So, my FN SCAR 17S is here thanks to the eagle eyed searching of Edwin from work. He found a great deal at a local gun shop so this beautiful gal followed me home from work this week.
Out of the box it is hard to believe that a 7.62 X 51mm battle rifle is so light. Tipping the scales at just less than 8 lbs without a mag, this thing is seriously quick handling. I added a Night Force 1-4 optic and a VCAS 200-AA sling. Note that I had to reverse the Larue Tactical mount to keep from shredding my knuckles while charging the rifle. It’s now in some sort of reverse cantilever configuration, but it works. I’ll add a Surefire Scout Light in a Danger Close mount as soon as they get here. The rifle came with only one mag though I was able to score a few more through the generosity of a good friend.
The colors of the upper, lower, and stock are about as mismatched as they could possibly be and still fall under the FDE umbrella. The PWS brake on the end of the barrel is huge. I mean freaking BIG. I’m going to swap it out for a Surefire as soon as their SCAR H compatible brakes are available.
I took it out to get a couple of rounds through it this evening. This thing is a shooter for damn sure. While there is no doubt that you are shooting a “real” cartridge, it is BY FAR the softest shooting 7.62X51mm I have ever shot which is especially notable due to the light overall weight. I plan on taking the timer out with me next trip and compare some spilt times and see how fast and maneuverable it really is.
As the days are getting short I only had time to zero it and run a couple of mags through it (about 175 rounds total). This included M118LR, Mk316Mod1, M80, and some sort of SOCOM issued barrier blind round that looks like it is loaded with the Barnes TSX bullet. Accuracy was excellent. Most of the shooting was done at 50 meters for zeroing purposes, but I took some pot shots at the jetsam floating around the 100m mark with good effect. What I found most interesting was the POA/POI deviations with the different bullet weights/configurations. With 5.56mm it seems that I can run anything through my guns and get no more than 2 or 3 MOA shift. With this rifle, I was seeing as much as 6 or 7 MOA shifts between the different cartridges. Definitely something to file away for future reference.
Some photos:
Overall layout:
Serious medicine for the muhj…
Did I mention this thing is freakin’ huge? 3 full inches long… Well, I guess 3 inches is only huge by Irish standards; right Pat
Here is the barrier blind group. POA was the 1” black dot low and right of the group. Huge POA/POI shift!
Best group of the day was 5 shots just under an inch with M118LR shot off a bipod at 50m. I plan on stretching it out to 100 the next trip.
I really like that gun but there is no way I would buy one until they have been around long enough to know if a 6-7 MOA change in the POI is something that is inherent to that platform or you were just unlucky. That sort of shift is unacceptable IMHO.
Well, there is a 45 grain difference between the M118LR (175 grain bullet) I zeroed it with and the Barrier Blind round (130 grain bullet). I’ll play around with it some more next trip out. These are the exact same barrels that go into the SCAR H Standard so I may ask around NSW and see if they’re seeing the same thing.
I would be willing to bet that the 45 grain difference plays a major role in the POI shift. The barrier blind bullet is also of different design. Different aerodynamics if Im not mistaken.
On an AR and SR25 I like the longer rails. Not sure Id like a carbine length rail esp on a 308.
Lights have to be mounted much further in creating a lot more barrel shadow, and less area to rest the gun on something like a barrier without putting the weight of the gun on the barrel affecting POI between shots.
Thanks; in my usual fashion I’ll keep adding to it.
I just talked to a good friend who was formerly on the SCAR program about it and he says the barrier round I have is probably an early version of the 7.62mm SOST round and in addition to being a very light bullet for a 7.62mm it is also loaded to the max pressure for the cartridge. That explains that.
I don’t particularly care for the stretched out rails. The longest rail on any of my guns is only 9 inches. I could stand for a couple more inches, but as it is I like the fact that it is extremely lightweight and quick handling.
Your points are correct. Just something to be aware of and train for…
Nice write-up! It is going to be extremely hard not to pick one of these up - well, aside from the price tag.
I just got an LMT MWS and it is not what I would classify as a light rifle. The chassis adds a lot of weight I think. It has a standard A2 style muzzle device on it and it lets you know you are shooting a serious round. That being said, it is interesting to see the SCAR 17S at a lighter weight and from the sounds of several write-ups relatively light recoil. I’ve owned a lot of the different 7.62 battle rifles (M1A x3 (standard, Troy SOPMOD, Smith “tanker”), HK-91, FAL) and there is a distinct difference in recoil feel in all of them - HK being the worst. I wonder if the recoil on the SCAR is more influenced by the operating system/design or the PWS brake?
Ill likely want to get one of these eventually just to have as part of the collection, not sure if it would ever be a serious use gun for me, but I tend to like to have one of everything thats worth shooting.
