US SOCOM buying FN SCAR-L again.

[Quiet]

Looks like the internet rumors that US SOCOM cancelled the Mk 16 (FN SCAR-L) were premature.

http://www.fnhusa.com/mil/press/detail.asp?id=92


U.S. Special Operations Command notified FN that the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) family of weapons—the MK 16 (5.56mm) and MK 17 (7.62mm) combat assault rifles and MK 13 grenade launcher—was approved for full-rate production. The Full-Rate Production Decision Review by the Milestone Decision Authority occurred on July 30, 2010.

[mcs]

Cool. I wonder what this will lead to for the rest of the military?

[glock22357]

Cool. I wonder what this will lead to for the rest of the military?


Hopefull it will be the replacement for the M16/M4 one day.

[WoodenPlank]

Hopefull it will be the replacement for the M16/M4 one day.

Maybe after some changes and some fixes. Maybe. :whistling:

Edit to add: All it says is that SOCOM gave the nod on full-rate production of them, NOT that SOCOM will be buying SCAR-L's again. I am pretty sure that this does not change SOCOM deciding not to buy any more of the L.

[humanguerrilla]

Nope. FN admits SOCOM is not buying the SCAR MK16/ SCAR-L
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010/08/20/fn-finally-admits-that-ussocom-is-not-buying-the-scar-mk-16/

[USMC03Grunt]

I qualified with the SCAR-L last month and IMHO, it doesn't do anything more than the M4 we usually use and my scores were on par with the M4 as well. Yeah, it has a piston, big deal. I've been dealing with the M-16 design since 1988 starting out with the A2 up to today using the M4 and that has been in every climate on the planet without any of the problems people seem to gripe about. Sure, you have to clean it but that's just the way it is. Don't want to clean it, join Jessica Lynch and enjoy the gang raping or getting your head cut off on Al Jezeria. Want to exceed the weapon's limits to where you are doing mag dump after mag dump and yes, you are going to have problems but the same goes for any other design as well. I also put on foreign weapon demonstrations at work and if you have never done a mag dump with an AK on full auto, do that for 2-3 magazines and tell me if that weapon doesn't get hot! It's the same thing for the M4 in that if you fire too many rounds too fast, you are going to run into problems. Bottom line IMHO, is if they drop the SCAR-L as a weapon for SOCOM, it's not that big of a loss.
Now they are thinking of bringing in more SCAR-H rifles in 7.62 NATO and I do think that this is a weapon that does fill a gap since M-14s aren't produced any more and spare parts can be both expensive and hard to come by (BTW, Fed-Log lists the flip up shoulder rest on an M-14 as over $4,000...no kidding!!!:shocked:) and as this becomes more of an issue over the years, the SCAR-H is an excellent candidate to fill this void of having a light weight rifle with the 7.62 punch the M4 and SCAR-L lack. From what I've heard, the SCAR-L is on the way out but the production and issue of the SCAR-H is still moving forward. Just the way it ought to be IMHO.

[WoodenPlank]

Now they are thinking of bringing in more SCAR-H rifles in 7.62 NATO and I do think that this is a weapon that does fill a gap since M-14s aren't produced any more and spare parts can be both expensive and hard to come by (BTW, Fed-Log lists the flip up shoulder rest on an M-14 as over $4,000...no kidding!!!:shocked:) and as this becomes more of an issue over the years, the SCAR-H is an excellent candidate to fill this void of having a light weight rifle with the 7.62 punch the M4 and SCAR-L lack. From what I've heard, the SCAR-L is on the way out but the production and issue of the SCAR-H is still moving forward. Just the way it ought to be IMHO.

I saw some crazy **** in FedLog when I dealt with it for work, but thats freaking crazy. :wow:

[faawrenchbndr]

I saw some crazy **** in FedLog when I dealt with it for work, but thats freaking crazy. :wow:

Guess you do not know about the $1200 claw hammer or the $750 plunger?:whistling:

Where do you think funds come from for the truely COVERT Ops?

[Clay1]

I shoot AKs and have followed the recent trend to piston driven AR's with some interests. I still don't see over $2000 in value in a scar L for this civilian. I originally bought the AKs because I could have two with better penetration than I could have one AR. I like AR's and will one day own one, just looking for a cost effective aquision. I have looked at the recently released Sig 516, the Ruger SR556 and the SCAR, HK 416 is thrown in there, but not available that I know of yet. In a piston driven AR the Ruger is interesting at a nice price point, but then again do you want to pay a 50% premium for a piston driven rifle?

It's all cool and gives me something to dream about.

Rick

[squiddie545]

why did SOCOM egg FN to develop this thing and all of a sudden drop it anyway? did FN piss off some big wig in the Pentagon?

[PlasticGuy]

why did SOCOM egg FN to develop this thing and all of a sudden drop it anyway? did FN piss off some big wig in the Pentagon?
The US Military is usually not willing to switch rifles until they also switch cartridges. There are a couple exceptions, but not many. The M4 is still in production in 5.56 caliber. Even with a documented increase in durability and reliability, it is a hard sell to them. It's worth the extra money to me because I highly value any increase in the number of "bangs" between each "click". The US Military typically does not.

They don't have much choice with the SCAR 17. There is no other 7.62x51 caliber battle rifle in production that is a standard order item for the US Military. They buy the SCAR, or they do without. It fills a valuable niche, and so far appears to perform brilliantly. This will be my next rifle purchase.

What they really needed was a SCAR 18 or SCAR-M. They needed a cartridge that split the power difference between the two, with a medium sized action and medium sized magazines. They were simply not that ambitious at the time. It would make sense in the coming years though. We can only hope.