Shook Guns part 7.5

Shook Guns Part 7.5:
SCAR Modifications

As awesome as the FN SCAR family of rifles is right out of the box, there are a few mods that I've done to personalize & maximize their effectiveness (besides, I'm not going to be caught dead running a STOCK configuration of anything...)

Item #1:
The A2 pistol grip that comes standard on the SCARs (and every AR15 in the world) is my LEAST favorite grip. EVER. I don't recall ever leaving one on the gun for more than 2 minutes. Unfortunately the SCARs aren't 100% compatible with AR15 grips, but a little modification of the grip or the receiver tang allows their usage. Here's an awesome post about how to do the Mod properly...which I found a week after figuring it out on my own....

For my SCAR-16S (5.56mm) I went with the Magpul MIAD (my all-time fave):


On the SCAR-17S (.308) I'm trying out the TangoDown BG-17 Battlegrip:



Item #2:
The handguard on the SCARs is ridiculously short...way too easy to accidentally grab onto some red-hot barrel or gas block. For the 16S I chose the extra long rail extension from Primary Weapon Systems (PWS SRX Rail):


I like it, but don't LOVE it, so for the 17S I'm going to try the Branham Tactical Extension Rail (ordering Monday A.M....)



Also evident in the above pic (Item 2.5?) is the fact that I swapped the factory PWS muzzle brake for the Surefire MB556AR. However, this was only because I wanted to be able to run my SF Suppressor (silencer) on it. Otherwise I'm a big fan of the PWS FSC series of compensators (although the SCAR is kind of a pig with the silencer on it so I probably won't use it that much...)


Item #3:
I don't shoot with iron sights. Firstly, I can afford not to. Secondly, with modern optics (quality ones, that is), you can pretty much count on your shit working through anything (but I still ALWAYS have back-up iron sights on ANY rifle!). For the 16S I went with my old standby, the Trijicon ACOG TA31F:


This particular unit was the first ACOG I ever bought, and since I had long ago painted it with Brownells Aluma-Hyde it seemed like a proper fit for the brown beast that is the SCAR-16S. (Bonus Fact: Yes, that is a used bike inner tube modded to regulate the brightness of the ACOG via covering the fiber optic tube on top...this is a bike blog right?)

For the .308 I am temporarily "borrowing" a demo Schmidt & Bender Short Dot 1.1-4x scope from work:


So, it's not really mine, but that's OK...because if I had dropped $2600 on it (average retail price) I would be sorely disappointed. It's awesome quality, and literally bulletproof, but just doesn't do it for me.

Item #4:
Stock options? Non-existant at this point, although VLTOR is making an adapter that accepts any AR15 stock, but it doesn't side-fold, so fuck that. I'm perfectly happy with the factory stock...sure, it rattles a bit, but if these guys haven't broken theirs than I'm probably gonna be just fine....



My overall conclusion is that the SCAR family is pretty dope. I wouldn't own the 5.56mm if I didn't have the .308, but I will definitely spend a lot of trigger time on both (possibly using the 16S for the MGM Ironman match this year...) and keep the Shook Guns readers posted on future developments.

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