I have a Scout and love it. Get the wood stock, not the synthetic model that Springfield sells for less. The flimsy plastic stock is ridiculous and has a negative affect on accuracy. Mine came with the synthetic stock and I immediately changed over to walnut for aesthetic reasons and I discovered how accuracy instantly improved as well.
Expensive to shoot?
Well, 147-gr NATO at Academy Sports is a dollar per round plus tax (current production Winchester Q3130). I've seen PrviPartisan and a couple others going for around $15.00 per 20 online so there is also shipping on top of that. There is some non-reloadable steel cased stuff around like Monarch (Academy branded) for around $12.95/20 and Federal Gold Medal Match is about $30-$35 per 20.
My reloads are running me between fifty-cents up to about a dollar each depending on the bullet. If I add in my time it's pretty expensive because of all the case prep involved on each piece of brass. But I never count the "cost" of reloading time involved.
Had my eye on a Scout for several years and the stars finally aligned. Picked this beauty up this afternoon...
Rear Sight - Military Aperture .0690 w/ MOA Adjustment For Both Windage and Elevation
Front Sight - National Match .062" Blade
To sweeten the deal I was able to purchase during their current Gear Up M1A promotion and will receive three free 20 round mags. Just submitted the paperwork and should have the mags in a couple weeks...
Holy Crap!!!! It's sexy in a beast sort of way. Congrats on joining the fraternity.
Mine is still pretty much stock with just a couple of steel parts parts upgrades and I sanded the handquard so it doesn't contact the stock. Got some correct drill bits ("O", "P" and aircraft length #15) and a roller greaser tool, and a spare firing pin and extractor. If you want bits I can help you get them much cheaper than from Sadlak.
2932A26 Letter "O"
2932A27 Letter "P"
3096A326 #15 Aircraft length
Shipped they cost me sixteen bucks and change.
Buy a $4 "Made in USA" hickory tack hammer handle from your local Ace/TrueValue hardware (local family owned) and section it. Use a drill press and some sandpaper.
Twenty-one bucks TOTAL invested (instead of fifty bucks) pays for a bunch of primers or a pound of powder.
Seeing that I'll do this whole drill bit procedure about only about once a year I figured I could save about thirty bucks on the 3-bit "Fancy" set to use for other things like primers.
I took the pic before I sanded and urethaned the handles.