At Ft Bragg around 2004, between deployments, a bro of mine from behind the fence invited me over to play with some of the new toys they had as an inducement to submit my packet and take the long walk.
One of the rifles was the HK416. Pretty cool; I was fascinated by the gas piston system and immediately saw it's advantages over DI in certain circumstances. But in the end, it was still an AR. The piece that really caught my attention was the FN SCAR-L. It looked like nothing that I had ever seen in a rifle before. It was like holding the future. Plus, it shot like a dream though the trigger was nothing to write home about.
Then FN introduces a .308 version and the rifle goes from "want to have" to "NEED to have" in my mind. Recently, prices for a Mk17S have begun to fall as have magazine prices. Recently I scooped one up.
Impressive is the first word that springs to mind when you pick one up. The empty rifle comes in at about eight pounds. This is due to the extensive use of polymers in unstressed parts of the rifle like the butt stock and fire control module.
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Here is a pic of the fire control module. In order to disassemble the Mk 17S, this is the first piece removed. Note the captured pin just forward of the mag well. The trigger guard is larger than that found on an AR and provides enough room for a gloved finger to fit comfortably inside it. The trigger mech itself is a pretty robust set up that reminds me somewhat of the FAL. Both the safety and the mag release are ambidextrous. While I don't foresee any issues with the polymer housing, there are a couple of companies that offer a housing made from aluminum and that accept KAC/PMAG pattern magazines.
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The receiver is the serial numbered part of the weapon and it's made from 7075 aluminum with type III anodization. It has a monolithic top rail that allows room for optics and lasers. The Mk 17S also comes with a quick change barrel feature. In the photo above, the barrel lock is the lozenge shaped device just forward of the ejection port. I haven't messed with this since I don't have an additional barrel (yet). FN claims that a Soldier can change the barrel out in 5 minutes or so with common tools. While I don't doubt this claim, I would think that you'd want a torque wrench available to ensure that the barrel is locked down with the proper amount of torque.
The barrel is a 16" CHF piece made with a chrome lining. FN is known for the quality and longevity of it's barrels and this one is no exception. FN claims a 16-20,000 round barrel life. The gas piston system has two settings, normal (12 o'clock) and suppressed (10 o'clock.)
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Here's a look at the butt stock. In addition to being adjustable for LOP, it also has an adjustable cheek piece and hinged to fold to the right. When folded the stock does not interfere with the ejection of the rifle.
One of the gripes leveled at the SCAR is the reciprocating charging handle. When placed on the left side of the rifle, it does make mounting optics somewhat problematic as the mount can interfere with the manipulation of the charging handle. A simple solution is to move the CH to the right side of the weapon, though doing that means the firing hand has to leave the pistol grip to charge or clear the rifle. I mounted a 1-4x scope on mine using an ADM non=cantilever mount and simply turned it around so the QD locks were on the right side of the rifle.
An immediate thought I had as I pick up the rifle was, given it's weight, recoil was going to be substantial. As I disassembled it for it's initial cleaning I began to think otherwise. The bolt carrier/op rod is MASSIVE as is the recoil spring. During initial firings, the perceived recoil was very soft in comparison to other 308 battle rifles, including the AR. Part of this is due to the weight of the bolt carrier. The rifle comes equipped with a very effective muzzle brake from PWS which also takes the edge off the recoil impulse. The flip side to this is the Mk 17S is LOUD. Not double hearing protection loud, mind, but louder than a .308 AR.
As I said at the top, the trigger is nothing to write home about. It's a tad bit heavier than a stock M4 trigger, but it has a good trigger reset. Down the road as I learn more about the inner workings of the rifle, I may replace it with something better.
Pic of the recoil spring, firing pin and charging handle.
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Overall, I'm very pleased with the rifle. The hard part so far is figuring out what sort of optic to go with. The rifle is very flexible and could serve any number of purposes depending on the needs of the user.