Introduction
I have been heavily debating buying a Bushmaster ACR or SCAR 16S. The fact is, I've been a long time AR-15 advocate and have owned at least one since 1993. I served, qualified and competed with the AR15 over the years. Currently I own two of them. Every now and then a rifle hits the market that challenges the AR platform. After some reading, examining or shooting I usually just cross them off my list. In my humble opinion I haven't seen a worthy contender for the black gun which has reached its pinnacle peak of evolution. Until now.
Two rifles recently hit the market which caught my attention. The first, the Bushmaster ACR, the second the FNH SCAR. When I handled the two rifles side by side I instantly put my focus to the SCAR. One, it's lighter. Two, it is so well balanced I felt like I could hold the gun steady at a standing position for a long time. Obviously I did my homework on both rifles. The ACR seemed to get a lot of mixed reviews but most owners seemed to like the rifle. The SCAR seemed to have about 98 to 99 percent positive feedback. I took a chance and went for the SCAR.
I picked the gun the up on Friday, it made for a long drive home. The rifle ships in a cardboard box and comes with a manual, 1 magazine, and the "never gonna use it" lock. Sad packaging in general especially for FNH. It's not like FN has no idea how to sell high end guns. This is the same company that ships the FNP-45 (half the price of the SCAR) with the best "feebee" case I've ever seen and 3 15 round mags.
Stock
The stock has a rubber padding on the butt plate for grip, 6 position length adjustment, which, fully extended is surprisingly long. The cheek piece adjusts in 2 positions and is very comfortable and of course it folds and locks for transportation. It's not the most solid stock I've ever handled but again, very comfortable. When I fired the rifle there was no movement or play in the stock.
Sights
These sights I would not consider BUIS. These are excellent sights that happen to fold away. The rear is adjustable in windage and elevation with both large and small peeps. The clicks are nice and positive. These sights do not block any peripheral vision. Very nice feature. The front sight is adjustable in elevation in the exact manner of an AR15 sight, but the front sight is also adjustable in windage for a true BZO, and of course both easily fold away.
Controls
The selector lever is ambidextrous and larger for right handed shooters, lefties get the smaller lever. The selector switch is very positive and only an 1/8th rotation unlike the AR15 1/4 turn. It does feel plasticy.. plasticee.. is that a word? Anyway. The bolt catch is in the same place as the AR15 and is not ambidextrous, however, the magazine release is. The charging handle is a reciprocating charging handle and can be switched easily either right or left. There is a two position switch on the gas block as well
Trigger
The trigger feels like a two stage AR15 trigger, it is nice and smooth with very little overtravel. Unlike other recent FN designs the SCAR trigger is made of mostly metal. It is not and AR15 trigger. I like the SCAR trigger but I'm not real picky with triggers in the first place.
Barrel
1 in 7 twist, thin chrome lined barrel with a PWS Muzzle brake/flash hider… from what I understand it does both. The barrel is held in place by 6 sequential torque screws that are specified for 65 inch lbs. From what I understand barrel change can be done in less than 5 min. Obviously you need a torque wrench and Torx bits to do it.
Disassembly
This was fun, It reminds me of a 249 SAW when taking it apart. 1 take down pin in the front of the lower receiver and move the lower forward and down. The stock slips down and off. The recoil spring is removed by holding it and moving the charging handle slightly rearward. Slide the charging handle all the way back and remove the charging handle itself. Slide the bold carrier out the back and done. The bolt is removed from the carrier by first removing the firing pin retaining pin, the firing pin the bolt pin and then bolt.
Shooting
I ran about 100 rounds through the SCAR. The first thing I noticed is the recoil or lack there of. It feels like an AR15 with a heavy suppressor. You can keep the sights on target the whole time making fast fire very accurate. I did have to be very aware of where my hand was. If you grip the rifle by the magazine well, odds are you will get your thumb smacked by the charging handle. I experienced no malfunctions of any kind. The bolt carrier group has a lot of mass inside the gun you can feel it move as each round is fired. It’s a very smooth motion. Spent cases are very consistently ejected. I expected the PWS muzzle brake to send a little blast back to the shooter, this was not at all the case. I did not fire the rifle with the stock folded, (I’m not on the A-Team). I know it works well, I just have no need to do it. It is tempting to do a lot of fast fire drills. The trigger reset is nice audible clunk.
Accuracy was a little hard to judge since I was firing at poppers at 75 yards. I did BZO the rifle at 28 yards first. It was very easy to get head shots at the 75 yard targets and altering between head and chest seemed quick. I am going to wait to do a formal accuracy test. I have a NF 1x4 on lay away I plan to put on the rifle.
Cleaning
What cleaning? Did I fire this thing? I don’t think I’ve had so little cleaning on a gun since my Benelli M1 Super 90.
Negatives
As I said before the packaging sucks for the price of a rifle. Magpul grips do need be modified with a dremel to fit the rifle. Magpul P mags will cause damage to the Scar’s bolt unless modified. There currently no real options for a QD sling. The price is big, I got lucky but I still paid quite a bit. Lucky being under 2000.00.
Positives
Light. Well balanced. Fast. Excellent sights (bout time someone but some real irons on a rifle instead of cheaping out completely or sending some cheap ass BUIS) extremely fun to shoot. (as far as I can tell, as accurate as any M4 I’ve used, more to come on that)
Impressions
My impressions of the SCAR so far are excellent. I have been looking for a new “go to” gun for a while and the SCAR fits that billet like the favorite tee shirt. The balance and handling of the rifle are outstanding. The build quality is excellent. FNH has really paid close attention of what people have been doing with AR platforms, what Marines, Soldiers and Sailors want in the field, and have done very well in putting it all together. I know I compare the SCAR to an AR15 but the truth is they are two completely different animals that share ergonomics and use. The AR15 remains to be the much more versatile platform with so many calibers, accessories, and setups. While the SCAR seems to pull it’s design principal from the SAW, the SCAR looks to be extremely reliable and is sinfully fun to shoot. So, if you are bored with AR15s as I am, I recommend looking into the FNH rifle.
I have been heavily debating buying a Bushmaster ACR or SCAR 16S. The fact is, I've been a long time AR-15 advocate and have owned at least one since 1993. I served, qualified and competed with the AR15 over the years. Currently I own two of them. Every now and then a rifle hits the market that challenges the AR platform. After some reading, examining or shooting I usually just cross them off my list. In my humble opinion I haven't seen a worthy contender for the black gun which has reached its pinnacle peak of evolution. Until now.
Two rifles recently hit the market which caught my attention. The first, the Bushmaster ACR, the second the FNH SCAR. When I handled the two rifles side by side I instantly put my focus to the SCAR. One, it's lighter. Two, it is so well balanced I felt like I could hold the gun steady at a standing position for a long time. Obviously I did my homework on both rifles. The ACR seemed to get a lot of mixed reviews but most owners seemed to like the rifle. The SCAR seemed to have about 98 to 99 percent positive feedback. I took a chance and went for the SCAR.
I picked the gun the up on Friday, it made for a long drive home. The rifle ships in a cardboard box and comes with a manual, 1 magazine, and the "never gonna use it" lock. Sad packaging in general especially for FNH. It's not like FN has no idea how to sell high end guns. This is the same company that ships the FNP-45 (half the price of the SCAR) with the best "feebee" case I've ever seen and 3 15 round mags.
Stock
The stock has a rubber padding on the butt plate for grip, 6 position length adjustment, which, fully extended is surprisingly long. The cheek piece adjusts in 2 positions and is very comfortable and of course it folds and locks for transportation. It's not the most solid stock I've ever handled but again, very comfortable. When I fired the rifle there was no movement or play in the stock.
Sights
These sights I would not consider BUIS. These are excellent sights that happen to fold away. The rear is adjustable in windage and elevation with both large and small peeps. The clicks are nice and positive. These sights do not block any peripheral vision. Very nice feature. The front sight is adjustable in elevation in the exact manner of an AR15 sight, but the front sight is also adjustable in windage for a true BZO, and of course both easily fold away.
Controls
The selector lever is ambidextrous and larger for right handed shooters, lefties get the smaller lever. The selector switch is very positive and only an 1/8th rotation unlike the AR15 1/4 turn. It does feel plasticy.. plasticee.. is that a word? Anyway. The bolt catch is in the same place as the AR15 and is not ambidextrous, however, the magazine release is. The charging handle is a reciprocating charging handle and can be switched easily either right or left. There is a two position switch on the gas block as well
Trigger
The trigger feels like a two stage AR15 trigger, it is nice and smooth with very little overtravel. Unlike other recent FN designs the SCAR trigger is made of mostly metal. It is not and AR15 trigger. I like the SCAR trigger but I'm not real picky with triggers in the first place.
Barrel
1 in 7 twist, thin chrome lined barrel with a PWS Muzzle brake/flash hider… from what I understand it does both. The barrel is held in place by 6 sequential torque screws that are specified for 65 inch lbs. From what I understand barrel change can be done in less than 5 min. Obviously you need a torque wrench and Torx bits to do it.
Disassembly
This was fun, It reminds me of a 249 SAW when taking it apart. 1 take down pin in the front of the lower receiver and move the lower forward and down. The stock slips down and off. The recoil spring is removed by holding it and moving the charging handle slightly rearward. Slide the charging handle all the way back and remove the charging handle itself. Slide the bold carrier out the back and done. The bolt is removed from the carrier by first removing the firing pin retaining pin, the firing pin the bolt pin and then bolt.
Shooting
I ran about 100 rounds through the SCAR. The first thing I noticed is the recoil or lack there of. It feels like an AR15 with a heavy suppressor. You can keep the sights on target the whole time making fast fire very accurate. I did have to be very aware of where my hand was. If you grip the rifle by the magazine well, odds are you will get your thumb smacked by the charging handle. I experienced no malfunctions of any kind. The bolt carrier group has a lot of mass inside the gun you can feel it move as each round is fired. It’s a very smooth motion. Spent cases are very consistently ejected. I expected the PWS muzzle brake to send a little blast back to the shooter, this was not at all the case. I did not fire the rifle with the stock folded, (I’m not on the A-Team). I know it works well, I just have no need to do it. It is tempting to do a lot of fast fire drills. The trigger reset is nice audible clunk.
Accuracy was a little hard to judge since I was firing at poppers at 75 yards. I did BZO the rifle at 28 yards first. It was very easy to get head shots at the 75 yard targets and altering between head and chest seemed quick. I am going to wait to do a formal accuracy test. I have a NF 1x4 on lay away I plan to put on the rifle.
Cleaning
What cleaning? Did I fire this thing? I don’t think I’ve had so little cleaning on a gun since my Benelli M1 Super 90.
Negatives
As I said before the packaging sucks for the price of a rifle. Magpul grips do need be modified with a dremel to fit the rifle. Magpul P mags will cause damage to the Scar’s bolt unless modified. There currently no real options for a QD sling. The price is big, I got lucky but I still paid quite a bit. Lucky being under 2000.00.
Positives
Light. Well balanced. Fast. Excellent sights (bout time someone but some real irons on a rifle instead of cheaping out completely or sending some cheap ass BUIS) extremely fun to shoot. (as far as I can tell, as accurate as any M4 I’ve used, more to come on that)
Impressions
My impressions of the SCAR so far are excellent. I have been looking for a new “go to” gun for a while and the SCAR fits that billet like the favorite tee shirt. The balance and handling of the rifle are outstanding. The build quality is excellent. FNH has really paid close attention of what people have been doing with AR platforms, what Marines, Soldiers and Sailors want in the field, and have done very well in putting it all together. I know I compare the SCAR to an AR15 but the truth is they are two completely different animals that share ergonomics and use. The AR15 remains to be the much more versatile platform with so many calibers, accessories, and setups. While the SCAR seems to pull it’s design principal from the SAW, the SCAR looks to be extremely reliable and is sinfully fun to shoot. So, if you are bored with AR15s as I am, I recommend looking into the FNH rifle.
I've been lucky to have owned one for the last year. Other than that it was a nice read with good picks! Thanks and keep us updated since I haven't had a chance to do an accuracy test myself :-(
