two
I've been interested in scouts since reading Cooper articles back in the 80's.
On my early Savage 10 scout, I've got lever quick release rings for two different scopes, a Burris 2-7x, and a Leupold 2.75x. The Burris has the Ballistiplex reticle, the Leupold has been too the custom shop for a big bold German #1. Surprisingly, off & on the rifles, zero does not change radically enough to concern me too much. I've also got a Burris2-7x scout on a M1 Garand with an Omega rail.
After quite a few years of use, I realized that scoutscopes do have certain drawbacks. If backlit with low sun, they are hard to see through, suffering glare off the optical lense. When hunting with the Leupold from treestands in bad light, I could see deer, but the reticle was hard to see. The Leupold got the big #1 for that reason. In a side by side comparison with other scopes, the Leupold and it's big reticle allow me to see the 3D deer target (and importantly the reticle) in my yard in very poor light. Works just as well from a tree on real deer as well! If I'm using the Savage scout in the SD/GP role, I put the Leupold on the rifle. It's big, fast and works under a lot of adverse lighting with the addition of the #1 reticle.
The two Burris are a bit bigger and heavier than the Leupold, ( and I'd expect the 2.75x Burris) and the rifles become a bit more front heavy as a result. The higher magnification allows hits on smaller targets farther out, and the ballistiplex reticle works for my loads, zeroed on at 100, the hold off points work correspondingly and are really quick on known distance ranges with multiple targets. I use the Burris 2-7x scopes for hunting open setups, ROW's and foodplots, typically on AM hunts when the light gets better as the morning goes on. Higher magnification allows counting points on QDM land and picking windows through brush and obstructions. The 7X is also useful for testing loads and shooting groups.
The flag waver for the scout rifle these days is a writer named Richard Mann. He's gone on record as favoring the variables scout scopes. What may be ideal is a bit more magnification than 2.75X.......say 1-4X and a switchable red dot aiming point at the center of the crosshair. The big German #1 is not for everybody, but the German #4, with a on/off dot at the crosshair, may be the best of both worlds. Such arrangements are very popular with the AR modern rifle mounted conventionally over the receiver. But..... variable power and illumination create more weight, something to be avoided out ahead of the balance point.
I've even scoutscoped an AK.......but the rig ended up very muzzle heavy, even with fixed 2.75X and the set up didn't last long.
