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.