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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SCAR vid

more talkin than shootin...but heres some SCAR footage from Tucson yesterday

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Shook Guns Part 5

Shook Guns Part 5:
SCAR'd For Life

Things got pretty quiet in the Shook Guns department last year. Although the gun industry continues to pump new merchandise into the market, it is rare that anything comes along that is truly innovative or offers any improvement over existing designs. And usually when they do, they are limited to military/law-enforcement use only. I thought that would be the case with the FN Herstal SCAR-H, the 308 version of their 5.56mm rifle (SCAR-L) that was a contender to replace the M4/M16.

SCAR-L (tan) next to SCAR-H (black):


Although special forces that fielded the prototype SCAR-Ls found very little wrong with them, they weren't a big enough improvement over the M4 to take over. However, when they got their hands on the SCAR-H they found a gun that was nearly the same size and weight as the M4, but with the extra punch of the 308.

ammo comparison between .308 and .223/5.56mm:



I never really had any interest in the SCAR program, because I'm not in the military, and I figured they would never make it to the US civilian market. FN announced a few years back that they would, but I told people not to hold their breath; it would never happen. When the .223 version did in fact hit the market in 2009, I was impressed, but again said that the .308 version would never happen.
And then, to round out 2010 with a bang....



Thanks to a generous donation from C2D HQ to get this series rolling again, I brought this brown bastard home for Xmas



I'm not going to give a bunch of technical info about this rifle. A quick Wiki Search or an inquiry of any Call of Duty player will probably give you more info than you want to hear. I will however point out some of the features that convinced me to give this $3k rifle a shot (no pun intended. Seriously. I'm way more clever than that...).

Light Weight! with a polymer lower and stock, and anodized aluminum upper receiver, this thing only weighs 8 pounds unloaded! (that is similar or less than most of my AR15 variants in 5.56mm...)


Folding Stock! not only is it gangsta-as-fuck, it makes for a much smaller package for transport


Adjustable Short-stroke Gas Piston system. Although I'm no advocate of piston-conversions for the AR15, this gun was designed from the ground-up as a piston gun, and therefore it works!


Simple Field-stripping, no tools required:


I haven't had the opportunity to shoot this one yet, but I got to demo one 2 weeks ago (which was the reason I got this one a week later...). The recoil is similar to a well-compensated 223; despite the lightweight design this gun does not jump around during fire. Any complaints? Sure...it comes with One 20 round magazine, and right now it seems like the only way to get another is to buy a second SCAR! (I'm trying to use my industry connections to rectify this...after all, I'm kind of a big deal...).

My only other complaint is a minor one: most rifles come with some kind of cheap carrying case, which I generally wouldn't use, but you kind of expect to get something with the gun.
but not the SCAR....


although I will admit...its some damn sturdy cardboard....

As always, questions and suggestions are welcome in the Comments

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Shook Guns Xmas Sneak-Peek

"This is NOT my rifle. There are many like it, but this is NOT mine..."



for starters, i would put a low-magnification variable optic on mine rather than an Aimpoint. probably a Trijicon Accupoint (although i'm not ruling out a TA11 ACOG).
i know you're asking yourself: why is Accatone even thinking about this shit. he's not dumb enough to drop $3k on a FNH SCAR-17S...



or is he....?
it is a sexy beast:




go here for the official specs....



Expect a full write-up to celebrate the return of Shook Guns to C2D when i pick one of these up.
and don't worry, it won't be too long...because the following pic was taken this morning in my office:




hopefully there are some xmas cards with cash in them this year....or else i'll have to pull from the Bill & Melinda Gates FOUR-LOKO funds....



Happy Holidays all

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