Another SCAR sighting folks!
This time — and a nice confirmation of my sourcing on the first equipping units — its a pic of some Rangers who’d dropped by a NASCAR event this past weekend.
The Joes from 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment were honored at the Coca Cola 600 at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC, among other services over the Memorial Day weekend.
Take a close look at this photo and check out what’s strapped over their shoulders…
…and I dig the guy who collapsed his SCAR’s stock…
For the full-sized image click HERE…
(Gouge: MP)
– Christian
- I dont get it, why do these guys have SCARs? Why Rnt SCAR in the middle of the a-stan right now proving themselves in real battle conditions?
– btw lot of guys said they R looking forward to heavy version (7,62x51). I bet that none of these guys will ever get close to heavy version.
Why does that soldier have a magazine in his weapon? What’s the point of that?
So they are pretty decked out with team radios, plate carrier modular vests and so on… I want to know why they arent in the middle east right now also. I would also like to know why the much more tested XM-8 that the SCAR is a copy of is not being fielded more… Its proven to have 50% less stoppagesa and malfucntions than the SCAR. Is it because they are more expensive as is the case with most HK guns? Whats is the price of a soldiers LIFE? Or not just a soldier but a proven assest fully trained and experience Ranger, SEAL, SF guy and so on who cannot be mass produced.
@Deepy,
You really have to catch up on current events… SCARs ARE in the ‘Stan. The Rangers were the first group to get them issued to them, now it’s time for the SEALs & SF to get theirs.
BTW… the Mk17’s ARE being handed out. I heard it was either a 3–1 or 4–1 ratio.
@ Brandon,
You sound a bit bitter, hoss. At least they managed to get something better than what was issued AND they didn’t have to pay for it themselves, like i did.
Wake up! The US warfighter gets screwed all the time.
MAYBE they arent in the sand box because they just got home, maybe they are a quick response team, there is no reason to question why a soldier isnt at war, its a little unnecessary, and slight disrespectful, also the XM-8 isnt being used because frankly it isnt the best weapon, these guys pick their weapon, if the xm-8 was the best the rangers or green berets would have them, please use your head, its just obvious, we do need to get rid of the M4 but hopefully the HK416 is on the way for them
“Why does that soldier have a magazine in his weapon? What’s the point of that?“
I can’t say for sure.… But we used to have a policy when we went off post with weapons at least one person had a loaded weapon so that our weapons couldn’t be stolen.
It would have been MUCH cooler if they all wore their patrol caps and black eye protection!
lol, why arent they in the ME? what sort of a question is that guys? 100% of the armed forces of any nation arent be 24/7 deployed in conflicts. As mentioned; it sounds disrespectful. As if you are questioning their loyalty and dedication to their jobs.
I want to see flyovers and gun salutes for the FA cup final at Wembley 
A much more appropriate question to be asked (as a ‘foreigner’ being from the UK)would be why do the US military get deployed to sporting events all the time?
Ah, just the fact that piston guns doesn’t require a stupid buffer and can have a full collapseable stock already make them away cooler than direct gas.
Ditto on what Schrott said, except the “warfighter gets screwed comment”. The US, far and away, spends more money than any other country on equipment, training, and research that saves lives. We can’t always have the best because we don’t get a blank check from the legislature, it’s always been that way and always will.
@Vltor
Piston or DI has no relation to a buffer. It just so happens that the AR’s were designed to have a buffer, and spring running through the stock. Overall length was not a concern at the time since the AR was compact compared to the M1 Garand, and M-14. The AR was designed as a battle rifle to fight a traditional battle against a traditional army. I don’t think the designers of the day had any way to predict what the demands would be of their rifle on today’s battlefield.
I have very limited knowledge of the SCAR, but I can promise you there is a spring somewhere in that rifle that does what the buffer, and spring do in an AR. it just happens to be in a different location. Also the bolt is a much different shape than an AR bolt, so there is no need for a tube for the bolt carrier to slide into during firing. My understanding of the SCAR was that it was designed from the start to have a folding stock, something never envisioned for the AR. You could just as easily make a DI SCAR.
The advantage of the AR design is that the mass of the bolt carrier is lower, and more in-line with the barrel. Which in-turn should improve accuracy, and reduce felt recoil, since the majority of that force is more in-line with your shoulder.
I know the 5.56 is a small round, and his little recoil even in a bolt rifle, but the difference is much more pronounced when shooting a .308 bolt rifle, and a .308 AR-10 type rifle.
The 416 is not without problems either. I forget which country, possibly The Netherlands, but their 416’s were jamming in snowy conditions due to ice build up on the piston systems.
No weapon is perfect. You simply have to choose the one best suited to your mission on that particular day.
Good grief “Jody,“
Are you angry that these soldiers are home screwing their wives instead of you(screwing their wives)? Also,they could just as easily be tasked out to Northern Command for domestic duty.
My “useless” gripe would be about the lack uniformity in how they are both holding & displaying their SCAR’s. If one has his stock folded,they all should,& if one has a magazine in his weapon,again,they all should.
Bringing it back to equipment.…
I found it interesting that the 7 out of 8 Soldiers visible had 4 different variants of NODS mounts on their helmets. What’s up with that?
For those wondering why Rangers don’t have the XM-8, it’s because SOCOM would not allow it into the SCAR competition. At the time, the Army was developing the XM-8 under the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) program. Because it was funded by the Army, SOCOM viewed the XM-8 as a “government solution”. The SOCOM PM said the XM-8 would get a chance to compete for SCAR during a later phase of the program, but that never happened and the XM-8 was not given a chance. So, now Rangers have SCAR. Are there even better weapons out there? There are as many opinions as there are readers.
The weapon is nice, and much better than the M16A2 that I had to carry since us folks in the rear with the gear didn’t usually get the M4s.
As a former NCO I look at that photo and saw a lot of things right away. First was what kind of formation was that? Second, one guy was wearing sunglasses and the rest weren’t. Third was why were all the weapons in different configurations? Fourth, why weren’t they following any rifle Drill and Ceremony techniques? Maybe shoulder arms? Maybe present Arms? I hope that wasn’t during the national anthem at the race.
I’m not knocking the troops, I am knocking the presentation in the photo as an NCO. Rangers are supposed to lead the way.
This article might satisfy the nit pickers as to why they are dressed and arranged and equiped the way they are. They had just completed a simulated Mission ya boneheads. I’m surprised no one did there research or cared to. I guess these days it’s just easier to spew from our mouths. As a former Ranger and SF soilder(back in the Day) now flying Helos in Iraq, I would suggest being a lil more open to way our soilders operate Now, not how it used to be back in the day when you painted rocks or whatever. Be Mission oriented. not close Minded. Think outside of the box, that’s what our troops are doing everyday in Iraq and Afghan. God bless every one of them and you also.
http://news.soc.mil/releases/News%20Archive/2009/May/090524–01.html
SOCOM has also adopted new cammo uniforms.
It comes in two versions: Woodland and Desert.
It is a digital pattern, similar to MARPAT, but without Black in the pattern.
It is called AOR1 and AOR2.
Bye bye ACU!
How about an article on that, Def Tech?
Thanks Tzak for your statement. You are right of course, people tend to judge what they see too quickly. I figured the Rangers had just done some sort of demonstration, hence their “appearance.” As for some of the many questions asked, Rangers are not just some typical Joe Snuffy infantry line grunt. These guys have equipment based on their mission profiles. The type of NODS on guy uses may be different than the next guy. Maybe the guy with shades has an eye injury and needs to have darkened goggles on. Some guys like to wear knee pads, others do not. Is is SOP to wear them? Only a current Ranger could answer that.
These are RANGERS. All of your bickering can stop. These guys train their you whats off and beg for fights. I had a lot of buddies that were RANGERS and were in the RANGER battalion down in Savannah. I was in the IFANTRY at Ft. Stewart. We mirrored each other in knowledge and tactics for the most part, but they were a loittle more advanced than me in technology and in techniques. They past along anything they thought could help me and my unit like always. These guys fall in the special missions category. Rescue missions, recon, insert and excert, high value target eliminators, and theater prepers I call them. Leave’em alone about some uniformity crap. These guys have got bigger fish to fry. On the battlefield a lot of SF soldiers don’t even wear kevlars. I have seen it because I was there with them and in awe of how hard charger these guys are. The NCO whining about uniformity is probably some pogue ass deralict malingerer in the rear with the gear mad at some hardcore RANGER that plugged his slut of a wife. These guys are a bunch of hard (D.I.C.Ks) Dedicated Infantry Combat Killers
Yes you are right they are not some line infantry unit. They are Rangers, and like SF are trained to be the best. Hence why I asked questions. The shot in the photo looked odd and those were questions I had as a soldier. Defense Tech here didn’t mention either as to what the Rangers were doing.
You can say all you want about the days when folks painted rocks, but guess what? I got out in 2007, so these guys aren’t far removed from my days in the military, and I joined in 2003.
Now about the rifle, the barrel has some white looking device on it. Is that what the blank adaptor looks like on the SCAR? Or is that a device to prevent accidental discharges?
Of the three modular weapons, the SCAR, XM-8, and the HK-416, only the 416 utilizes a buffer spring.
The MK-17 is being deployed, but the numbers are classified.
@Will
From all videos I’ve seen, SCAR seems to have a quite manageable recoil. And the HK417 and ice problem happened in Norway, whose winter can make any weapon sufer. But unlike Colt who cant admit imperfection and always come with the “our weapons follows the army requirements, therefore they are perfect and cant be improved” excuse, HK likes to fix any complain they get.
Rock painters will never freakin get it. Stick to trimming hedges and police calls you close minded gimps. Leave the tactics and killin to the Rangers and the NCOs that have figured out how to exist outside of the FM 7–8 box.
You “NCOs” that still think that beans and bullets are our main mission are dead weight. Get in the ring!
Tony
RLTW!
Ed = twat.
The recoil spring is right above the barrel, right behind the piston. I don’t know who invented it, but this rifle has the same action as my SU-16 and PLR-16 guns (kel-tec). The plr-16 is 3.5 lbs loaded with a 30 round pmag, but it only has a 9 inch barrel, which is solid steel. The su-16 with an 18 inch barrel is closer to 5 lbs. The action is small, lightweight and durable, the body of the weapon is high-density polymer, same as the scar but with less bloat, I figure the barrels could use improvement over the old trusty steel, and they could make an 18 inch barrel for the same weight using a composite package, 3.5 lbs loaded (add another .5 lb for optics maybe and you have a 4 lb weapon).
I don’t understand why they don’t focus on the weight of the gun. They just figure they’ll pack all the “durability” into an 8 lb package, but they could have a 4 lb package if they added a titanium sheath around a slim steel barrel.
I also looked into ceramic barrels a while back, the technology is not mature, the tensile strength of ceramics is not suitable for anything beyond 10k or 20k PSI of chamber pressure. I wouldn’t trust a ceramic barrel that couldn’t handle at least 80k of chamber pressure reliably, but I figure a polymer/ceramic weapon with the strength to withstand a high-power cartridge would/could weigh 2 lbs. The other advantages are that the rifling wouldn’t wear hardly at all, and heating would be a non-issue, we’d need a new cartridge able to handle the heat that the barrel could withstand.
Weight is the ultimate advantage with these polymer guns and I find it unfortune that they covered this thing in polymer so much that it weighs the same as the m4. What is the real advantage of this gun? Greater reliability? Ok… but they really missed an opportunity here.
I wasn’t really taking down about the SCAR or 416. My point was more along the lines of the AR platform was pretty innovative, and still a contender. It was a really big departure from the weapons of the day.
That being said the SCAR and 416 seem to be good as well. But, no matter how good, there will be issues. I’m sure H&K will resolve the issues promptly, but I get the feeling that the 416 and SCAR are somehow seen as the be all and end all.
But, I’d still love to have either one in my safe.
The SCAR is supposed to use the pmag right? I notice the ranger with the magazine in the weapon seems to have that, but the ranger to the back left has what appears to be standard M-16/M-4 magazines in his LBV. I would presume both are compatible with the SCAR then, or am I mistaken about the interchangeability of the 2 magazine types?
This picture raises lots of questions about the weapon as far as the configuration they have displayed. And like I asked, what is the white object at the end of the barrel? Is that a blank adapter or a chamber block?
No, the PMAG is used in the Bushmaster ACR, formerly the Magpul Masada.
It’s good to see that a good weapon and functional individual kit have made it to the shooters, and big “A” Army has allowed them to do a demonstration in that “uniform.“
RLTW!!
To all of you asking the retarded questions,who gives a sh*t? I was in 3rd Batt at Fort Benning and got out a few years ago. Like Tzak said they just completed a training mission. Why don’t you criticize your fat, uneducated, liberal selves and not worry about what and why our Warriors are doing.
I guarantee if you went up to any of the 1st Batt guys in the pic and asked them these stupid questions, you would know how big the SCAR is becuase it would be hanging out your a$$.
But that’s just my .02
RLTW!!!!
Wait a second, I thought the XM-8 was a dead project. Explain?
These guys look prepared to fight. Notice each has configured his equipment to both his individual comfort and to his role within the unit. Shooting, moving and communicating as dictated by the mission. I would say they look prepared to do the mission whatever it maybe, well except maybe a parade, but not much fighting goes on during a parade now does it. RLTW…HOOAH!
Why does it matter what they look like. I know uniformity is a big thing in the conventional Army, but SF and Ranger Bats are not conventional according to their missions. Regular Army has a abundance of sources to call upon during missions and usually do their missons in big numbers. As compared to Special Operations have do to their missions with the small quanity of soldiers they have and the limited resources assigned to them. I was a regular Army puke and my brother was a special operations soldier. We both had the same kind of mission in a way, but his missions where done with the lowest amount of attention. As for my mission we roled out of our base in northern Iraq in numbers and acted like we owed the area of operation we was in. Also another thing my unit would spend four to five hours before each mission doing battle drills and mission briefs. As compared to what my brother as told me they didn’t do battle drills as indepth as we did. His units philosphy is that if they got intel on a high value traget they don’t have four to five hours to do battle drills. They have to act instantly to the intel. Thats the difference between regular Army and Special Operations. A special operation soldier knows his job and every aspect of it and knows what to do without being told. A regular Army soldier will react also but he waits for his sqaud leader to give him an order. Thats the differnce and if that means special operation soldiers get the best equipment and don’t have to abide to standard uniform regs. All the power to them. I wish I could of tried for the Rangers or a SF group but unfortunally my army career ended when I got hit by IED back in April of 2007. No disrepect to Special Operations or the regular Army. We all have a specific job to do and each of us to it well according to our MOS. God Bless our troops.
Hell them boys could be standing there in their birthday suits with toothpicks in their mouths. And they still would be agile, mobile amd hostile. Ready to kick a$$ anytime, anyway and anywhere. So I don’t give a ratsa$$ what those men are wearing or what weapons they carry. They are first and foremost Rangers. And Rangers will always I repeat always lead the way. Hooah
What a bunch of over dressed goons.
They are wearing enough clothing to see them through the winter.
I especially like the dork on the far left, with his super cool macho sun glasses.
Gosh, I bet he is one mean guy if ever there was one.
It is obvious that he is a real killer.
I stumble around in the woods all day
I live a life of danger
Then I climb up a tree and play with myself
Whee, I’m a Ranger
These super trained Rangers don’t even know how to stand in formation, let alone how to blouse their boots.
What a rag tag display they are.
They do, however seem very adept at wearing all sorts of very expensive gear.
I wonder just how far they can carry all of it in a real combat situation?
My guess would be that after two miles these Rangers would be yelling for help.
Then what?
Holy crap!
WTF is wrong with you people? Have you arm chair generals (or more accurately sergeants major) nothing better to do than sharp shoot these fine soldiers? These men are professionals, despite your ignorant assessments of their appearance. In case you haven’t heard, we are engaged in a war not a fashion show. As an infantry platoon sergeant in Iraq, I honestly didn’t give a damn about uniformity of gear so long as it was serviceable, accounted for and set up in a functional manner. My priority was ensuring that my men were prepared to accomplish the mission, not how pretty they looked doing it.
Oh yeah, the legs of their ACUs ARE bloused… on the outside of the boot to avoid cutting off circulation to the feet. Perhaps if you’d been in combat sometime this century you might understand that. Oh no! One of them has different eye pro… and some have older model NOD mounts! Do you think that looks unprofessional? A thousand pardons to you, oh great soldier god… Go polish your boots and leave the fighting to us you pogue!
Zandor, you’re a troll and a moron. Get lost.
HK-416 is still away better.
so does HK-417..
ib4 losers pretending i dont know what i am talking about — i do.
Dear BOCAT;
These ace troopers aren’t in a combat zone, they are at a NASCAR race being held in the USA.
Perhaps that little fact eluded you.
A herd of eight year old spastic Cub Scouts could do a better job of formation.
What a sorry display.
The really sad thing is that these killers probably conduct military operations just as well as they form up.
Piss poor.
Dear Jared;
If I got lost that would make two of us that were lost.
Buy a compass, it might do you some good.
Make sure that your daddy reads the instructions for you. Then you can have all sorts of adventures in your back yard.
Ciao.
Don’t judge the book by its cover-its a picture thats all. As for the XM-8, the polymers tended to heat up when firing on full auto. To the p[oint of melting. This is second hand info, but thats wat I was told. If anyone heard different, pls say so. The M-8 had less problems of all the rifles tested. So, it could be the heat from the rounds fired that caused problems for the polymers. As far as Colt is concerned, they can do no wrong. The procurement process is too political.
Zandor and BOCAT 9 seem a bit spiteful. My guess is that they always dreamed of having a tab or scroll but never acheived that goal. I know, you both went to school and either failed or peered out. So, it’s totally acceptable to bash on others. I love the phrase “you either have a tab or a story”. I’m guessing these two retarts have a story.
RLTW
hey ZANDOR,
who cares if they are not formed up. its their own little cool guy event. maybe they have real skills therefore they are not the fake soldiers that pride themselves on forming up and all that corny AIT stuff. go back to your air defense avenger unit unit and cry.