The video is Aaron Cowan reviewing the FN SCAR 20s. I like the SCAR series, a lot. The 16 & 17 are still my favorite rifles, flaws and all.
The 20s, along with the HK417, the Knight’s Armament SR25/M110, and the Lewis Machine & Tool MWS are the dominant four faces in the semi-auto “Precision Rifle” world. At least from a military based perspective. While 6.5 Creedmoor has made its way into the every flexible SOCOM (.300 BLK is too, but it too is niche) the mainstays of the rifle in use remain 7.62 NATO with projected use to about 1,000 yards and accuracy hovering just above and below 1 MOA, making for a roughly 10″ group at maximum effective range.
The strength of the precision semi is not in its absolute accuracy, a bolt gun with good tolerances will always win out because of the lack of moving parts. The strength lies in its ability to add repeatable precise enough firepower to precision engagement.
There is always a point when you are accurate enough, where the margin of error on your equipment (and you, if you’ve been working on that. You have, right?) has been reduced to a nearly failure proof number that we can consider acceptable barring user error or equipment failure.
The job of a bolt gun has always been to make that first round count for everything it can. When we’re talking semi-autos, the second job becomes to have another round ready right behind it.
There are any number of practical reasons for this requirement, the two most prominent being a rapid follow-up shot due to an error or a second or subsequent critical target that needs to be engaged as rapidly as possible. The semi-auto can do that as rapidly as you can regain your sight picture.
This might be against two legged or four legged predators or destructive creatures, it might be a drill on a training schedule, it might be a stage on a competition… it might just be because you think that’s a neat thing to be able to do.
Doesn’t matter. In the end you have identified the want or need for a semi-auto instead of a bolt gun because rapid follow-up has value to you.
So go for it. Sounds like we have a gun fund booster of some size coming anyway.
