The Long Shot
November 4, 2012, 10:33 PM
Lately the FN SCAR series has gotten a lot of press and hype. I own a SCAR 16s and am not satisfied with the performance of it. My dissatisfaction with it is because I don't feel that it's worth the money that it I paid. Shamefully, it was more of an impulse buy than anything else.... by no means am I saying that the SCAR is a bad gun, but I'm saying that it's overpriced for what you get.
I'll compare the SCAR with a Daniel Defence DDM4, might I add that the DDM4 is almost half the price.
The SCAR is a SCAR 16S without modification.
The DDM4 has a chrome lined light profile 16 inch barrel (I turned it down), a standard BCG, a Carbine length DI gas system, a Omega Lite rail, A MOE stock, a Ambidextrous charging handle, selector, and the rest is pretty standard. MY DDM4 Cost me About $1500 when all is said and done. Stock it would of weighed About 6.5 pounds, but now it weighs 6.25 pounds.
Now to the point:
The SCAR Weighs in at 7.25 pounds. The DDM4 I have weighs in at roughly 6.25 pounds, which is acceptable considering that the DDM4 is a DI gun, but still the SCAR was designed to be lightweight; It's a pound heavier than my DDM4. The SCAR has a folding stock, the DDM4 doesn't, but I could buy a folding stock adaptor for my ddm4 and the stock would fold, I just wouldn't be able to fire with the stock folded (like anyone would need to:rolleyes:). They both have light profile chromed barrels that shoot ~1.5 MOA, The scar is capable of 1.25 MOA which probably varies from barrel to barrel because they are chromed, so I'd say accuracy is about on par with each other. They both have free floated railed handguards. The SCAR has Semi-ambidextrous controls as well as the DDM4. They both don't have right handed bolt releases. I don't consider an ambidextrous charging handle without an ambidextrous bolt release fully ambidextrous. The scar has a reciprocating charging handle, and the DDM4 doesn't, but the SCAR's charging handle is located forward on the gun which I personally don't like but it comes down to preference, so both are about equal in that area. The SCAR has proved to be more reliable than the DDM4 in my personel dust, mud, and water tests. I'd say that the SCAR had less failures than the DDM4 Over the course of 1000 Rounds through each. I am not docking the DDM4 for things that can be upgraded rather inexpensively to be like the SCAR. The SCAR also looks and feels a bit more bulky than the AR-15, but that's just nit picking:rolleyes: In conclusion I feel that the SCAR 16S is worth more like $1500-$1700 than $2500.
I still feel that the SCAR is a great system, it just isn't worth the money. It's one of those guns that's like a M1A. I've always said that you get a M1A because you want a M1A, not because you want the best rifle for the money. It's the same way with the SCAR, you want a SCAR because you want a SCAR.
Over time I'm sure that the SCAR will go down in price as it becomes less in demand and looses it's "the next big thing" factor.
I'll compare the SCAR with a Daniel Defence DDM4, might I add that the DDM4 is almost half the price.
The SCAR is a SCAR 16S without modification.
The DDM4 has a chrome lined light profile 16 inch barrel (I turned it down), a standard BCG, a Carbine length DI gas system, a Omega Lite rail, A MOE stock, a Ambidextrous charging handle, selector, and the rest is pretty standard. MY DDM4 Cost me About $1500 when all is said and done. Stock it would of weighed About 6.5 pounds, but now it weighs 6.25 pounds.
Now to the point:
The SCAR Weighs in at 7.25 pounds. The DDM4 I have weighs in at roughly 6.25 pounds, which is acceptable considering that the DDM4 is a DI gun, but still the SCAR was designed to be lightweight; It's a pound heavier than my DDM4. The SCAR has a folding stock, the DDM4 doesn't, but I could buy a folding stock adaptor for my ddm4 and the stock would fold, I just wouldn't be able to fire with the stock folded (like anyone would need to:rolleyes:). They both have light profile chromed barrels that shoot ~1.5 MOA, The scar is capable of 1.25 MOA which probably varies from barrel to barrel because they are chromed, so I'd say accuracy is about on par with each other. They both have free floated railed handguards. The SCAR has Semi-ambidextrous controls as well as the DDM4. They both don't have right handed bolt releases. I don't consider an ambidextrous charging handle without an ambidextrous bolt release fully ambidextrous. The scar has a reciprocating charging handle, and the DDM4 doesn't, but the SCAR's charging handle is located forward on the gun which I personally don't like but it comes down to preference, so both are about equal in that area. The SCAR has proved to be more reliable than the DDM4 in my personel dust, mud, and water tests. I'd say that the SCAR had less failures than the DDM4 Over the course of 1000 Rounds through each. I am not docking the DDM4 for things that can be upgraded rather inexpensively to be like the SCAR. The SCAR also looks and feels a bit more bulky than the AR-15, but that's just nit picking:rolleyes: In conclusion I feel that the SCAR 16S is worth more like $1500-$1700 than $2500.
I still feel that the SCAR is a great system, it just isn't worth the money. It's one of those guns that's like a M1A. I've always said that you get a M1A because you want a M1A, not because you want the best rifle for the money. It's the same way with the SCAR, you want a SCAR because you want a SCAR.
Over time I'm sure that the SCAR will go down in price as it becomes less in demand and looses it's "the next big thing" factor.