim the gun felt in my hands.  It leaves unnecessary weight in the stock because you have the buttons and rail that retain the bipod but you also haven't permanently altered anything.  

2.  Modify the existing stock.  Same as above but now you're going into "WECSOG" territory.  The Wile E. Coyote School of Gunsmithing means you're going to forge ahead and there is no going back.  If you screw this up, there isn't much you can do to fix it short of buying a new stock from Steyr.  They do sell them complete for $425 here:  https://www.steyr-arms.com/us/scout-stock  

The modifications that need done is to remove the rail and the bipod retaining hardware.  Remove the screws holding the rail first.  Things will start popping out at that point and good luck getting them back in place.  I did it once, but would not want to give instructions on how to do that.  The button and retaining wings all come out and leave holes in the stock.  What you do with those holes is up to you.  I've done it two ways.  Fill in the holes with putty.  I used JB Weld Water Weld.  I used a cardboard filler in the large hole where the button was to take up space without weight but you could also use styrofoam.  Use the JB Weld in the bipod hole up front and then start sanding everything.  I used a sanding wheel on a drill to knock the edges off everything.  Be careful obviously but it isn't difficult to figure out where to sand it.  I used putty in the transition from the unmodified portion of the stock to where the bipod legs used to be and sanded it smooth.

3.  Buy a stripped stock.  Did you know that you can buy a stripped stock for the Scout?  Numrich Arms sells them for $42.  https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/717930  When they say stripped, they mean stripped.  There is no cover on the bottom of the pistol grip.  There are no swivel sockets.  There is no recoil pad or bipod parts.  You've got a totally clean slate with which to work.  Follow the steps above for the filling and sanding and for the forend.

Next, you have to deal with the recoil pad.  The factory stock comes with an attachment point for the stock spacer system and recoil pad.  The stripped stock doesn't have this, but there are two screw holes in the back of the stock.  By fortunate coincidence, the spacing of these is identical to the Pachmayr medium recoil pad.  I wanted the smallest one possible and selected this .4" pad at Midway https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1115420887

You can't directly fit this pad because it isn't stiff enough once you start tightening it down.  You'll need the thinnest stock spacer you can get such as this one:  https://www.midwayusa.com/product/100648584?pid=567275

Once you line up and tighten the spacer and pad, you'll need to use a belt sander to fit them flush to the stock.  Use masking tape around the stock and then go to town with the sander.  

The problem you're going to have is the swivel sockets.  The original came with 5 but you only need three unless you switch between right and left hand shooting often.  Finding three sockets is a problem.  Nobody makes them that I've been able to find.  Steyr seems to have a source but I'll be damned if I can figure out how.  Andy at Andy's leather had a few and sold me what I needed and he may have a handfull left, but that's about it.  There is a possibility of using the new Grovetec QD sockets https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1015372197?pid=625257  I've been told they are slightly larger than the holes that are in the stock so that would require drilling out the holes.  It might be the only alternative.

If you are able to find the original Pachmayr sockets, installing them isn't as easy as I thought it would be.  They are TIGHT and it is very easy to cross thread them.  I bought a drill press from Harbor Freight to get them in.  I used epoxy on one but the others don't seem to need it.  

Putting it together:

So now you have the lightest components and you've earned your first WECSOG degree.  Now it is time to put it all together.  I need to comment about my particular rifle and that has to do with the barrel.  I had my barrel shortened to 16" and threaded for a suppressor (long story, but I had to go with 1/2"-28 thread pitch which I understand is not normal).  That means my rifle is lighter than yours will be by the weight of that 3" of barrel.  However, I also used the Leupold VXII scope which is about 2.5 ounces heavier than the fixed power scout scope so that should be about a wash.  

By using a stripped stock and only using what was absolutely required and by using the VXII scope, Quad-Lock rings and the Wilderness sling, my rifle comes in at 2.99 Kilograms.  Yes, the Holy Grail of scout rifles from a factory gun and cost is well under $2000 complete.  

The funny thing is, I likely will not hunt and shoot very much with it in this configuration.  This was an academic exercise to see if I could do it.  The benefits of the VXR scope are so great for me and my uses that I'll sacrifice that weight.  I also prefer the leather sling in the summer as the nylon tends to chafe my arm.  I enjoy a suppressor when hunting or training.  My field ready gun comes in at just over 8 pounds but it sure is cool to know that I have the ability to see exactly what Cooper dreamed of so long ago.