Weapon Name- FN SCAR- Bullpup
Round Type- 5.56mm, 7.62mm
Over-all length- 23 inches, 26.5, 28.5 inches, 34.5 inches
Barrel length- 14.5 inches, 18 inches, 20 inches, 26 inches
Weight- 6.8 lb, 7.3 lb, 7.9 lb, 10.7 lb
Rate of Fire- 625 RPM
Feed Mechanism- Detachable Box Magazine
Round Capacity- 20, 25 - 30, 40, 100
Effective Range- 300 meters - 500 meters
Range- 600 meters - 800 meters, 1000 meters
Accuracy- 2 MOA, 1.5 MOA, 1 MOA
Accessories- Picatinny Rails
Quick switch firing mechanism- Extra Trigger
Scope/Sights- Picatinny Rails, Trijicon Scope, Eotech
Muzzle Velocity- 940 m/s, 850 m/s - 840 m/s, 785 m/s
Firing System- Gas-operated (short-stroke gas piston), rotating bolt
Miscellaneous/electronic information- The weapon is essentially a bullpup interchangeable 5.56mm or 7.62mm weapon, using a long stroke gas piston, based off of the HAMR Fn Scar design.
Basic Information
The weapon is essentially a bullpup FN HAMR SCAR, capable of being chambered in either 5.56mm or 7.62mm x 51mm NATO cartridges, using a long stroke gas piston design for both reliability and accuracy. Based off of the FN SCAR, the weapon is specifically based off of the HAMR variation, which is unique in that it fires from a closed bolt, until switching to an open bolt after the weapon overheats. Open bolt firearms tend to cool faster than closed bolt firearms, and thus prevent the weapon from overheating and causing cook offs, or losing accuracy. The weapon can be manually switched to closed or open bolt, as well. The folding stock of the weapon is instead replaced with a short bullpup stock, which gives the weapon 1.5 inches of adjustability, and moves the trigger forward to make the weapon more ergonomic. The short stroke gas piston design provides the same low recoil and high accuracy as direct impingement weapons (such as the M16), while still possessing similiar reliability to the Ak-47. While not quite as high as the Ak-47, it's reliability is relatively similiar.
The weapon uses a detachable polygonal cobalt chrome right hand turn barrel; the barrel is made of an alloy that contains more than 50 percent cobalt. The barrel is roughly 13% heavier than standard steel barrels, but is more erosion and corrosion-resistant and is designed to retain high strength during long-term exposure to high temperatures. Cobalt alloys are frequently used in the aerospace industry, such as the hot-gas section of turbine engines. A proof of concept M240 7.62mm x 51mm NATO barrel, in practice, had 24,000 rounds test-fired through it, causing it to reach temperatures of 1,100 degrees, without failure. A steel barrel would have failed under such treatment. The barrel itself, combined with polygonal rifling, is extremely durable, and has a minimum 20,000 round barrel life, although it is possible to extend this or get use out of the rifle after the minimum is reached. The barrels come in 14.5, 18, 20, and 26 inch barrel configurations, with four different rifling types, for Standard 5.56mm and 7.62mm, and Mk. 262 and MK 316 MOD 0 175 grain sniper cartridges.
Like most bullpups, it's overall length is shorter for it's barrel length than traditionally laid out firearms. The weapon configuration is designed so that the action and magazine are located behind the trigger group and alongside the shooter's face, so there is no wasted space for the buttstock as in conventional designs. This permits a shorter firearm length for the same barrel length for improved maneuverability, and reduces weight. In comparison, an M16 has a 20 inch long barrel and is approximately 40 inches long; this is considered too long to be practical in close quarters, which is why the M4 carbine was developed, which is 33 inches long, although 30 inches long with a collapsed stock. This however shortened the barrel length to 14.5 inches; because accuracy and power are heavily dependent on barrel length, especially for 5.56mm, the trade off between a carbine and full sized rifle is power, range, and accuracy, for improved CQB abilities, increased maneuverability, and a faster draw. The FN SCAR, on the other hand, with an 20 inch barrel, is always 28.5 inches long, without needing to collapse the stock (and thus become less ergonomic); in comparison, with a full length 20 inch barrel, the tavor would be 1.5 inches shorter than the M4, with the length of a 20 inch M16 barrel. Thus, bullpups provide a longer barrel length for the same overall length of the weapon, allowing for both power, range, accuracy, and good manoeuvrability. For bullpup weapons using carbine length barrels, they can become shorter than most submachine guns, and are so easy to use they rarely need to be ducked in combat when moving around corners, at all.
The FN SCAR has ejection ports on both sides of the rifle so it can easily be reconfigured for right or left-handed shooters. However, this process requires partial disassembly, so it cannot be quickly reconfigured while the rifle is in use. It's ambidextrous fire mode selector above the pistol grip has a semi-automatic mode and a fully automatic mode. The SCAR is designed to be easily field-stripped, without the need for any additional tools. The rifle is waterproof and its internal mechanism is fully sealed from outside elements. Furthermore, it's possible to configure the weapon to have two open bolt ejection ports, and make the weapon belt fed with some configuration.
The SCAR features a last round bolt catch, whereby the bolt holds open after the last round empties. This is a request of modern armies, as it helps to allow soldiers to know when their magazine empties and to reduce reloading times during combat. The bolt however can be locked after a magazine is added to the weapon, allowing for it to virtually automatically lock after the weapon is reloaded, making the weapon even faster to be ready to fire. The Tavor features a self-contained, drop-in trigger group, so that the trigger group can be changed or replaced without the use of additional tools. The weapon also makes heavy use of polymers, which reduces the weight and increases it's strength, as well as making it more resistant to corrosion. With it's various cartridges and barrel lengths, it achieves 940 m/s and 850 m/s with the 5.56mm, and 840 m/s and 785 m/s with the 7.62mm. Strangely, the weapon achieves this with both it's shorter barrels and with the different cartridges; with a 14.5 inch barrel, the weapon possess 850 m/s with the standard 5.56mm cartridge, and with an 18 inch barrel produces 850 m/s with the Mk. 262. This is also true with the various 7.62mm cartridges.
The system is significantly more reliable than the direct impingement system. The firing system is based off of the FN SCAR which uses a short stroke gas piston system, similar to that in the AR-18, FN SCAR, or XM8 In July 2007, the US Army announced a limited competition between the M4 carbine, FN SCAR, HK416, XCR, and the previously-shelved HK XM8. Ten examples of each of the four competitors were involved. Each weapon fired 60,000 rounds in an "extreme dust environment." The purpose of the shoot-off was for assessing future needs, not to select a replacement for the M4. The XM8 scored the best, with only 127 stoppages in 60,000 total rounds, the FN SCAR Light had 226 stoppages, while the HK416 had 233 stoppages. The M4 carbine scored "significantly worse" than the rest of the field with 882 stoppages. However, with the HK416, 117 of the 233 malfunctions were from just one of the 10 weapons. Over-all this gives the weapon between 4-8 times higher reliability than the M4 carbine or similar firearms, with a variety of operating conditions being less hazardous to the over-all functioning of the firearm, including sandy or wet condition.
The weapon is made from composites and polymers similar to the P90 and XM8, to both reduce the cost and weight as of the weapon, as well increase the durability. The weapon fires from a closed bolt for both maximum accuracy and reliability. Each barrel possess a muzzle break designed after the surefire muzzlebreak. The muzzle break is intended to reduce the recoil of the weapon from an already relatively low level to being nearly absent, although some recoil is always present. As well, the design of the weapon and it's straight back recoil impulse, as well as the tighter, more steady grip on the weapon, combined with the impact gel recoil pad, makes the weapon very easy to use and relatively comfortable.
The weapon also utilizes magpul magazines. The magazines are known for their higher reliability and tendency to reduce jams; the magazine well on STANAG compatible magazines tends to be unnecessarily large and long, occasionally causing feeding issues. In an extreme dust test with the M4 carbine, out of the 883 jams approximately 239 were a result of the magazine; approximately a quarter of the jams of the jams were caused by magazine malfunctions, most commonly double feeding. This comparable to the entire FN SCAR or Hk416 jam rate. Superior magazines have the ability to eliminate up to half the jams frequently found in piston operated weapons, or more; thus, the improved magpul magazines can help prevent a significant number of jams when utilized with the weapon, particularly considering the higher level of reliability of the firing system.
