Shook Guns Part 6

Shook Guns Part 6:
Continued SCARification

In the last installment of Shook Guns, we were introduced to the 308 powerhouse that is the FNH SCAR-17S. After having its glorious presence in my safe for a few weeks, I realized that even after I acquired some more mags for it, I'd never shoot it as much as my 5.56mm AR15 carbines. Why? Because the majority of my shooting is either in competitions (where 308 is disadvantageous) or training classes (where the co$t of shooting 1000+ rounds in a weekend makes 308 prohibitive). So my dilemma was, I wanted to have this badass gun for the end of the world, and be proficient with it, but I knew I'd never dedicate the time and money to train with it.
The solution?
Buy another SCAR, in 5.56mm...



Luckily for me, there was recently a batch of SCAR-16s imported that had "Factory Blemished" anodizing on the upper receiver. What that means is that these 100% functional and warrantied rifles look ugly, but are several hundred dollars less than normal. I actually kind of like the blems, and the worst case scenario is it becomes a candidate for a camo paint job...




I won't go into details about the SCAR-16S because it is identical in form and function to the 17S, other than being a bit smaller and lighter. It uses standard AR15 mags (i have a few (hundred) of those laying around...), and gives me a cheaper platform to learn the nuances of the SCAR family. Fortunately, there was a Rifle/Shotgun match at Rio Salado Sportsmen's Club in Mesa AZ the day after I got this, so I was able to test it out on targets from 0 to 250 yards.
I was shooting under an alias (can't have too many of those...), but a look at the results shows me in the top 10 for every stage and overall (as well as 3rd in my division).

Video from the CQB Stage:


Random Pics from the match:







bonus vid: (suppressed full-auto M4 action)


it got hot enough to burn the finish off of his silencer:

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Shook Guns pt.2

Shook Guns Part 2: Now You See Me...Now You Don't

Painting guns is addictive. I went pretty spray-crazy a few years back, laying a lot of paint down and destroying resale value on a lot of gear. The good thing is, once you've blasted Krylon at your first $1000 scope, its all easy from there. And, even better, once you've painted something...you can keep repainting it over and over again without regret!

I've had this carbine kickin around in various forms for about 6 years. I refer to it as my SHTF gun, cuz when the Shit Hits The Fan it would be a pretty solid all-around weapon to carry. Lightweight, reliable, and capable of engaging human-size targets to 3-400yards (i've only shot it to 300 but it wasn't a struggle at that range...).

The Breakdown: the lower receiver is a Stag Arms (stupid name/stupid logo but a lower is a lower and all it does is hold the other parts in place so i don't get too hung up about it) with a VLTOR Modstock and Magpul MIAD grip. Both the stock and the grip have storage areas that stash goodies (grip has a spare bolt & firing pin, stock has batteries, earplugs & misc). Remember....SHTF, carry spares.

The Upper receiver is a C7A1 style (like the original M16A1 upper with the modern forward-assist and brass deflector bump), which i chose for the nearly indestructible iron sights (can't be adjusted without a tool = can't get knocked out of zero accidentally). On top of the carry handle is a Trijicon TA47R-2 Compact ACOG, also extremely rugged and offering a day & night illuminated traingle with 2x magnification. It uses radioctive Tritium gas to power it at night, so it does not require batteries; Tritium has a 12-year halflife so it will glow for over 20 years before it gets too dim to see. The red tube on top is a light-gathering fiber optic that self-adjusts to ambient light conditions in daylight. SHTF = No Batteries!!!

The bolt assembly and barrel are Colt, the military contractor for over 40 years. The barrel is a 5.56mm Chrome-Lined M4 profile, 14.5" with YHM Phantom QD flash hider that doubles as a mount for the Phantom QD Silencer (yes i have that too). The handguard is a Larue 7.0 which free-floats the barrel taking all external pressure off the barrel for optimum accuracy, and also offers mil-spec 1913 rails for mounting accessories (lights, sling mounts, vert grips, bipods, etc...).

The upper had been Krylon'ed for a few years, and was starting to look pretty rough (in a good way though....). The lower was newer, and had a base-coat of Brownell's GunKote in Matte Dark Earth. I had a camo stencil kit laying around that i had never tried to use (always do freehand), so i decided to give it a try.
in Very random order, here are some progression shots

Although pretty, the clean lines of the stencils bothered me, so i used some mesh to blend the pattern together a bit...

The point of this paint job was not to look nice...it was to work effectively as camoflauge. This gun needs to get taken out and shot and beat the fuck up to complete the effect (nothing is more annoying to me than a clean-looking crisp gun...they need battle scars). But i think its a good (re)start for this rifle.


Materials used: Krylon & Rustoleum CAMO series paint, Bulldog Arms GAP stencils, random piece of mesh.

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a classic debate continues....

its kind of long and slow, and it doesn't settle the argument...

but it does show that AKs are not as infallible as some people think, and ARs/M4s are not as delicate as some people think.

the point is...know your gear and know your limitations.

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