Agreed. A quick review:Originally Posted by 99HMC4
Mine is lighter, shoots better and runs way cleaner. Nothing wrong with the M4 but I wanted something "different" for a change....
Controls:
I like the ambidextrous magazine release and it is very easy to drop magazines from either shoulder. I really like the ambidextrous safety selector. It is truncated on the right side so it doesn’t get in the way when using a high-hold (which I do). However, it is still usable from the support-side shoulder (or strong side if you’re a statistically insignificant left-hander).
Speaking of the safety selector, the sweep from, ‘safe’ to ‘fire’ is only 45 degrees and not the AR-style 90 degrees. This is very fast. From the off-hand, I have no problem very quickly determining what position the selector is in. However, from the bench, I found myself confirming with my support thumb more than once what position the selector was in. This is probably a muscle-memory/training thing more than anything else.
The reciprocating charging handle isn’t actually that big of a deal. I installed a KAC hand stop just to ensure that my hand would never get that far to the rear. The KAC also has a QD swivel on the rear (or front, depending on how you set it up) so it really doesn’t cost as much as it initially looks since QD mounts usually run ~$30+. That said, I did a magwell grip intentionally today at the range and stuck my thumb right up there. It didn’t hurt as much as you would think (though I don’t recommend it by any means)--It also resulted in the bolt short-stroking and not loading the next round.
I’ve found that switching from the strong shoulder to the support shoulder is slightly slower with the sling mounted half-way on the forearm as opposed to all the way out. I plan on switching the sling (a padded VTAC) configuration and comparing times in the very near future (like after finishing this write-up).
Releasing the bolt is easy. Instead of hitting the bolt release I find it easier to just slingshot the charging handle. It’s fast but certainly a deviation from standard AR-15 use. Locking the bolt to the rear is easily accomplished using just the support hand. You pull the bolt handle to the rear and then press on the bolt hold open (exactly the same as the AR) and release the bolt handle. After a little practice, I could do this easily.
Furniture Etc:
The folding stock (something that many have bitched about) so far, appears to be good-to-go when used with 5.56 (most of the complaints about stock breakage were with SCAR-H’s and not the L’s). Vltor released an after-market stock for the SCAR at this year’s SHOT show so, if I end up hating the stock in the future, other options will be available.
Initially, I wanted a slightly longer forearm. The forearm is about the size of a carbine-length AR-15. This makes sense, as the short barrel uses the same forearm. For the 16” barrel, I wanted something about 2-3” longer. However, with my current setup (as seen in many pictures), I have no complaints about the forearm length.
It comes standard with an A2 grip. Not a big fan of the finger-nub on it. I initially tried to replace the A2 with a TangoDown (with the front shelf cut-off) but for some reason or another it wouldn’t lock-down fully. When the grip is removed, no springs or anything pop out (just a nut that holds it on). I choose to instead to remove the nub with a belt sander. I like it a lot more now.
Trigger:
The trigger is decidedly not AR-based. When you get used to it, I found both controlled pairs and hammer pairs to be faster than with a standard AR (.11 instead of ~.15). That said, it could be a combination of the muzzle device (a PWS FSC 556) and the recoil impulse (more on recoil in a minute). If I had a trigger-weight device I could give better information.
Barrel
This barrel profile is skinny. This means that groups may open up with heat but also that it cools down faster. Today, an AR with a government profile barrel took far far longer to completely cool down when compared to the SCAR.
Sights
The BUIS on this rifle are absolutely superb. This rifle comes standard with both a front and rear folding sight. The front sight is fully shrouded (sans a hole for adjustment from the top) and is nothing but exemplary. The rear sight, although compact, is both adjustable for elevation (from 200m to 500m) and windage. It sports both a peep and an O-2 aperture without being overly complicated or bulky. I don’t have anything bad to say about the rear BUIS whatsoever.
Gas Block
There are two gas settings on the SCAR. Setting #1 is low-gas and Setting #2 is high-gas. Although setting #1 is usually for when running suppressed, it cycles everything brass-cased without a problem and setting #2 runs lower-powered Wolf ammo without a complaint. I haven’t run this gun suppressed yet because I hadn’t replaced the crush washer with a peel washer until several hours ago.
Magazines
Lancer's feed just fine. Kinda hard to seat but OK. First gen P-Mag's don't drop free, newer revisions do. USGI's run like raped-apes (which is cool since it's my main go-to magazine).
Okay, down to the nuts and bolts….
Accuracy
Best I put out today was a 5-shot .75” group at 50m with Israeli M-193 ammunition. This translates to just over 1 MOA. I really want to bench this rifle at 300m with quality ammunition to really see what this rifle can do.
Time on Target etc
Like I said above, time on target when running drills was very comparable to my SBR. Yeah, it’s a little heavier and center of gravity is a tad different but the brake and trigger negate these. I cannot wait to fire this rifle in an SBR configuration and see what happens.
Other Stuff
Unlike an AR, I could not tell immediately when the magazine was empty (you know, that particular recoil impulse). However, I must point out two points:
1) I couldn't always tell by impulse when the AR was empty--that came with some time
2) Under stress, I don't know if I could tell with an AR under stress (from the bench at the range is decidedly not under stress)
We'll see from here
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