Used SCAR 17 - what to look for

[andy t]

I just bought a used SCAR 17. It appears in good condition, but the bottom rail screw was stripped out when the previous owner installed the MI rail extension. I plan on replacing it with the KDG SCAR extension so will be ordering a replacement screw.
Are there any other small parts I need to pay attention to/get spares for?
Any other things to look for?
This SCAR has the Striker SEAL SR25 lower, VLTOR stock adapter and Geissele trigger. I noticed it was extremely easy to bumpfire it unintentionally by resetting the trigger while the rifle is still recoiling. I even thought it doubled on me after it happened for the first time.
Is this a function of the lighter Geissele trigger?

[Mike Miller]

Light or not, that shouldn't happen. I had an ALG trigger that did the same thing, maybe 1 out 10 or 15 rounds, it made me extremely uneasy. I sent it in for warranty, they took some measurements, confirmed it was out spec and sent me a new working trigger.

[shotmeshotu]

i own a scar 17 and 16 and i have use them pretty well, i turned my 17 into form 1 rifle. i have modified both rifle and they are still in perfect working condition. i gues the rifle you bought has been damaged somehow. did the previous owner say why he was selling ?

[andy t]

Nope. It was through gun broker.

[RHINOWSO]

The Geissele Super Scar Trigger is light (similar to an SSA-E IMO) but I've never come close to a bumpfire / double with either my 16 or 17.

[RetroRevolver77]

I will say this, I bought two SCAR's, they are very nice overall other than some design issues. I had a 3.5x 7.62NATO ACOG on one and a 1-6x VCOG on the other. They were very lightweight, fast handling rifles. However I sold those and bought two new un issued FN Para 50.63's- which are very hard to find. I grew up on FAL's but the SCAR could be a nice rifle. I just trust FAL's more. I didn't like that SCAR's were held together with Locktight and machine screws. I didn't like that the gas system wasn't truly adjustable unless you change out the gas port screw. I didn't like that they required the SCAR stock as that thing is hideous but the design needs a polymer stock mount to dampen the recoil. Overall though, they are good rifles, I could see that in the design but it just wasn't for me since I'm old school.


7n6

[ccosby]

I've seen some complaints about having to re-torque the barrel from time to time. I've had to pull and reset mine because the gun was shooting to one side. It fixed the issue but while I was looking up stuff about it others were complaining too. Not sure how common of an issue it actually is, just know it is something you might have to do at some point. Use a real torque wrench if you do it(even a cheap like tekton off amazon).

If you want to add a suppressor know that a lot of the mounts will not time right as it doesn't have enough of a shoulder on the barrel for many to be shimmed. Gemtech makes an adapter to fix this, someone else makes a smaller shoulder adapter too but the name escapes me. I have the gemtech one on mine.

Past that I've been happy with mine so far, at least once I replaced the stock trigger which sucked considering the price of the rifle and ar-10 style ones around that price that came with much better. I also swapped the selectors to the magpul which I preferred.

[themonk]

FYI - Geissele does not warranty their Super Scar Trigger on anything other than the factory lower. From Rainier Arms site:
"The Geissele Super Scar trigger is designed to only fit into the standard polymer trigger housing manufactured by FN. We do not recommend installing the Geissele Super Scar trigger into any aftermarket trigger housing. We have seen dimensional discrepancies and safety interface issues in the aftermarket trigger housing that do not allow our triggers to function properly and can produce an unsafe situation."

Things to look at would be the piston and make sure that is good shape. I would also look at the BCG and make sure everything looks good there. Its a fairly easy system to maintain. DO NOT lube the piston system.

[andy t]

I was able to compare the trigger in the rifle vs a brand new Super SCAR trigger. It appears that somebody mucked with it. I replaced the Super SCAR that came with the rifle with a brand new Super SCAR trigger and the problem disappeared. It works as advertised.
I also tried OEM trigger and found it to be rather good factory trigger.

[ccosby]

I was able to compare the trigger in the rifle vs a brand new Super SCAR trigger. It appears that somebody mucked with it. I replaced the Super SCAR that came with the rifle with a brand new Super SCAR trigger and the problem disappeared. It works as advertised.
I also tried OEM trigger and found it to be rather good factory trigger.

Did the factory trigger look like it had been messed with too? I ask because the trigger on my brand new scar 17 was a joke. It really wasn't good at all.