Here's pictures of my SA Scout rifle wearing a Burris 2.75X in Leupold PRW Low height rings.  It has been a primary deer rifle for over 7 years.  All go and no show.  Mods were limited to shimming the gas cylinder, and running a Brookfield gas piston and spring guide.  Oh, and a Smith muzzle brake.

The Poodle Scout is my trusty 1980 Ruger Mini-14 with Ultimak rail and Leupold 2.5X Scout scope.  When folded it stores very well.  There is just no contest regarding compactness between 7.62 and 5.56 systems.  After a QUARTER CENTURY of reliable service, it is still a primary "go to" gun.

Notice that these SCOUT rifles allow easy access to the chamber areas for cleaning.  Mine never jam, but if they ever did clearing a malf would be easier.  The 7.62 magazine can be reloaded using stripper clips, which was a design goal of the M14 system in the early years.  Both can be field stripped by pulling the trigger guard loose, NO TOOLS NEEDED.  The irons on each are fully functional(once glass is off) using a very close to NORMAL cheek weld without adapters.

Making either heavier or more complex would subtract from their usefullness as  quick handling tools, IMO.  Simple Scouts are probably the best general purpose system I have found.

Paladin

Great Scouts PALADIN!   ___    I do love the forward mounted EER/LER optics.

I am in the process of building a Scout much like your SA Scout.
It will be a simple (K.I.S.S.) Scout with a little added go

I wanna turn my "loaded" into a scout with a Sage stock by chopping down the med. weight barrel to 18.5.  We'll see if it happens...

First thought that this was going to be a story about what happen after a very COLD shower........



Vulcan94