MK-16/17 SCAR gallery from OEF-A

[mkmckinley]

I've been meaning to do a little SCAR review using some pictures I took in Afghanistan. I don't intend this to be an exhaustive writeup of every capability and feature of the weapon. I think others have done a good job of that already. I'm just going to show a few pictures of some used and abused SCARs and add captions describing my observations after using them in training and on combat patrols. Overall I liked the weapon and found the 7.62 a good cartridge for the longer range engagements typical in Afghanistan. I'm more than happy to answer any questions but the rules prevent me from talking specifically about capabilities or employment of any weapons system. I will say that in my experience the reports of good accuracy and reliability that you can read about elsewhere are pretty accurate. Some well qualified shooters have stated that the precision of the MK-17 in certain configurations compared favorably to the M-110. Anyway, on to the pictures.

Here is a picture of the way I had my MK17 set up in Afghanistan. This is the Shorty barrel with AAC suppressor. Sometimes I used the suppressor sometimes I didn't. I had to rezero with it when I put it on so for the most part I just left it off. I might as well mention now that after changing barrels the user needs to zero his optic. The POI shift between barrel changes is enough that I didn't feel comfortable unless I zeroed. I like the medium barrel for the MK17. The shorty has a lot more recoil and scares up a lot more dust. However when using a suppressor, especially the long AAC one, the shorty barrel is useful for keeping the rifle at a reasonable overall length. We were in and out of vehicles a lot and some of the guys opted for short barrels, even unsuppressed, mainly out of convenience.


Here's my "dismounted patrol" setup for the MK17. More often than not I went sans suppressor. The bobro bipod was nice to have but it's important to make sure it's tightened with the locking piece between rail sections. The only real complaint I have with this weapon is the ambi mag release. When walking around in kit for long periods of time there is a pretty good chance that at some point your kit will bump against the mag release and drop your mag in front of everybody. It would have been nice if they come up with a better guard around the release or a user-reversible non-ambi mag release lever.


Here's a picture of the same weapon w/o suppressor. I put a magpul MOE grip on it to get a better position for my trigger finger. I do this for my m4 (ergo grip) and personal AR-15's too. On the SCAR the MOE grip doesn't fit perfectly and leaves a little gap between the grip and receiver. I decided to run it this way and it never caused any problems. The grip screw threads into a square nut in the receiver and is a pretty sturdy setup. Why FN didn't make the receiver compatible with AR grips is beyond me. Somewhere in the net a guy with a SCAR light said he was able to modify a Magpul grip to fit flush. Also you can see the Magpul sling that I used during deployment because that's what I brought. It's one of the earliest ones to come out at it's very difficult to adjust. I highly recommend a Blue Force Gear or Vtac if you want a two point, adjustable sling.


Here's my buddy's shorty MK16 with a Docter sight and cheesy forward grip. He had that grip all through premission training and deployment and it actually worked well for him.


Here's a shorty MK17 next to an M4. They're a bout the same length but of course the MK17 is a bit heavier.


Exploded MK17 medium


A major complaint with the MK17 is the mags. They're hard or impossible to get more of and the base plate can tend to slip off like this. I never had one get so bad that it lost rounds or couldn't be easily slid back on but it sure was annoying. A few properly applied strips of duct tape works wonders but it's just one more thing to keep track of.


Here's a picture of the trigger group after a decent amount of shooting and walking around in the desert. It's pretty grimy and dusty in there but the trigger pull and selector switch never felt gritty. The thing is built like a tank. The SCAR has a much better trigger pull than an issued M4.


Here's a picture of the stock. It has a very long toe that some liked and some didn't. Personally I found it to be very well executed. One caveat is that it's important to make sure the locking tab clicks into place after you adjust the stock length. If you don't the thing will collapse under recoil and you'll smack yourself on the nose. Ask me how I know. At the front end of the cheek piece you can see a little depression cut out for a BUIS. Nice touch. When this picture was taken I had the rear BUIS off to try to get better eye relief with my SpectreDR. Later I put the ELCAN back forward and replaced the rear BUIS.


Here's the dirtiest part of the gun, the piston, after not being cleaned for a long time. Honestly I think the carbon kind of reaches equilibrium and I didn't find it all that important to clean the piston or gas block. I generally just wiped down the bolt and carrier and hit the receiver with compressed air. Then added lube and called it good. I didn't have any malfunctions.


Finally a gratuitous pick of the business end of a (unloaded) MK17.