Tag Archives: FN SCAR

Alas, We Could Hardly Afford Thee: FN Ends the SCAR Line, Kinda

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FN has confirmed that the legacy vaunted SCAR line of modular rifles, as we know them, is discontinued.

Designed for a circa 2004 USSOCOM tender, the SOF Combat Assault Rifle became a real thing in its select-fire 7.62 NATO (SCAR Heavy and the Mk 20 sniper variant) and 5.56 NATO (SCAR Light) variants within just a few years. Besides limited U.S. military service with the special operations community, the SCAR was adopted by the Belgian military to replace the FN FNC, going on to serve smaller roles with commando-type units in more than 25 countries, ranging from Japan and Indonesia to Bosnia and Finland.

Offered to the commercial market starting in 2008 with the semi-auto SCAR 16S (5.56) and SCAR 17S (7.62), the rifle became a much sought-after commodity, with guns often reselling in online auctions for well over the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

The line expanded with the SCAR 20S 7.62 Precision Rifle in 2019 and the 5.56 15P pistol in 2022, both of which later saw caliber expansions to 6.5 Creedmoor and .300 Blackout, respectively. Then came the 17S DMR in 6.5.

A generational update came in 2021 with models that had a variety of quiet upgrades as well as non-reciprocating charging handles, or NRCH (“Nerch”) variants. Besides the black and “50 shades of FDE” colorways, FN also introduced MultiCam, Desert, and Woodland camo models.

All that now seems destined to the dustbin of history, to be put on the same shelf as the FN FAL, as the company this week quietly shifted several SCAR S variants to the “discontinued products” section of its website.

On social media this week, when asked if the rumors of the entire SCAR line being discontinued are true, the company’s official X page responded, “Correct. We just completed our production run of the legacy FN SCAR series. What’s in the market now is the last. If you’ve always wanted one, now is the time,” then followed up with, “U.S. production of the legacy SCAR 16S, 17S, and 20S has been complete. No more will be made.”

FN provided Guns.com the following statement:

No more rumors. FN America has completed our final production run of the commercial legacy SCAR series in the U.S. This includes the 16S, 17S, and 20S, but not SCAR 15P. What’s currently in our market is all that remains—so if you’ve been wanting one, now’s the time to grab it before it’s gone.

None of this affects FN’s global military SCARs – these are still in demand and still in production.

Look for more info leading up to SHOT Show 2026!

If you own a commercial legacy SCAR, don’t worry about support or parts. Owners can still receive service through our support center, and spare parts will remain available through official distributors for a period of time. As for accessories, magazines for the legacy SCAR 17S and SCAR 20S will continue to be available in the future; however, the supply of accessories such as barrel assemblies will be limited over the next five years.

For the time being, the company is still listing several NRCH SCAR S variants along with the 15P pistols as “active” on its website, but who knows what 2026 will bring.

I mean, we know, but are sworn to secrecy enforced by the FN Gnome.

Ugg boots forever!

FN Finally Making the ‘Baby SCAR’ in .300 Blackout

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The SCAR-SC. I mean, will you just look at it? How is this thing not in 150 different movies? (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The FN 15P debuted at last year’s SHOT Show as an NFA-compliant ode to the SCAR SC, which is on the no-no list due to the Hughes Amendment (which for the record should be repealed, thanks, Ronnie). The semi-auto 5.56 chambered large format pistol is the smallest SCAR in production, going even shorter, at under 20 inches long, than the 21-to-25-inch SCAR SC.

Now, the pistol-length FN 15P is available in .300 BLK, a caliber that is much more ballistically suited to a platform with a 7.5-inch barrel.

Being fully aware that Blackout shines in suppressed platforms, FN has updated the 15P in .300 to include gas regulator settings for subsonic and supersonic ammunition, a .30-caliber flash hider, and a dedicated 30-round magazine optimized for the stubby cartridge’s geometry. Plus, replacement barrel assemblies are on the menu for those who have the 5.56 variant and want to swap out to the BLK. 

The FN SCAR 15P in .300 will be offered in both a tactical peanut butter (FDE) with black accents as well as good old-fashioned black on black.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Blue Devils with SCARs

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The famed “blue devils” of the French Army’s 13e Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins (13e BCA) date back to before the Crimean War, when they were initially raised as the plain old 13e Bataillon Chasseurs à Pied (13e BCP), fighting as such in Algeria, the Italian unification wars, and the Franco-German War.

Transitioning into crack mountain infantry in 1888, they guarded key Alpine passes in peacetime, then in the Great War fought in the Vosges, the Somme, in the Italian Alps against the Austrians, and generally everywhere they were needed, earning seven unit Croix de Guerre by 1918.

“Les Diables Bleus” WWI Chasseurs Alpins by Georges Bertin Scott, circa 1915

The blue devils received their name due to their dark blue uniforms and large berets, retained to this day in their service and dress uniforms. Hard fighters, their motto is “Jamais être pris vivant,” (Never to be Taken Alive)

French blue devils Chasseurs alpins uniforms by Hector Large

French blue devils Chasseurs alpins marching order uniforms by Hector Large

Interbellum, they remained on the move for the Occupation of Germany, with vacations in sunny Tunisia to fight insurgents for the glory of the Republic.

Chasseurs alpins during the Occupation of the Ruhr in Buer (now Gelsenkirchen), 1923. Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-09896

In WWII, following honors in the battle for Narvik against German mountain troops trying to hold on to Norway, they returned home to be dissolved by the Vichy government, leaving most of its members to shrug and quietly join the maquis resistance. Reforming their battalion in August 1944, they fought for and captured the Grand Roc Noir (11,752 ft) from the Germans before descending into the Aosta Valley in Italy by the end of the war.

French Chasseurs Alpins showing off a captured MG42 in the Alpine mountains, January 1945.

Since then, they fought in Algeria, prepared for mountain combat in the Cold War, and, since that thawed, have been very busy in recent years with deployments to Bosnia, Lebanon, Chad, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Djibouti.

Why all this about the 13th BCA?

Well, they were chosen to be the first unit of the French Army to receive the FN SCAR H PR series precision rifle in 7.62 NATO, for use by their designated marksmen and snipers out to 800m.

The guns will replace the old MAS-derived GIAT FR F2 bolt gun that has been the French standard sniper rifle since the 1980s.

In several ways, the fusil à répétition modèle F2 is really just an updated MAS-36 in 7.62 NATO

More in my column at Guns.com.

Incidentally, the Chasseurs Alpins wear a distinctive piece of headgear: an oversized beret they call la tarte, or ‘the pie, ‘ and it is actually more useful than you think.

1st Lieutenant Clement from the 27th Brigade Chasseurs Alpins unit explains the various uses of la tarte, from keeping your feet warm to protecting your eyes from the sun. Clement and his fellow mountain infantry soldiers deployed to Rena, Norway, for Exercise Brilliant Jump 22, which tested the ability of the very high-readiness component of the NATO Response Force:

Cracking the Army’s Budget Book on SmallArms

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The Army’s recently announced budget request for the fiscal year 2022 includes at least $114 million for new rifles, handguns, and the next generation of small arms. 

While the overall FY2022 Defense Department Budget is $112 billion, most of the non-operational dollars are for high-level R&D and big-ticket items like the F-35 fighter. The Army’s budget book for weapons and tracked combat vehicles meanwhile has a low nine-figure ask when it comes to individual small arms. 

The bulk ($97 million) is to go to the Next Generation Squad Weapons, with much of the balance to acquire new Barrett-made Precision Sniper Rifles, and a few crumbs for M4s, M17s, and the like.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Could the Army Ditch Brass for Plastic?

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The hybrid polymer-cased cartridge, developed by Texas-based True Velocity as part of the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program, is compatible with legacy firearms as well.

The 6.8mm TVCM composite case design, coupled with the Army’s 6.8mm (.277-caliber) common cartridge projectile, was originally developed and optimized for use in the NGSW-Rifle and NGSW-Automatic Rifle submissions submitted to that military program by General Dynamics-OTS. It performs better ballistically than 7.62 NATO and weighs 30 percent less.

However, using what True Velocity characterizes as a “switch barrel” capability, they have demonstrated it can work with much of the Army’s currently fielded small arms including the M240B belt-fed machine gun, the M110 semi-automatic sniper system, and the M134 minigun.

Which could mean that, even if NGSW tanks, there could be a revolutionary advance in the ammo used by U.S. troops in the near future.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Sig: Next-Gen Weapons Delivered to the Army

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Sig Sauer this week announced it has completed the delivery of the company’s Next Generation Squad Weapons system to the U.S. Army.

The company is one of three contractors who in 2019 got the nod from the Pentagon to continue with the NGSW program. The sweeping initiative aims to replace the Army’s 5.56mm NATO small arms – the M4 Carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. Sig’s program consists of an in-house-designed lightweight high-performance 6.8x51mm (.277-caliber) hybrid ammunition, NGSW-AR lightweight machine guns, NGSW-R rifles (based on the MCX carbine), and next-gen suppressors.

They certainly look the part and, if selected, would give Sig the small arms hattrick as their P320s have been adopted as the DOD’s standard handgun to replace everything from the USAF’s lingering K-frame 38s to the Marine’s M45 CQB railguns and everything in between. At that point, the only man-portable system used by the Army not made by Sig would be the M240 and M2, which FN still has a lock on.

More in my column at Guns.com.

NGSW? Don’t Hold Your Breath

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The current NGSW field 

The U.S. Army is full-speed ahead on an initiative to select a new series of innovative 6.8mm-caliber Next Generation Squad Weapons to phase out its 5.56mm platforms for combat troops. However, it would seem the Department of the Army is hedging their bets with traditional systems just in case things don’t work out like planned such as in past ambitious programs for futuristic small arms.

In April, FN won a 5-year $119 million contract for new M4/M4A1 Carbines from the company’s South Carolina factory– where 500 of the shorty 5.56s roll out every, single, day.

And this week, Big Army likewise issued a $78 million award to FN for more M249s, the squad-level U.S-made variant of the FN Minimi light machine gun that has been standard since 1982.

Just google the Individual Carbine (IC), Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW), or the Advanced Combat Rifle (ACR) programs to see why keeping the legacy infantry arms in production until things work out is a good idea.

The army advanced combat rifle ACR prototypes.

You too can play door gunner over the Nevada desert, no experience required

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I just did, sheesh.

More details besides the video in my column at Guns.com 

Ever thought about a SCAR in 6.5 Creedmoor?

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Last year, FN apparently trialed a version of their MK 20 SSR (sniper support rifle) in 6.5 Creedmoor as USSOCOM was flirting with the idea of fielding the new– and increasingly popular– round for future use. Not to let research go to waste, the company just announced they will start selling the commercial variant of the SSR, the FN SCAR 20S, in 6.5CM.

Boom.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

More info on the new French Glocks, SCARs

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Last week, the French military purchasing agency announced they are picking up 75,000 new Glocks to replace older MAS G1 (Beretta 92) and MAC 50 (Sig P-210ish) pistols. The new handguns will be two-toned (black over Coyote) Gen 5 G17s with Marksman barrels, suppressor-height night sights, ambi slide levers, a lanyard ring (G19X, is that you?) and forward slide serrations.

Voilà

The new French PSA G17

Additionally, to replace the 1980s-era FR F2 bolt-action rifle, the French will be issuing the SCAR-H PR, essentially a SCAR-17 with a heavy barrel. It will be issued with an FN-made QD suppressor, a cleaning kit, four 20-round magazines, and two 10-round magazines.

More details, including videos, in my column at Guns.com. 

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