Recently in my email inbox, I received pictures and video of an interesting rifle, the Ruger Gunsight Scout rifle. If you are not familiar with it, the rifle is “the one rifle to have if you only had one.” Come on, who of us only has one? Anyway, the concept is good, a short rifle in .308, 10rd. mag fed, bolt action, patterned after the Jeff Cooper scout rifle concept. I looked up the price, and WOW, $1000+. So that made me think, what other, less expensive options would be available?

The Cooper Scout idea was a rifle that was less than 39”, less than 7.5 lbs., forward mounted scope, and .308 caliber. I knew where to go to find answers. My buddy has a few rifles in his collection, so we went through his safe and we found two short rifles.
One was a Chinese Nagant 53. 40 inches (one inch longer) and 9 lbs.(1.5 lb. over), and chambered in 7.62x54r, close enough to a .308. It had a replacement stock put the scope forward. Average current price is about $300, but they can be had for less I hear.

The other option was a Norinco SKS paratrooper carbine. It was a post-ban model, no bayonet lug and the thumbhole stock was replaced with a Tapco collapsible. With the stock collapsed, 35” and 7lbs. Within the specs except for caliber. Average price is about $525. I haven’t seen one of these for sale in a while. Note: uses AK mags

What other affordable rifles can we come up with for those of us on a budget?
The Cooper Scout idea was a rifle that was less than 39”, less than 7.5 lbs., forward mounted scope, and .308 caliber. I knew where to go to find answers. My buddy has a few rifles in his collection, so we went through his safe and we found two short rifles.
One was a Chinese Nagant 53. 40 inches (one inch longer) and 9 lbs.(1.5 lb. over), and chambered in 7.62x54r, close enough to a .308. It had a replacement stock put the scope forward. Average current price is about $300, but they can be had for less I hear.
The other option was a Norinco SKS paratrooper carbine. It was a post-ban model, no bayonet lug and the thumbhole stock was replaced with a Tapco collapsible. With the stock collapsed, 35” and 7lbs. Within the specs except for caliber. Average price is about $525. I haven’t seen one of these for sale in a while. Note: uses AK mags
What other affordable rifles can we come up with for those of us on a budget?
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