Category: War

War

The 54th Massachusetts & Ft Wager during the War between the States

Post author By admin175
Post date July 18, 2018
No Comments on The 54th Massachusetts & Ft Wager during the War between the States

The Second Battle of Fort Wagner, a week later, is better known. This was the U.S. attack on July 18, 1863, led by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first major American military units made up of black soldiers. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led the 54th Massachusetts on foot while they charged, and was killed in the assault.^[1]
Although a tactical defeat, the publicity of the battle of Fort Wagner led to further action for black U.S. troops in the Civil War, and it spurred additional recruitment that gave the U.S. Army a further numerical advantage in troops over the South.^[1]
U.S. forces besieged the fort after the unsuccessful assault. By August 25, U.S. entrenchments were close enough to attempt an assault on the Advanced Rifle Pits, 240 yards in front of the Battery, but this attempt was defeated. A second attempt, by the 24th Mass. Inf., on August 26 was successful. After enduring almost 60 days of heavy U.S. shelling, the Confederates abandoned it on the night of September 6–7, 1863. withdrawing all operable cannons and the garrison.^[1]^[3]
The main reason the fort was abandoned was a concern about the loss of the garrison due to artillery fire and the threat of imminent assault. On September 6, the garrison commander, Colonel Keitt, wrote to his superiors that “The garrison must be taken away immediately after dark, or it will be destroyed or captured. It is idle to deny that the heavy Parrott shells have breached the walls and are knocking away the bomb-proofs. Pray have boats immediately after dark at Cummings Point to take away the men. I say deliberately that this must be done or the garrison will be sacrificed. I am sending the wounded and sick now to Cummings Point, and will continue to do so, if possible, until all are gone. I have a number of them now there. I have not in the garrison 400 effective men, including artillery. The engineers agree in opinion with me, or, rather, shape my opinion. I shall say no more.” A council of war in Charleston on the 4th had already reached the same conclusion, and the evacuation was carried out as planned.^[4]
After the war a revisionist story arose concerning access to fresh water. The claim was made that bodies of the U.S. troops (54th Massachusetts and many white troops) were buried close to the fort and the decomposition of the bodies poisoned the fresh water well within the fort. Continuing bombardment and interception of food/water supplies by boat from Charleston made holding the fort difficult.^[3] This version of the story is directly contradicted by official Confederate correspondence at the time of the evacuation.
Within twenty years of the Civil War, the remnants of the fort had been washed away by erosion on Morris Island. A group of three ex-servicemen traveled to the fort in May 1885 and reported that the entire fort and approaches to it had washed away into the ocean.^[5]
The fall of Battery Wagner would have considerable strategic significance. With its loss and that of Fort Gregg, Morris Island too fell to the United States. Although Charleston remained in the hands of the rebels its port was effectively closed. At the end of the year Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles could report that “the commerce of Charleston has ceased.”^[6]The impact also showed directly in rebel customs receipts, which fell drastically from 1863 to 1864.^[7] The labors and sacrifices of the United States forces during the storms and siege had in the end shut down a vital lifeline to the rebellion.

54th Massachusetts[edit]

The most famous regiment that fought for the U.S. side in the battle of Fort Wagner was the 54th regiment, which was one of the first African-American regiments in the war. The 54th was controversial in the North, where many people supported the abolition of slavery, but still treated African-Americans as lesser or inferior to whites. Though some claimed blacks could not fight as well as whites, the actions of the 54th Massachusetts demonstrated once again the fallacy in that argument, as this was not the first time blacks ever fought in war or even for the United States.
William Carney, an African-American and a sergeant with the 54th, is considered the first black recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at Fort Wagner in recovering and returning the unit’s American flag to U.S. lines.^[1] After the battle, the Confederates buried the regiment’s commanding officer, Robert Gould Shaw, in a mass grave with the African-American soldiers of his regiment, viewing this as an insult to him. Instead, his family were grateful to them for burying Shaw with his men.
Morris Island is smaller than 1,000 acres and is subject to extensive erosion by storm and sea. Much of the previous site of Fort Wagner has been eroded away, including the place where the Union soldiers had been buried. However, by the time this had happened, the soldiers’ remains were no longer there because soon after the end of the Civil War, the Army disinterred and reburied all the remains—including, presumably, those of Col. Shaw—at the Beaufort National Cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina, where their gravestones were marked as “unknown.”^[8]

In popular culture[edit]

This fort plays a major part in the film Glory. One of the final scenes portrays Colonel Shaw and the men of the 54th Massachusetts leading the attack and storming the fort unsuccessfully.^[1]

References[edit]

^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The 54th and Fort Wagner Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up^ Correspondence relating to fortification of Morris Island and operations of engineers. New York. 1878. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Twiggs, T. D. D., Hon. Lieut. Col. (CSA, retired, deceased), The Defense of Battery Wagner North & South – The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society, Issue 4, Page 46.
Jump up^ “The War of the Rebellion”, Series I, Volume 28, part I, pp. 100-105 http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;q1=evacuated;rgn=full%20text;idno=waro0046;didno=waro0046;view=image;seq=120;page=root;size=100 See also http://civilwardailygazette.com/confederates-abandon-battery-wagner/
Jump up^ “Battery Wagner Swept Away”. Charleston News & Courier. May 9, 1885. p. 8. Retrieved Nov 12, 2012.
Jump up^ “New York Times” December 1o, 1863, “Report of Secretary Welles” https://www.nytimes.com/1863/12/10/news/navy-department-report-secretary-welles-north-atlantic-squadron-south-atlantic.html?pagewanted=all
Jump up^ “Confederate Finance” Richard Cecil Todd, University of Georgia Press, 1954, p. 125
Jump up^ Buescher, John (2010-08-08). “Robert Gould Shaw”. Teachinghistory.org. Retrieved 2017-10-08

The Green Machine War

The 54th Massauchetts & The Assault on Fort Wagner, 155 years ago today!

Post author By admin175
Post date July 18, 2018
No Comments on The 54th Massauchetts & The Assault on Fort Wagner, 155 years ago today!

Image result for col robert shaw leading the assault at fort wagner painting

Related image
Image result for the assault on fort fisher 54th mass
The Second Battle of Fort Wagner, a week later, is better known. This was the U.S. attack on July 18, 1863, led by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first major American military units made up of black soldiers.
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led the 54th Massachusetts on foot while they charged, and was killed in the assault.^[1]
Although a tactical defeat, the publicity of the battle of Fort Wagner led to further action for black U.S. troops in the Civil War, and it spurred additional recruitment that gave the U.S. Army a further numerical advantage in troops over the South.^[1]
U.S. forces besieged the fort after the unsuccessful assault. By August 25, U.S. entrenchments were close enough to attempt an assault on the Advanced Rifle Pits, 240 yards in front of the Battery, but this attempt was defeated.
A second attempt, by the 24th Mass. Inf., on August 26 was successful. After enduring almost 60 days of heavy U.S. shelling, the Confederates abandoned it on the night of September 6–7, 1863. withdrawing all operable cannons and the garrison.^[1]^[3]
The main reason the fort was abandoned was a concern about the loss of the garrison due to artillery fire and the threat of imminent assault.
On September 6, the garrison commander, Colonel Keitt, wrote to his superiors that “The garrison must be taken away immediately after dark, or it will be destroyed or captured. It is idle to deny that the heavy Parrott shells have breached the walls and are knocking away the bomb-proofs. Pray have boats immediately after dark at Cummings Point to take away the men. I say deliberately that this must be done or the garrison will be sacrificed. I am sending the wounded and sick now to Cummings Point, and will continue to do so, if possible, until all are gone. I have a number of them now there. I have not in the garrison 400 effective men, including artillery. The engineers agree in opinion with me, or, rather, shape my opinion. I shall say no more.” A council of war in Charleston on the 4th had already reached the same conclusion, and the evacuation was carried out as planned.^[4]
After the war a revisionist story arose concerning access to fresh water. The claim was made that bodies of the U.S. troops (54th Massachusetts and many white troops) were buried close to the fort and the decomposition of the bodies poisoned the fresh water well within the fort.
Continuing bombardment and interception of food/water supplies by boat from Charleston made holding the fort difficult.^[3] This version of the story is directly contradicted by official Confederate correspondence at the time of the evacuation.
Within twenty years of the Civil War, the remnants of the fort had been washed away by erosion on Morris Island. A group of three ex-servicemen traveled to the fort in May 1885 and reported that the entire fort and approaches to it had washed away into the ocean.^[5]
The fall of Battery Wagner would have considerable strategic significance. With its loss and that of Fort Gregg, Morris Island too fell to the United States.
Although Charleston remained in the hands of the rebels its port was effectively closed. At the end of the year Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles could report that “the commerce of Charleston has ceased.”^[6]The impact also showed directly in rebel customs receipts, which fell drastically from 1863 to 1864.^[7] The labors and sacrifices of the United States forces during the storms and siege had in the end shutdown a vital lifeline to the rebellion.

54th Massachusetts

The most famous regiment that fought for the U.S. side in the battle of Fort Wagner was the 54th regiment, which was one of the first African-American regiments in the war.
The 54th was controversial in the North, where many people supported the abolition of slavery, but still treated African-Americans as lesser or inferior to whites.
Though some claimed blacks could not fight as well as whites, the actions of the 54th Massachusetts demonstrated once again the fallacy in that argument, as this was not the first time blacks ever fought in war or even for the United States.
William Carney, an African-American and a sergeant with the 54th, is considered the first black recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at Fort Wagner in recovering and returning the unit’s American flag to U.S. lines.^[1]
After the battle, the Confederates buried the regiment’s commanding officer, Robert Gould Shaw, in a mass grave with the African-American soldiers of his regiment, viewing this as an insult to him. Instead, his family were grateful to them for burying Shaw with his men.
Morris Island is smaller than 1,000 acres and is subject to extensive erosion by storm and sea. Much of the previous site of Fort Wagner has been eroded away, including the place where the Union soldiers had been buried.
However, by the time this had happened, the soldiers’ remains were no longer there because soon after the end of the Civil War, the Army disinterred and reburied all the remains—including, presumably, those of Col. Shaw—at the Beaufort National Cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina, where their gravestones were marked as “unknown.”^[8]

In popular culture

This fort plays a major part in the film Glory. One of the final scenes portrays Colonel Shaw and the men of the 54th Massachusetts leading the attack and storming the fort unsuccessfully.^[1]

References

^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The 54th and Fort Wagner Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up^ Correspondence relating to fortification of Morris Island and operations of engineers. New York. 1878. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Twiggs, T. D. D., Hon. Lieut. Col. (CSA, retired, deceased), The Defense of Battery Wagner North & South – The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society, Issue 4, Page 46.
Jump up^ “The War of the Rebellion”, Series I, Volume 28, part I, pp. 100-105 http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;q1=evacuated;rgn=full%20text;idno=waro0046;didno=waro0046;view=image;seq=120;page=root;size=100 See also http://civilwardailygazette.com/confederates-abandon-battery-wagner/
Jump up^ “Battery Wagner Swept Away”. Charleston News & Courier. May 9, 1885. p. 8. Retrieved Nov 12, 2012.
Jump up^ “New York Times” December 1o, 1863, “Report of Secretary Welles” https://www.nytimes.com/1863/12/10/news/navy-department-report-secretary-welles-north-atlantic-squadron-south-atlantic.html?pagewanted=all
Jump up^ “Confederate Finance” Richard Cecil Todd, University of Georgia Press, 1954, p. 125
Jump up^ Buescher, John (2010-08-08). “Robert Gould Shaw”. Teachinghistory.org. Retrieved 2017-10-08

The Green Machine War

The SF Folks used this a couple of time In Viet Nam & other places

Post author By admin175
Post date July 12, 2018
No Comments on The SF Folks used this a couple of time In Viet Nam & other places

Allies The Green Machine War

Now that is one hell of a Dog! From The Daily mail (UK)

Post author By admin175
Post date July 11, 2018
No Comments on Now that is one hell of a Dog! From The Daily mail (UK)

Hero SAS dog saves the lives of six elite soldiers in Syria by ripping out jihadi’s throat while taking down three terrorists who ambushed British patrol

The dog had been out on patrol in northern Syria with a team of six crack troops
As the soldiers left their armoured convoy they were hit with a frenzied ambush
A source said the unnamed Belgian Malinois took out three jihadis on its own
The SAS commander in charge credited the dog with saving all his men’s lives

By GEORGE MARTIN FOR MAILONLINE

An SAS team was saved after a brave military dog fought off a jihadi who attacked a patrol in northern Syria.

The unnamed Belgian Malinois, a fierce breed of sheepdog known for its bravery, had been out on a routine patrol with a team of six crack soldiers from the SAS.

They had just entered a small village in a convoy of armoured vehicles when they got out to continue the recce on foot.

But soon after they left the safety of the convoy, they were attacked on all sides by waiting jihadis in what was described as a ‘360 degree ambush’.

Scroll down for video

The team had been on patrol with a Belgian Malinois (pictured), a breed known for their bravery [file photo]

The SAS men returned fire but the jihadis began closing in and tried to outflank them.

The animal was said to have leapt to the defence of the struggling British soldiers, tearing the throat of on gunman who was firing at the patrol.

It then turned on two other

A source told the Daily Star: ‘The SAS found themselves in a 360-degree ambush.

‘The initiative was with the terrorists and the only hope for the British was to try and make a run for it.

‘The handler removed the dog’s muzzle and directed him into a building from where they were coming under fire.

‘They could hear screaming and shouting before the firing from the house stopped.

The small SAS troupe had been out on a routine patrol in a small village in northern Syria

‘When the team entered the building they saw the dog standing over a dead gunman.

The incident was said to have taken place two months ago, but details of the dog’s bravery can only be made public now for security reasons.

‘His throat had been torn out and he had bled to death,’ the source continued, ‘There was also a lump of human flesh in one corner and a series of blood trails leading out of the back of the building.

‘The dog was virtually uninjured. The SAS were able to consolidate their defensive position and eventually break away from the battle without taking any casualties.’

The SAS commander in charge of the patrol credited the dog with directly saving the lives of all six of the men.

****One Dog that deserves a Huge Steak in my Humble opinion- Grumpy*****

The team had been on patrol with a Belgian Malinois (pictured), a breed known for their bravery [file photo]

SAS dog rips out jihadi’s THROAT and SAVES patrol caught in ambush | Daily Star

All About Guns The Green Machine War

I would not mind owning one of these! Atomic Annie — The M65 Atomic Cannon

Post author By admin175
Post date July 11, 2018
No Comments on I would not mind owning one of these! Atomic Annie — The M65 Atomic Cannon

Designed in 1949 by the American Engineer Robert Schwarz, the M65 “Atomic Annie” was inspired by German railway guns used during World War II. The M65 however, was designed to deliver a nuclear payload to its target.

The gun and carriage itself weighed around 85 tons, was manned by a crew of 5-7, and was transported by two specially designed towing tractors.

At 280mm in caliber and capable of firing a projectile over 20 miles, the gun was certainly powerful enough as a conventional weapon, but the Atomic Annie was certainly no conventional weapon.

In 1953 it was tested for the first time at the Nevada Test Site, where it fired a 15 kiloton nuclear warhead, creating a blast similar in size to the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

After the successful test, 20 M65 cannons were produced for the US Army and deployed in Europe and Korea. They were almost always in constant motion so the Soviets never knew where they were and could not target them. Image result for M65 Atomic Cannon

While an interesting weapon, the Atomic Annie suffered from limited range, especially after the development of ballistic missiles which could strike a target from thousands of miles away.

The last M65 Atomic Cannon was retired in 1963. Today only 8 survive, and are displayed in museums across the country.

You have a fire Mission? Okay, one on the way!

I stole this from that Fine Blog – The Daily Time Waster

Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom War

The $$$$$$$$$$$ Cost of the US Wars

Post author By admin175
Post date July 11, 2018
No Comments on The $$$$$$$$$$$ Cost of the US Wars

Image result for The Cost of the us Civil War

All About Guns War

FN SCAR Review – The Most Refined Assault Rifle in the World by WILL DABBS

Post author By admin175
Post date July 11, 2018
No Comments on FN SCAR Review – The Most Refined Assault Rifle in the World by WILL DABBS

The FN SCAR 16S is the semiauto-only version of the SCAR-L that is available to us mere mortals. Rugged, well reasoned, and fun, the SCAR is the optimized modern combat rifle.

The HK416 that DevGru used to introduce Osama bin Laden to his seventy dark-eyed virgins was itself an evolutionary offshoot of the space age weapon that Gene Stoner and a few others conjured up way back in 1958. While its ergonomics are unparalleled and its design undeniably inspired, the basic chassis is more than half a century old. Back in 1958 a telephone was tethered to the wall, weighed as much as a frying pan, and was nearly as large. Surely this deep into the Information Age we could do better.
About every twenty minutes, somebody in the US Army posts a list of specifications that drives the flower of modern engineering prowess into an apoplectic furor of frenetic gun design. The carrot that drives all this capitalistic chaos is the prestige and subsequent vast market share that opens up to the weapons company that supplies the guns that American grunts pack downrange. In addition to the obvious monetary benefits of a fat government production contract, everybody knows that the coolest kids on the block serve with the US Special Operations Command. If Uncle Sam’s Bad Boys are humping a particular smoke pole then everybody else on the planet will want one just like it.
Most of these fishing expeditions don’t amount to much. Everybody gets tooled up for a while, but budget priorities change, somebody new moves into the White House, or we go to war someplace else and the process starts anew. Such boondoggles brought us the XM8 assault rifle as well as the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System. These weapons were both undeniably awesome, but you can’t find one outside a museum nowadays. However, every now and then something truly magical happens.
Sig’s new M17 Modular Handgun System made such a splash. Uncle Sam now wants more than 400,000 copies. Additionally, everybody’s aunt out here in the civilian world is waiting in line for one as well. A proper government arms contract can put a company firmly on the map. With this as an impetus in 2004, Fabrique Nationale rejoiced when their newest rifle system was selected as the new Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle.

SCAR—The World’s Coolest Acronym (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle)

It was decided soon after the turn of the century that our boys and girls in SOCOM needed something spiffier than a fifty-year-old M16 variant. They go places and do things that others don’t, so their requirements might be a bit more stringent than is the case for the rest of us mere mortals. After a competitive comparison wherein the baddest operators in the business did their dead level best to tear up everybody’s newest toys the FN offering reigned supreme. The end result was indeed a spanking piece of iron.

The SCAR-L saw some active service before Uncle Sam changed his mind and pulled it from the inventory. Here we see the SCAR-L in the hands of USAF Captain Barry Crawford, winner of the Air Force Cross for gallantry in combat in Afghanistan.

Modularity is the new gospel in modern firepower, and the FN SCAR just drips with it. The upper receiver starts out as an extruded bit of aluminum, while the polymer lower contains the fire control system and secures the magazine. There are two major subtypes. The SCAR-Light (SCAR-L) runs 5.56x45mm. The SCAR-Heavy (SCAR-H) chambers 7.62x51mm. There were rumors of conversions allowing these guns to fire 7.62x39mm and 6.8x43mm Remington, but these variants never really made it to prime time. The SCAR-H can also be fitted with a conversion kit allowing it to run smaller 5.56x45mm rounds. The SCAR-L cannot be scaled up, however.
Both versions run off of a gas tappet design similar to that of the M1 Carbine. This particular method of operation keeps all the crud up front in the weapon so the operating parts stay clean and cool. The bolt carrier is a fairly massive piece of kit, so the rifle has plenty of spare energy to keep the action running when it gets dirty. The barrels are chrome-lined, free-floated, and easily exchanged. This allows a single chassis to be used for long-range engagements, mid-range assault rifle chores, and close-range CQB missions. There’s that modularity again.
Starting at the nose, the SCAR uses a proprietary muzzle brake/flash suppressor that looks like a Jackson Pollack painting but remains undeniably effective. The gas system of the SCAR is easily adjustable without tools. Top quality backup iron sights fold when not needed yet deploy quickly for use when life goes truly sideways. The front sight is adjustable for zero, while the rear sight readily compensates for bullet drop. The gun sprouts enough Picatinny rail space to mount a tactical crockpot along with a modest pinball machine.

The front backup iron sight is robust steel and folds down when not in use. The SCAR’s gas system is easily adjustable without tools.

The charging handle is rigid and reciprocates with the action so it can be used as a forward assist device if needed. This appendage is easily reversible at the user level, but one needs to mind one’s fingers lest they get pinched when rushed. The magazine release is in the expected place on both sides of the rifle, while the bolt release runs exactly like that of an M4. You can drop the bolt just as easily by giving the charging handle a quick snatch to the rear.

The rigid charging handle reciprocates with the bolt and can be used as a forward assist if necessary.

The safety/selector is bilateral and in the same spot as that of the M4. However, it only rotates through maybe 80 degrees. In this regard, it more closely resembles that of an HK G36. The SCAR-L is designed to feed from any NATO-standard 5.56mm magazine. The SCAR-H uses proprietary FN magazines.

The FN SCAR’s controls will seem familiar to anyone who has run an M4.

The real magic happens with the rear end of the rifle. The stock on the SCAR is as adjustable as your favorite recliner. Once you get it tweaked the gun fits you like your most beloved pair of broken-in boxer shorts. In addition to a readily adjustable length of pull and comb height, the whole shebang pivots to the right for storage if need be. The rifle will still shoot fine with the stock folded, but nobody in his right mind would run it that way for real. By my count, there are six different sling attachment points. If you can’t find a handy place to hook a sling you are being too picky.

The SCAR’s buttstock adjusts all over the place to ideally interface with the gun’s operator. It also folds to the right for storage or transport.

The side-folding stock on the FN SCAR readily adjusts for both comb height and length of pull without tools.

Tactical Glass

I topped my SCAR with a new EOTech EXPS2 Holosight sporting a green reticle in concert with a flip-up magnifier. These two items are hardly cheap, but the last thing Osama bin Laden saw as he embarked for his well-earned eternal reward was the angry end of a Holosight. I can think of no higher accolade.

The newest EOTech EXPS2 Green Holosight takes the world’s best gun sight to a new level of performance. While it is hardly cheap, the end result is easy target acquisition and fast engagement times.

The perception of color is a billion dollar industry. The good ladies in my medical clinic will order blue t-shirts calling them periwinkle and pink ones titled mauve. Out here in guy-world where I live such things are much simpler. Blue is just blue, while pink is simply pink. However, our eyes do typically get a lot more mileage out of green than red.
Take laser sights as an example. Both green and red laser sights may put out the same 500mw of power, yet the green sort is perceived as being much brighter. Green dots seem to throw much farther than red. In the case of the newest Holosight, the same cool laser-born holographic reticle seems to magically hover out over your target, but the green reticle is six times easier to see in daylight than is the red sort.
I have more than half a century on my eyes so I suffer from the inevitable age-related Presbyopia. This means I can see fine at a distance but need reading glasses up close. However, that weird Holosight reticle projected onto a little pane of indestructible glass two inches from my eyeball remains crystal clear just like my distant target. I have no idea how it works. Fairy dust maybe.

Trigger Time

A tricked-out SCAR is an absolute dream on the range. The controls are all easily accessible, and once properly adjusted the buttstock fits me like a second skin. Recoil is a joke, and the gun stays flat and true at reasonable assault rifle ranges. The reciprocating charging handle takes a little getting used to, but it’s not a chore. Care must be exercised, however, not to pinch your fingers between the charging handle and the Holosight.
The gun is bulkier than your M4 though no heavier. The safety doesn’t seem quite so easy to re-engage, but I’ve been running an M16 since I was seventeen. Some things are tough to unlearn.
They say a direct gas impingement AR is more accurate, but that’s nuance at best. The SCAR shoots great as far as my eyes will allow. Anybody who splits those hairs is just a snob.
Particularly with a can in place the gun is pleasantly front-heavy. This means doubles are fast and easy. Muzzle rise on semi auto with the SCAR is not a real thing. After a proper afternoon turning ammo into noise I find I must agree with SOCOM. The SCAR is the ultimate shooting machine.

The Rest of the Story…

After a great deal of fanfare, USSOCOM bought enough SCAR-L rifles to outfit a Ranger Battalion and then sent them downrange with their best wishes. By all accounts the weapons performed admirably, but, like a dog chasing a squirrel, Uncle Sam got distracted, ran out of money, and called the whole thing off. By 2013 all those lovely SCAR-L rifles had been pulled out of inventory and likely, knowing the government, ended up chopped up into beer cans or something comparably ignoble.

Though the SCAR-L fell prey to budgetary woes, it is nonetheless a superb and mature special ops small arms solution.

The SCAR-H still soldiers on with alacrity albeit in markedly smaller numbers. A conversion kit indeed allows this rifle to run 5.56 ammo if desired, and the SCAR-H occupies the Designated Marksman Rifle role that had been filled by antiquated though updated M14 variants previously. Internet chatter claims that the Navy SEALs are still particularly fond of the gun. That is likely true. However, the Internet also tells me that Caitlyn Jenner is carrying the Loch Ness Monster’s baby and that the moon landings were faked on a soundstage in New Mexico. One mustn’t believe everything one reads.

The Navy SEALs are said to be quite fond of the SCAR-H rifles. The SCAR-H is a modular weapon that can be configured to fire either 5.56x45mm or 7.62x51mm rounds.

FN is quick to point out that the SCAR got binned for budgetary reasons and not something more sinister. Nobody disputes that the SCAR is a better rifle than the M4. It is simply that Uncle Sam discovered more pressing places to spend our hard-earned cash. After a little trigger time on mine, I find myself quite taken with the gun as well.

Denouement

The FN SCAR 16S is the semiauto civilian version of the SCAR-L. It’s an undeniably great rifle that is pretty crazy expensive. If you are in possession of a robust credit card you can usually find a couple right here at GunsAmerica. I bought mine at a good price at a Sheriff’s auction of seized guns, of all places. The rifle is in fine condition, but I am intrigued by the story. How someone on the wrong side of the law ended up with such a rarefied combat rifle is thought provoking to say the least.
The SCAR rode its SOCOM cred to be adopted by twenty-seven different countries as well as LAPD SWAT. Belgium adopted the SCAR as their standard Infantry arm. Though our snake-eaters took a step back to their old M4 carbines I suspect we will still see more of the SCAR in the future. The FN SCAR really is tomorrow’s high-end combat rifle.

Though the SCAR-L was pulled from the SOCOM inventory, some twenty-seven different nations adopted the weapon in one form or another.

To learn more about the FN SCAR visit FN America by clicking here.
To learn more about EOTech click here.

Technical Specifications

FN SCAR 16S
Caliber                           5.56x45mm
Operation                       Short-stroke Gas Piston
Magazine Capacity          10/30
Weight                           7.25 pounds
Barrel Length                  16.25 inches
Overall Length                27.5 inches folded/37.5 inches extended
Barrel                             Hammer-forged, Chrome-lined, Free-floated
MSRP                            $3299
Performance Specifications
FN SCAR 16S
Load                               Group Size (inches)        Velocity (feet per second)
American Eagle 55gr FMJ                 2.1                        2969
American Eagle 50gr JHP                  1.9                        3194
HSM 55gr Sierra Blitzking                0.8                        2976
SIG 60gr HT                                     1.5                        2605

Group size is the best four of five shots measured center to center and fired from a simple rest at 100 meters. Velocity is the average of three shots fired across a Caldwell Ballistic Chronograph oriented ten feet from the muzzle.