FnH SCAR 17s Heavy review.

[Virginian]

I've been meaning to post up some of my results on this rifle and this post is long overdue. I purchased this rifle from Charles, a sponsor here at A&A Arsenal. He's a stand up guy with very handsome prices. Check him out of you get a chance.


I will start off by saying that I never intended on purchasing the SCAR heavy. A while back, Charles says you have to shoot this rifle. So we stepped out back and I fired 5 rounds. I was floored at the lack of recoil. Simply put, amazing! Damn you Charles! Now I need to own one.

For optics I wound up going with a Vortex Viper HS Tactical Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 5-15x 44mm Side Focus 1/10 MIL Adjustments Mil-Dot Reticle Matte. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/183567 It's basically it's a PST minus the illumination and FFP. But! The retail on it is only $499. This is a Midway exclusive and occasionally you will find them on sale for $400ish. In my opinion, a very good value for the money. There's a good thread (rather long) on the Hide that digs down into the weeds on this scope if you have any interest. http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthr ... =14&page=1


Nice lens covers and a sun shade is included.


Lapel pin :skep: and shims for the zero stop on the scope.


For mounting the scope I'm using a LaRue Tactical SPR / M4 Scope Mount QD LT104. 1st cabin here on my scope mount. Be sure to ask about the Armadillo Seasoning! http://www.laruetactical.com/larue-tact ... -qd-lt-104


The 17s come with one magazine, a lock, and a owners manual. What!!! No lapel pin! :ponder:


I've mounted and bore sighted the scope and took a quick picture on my bench.


I'm working up loads to break her in and I'll post up that info here soon. I will take some pictures through the scope to give you an idea of clarity as well. For now I'm just going into detail of my set up.

This thread will take a while to complete but I will post up what I can as I move forward. As always, thanks for reading!

Eric

(more to come)

[jgreenberg01]

Nice pics. Nice gun!

Nice barcode :p

I'm. Jealous.

[Virginian]

Nice pics. Nice gun!

Nice barcode :p

I'm. Jealous.

What's the deal on the barcode? Are you supposed to peel them off? lol Thanks for reading my post.

[Esteves]

They improve stopping power and lethality.

[panzermk2]

They improve stopping power and lethality.

:thumb:



Nice kit!

[srt-4_jon]

the viper pst also comes in sfp

[Virginian]

the viper pst also comes in sfp

Correct! Thanks for bringing that up.

[blueorison]

Big +1 for Charles. He's one of the good guys, has ALWAYS helped the forum out.

Anyone ask for dealers of FN or any guns, I always point them to Charles or my LEO dealer friend in Dallas.

For such a light rifle, the PWS does a great job reducing the recoil. Vortex makes pretty good scopes; I shoot with a Vortex dealer, and have used their glass on different rifles. Not bombproof, but that makes sense at a high value product at $500! That's a steal.

Lookin forward to your review.

[flyingirish04]

Nice set up. Love to hear what type of groups you are shooting out past 500. I have seen several shoot very tight out to 300. A lot tighter than the 16s.

And that is a helluva a deal on that glass. Very well built product, particularly their viper and Razor lines.

[Virginian]

In my never ending persuit of posting needless information on a 5.7 caliber forum of a big bore battle rifle, here's the next installment... :clap:

Breakdown for cleaning is simply put freak'n amazing. In under 1 minute disassembles including the firing pin. Brilliant design! Two thumbs up here.


The initial cleaning of the barrel only took about a half a dozen patches before she came clean. Side note, anyone ever have a go at cleaning a new CZ rifle? 50 patches later it's still coming out dirty with packing grease. lol


After I cleaned her up and reassembled I decided to check the trigger pull. Good gawd... I'm going to have to research fixes for this. After using 1 or 2 lbs. trigger pulls on most of my rifles, I felt like I needed to eat a bowl of Wheaties before pulling on this bad boy. I suspect this is standard on a battle rifle to prevent misfires when pounding across rough terrain. I'll research this trigger and get back to you on it.



Here's the info on the load I'm using. Just a starting load at this point and I hope I have time to dial it in better.
- 178gr Hornady HPBTM A-max
- 42.5 RL-15
- Lapua brass
- Federal GM210M
- 2.820 oal
- light taper crimp

I had to laugh at this picture, when I was working on loads for this .308, it felt like a I was working on a howitzer after working on the 17 Mach IV all summer. lol




Ok here's a quick view of sighting her in. I'm walking her in at 100 yards and it's looking real promising with regards to windage. The spread right to left was roughly under 1/2"! WooHoo!


Ok, here a quick picture of my awesome-sauce corn field saami spec range I use for my load development.


Note the high tech boonie hat brass catcher! :thumb:


I only shot 5 groups and they were all about the same size groups and this picture is a good representation of my outcome. Nothing really notable here, more a case of point of interest for someone. I forgot to measure the exact group size...


The spent brass came out fine, no real damage with only a slight bent lip on the mouth.


Last picture for this installment. What's interesting to me is the spent gases kind of dusted the barrel with a rust color dust on it. I thought it was notable.


Next time out I'll push her out to 200 and 300 yards and see what kind of groups I get. More to come when I have time. It's been a tough fall & winter for me personally and professionally. I've had zero time to work on any of my projects.

As always, thanks for reading.

Eric

[SHEEPDOG]

Color me green. With envy.

[Rapier1772]

My PTR trigger came with ~8lb trigger & a lot of movement. I sent it in to Wilson Trigger & oh boy did they fix it :laugh:

[Virginian]

My PTR trigger came with ~8lb trigger & a lot of movement. I sent it in to Wilson Trigger & oh boy did they fix it :laugh:

Rapier,

Can you pm me the contact info on Wilson? Possibly a price range of what to expect?

Many thanks,

Eric

[huddleston101]

:thumb: loved the brass catcher :laugh:

[Rapier1772]

Rapier,
Can you pm me the contact info on Wilson? Possibly a price range of what to expect?
Many thanks,
Eric

Sorry that was Williams not Wilson & looking at their site, they don't do SCARs I'll send you the link anyway.

[rolcle]

This is a very nice weapon. How is the recoil? Is rapid fire and accuracy easy to achieve or to maintain?

[Virginian]

:thumb: loved the brass catcher :laugh:

Thanks!

[Virginian]

This is a very nice weapon. How is the recoil? Is rapid fire and accuracy easy to achieve or to maintain?

The recoil "to me" is just a tad more than shooting AR-15 .223. Shooting 50 to 100 rounds and walking away without a sore shoulder is no problem.

Rapid fire and accuracy are an oxymoron for me. I'm a bit of an accuracy nut so I really don't do very much rapid fire. Two or three round burst I'm able to maintain some accuracy. Squeezing off 20 rounds, my personal accuracy would be terrible and a waste of ammo to me. There are several people on this forum that are much better at answering this question than I am. Hopefully they will chime in.

I hope this answers your questions and thanks for reading and commenting.

Eric

[rolcle]

While I see a lot of polymer parts, what is the empty weight of the Scar 17?

[Virginian]

While I see a lot of polymer parts, what is the empty weight of the Scar 17?

Right from FnH's website:

SCAR® 17S

Caliber: 308 Winchester/7.62x51mm NATO
Twist Rate: 1 in 12"
Barrel Length: 16.25"
Overall Length: 28.5” to 38.5”
Weight: 8.0 lbs. empty
Ammunition Capacity: 10 or 20-round detachable box magazine

SCAR® 17S

7.62x51mm NATO (308 Win.)
Semi-auto only
Short-stroke gas piston
Rotating, locking bolt
Matte black or Flat Dark Earth (FDE) color
RECEIVER

Hard-anodized monolithic aluminum
MIL-STD 1913 accessory rails at the 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock positions
Adjustable folding front and folding/removable rear iron sights
BARREL

Hammer-forged, chrome-lined, fully free-floating
Compensator
STOCK

Telescoping side-folding polymer stock
Adjustable cheekpiece
A2-style pistol grip
OPERATING CONTROLS

Ambidextrous safety lever and magazine release
Charging handle may be mounted on right or left side
Enlarged trigger guard for easier access when wearing gloves
Composite polymer trigger module
MAGAZINE

10 or 20-round capacity
Steel or aluminum body
Low friction follower