Handl Defense SCAR 25 — Exclusive High Speed Video

Handl Defense is well known for its line of accessories for the SCAR platform — in particular, its SCAR25 replacement lower for the SCAR17. The SCAR25 replaces the stock polymer lower with one made of aluminum or magnesium, accepting SR-25 magazines to boot. They have always touted the enhanced rigidity and how much it benefits the entire system — but how much does it really help? They decided to put it to the test with a high speed video camera and some accelerometers, and shared the videos exclusively with us first, here at RECOIL.

Before we get to that, Handl is here at SHOT Show 2015 with their whole suite of SCAR accessories. Their philosophy and intent is to improve the performance of the SCAR platform by utilizing advanced materials, reducing the recoil impulse, enhancing interoperability, increasing rail space, and improving ergonomics.

Case in point, their new carbon fiber handguard:

And their stock hinge (again replacing polymer with aluminum) and extended magazine release:

We can probably all agree that's a awfully smart looking SCAR. But when you put rounds downrange, how does it compare with a bone stock SCAR?

Here's high speed video comparing the stock SCAR17 lower with the SCAR25, so you see how much flex is reduced:

How about the buttstock hinge? Handl's heavy duty aluminum hinge doubles the force needed to break the buttstock. We're still quite sure that Iain could break it, but it'll take a lot more effort!

The recoil impulse is also attenuated — shown in the high speed video, as well as with accelerometers:

We put rounds downrange with Handl's fully loaded SCAR, and it was a sweet shooter.

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