This is one of those "why didn't I think of that?" ideas that really only waited for the digital revolution to advance far enough to make it possible.  What is it? It's a telescopic rifle sight with a built-in digital camera... basically a scope that takes pictures.  They have three varieties, 1.5-6x40, 3-10x44 and 6-16x44.  We got our hands on the 3-10x44 version and put it through its paces.

The SmartScope comes in a nice wooden case with brass fittings, padded with a thick layer of foam on each side to protect the scope.  On opening the case, the first thing you note is the big bulge in the center of the scope.  This is the camera housing, and it caused me a bit of grief.  The second is that the hefty scope weighs almost a pound and a half.

I wanted to mount this scope on my Remington Model 700 VS in .223.  I took the rifle and scope to my local gunsmith to get it mounted, but there weren't any rings tall enough to accomodate that big box in the middle of the SmartScope.  Further complicating things is the fact that the SmartScope has a 30mm tube, so the selection of rings on-hand was limited.  But even with the tallest rings made commercially, the bulge would have been too long for the cutout at the top of my short-action receiver.

I was disappointed, since I'd set aside a day to shoot, and then didn't get to.  I'm sure you know how frustrating that can be.  So I went home and started thinking about the rifles in my safe, trying to figure out which one might accomodate this big bruiser of a scope.  What I came up with was a bit of a strange match, but it worked well enough to test the SmartScope, and that's all that matters....

I have recently acquired a lightweight, handy rifle called the Steyr Mannlicher Jeff Cooper Scout Rifle, designed to the specifications of Marine Col (ret) Jeff Cooper (founder of IPSC and Gunsite, by the way) and the Scout Rifle Conference.  This compact .308 bolt-action comes with a Long-Eye-Relief sight from Leupold, but the rifle's receiver has an integral Picatinny rail along its entire length.  Additionally, my rifle was bereft of glass sight due to a warranty issue Leupold has since taken care of for me.  Both these factors suited the requirements of testing the SmartScope.

I dug out my digital calipers and did some calculating and decided that the SmartScope would fit if I could get rings at least 0.625" high. Your rifle will be different, most likely.

I made a quick call to Brownell's excellent customer support team and they helped me find and order a pair of Warne "Maxima" quick-detach 30mm scope rings, plenty tall enough to fit.  I received the rings two days later, and sure enough, they were an excellent fit and worked great.

To fit this scope on your rifle, you'll likely need a Picatinny or Weaver type rail, or a long-action rifle.  The scope could be mounted to any rifle, but might require some custom gunsmithing to produce the required mounts, if there aren't any suitable ones commercially available.

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