quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:
So having watched as much of that video as I could watch, I have a few comments. I mean no disrespect to Warpig, these are directly from what they said.

The first minute or so, the seal team guy talks about how accurate the 17s is. He says he could easily hit targets at 800 yards with a 4x optic. Then he says maybe out to 1000 yards, and says it was a great weapon for Afghanistan.

Later he complains about getting hit with the reciprocating handle in combat.

Then both guys complain about how long the rifle is, how heavy it is, how loud it is, and how heavy 7.62 ammo is versus 5.56.

The Scar 17s is, for them, too long for clearing houses. The M249 those two operators used is apparently lighter and more maneuverable than the 17s.

Yes, the 17s is loud. Maybe in the future, the Pentagon should consider issuing suppressors to our warfighters in the field.

I just took that as a pros and cons list. I think they were getting at that the scar would serve well in some situations better than others and wasn't an ideal choice as an assaulter weapon.

My personal feeling with mine and the way its setup is that the only place I'd rather have my sbr ia room clearing. House to house and short engagements my 17 is no worse than my 16in daniel defense. I sold my m1a scout and ak's ......and a sig 716 dmr to get the scar and feel it can do everything the guns it replaced did.

I'm not knocking the scar, I'm not saying it's the best gun ever. Just asking a simple question as to if anyone here had experienced any repeated issues.

I was a bit baffled by the weight being a con. I find the weight to be a big pro when compared to other rifles in its class. I suppose if comparing to an AR it will lose out. I also dont carry the scar with a 140 round loadout so I'll give them that. I'm just a mere mortal with one in the gun and 2 spares.

The reports from Henderson Defense regarding their experience in renting full auto SCAR16 and 17's on their range indicated the models were very durable.

Do a search for "FN-products-handle-stress-VERY-well"

Most of their models lasted 100K easily, some I think went to 250K. Most wore out the barrels (80K rounds) and needed some springs.

So I have both a Scar 17 and 16. Both bought used with very low round counts. I would guess that my 17 has way less than 1k through it. Reliability was been great with just a couple of light primer strikes from some PPU ammo. No FTF or FTE issues, but I also have not ran any steel case stuff through it. So I am not really the person the OP was asking to respond.


Also I guess I would be considered, as they said in the vid, to be a "Range monkey" on a "Flat range"

So what I do not get is the simple fact that these rifles have been really hard to come by to purchase on the civi market. Why ? because FN is sending them to all kinds of folks all over the world to use in all kinds of circumstances and conditions. So where are all these "reports" and " pages of documentations" from and all these failures ? Now before I purchased either of these rifles the OCD came out in me and I spent a fair bit of time on a "FN only" forum. I do trust that many for those guys, as some here, have shot thousands of rounds down the pipe. Some in combat. Good enough for me.


Now some of the other stuff are well known facts.


The reciprocating chagrining handle. I did have a failure on my 16 shooting a drill because I let it hit the barricade. But I chalked it up as a learning experience with the platform. In research I thought I had heard that this was to do with the military trials and them wanting some kind of forward assist. But I could be wrong about that.


As far as the other stuff...…….sure !


Its not a great room clearing weapon. Ya no shit !


Loud ? Its shooting a big round.


Weight ? At 7.7lbs it is as others have said one of the lightest .308 platforms out there. You add more stuff on it and it gets heavier !!! DUH !!! And yes it shoots a heavier round than the 5.56. Nothing earth shattering so far.



But I will keep the vid in the back of my mind. Who knows ?
They my make a vid where they review the Bren 2...……..And crown it the Scar 17 killer !

Steel cased ammo is a no go with the SCAR. It looks like that's what they used in the video. Far be it from me to dispute claims from guys who have used the SCAR in combat. But the current 17s is a proven design with tons of aftermarket support. The 17s has benefited from over a decade of hard use testing and design improvements.

The biggest legitimate complaint about the SCAR is the price of it. Folks want them, FN can't make enough to go around, and the market for FDE ones is what it is.

To answer your question, I've not had 1 malfunction in my 17, nor has my friend in his. I put quite a few mag dumps through mine, and have done that below freezing, in rain, and 100 degree Texas heat. Never any sand or super dusty times, except whatever dust kicks up from the comp. I've shot steel MFS in his, and mostly zqi and fgmm in mine. I'm not jumping outta Chinooks though.

This is the first anything I've come across suggesting reliability issues in the 17. None of his other cons apply to my situation.

I own both a 16s and 17H and have never had a problem with either. But did have to replace the stock trigger with the Gisele Super Scar trigger to get decent 5 shot 100 yard groups.

I have shot my 17 a bunch with no drama. I shoot everything from the cheapest steel case I can find to match ammo. All supppresed. I would shoot banana’s through it if it would eject the peel.

Not that its relevant overall to the discussion. But I shot a match last night and that pushed this particular SCAR over 10K rounds. It's very old in terms of SCAR's. Can't see anything that looks odd. A bit of wear you can see. But other than the trigger replacement nothing else has been touched.
I normally don't shoot .308 in matches as the cost is too much versus other options and there is really no competitive advantage in my competitions, but I use this one on occasion to make sure I'm still happy with the setup as a similar one will be my SHTF gun.
I have the parts from PMM to delete the rail sections I don't use and that's my next project, but otherwise its the best of the best for .308 battle rifles.

I've only had my 17 for a few months, and only got a couple hundred rounds through it, so, you know, my experience is limited. So far, so good, though.

From watching the video, I'm pretty sure their gripes (aside from the reliability allegations) would apply to any other .308 battle rifle. It sure seems like the guys in the video are in the minority of users in that they claim reliability problems. Did they have a bad gun? Hey, maybe - lemons happen.

I wouldn't take one user's experience with one rifle as a sufficient reason to condemn a rifle any more than I'd take an example of another user's report of flawless performance with another rifle as a reason to champion that design.

What I do rely on, though, at least to some degree, is that the SCAR has been around for some time now, and there's a lot more good said about its function and reliability than not. And FN can't seem to make enough of them.

Ok, so it's bigger than an m4, and it's heavier, and 7.62 ammo is bigger and heavier, and it gets even heavier when you attach shit to it. The real question is, do you want to shoot 7.62x51? If so, then, you're going to have to accept the weight and space limitations of the round you chose and the size of the gun that spits them out.

I do understand, to a degree, the gripes about the reciprocating charging handle. Those complaints start to fall on deaf ears when I see that the complainer put on a huge aftermarket charging handle. Don't want a big, moving charging handle that could hang up on stuff? Then don't stick a paint-paddle sized charging handle on the weapon, for starters (at least the guys in this video stayed with the stock charging handle).

Maybe lugging around a 7.62 load out and a SCAR-17 is the worst way to put a 7.62 battle rifle into a fight, with the exception of every other 7.62x51 platform out there.

quote:

Originally posted by Slippery Pete:

None of his other cons apply to my situation.

Same here...I guess the charging handle thing is annoying but I knew that going into it. I have dual charging handles to boot

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
Same here...I guess the charging handle thing is annoying but I knew that going into it. I have dual charging handles to boot

The charging handle is a little bit of an issue for me but not enough to really call it a con.

I'd prefer to put it on the left for ease of use, but I'm not keen on tearing up my thumb. So...it'll stay on the right. No big deal.

I've only had it for a week or two now and have only fed it about 100 rounds, but I love the darned thing. No negatives so far.

why on earth are you worried about your thumbs? just asking.

Im lefty, so i like a right side charge, and ive been shooting aks, galil, sig, m14s etc forever. Never had a problem with those either. I like direct control of the action too.