Scar 17s or Scar 20 308: Either worth it?

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Huntolive

Huntolive

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Hello gentleman
So I am closest I've ever been to actually buying a scar 17.
I've always ruled it out simply on the barrier of price and I'm not rolling in money but could possibly afford it definitely if I sold one or two things to make room for it.
I already have a galil Ace 308 and a Tavor 308 as well as an FNAR 308 etc as you can tell I'm a fan of 308 semi autos.:evil:

I can get a new scar 17s for $3,163
Or a new scar 20 for 3800 technically used as it is pre-owned but unfired.
I think I prefer the flexibility of the scar 17 s but my fundamental questions are both which one would be better
And is either one worth the significant price tag considering the other firearms that I have?

The scar 17 will not be more accurate than the FNAR and I doubt it's any more reliable than the Galil Ace.

And yet this is one of the few guns that I cannot really get off of my menu despite the price it keeps circulating back as a bucket list gun just like my cold python did until I bought one:evil:
 
Huntolive said:
I think I prefer the flexibility of the scar 17 s but my fundamental questions are both which one would be better
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better for what? Running around, carrying, dynamic shooting? 17. DMR/benchrest type stuff? 20. Plan on buying a Geissele or ShootingSight or Timney trigger for the 17; the OEM trigger can vary from tolerable to horrible. Mine was horrible at a gritty, creepy 9+ pounds.

Personally if you want a 20 I'd get one in 6.5 Creed.

the 17 is awesome, very light for a .308 battle rifle, very versatile, 1MOA capable with match ammo.

Worth? If it's worth it to you, it's worth the price tag. *shrugs*
 
What is it better at than an AR10 you can buy two of for the price?

I don't know the rifle that well, but that's expensive!
 
They are really cool rifles. Whether or not it's worth the money is up to you. The fact that it sounds like a bucket list item, I think it'll probably be worth it. Plus, if you end up not liking it, it will be easy to resell.

Got to play with a real Mk17 at work years ago. I didn't get video of me firing it, but I got footage of it. Realized on the first shot my ear pro wasn't on. Haha

 
Yeah I've been there and done that with the AR-10 I have no interest in another AR-10 as I agree that they are generally unreliable and I have a pretty high quality one but they have no comparison and reliability to a glial ace or an fnar and can't begin to get close to the reliability of my Saiga 308 which will chomp on steelcased cheap ammo all day long with no complaints.

To me reliability is number one and I know that maintenance goes along with that but give me a break ARS!
They sure as heck need a lot of maintenance to run reliably especially AR-10s.
I'm not even sure really why I'm keeping the AR-10 at all I'd probably sell it if I get the scar 17 and I'm leaning towards the 17 because I do see it as something I would more want to run around with just like scissors!
 
To be 100% fair none of the military type rifles really trip my trigger, and I like the looks of the SCARs least of all.....or well of the .308s....
That said, it's also the only one I've seriously considered buying in basic form (I've considered a really long heavy AR-10 in 6 creed just for breaking small rocks at long range).

The two I've spent time with have been reliable, comfortable, controllable, and accurate. They feel a lot lighter than their bulk suggests..........

Triggers do suck tho......
 
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What ever one you buy. If you don’t like it hang on to for a couple years there will be another panic buying situation and you might make some decent coin. Just a thought.
 
Loon wolf
When you're saying the two you worked with were reliable and lighter and easy to work with are you talking about scar 17s or AR-10s?
 
It’s a super cool gun. I like them a lot but not enough to own one at current prices. As far as usability I’m NOT a fan of a reciprocating bolt handle. So despite the light weight I wouldn’t be a go to for me ever.
And they’re notorious for breaking high dollar optics. But they are very cool.
I wouldn’t get the snipery version. Just the shortest barrel I could. With a loudener. Ok maybe not.
 
Huntolive said:
Loon wolf
When you're saying the two you worked with were reliable and lighter and easy to work with are you talking about scar 17s or AR-10s?
Click to expand...
17s

The AR-10s ive shot have all been fairly heavy but the only one I really liked being a heavy barrel 308. it was an absolute pussycat to shoot and stupendously accurate.... Wouldn't want to carry that thing any farther than the truck though.....
 
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I’ve owned two SCAR-17s. I am not a big fan. I can’t point to anything in particular that was wrong with them other than they just never felt right and they have a deserved reputation for being tough on optics. The balance was just never what I thought it should be once I added optics and a suppressor. Once the market went nuts, I sold both of them and replaced them with a POF Revolution, a POF Rogue and an Aero Precision M5. I much prefer the POF-USA rifles to the SCAR. Better balance. Better accuracy and they just feel right to a guy whom has spent his whole life shooting AR-15s.
 
taliv said:
It’s a super cool gun. I like them a lot but not enough to own one at current prices. As far as usability I’m NOT a fan of a reciprocating bolt handle. So despite the light weight I wouldn’t be a go to for me ever.
And they’re notorious for breaking high dollar optics. But they are very cool.
I wouldn’t get the snipery version. Just the shortest barrel I could. With a loudener. Ok maybe not.
Click to expand...
I actually really like reciprocating charging handles, One of my major complaints about most ARs is that they don't have them where I want them.... my buddy put a non-reciprocating handle on one of his SCARS, and I find that I'm actually okay with it because of their location...I guess it's really just the rear charging handle I don't like.

His guns have already chewed up a few scopes I think. Nothing really expensive, But those two guns are revolving doors for optics.....
 
i’ve had an fnar, m1a socom, and a m&p 10…after buying the scar 5-6 years ago, I saw no reason to have any other.

It’s very light, very accurate (have shot many groups of 5/8”), very easy to maintain, and as far as balance goes, i’ve felt it was perfect.

Oh, there’s also that little thing about recoil…it’s very low, especially as light as it is.

I’ve ran a trijicon 2.5x10 and pulsar trail for hog hunting and they’ve been trouble free on the 17.

In fact, after buying the 17, i liked it so well i had to have the 16 as well.

Also like the reciprocating charging handle-got whacked once…pretty simple, keep your thumb out of the way

Absolute favorites to me and my experience has been with some nice rifles, there’s none i’ve liked nearly as well (the 16 had a very serviceable trigger, my 17 wasn’t so great..did add geiselle in both so there was that expense).

That could be considered by me as the only shortcoming I can even think of but i knew that when i bought it, so…

As close to perfect as there is in my experience.
 
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As far as charging handles I absolutely hate the rear charging handles on AR style rifles as they have a weird feel to me and can be hard to grip and work quickly depending on how the scope is mounted but there is usually interference from the optic depending.

I'm used to reciprocating charging handles so I really don't think that's a big deal that's just something you get used to plenty of guns have reciprocating charging handles.

Okay so what's the deal with the Supposedly smooth shooting low recoil Scar destroying high quality optics?
Does it do the same thing to cheap optics:rofl:

Why is this the case if it is true?

How many scar owners have had bad experiences with optics on them and how many scar owners have not had problems?
I guess I'll just have to put vortex optics on it LOL

I'm seriously leaning towards getting the scar 17.
 
If you’re using the gun in dynamic variable environments it’s just too easy to have something impede the reciprocating ch and cause a malf. Even if it hasn’t happened to you it has happened to a lot of others and it’s not possible on a non reciprocating CH like the AR.

While some people hate the rear ch on the AR I think it’s a lot better because I’m often shooting on or around barricades. It’s not just the ability for a forward CH to snag on the barricade especially in small portals but if you need to operate it you can cycle the rear ch without removing the gun from the portal where the forward ch means moving your hand out or pulling the gin back; both of which are very time consuming.



with respect to the optics just do some googling and you’ll prob find plenty of examples. But while I’m sure it has the same effect on cheap optics, most people prob don’t pay $4k for a scar and put a $60 barska on it. So first it’s prob just a bias of the buyers not reporting cheap optic failures that wouldn’t be particularly notable in the first place. Second saying high dollar implies extremely reliable optics like acogs and NF and S&b and Elcan etc that just don’t have a lot of failures normally. it was just a lazy way to say that.
 
Many reports of the 17 eating quality optics. Supposedly it has to do with the harmonics and/or the heavy bolt carrier causing impact in “the wrong direction” when it closes. Supposedly lots of optics makers design and test their stuff for the impacts of the rounds firing (rifle moving rearward) but not necessarily for the opposite direction.

IMO get good stuff in very good mounts and you’ll be fine. But hold on to the warranty card. Trijicon AccuPower has been fine on mine so far but it’s so heavy I mostly shoot irons.
 
yes I actually spoke with Pulsar before I started using it on mine and they confirmed it was fine for use on the scar

Have a burris veracity as well as eotech and leupold d-evo for the 16 and steiner dbali2’s for both and no problems with any of them

I take that subject with a grain of salt as while there may be some of it, the folks like me that have had zero issues with any of their optics don’t go on line to say they’ve had zero issues
 
Dad got one a few years ago. It's a great rifle and he really likes it. I'd probably never spend that much on one but for a money-no-object .308, I think it's hard to beat. We put a 30mm Leupold 1-4x on it and so far, so good.
 
Okay interesting.
So what are some "Scar Approved" optics?
Or should I just keep putting vortex warranty to the test?

What mounts would you recommend?
To these need to be like one piece mounts that raise the optic up like on an AR or can they be regular rings like on a normal rifle?
 
I dont know of a list anywhere of optics made to run on Scar 17s but Im sure there is one somewhere. It's more of a find what you like and research or call the manufacturer kind of thing. On the Vortex side I know the Razor 1-6 is a good one. Ive also heard that all of Leupolds newer "tactical" scopes are specifically tested for the 17. On the more budget side the Primary Arms models are tested on it I believe.
 
I'm pretty sure my gun shop has a new 17s for $2800. I'm pretty sure he ships too. I'll check and see if it's still up on his page
 
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