Any Possibility of a 5.56 Conversion Kit For Civilian Consumption?

[LoLFornia]

Does anyone think FN will ever release the 5.56 conversion kits for the Scar17 to the civilian market? At this point we don't have replacement barrels yet, but whos to say it couldn't happen a few years down the road... and if not, would there be ways to aquire them from military contract overruns ect.

[Panda Bear]

Does anyone think FN will ever release the 5.56 conversion kits for the Scar17 to the civilian market? At this point we don't have replacement barrels yet, but whos to say it couldn't happen a few years down the road... and if not, would there be ways to aquire them from military contract overruns ect.

Why does the military use the conversion kit? It sounds strange decreasing the capabilities of a rifle unless it's to save money on ammo during training?

[HK SD9 Tactical]

Does anyone think FN will ever release the 5.56 conversion kits for the Scar17 to the civilian market? At this point we don't have replacement barrels yet, but whos to say it couldn't happen a few years down the road... and if not, would there be ways to aquire them from military contract overruns ect.

Why dumb it down to a 5.56 when they can go all the way and dumb it down to a 22 LR. We used and M16 dumbed down to a 22LR for training purposes and firearm qualifications at times. They said this was because we were at an indoor range.

Who know what some dumb ass bureaucrat sitting behind a desk will come up with........

[Panda Bear]

Wouldn't it make more sense to get a SCAR 16? I mean, the barrel and parts won't be cheap and I bet for a little more you could get the real McCoy. Just started shooting my SCAR 17 and I love it. it is the best rifle I have ever owned or fired bar none and I'm not keen to convert it to anything else.

[wagnasty]

the military doesn't have a conversion kit...

[LoLFornia]

Based on this chart that was posted on "The Firearm Blog" ( United States Army Special Operations Command to dump FN SCAR Mk16 | The Firearm Blog ) it appears that the kit exists and will be used.

5.56conversion kit.jpg

I think the reasoning behind a "common receiver" was to minimize the logistics needed to support multiple platforms as this probably makes sense to the bean counters. Personally I LOOOVE my 17 and wouldn't mind a 16 down the road but under certain circumstances where taking two rifles & gear aren't possible I am digging the idea of the conversion kit. Based on the numbers being tossed around for replacement barrels I can see the cost of the conversion kit being far north of 1k. Not holding my breath for FN to release these to the public but it would be an interesting option.

[wagnasty]

Based on this chart that was posted on "The Firearm Blog" ( United States Army Special Operations Command to dump FN SCAR Mk16 | The Firearm Blog ) it appears that the kit exists and will be used.

Attachment 827

I think the reasoning behind a "common receiver" was to minimize the logistics needed to support multiple platforms as this probably makes sense to the bean counters. Personally I LOOOVE my 17 and wouldn't mind a 16 down the road but under certain circumstances where taking two rifles & gear aren't possible I am digging the idea of the conversion kit. Based on the numbers being tossed around for replacement barrels I can see the cost of the conversion kit being far north of 1k. Not holding my breath for FN to release these to the public but it would be an interesting option.

the receiver isn't common seeing as you can not interchange them... the 16 and 17 do have parts commonality(ie. the stock, charging handles, trigger) but that does not mean you can take a 17 and make it shoot 5.56...i think going from 7.62x51 to 7.62x39 would be cooler anyways(it would be cheaper to shoot)

[LoLFornia]

+1 for 7.62x39. That would be awesome!! By "common receiver" I meant more along the lines of platform/family

[Cadpack]

Switching over all future 16s to the common receiver would simplify production, logistics support and the choice over whether to buy a 16 or 17. On the other hand, the common receiver 16s would be heavier and there would be a bunch of early adopters of the 16s feeling like they're being left behind or that this is a prelude to completely dropping support for it. It's not a good place for FN to be. I see them releasing the conversion kit and watching what happens with sales of the 16s to determine if it's going to be worth continuing future production of the L-receiver if they don't win the Army carbine competition.

It seems that the SCAR as FN originally designed it was going to have a common receiver for all calibers, but
SOCOM wanted to keep the weight down.



Clarification on the SCAR’s future. | The Firearm Blog

FNH USA's Executive Vice President of Military Operations Mark Cherpes explained to Shooting Illustrated what was going on with the FN SCAR at USSOCOM. USSOCOM could not make their mind up, but finally decided they wanted a multi-caliber system, which is why the Mk.16 is being phased out and the Mk.17 with conversion kit is being adopted.


Mark Cherpes says ...

FN had proposed and offered a single-platform system to USSOCOM that would adapt via conversion kit to SOF current and future ammunition. During the requirements finalization phase, the SOF operators took the decision that the weapon should be split in two platforms, one gun for 5.56 and a second gun for 7.62. The reason this decision was made at the time is that the SOF operators did not like the fact that the 5.56 base platform would have an increase in weight over the M4. The weight difference between the MK 16 Standard and the SCAR H Standard is about half a pound.

[Wizzard]

It just wouldn't make much financial sense for FN to do this for civies...it would open up an entire can of logistics worms that wouldn't be very profitable for them.