Anyone ever tried a scout scope setup? By that I mean a scope mounted far forward on a rifle. I am contemplating putting one on a top eject lever action. My eyes don’t agree with iron sights like they once did.

I have one on my Swedish Mauser. Not the most ideal but it gets the job done and it was a way to scope the rifle without making any permanent modifications to it. For me it's serviceable for hunting out to about 200 yards but gets dicey after that. I have a 2.75x20 on it. It's definitely better than iron sights.

What will it’s main purpose be?

It will be a truck / tractor / UTV gun. Basically want to carry it at the ranch for hogs or coyotes that I jump up while doing other things. I don’t envision shots much over 100 yards.

I've got a fixed 4X Leupold on a Ruger Scout Rifle. Works great. Can shoot with both eyes open which I like.

Is the top of the action not tapped for scope mount? Winchester 94?

On this forum, it has been very common for me to read of guys trying scout scopes, and not liking the long eye relief.

If your action is tapped, I am quite sure you would like better an optic made for AR-15. 1-4X, 1-6X, 1-8X. Burris males some fairly inexpensive options.

I had high hopes for scout scopes but am down to a single rifle with that set up. It’s not bad for modest ranges when you want to be able to use both eyes for improved peripheral vision. I wouldn’t modify a rifle to do it, but it’s worth trying if it’s not too much trouble.

The rifle is not setup for a scope. It is a pre 64 Winchester 94. It has holes drilled in the side of the receiver for a side mount scope which I hate but having these holes drilled for the side mount pretty much kills the collector value so I just want to make it usable. I am not worried about drilling more holes. I am halfway thinking of getting the holes in the receiver for the side mount welded up and then cerakoting the thing.

My only other option was to maybe try ghost ring sights.

I tried doing the scout scope thing on my Marlin 1895 45-70. Thought i was a good idea as the previous scope I had on it had short eye relief and made me bleed a few times I just couldn't get use to the long eye relief and went with a Leupold fixed 4X with 4" eye relief. Much better solution for me, it has enough eye relief to prevent scope eye but not too long.

I have a Ruger 450 Bushmaster and, in order to save my eyebrow, I bought a Bushnell Banner, 3-9. It gives me 3 1/2 inches of eye relief and a good, solid cheek weld. It's still not all that much fun to shoot, but I don't walk away from the shots with a bloody rag on my head!

I keep kicking around tossing a 2.5 Leupold on to a m1a socomin a scout style. I have all the stuff so cost would be 0, but I like the irons on that gun a lot, so I haven't gotten around to it

Here is my Swede, used a Bad Ace Tactical mount that replaces the rear sight and Burris fixed power scout scope. Hoping one day to get a Swedish M38 with an already bent bolt to use a regular scope but this gets the job done and lets that 1901 Mauser have fun. I killed a hog at 300 yards with it so not too shabby for a 121 year old rifle.

Jeff Cooper designed the original Scout Rifle. A family member of his hunts on our lease as a guest of our landowner. All she shoots is the original version of it in 308. Shes proud of it and I dont blame her.

I had one on a mosin rifle… it was ok but not the best. I would probably go with a red dot if it had to be mounted out front.

I have run and hunted with a Ruger Scout Rifle with the Burris 2X7 Scout scope for about 7 years now. I love the setup though it's way too heavy to be a true Scout rifle. The scope is mounted very low and quite good (for me anyway) for snap shots and followup shots. I LOVE having the scope out of the way for running the bolt! In these regards I think it is as good as Cooper said it was. I have found the true cost of a scout scope to be inferior low light (some are horrible) sighting, a reduction in precision (compared to a big scope anyway) and a very small view through the scope. However it does not take long to overcome that with both eyes open at lower magnifications.

Honestly... I love the setup but don't hunt with it anymore. The poor low light performance really bothers me. In summary I'll take the center ground and call it as superior as it's inferior. Depends on your needs. You can do pretty amazing things with it though.