SCAR 16S Review with Video Demonstration

[Amsdorf]

Range Report on SCAR 16S I saw on a forum a guy selling a SCAR 16S with Tango Down Battle Grip, Tango Down rail covers and with a spare magazine. He said he had only put a few magazines through it and realized he would rather have the cash, so he sold it to me at a great price. I was more than a little concerned that he was feeding me a line, but...the rifle arrived and truly, it is brand new, and obviously nearly unfired. I got it out to the gun club on Friday and here is my report. Much of what I say is going to be based on the fact that my first SCAR was a 17S.

Ergonomics First thing I noticed was how much lighter the 16S is from the 17S, a nice change, handles very well.

Field Stripping Took it all down and for some reason it was much easier to break down than the 17S, the parts are not quite as tight, which made for easier disassembly. VERY clean internals, lubed it up and packed it in the car to head to the gun club later in the day.It was interesting to compare how all the parts in the 16s are basically just "mini me" version of everything in the 17, duh! But still...everything is extremely well made, the bolt group, the extractor, are all nice and heavy duty, in their own right.

Shooting Experience Wow...the recoil is negligible and the muzzle break keep everything nice and flat. Sights were putting rounds to left of POA, adjusted windage to the right, quite a bit actually, and I was getting on the center of the target from 25 to 50 yards with irons only.

Ammo Feeding I intentionally fed it everything I had: M855 MilSpec, TULA, WOLF, WPA ... put nearly 400 rounds through it and not a single problem, at all. Functioned flawlessly.

Accuracy Obviously, the rifle is more accurate than I am. I intentionally did not bring an optic with me, wanting just to see how the irons were doing. No problems.

Trigger Trigger is lighter than my SCAR 17s, but the reset point is not as noticeable and so I had a few times when it had not reset before I pulled it again in rapid fire strings.

Magazines I brought only the two FN magazines that came with the rifle, very well made, steel bodies. No issues. It took my (much) less expensive USGI aluminum magazines without fail. I really like how the mags drop very quickly out of the mag well, faster than my Daniel Defense M4 V1, and it seems the mags do not go in as deeply. I can imagine how, in the right hands, you can do lightning fast mag changes on this thing.

Comparing it to my M4/AR Frankly...no comparison. The 5.56 shooting experience with the SCAR 16S is simply head and shoulders above that of an AR15 platform. It feels more solid to shoot, even more manageable recoil (not that there is all that much to begin with).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F166jA0z4hM

[sailskidrive]

I like my 16s and 17s too. However, a few thoughts:

For the price of the gun I feel FN could offer a significantly improved trigger. My 17 had an acceptable, but heavy pull; my 16 has a lot of creep and it almost feels like a two stage. Additionally the hinge of the stock does not seem like it would hold up to a lot of abuse. I replaced the trigger on the 17 with a Timney and my accuracy improved significantly, especially past 300 yards.

I've seen several reviews complaining that the 17 should have been designed around the STANAG SR25/DPMS style mags. The FN mags are very, very well made. They are made from steel and are very rigid with some sort of anti friction coating, you're not going to experience any bent feed lips on the OEM mags. I also have a SIG716, the SR25 style MAGPUL mags by comparison are very flexible and the followers have a bit more play.

Regarding the recoil on the 16s; I would agree that as also with an AR15 it is nearly unmeasurable. The biggest difference I have noticed is with the complete lack of the muzzle rise; the PWS compensator really keeps the carbine shooting flat.

[Amsdorf]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with it.