Wear & tear **UPDATE**

[9unknown]

**UPDATED PICS AT BOTTOM**

So I figured I'd post up some photos of parts of the SCAR where I have started to notice a bit of wear and tear. Mainly just to document it for myself, and possibly for others out there in order to compare. Just wondering if anybody has experienced any wear in the same areas as I am. It's nothing major, and hopefully there's no need to be concerned, the rifle shoots great and I currently have roughly 1k rounds down the tube.



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Seems to be a spot of wear along the underside of the frame where the lower buts up against it from where the bolt catch / release rubs up against it.



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Looks like little dings in sections of the bolt right on the corners, a bit more concerning than the first, especially since on the FN price / parts list no bolts are available yet. This could be due to an issue I have encountered a few times where the SCAR fails to chamber the first round from a fresh magazine properly and ends up needing to be cleared. However, this has only happened a handful of times in over a thousand rounds. The few times it has happened I'm pretty sure it was due mainly to operator error where I wasn't charging it hard enough. Once it actually pushed the bullet back into the casing nearly 1/2 inch. That's never happened to be before so i don't know if that's potentially dangerous or not.

Just wondering if anyone has encountered any of these issues as well.

UPDATE:

So after my last cleaning I noticed yet another gouge, this time in the polymer lower just alongside the bolt catch. No idea what this could be from. I have emailed FN customer service twice about these issues in the past month and have received no response. Hopefully it will get resolved soon.

[Strongbow]

Do you use PMAGS by chance? unmodified PMAGS raise the bolt catch ever so slightly. Not enough the catch the bolt, but enough to cause little dings like that. You can fix the PMAGS in about 2 minuts with a small round file, FWIW.

In any case, I doubt the small dings will affect anything at all, the SCAR's bolt being fairly robust, but there ya go.

[1stidvet]

Does your bolt have chunks of metal gouged out of it? I just looked at mine with 500 rounds through it and it doesn't look like that. I know the scar has different cuts in the bolt, but mine certainly doesn't look like that. If it did I would be calling FN. I'm no professional, maybe someone can chime in here and give a better explanation.

[Strongbow]

Looking at that picture again, those gouges are at the TOP of the bolt, not the bottom, so it can't be the bolt catch. On of my lugs has some slight peening there too. I guessing it's some lap wear with the chamber lugs.

[9unknown]

Do you use PMAGS by chance? unmodified PMAGS raise the bolt catch ever so slightly. Not enough the catch the bolt, but enough to cause little dings like that. You can fix the PMAGS in about 2 minuts with a small round file, FWIW.

In any case, I doubt the small dings will affect anything at all, the SCAR's bolt being fairly robust, but there ya go.

As a matter of fact yes, I run P-Mags and I thought that maybe this could potentially be part of the problem. I have heard of people filing down the inside of the mag well which does not sound appealing to me in the least, but I think that is to ensure the mags drop freely. Care to elaborate on the filing down of the mag itself? I think I'll be picking up some E-Mags soon anyhow.

[9unknown]

Looking at that picture again, those gouges are at the TOP of the bolt, not the bottom, so it can't be the bolt catch. On of my lugs has some slight peening there too. I guessing it's some lap wear with the chamber lugs.

Yeah it's definitely at the top, and yes it appears to be from coming in contact with the chamber lugs as well. What you said about the unmodified Pmags raising the bolt slightly could be the cause. Maybe that slight rise is offsetting the lugs just enough so that occasionally they're not interlocking properly. Doesn't seem to be affecting function (yet), guess I'll be contacting FN on this one.

[SgtStrykerUSMC43]

The bolt lugs shouldn't have material displacement. They should wear slowly and evenly. This tells me there's an underlying issue from the photo you provided and it's making me lean is the following direction:

The cartridges in the magazine are driving the bolt group skyward and as a result the bolt head is riding into the chamber (barrel extension) at the 12 o'clock position. This could be due to any number of factors but I would look at the magazine first as being the culprit.

Of course tolerance stacking comes into play and if by chance your rifle is on the high end of tolerances (bolt carrier slots relative to the upper's rails) this will cause the BCG to ride above bore centerline also.

Regardless of the cause, FN should be made aware of the issue so a corrective course of action can be taken.

Call Robert Ailes at FNH USA and get the ball rolling. His contact information is:

703-288-1292 ext #122.

Keep us posted on what transpires.

[9unknown]

T
The cartridges in the magazine are driving the bolt group skyward and as a result the bolt head is riding into the chamber (barrel extension) at the 12 o'clock position. This could be due to any number of factors but I would look at the magazine first as being the culprit

This is exactly what I'm thinking it is. I think these "dings" are a result of the feeding problems I mentioned earlier.

I just sent an email off to FN customer service, and I will be contacting Robert Ailes first thing tomorrow. Thanks for all the info!

[Strongbow]

Interesting, let me know what they say. I've just modified all my PMAGs so they don't push up the bolt catch so we'll see. FWIW, I just checked the PMAGs and the OEM mag. They both put the cartridges in exactly the same place, so that's not it. The feed lips on the PMAG may be SLIGHTLY pushing the bolt carrier up, but I doubt it. The bolt catch forced up by the UNMODIFED PMAGs appear to be the culprit... I have some polishing on the catch indicating the bolt carrier is riding along top of it as it is forced up. The modified PMAGs don't do this, so we'll see. I haven't had any problems with the gun at all yet... 100% operation. I hope that the "fix" on the PMAGs eliminates the wear, as I VASTLY prefer them to the USGI mags.

[valleyman]

Any updates on this? I dont think the wear noted by the OP is related to Pmags.