.243 barrel for SCAR17?

Not sure, but why? If you wanted superior ballistics a 260 or 7-08 would be the way to go. 243s ain't got nothing on them unless you wanted to shoot 55gr varmint bullets.

Not sure, but why?

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Probably for all the same reasons the .243 has remained a popular clambering since its commercial introduction? Some people are enamored with a rifle that serves two purposes decently instead of excelling at one...as such, the concept of a rifle that will shoot everything from ground squirrels to whitetails is attractive to a fair margin of the shooter's market.

Cal-gun Fan said:

Except that .243 is much easier to find and would only require a barrel change.

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Are you certain? Not entirely the same, but switching an AR to .300 Blackout only needs a barrel swap, but for a SCAR 16S the bolt carrier weight has to be tuned in order to get it to cycle reliably. I wonder if you'd run into similar problems switching calibers with a 17S.

243, 260 and 7-08 are all based on the 308 case. Changing from one to the other should be just as easy. AR10 platforms have simple conversions for each. 243 is a fine little round in a bolt gun for children and women due to it's sissykicker recoil, but the 260 and 7-08 are right on it's heels and throw 120-160gr projectiles which have better BC/SD, less wind drift and more knockdown power then any 243 load. Plus they are not as overbore so they won't be as hard on barrels. Ballisticly the only advantage the 243 holds is slinging tiny varmint bullets at 4k fps, not something that appeals to the assult rifle crowd usualy. A 123gr 260 can shoot evry bit as flat as a 185gr 300 win mag and drift slightly less.