My review of the Handl Defense SCAR 25 lower for the SCAR 17 S

[Ferris2son]

Too bad Handl reportidly let a dope smoker employee machine their first set of lowers (as reported by another member), kinda gave the project a black eye IMO.

Another story is Handl couldn't find an anodizer so he cerakoted the FDE. Threw-off the pin tolerances.
I don't know. The guy had a hard time.

[eodinert]

Really needs pictures.

[Fox33]

Too bad Handl reportedly let a dope smoker employee machine their first set of lowers (as reported by another member), kinda gave the project a black eye IMO.

Since that was me, let me clarify that statement. I do not remember the exact date when this happened, but it goes something like this.

I was a military adviser to Handl Defense, basically 4 SOF guys who saw the concept and decided to help the project along and get it adopted for military use. I was the senior ranking and had the most experiences with the platform. (let me tell you about some mother f'n buttstocks)

Handl Defense is not very far from my unit so I stopped over there one day, to check on progress. With the whole Mk17/Mk20 improvement program, the lower was the first article to get mass produced, prototypes had already met the Spec sheet standards and were going into full production. I knew a bulk shipment of lowers was coming, I wanted to check them out.

There were QA'ing the lowers. Alan Handl himself was down by the shipping desk, cussing.

I asked Alan what was up, he said some idiot had done something wrong, IDK what but it sure pissed Alan off.

He said stupid MF'n dope smoking jackasses.

I also know the list of returned Handl lowers is about 20-30 or so.

Considering that at a number of these were returned never having been put on a gun (sterile.. no marks.. if you follow the directions when you mate the lower to the gun it will leave a specific indexing mark) and it is known the Handl has been reverse engineered by at least one competitor. I would say the returns based of off production issues are probably even lower.

(they do 100% QA on the lowers now BTW)

But this is where dope smoker comment came from, IDK if they were really smoking dope or not.

[Squid]

I'm curious, what kind of witness mark is left by pairing the Handl lower with the SCAR receiver? Might be good information for prospective EE buyers to know whether they're purchasing a used item or not.

[chadgvn]

I'm curious, what kind of witness mark is left by pairing the Handl lower with the SCAR receiver? Might be good information for prospective EE buyers to know whether they're purchasing a used item or not.

I have this pic from the actual PDF of the review

I am not sure if this is what he is talking about, as this lower was pretty well used once I got it.

The black mark is from where the bracket attached to the upper hits against the lower. But, I think if you follow the directions and install it the way supposed to, it is going to make some kind of mark.

[Fox33]

I'm curious, what kind of witness mark is left by pairing the Handl lower with the SCAR receiver? Might be good information for prospective EE buyers to know whether they're purchasing a used item or not.

The male portion of the lower fits into the female end of the upper receiver back plate (where the stock slides off and on). If it has been on a gun there will be wear marks. Initial mating causes a specific mark on that male portion. It shows if the lower was not only on the gun, it can tell if it was mated properly (according to the directions). It causes a change in the relationship between parts, and where they contact each other, think breaking in a motor for the first time. Alan Handl says too little and the lower is sloppy, too much and it wont fit, so just enough to require a rubber mallet and it will seat just right the first time.

It is how Handl knows (on top of what the FBI said) that his lower got reverse engineered. The guy who scanned the handl lower and gave the dimensions to his competition returned his lower without a mark on it.

The exact mark that tells if it was mated properly the first time, I do not specifically know.

[TurretGunner]

There are some pretty bad reports over on the FN forum. The Handl lowers are not very popular.

One of the vendors over there has been developing his own PMAG compatable lower that fixes many of the problems encountered.

They new lowers are supposed to drop in a few months.

If you were planning on buying a new lower, read up on here and make a more informed decision: http://fnforum.net/forums/fn-scar-17...-pictures.html

[Fox33]

There are some pretty bad reports over on the FN forum. The Handl lowers are not very popular.

One of the vendors over there has been developing his own PMAG compatable lower that fixes many of the problems encountered.

They new lowers are supposed to drop in a few months.

If you were planning on buying a new lower, read up on here and make a more informed decision: http://fnforum.net/forums/fn-scar-17...-pictures.html

#1 the bad reports are coming form a site OWNED (figuratively) by a direct competitor, where he gets competitors banned after he slanders them and/or thier products, Handl and IWC are just two

#2 that vendor developed his lower based directly off of information received from the reverse engineering of the Handl lower

[Mr blasty]

#1 the bad reports are coming form a site OWNED (figuratively) by a direct competitor, where he gets competitors banned after he slanders them and/or thier products, Handl and IWC are just two

#2 that vendor developed his lower based directly off of information received from the reverse engineering of the Handl lower

Banning iwc is ridiculous. They've proven themselves to be as professional as any company out there.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

[scoutfsu99]

There are some pretty bad reports over on the FN forum. The Handl lowers are not very popular.

One of the vendors over there has been developing his own PMAG compatable lower that fixes many of the problems encountered.

They new lowers are supposed to drop in a few months.

If you were planning on buying a new lower, read up on here and make a more informed decision: http://fnforum.net/forums/fn-scar-17...-pictures.html

Whenever I go over to read at FNForum, I take a large shaker of salt.