- Hey, Guys. James again for TFB TV.
Today I have the Ares SCR Carbine for you.
Now some of you may recall that I did
a written review of the Ares SCR a few months back
right when this thing first came out,
and I did that for TFB.
If you remember the review or if you read it,
I recognize that while this gun has somewhat
of a revolutionary design,
the major issue with that gun was the trigger
was so bad that it made it almost not serviceable.
So I actually ran into Jeff from Ares at a convention
in October and he and I talked about that review.
This is the Ares SCR, the model two.
This is an improved version.
This one comes with a front iron sight
unlike the last one.
Model one had just the gas block
and I don't even think there was rail
on the gas block to mount a sight.
So it's nice that this one comes with
kind of an A2 style front post.
It also has a really nice rear peep sight to go with it.
So those features were missing from the first SCR.
And, of course, most importantly,
the trigger has been significantly improved.
And another feature the SCR has
that the model one did not have,
is a last round bolt hold open.
As you can see, rack it,
and the bolt holds open.
So anyways, I've been gabbing on about
the difference between the model one and the model two
without telling you exactly why this gun is revolutionary.
So for those of you unfamiliar with it,
here's the deal.
This gun has a sporting style stock.
Similar to a shot gun, similar to a hunting rifle,
yet it takes almost any AR-15 upper.
Now why's that significant?
For those of us that live in free states,
it's nice to have something,
this still takes a 30 round magazine.
You can mount your lights, EOTechs, Aimpoints,
whatever you want.
It's just as modular as the AR-15
and just as tactically practical.
However, it's a lot less intimidating
and some people may just prefer
the sporting style stock.
So that's one consideration,
but I would say the most important
improvement that this gun provides
is that those of you in banned states
can now use, not any AR-15 upper,
of course check our local laws,
but you can use now AR-15 uppers
and you've got what is for the most part
a lower that's compliant in many states.
Now one thing that bothered me
about some of the comments in my first review
is when people were saying,
"Oh, is SCR just pandering to the banned states?"
California, New York, whatever.
I cannot (bleep) believe you people.
Just because somebody lives in a state
where they can't own a true AR-style lower
doesn't mean that they should be deprived
of the same practical, tactical advantages
that the AR-15 upper offers.
And I for one applaud Ares for making
the AR-15 platform available to people
who live in banned states.
Anyways, I'm starting to wade into the political
side of it and I don't want to do that,
but that said, I just want to say,
hey Ares, I think this is a great move.
It's been a great seller and I think it's
excellent that people who live in banned states
can now avail themselves
of the many options that you have available
with the AR-15 platform.
Anyways, let me go over the specs with you real quick,
and then Ares said that this gun is much more
shootable than version one.
We'll see.
I'm gonna take this to the range.
I'm gonna shoot it with the iron sights,
and I'll tell ya if that's true.
Quick technical specs,
this one's a 223 that weighs only 5.7 lbs.
Extremely lightweight, very easy to handle.
It has an overall length of 37 inches,
16.25 inch barrel with a one and nine twist.
The 16.25 inch barrel comes with a
carbine-length gas system
and the 18 inch barrel comes with
a rifle-length gas system.
Both of them will come with
Magpul MOE handguards.
It comes with a five-round magazine.
It's mil spec black hard coat anodized
and 100% made in the U.S.
Some of the more astute viewers might be asking
how did Ares get an AR upper to work
with this sporting style lower
without the AR buffer tube,
and it's actually a pretty simple answer.
They integrated the recoil system that you've seen
on just about every semi-auto shotgun
that you've seen on the FAL.
It's a proven design where they attach
a rat tail to the back of the bolt carrier group
and that rat tail pushes a recoil spring
at a downward angle into the stock.
The only downside of this is that you have
to use Ares bolt carrier group,
but that doesn't really limit
your upper options very much.
Anyways, this was a pretty brilliant idea from Ares,
and it works very well.
Whew, man, this thing is about
100 times cooler looking with
a 20-round magazine on it.
Just had to pour some America on this
son of a bitch and now it looks great.
I mean, even with the sporting stock,
still looks pretty badass.
(gun shots)
Huge improvement.
Cross bolt safety.
A lot of you guys are gonna reach with your thumb
for the typical selector,
but here it's cross bolt.
(gun shots)
So if you guys want to see something kind of funny,
I'll see if I can slow this down in post.
This is an extremely lightweight,
light recoiling gun.
And it's always funny to me when people put
severe muzzle brakes
on a 556, 223, whatever.
It really, I don't think it needs it.
And it's funny, if there are people out there
who do like them,
find out whatever the six hole job is
that they have at then end of this SCR
because it's annoyingly effective.
And what I mean by that is the muzzle on this gun
it's like the Titanic.
I can't stop it from going down.
I mean, just watch.
I'll have my sight picture, and I'll fire,
and this muzzle brake will actually
push the muzzle down.
It's that effective.
I don't like it. I don't like it.
But damn, it's effective,
and this might be appealing
to a lot of you shooters out there
who are more recoil sensitive
or who want a brake like this.
Did you see that?
This thing, every time I'd shoot it,
dip, dip.
I've never seen anything like it.
That's pretty cool.
Again, it's not my thing,
but that is pretty neat
and this little six hole muzzle brake
is quite effective.
Now again, once you put an optic on here,
the charging handle really becomes
a pain in the ass.
It's already not very well suited for this kind
of sporting style stock,
but when you have the optic in there
you have like about a half-inch of clearance
to charge this thing.
But that said, if I had to choose between
like a left-handed or right-handed charging gun
versus this AR-style charging handle,
just for the sake of simplicity
I'd stick with the AR-style charging handle.
Again, it's not the best,
but you've got a lot of charging handle options,
you retain compatibility across upppers.
But this is a very lightweight, light recoiling package.
And as I said earlier,
I wish they'd maybe take two of these ports
off this muzzle brake,
because every time I'm shooting it,
it's dipping, it's dipping.
So it's like reverse recoil.
Go figure.
And I mean, this trigger, again,
coming in at around six and a half,
seven pounds.
Much lighter,
and that combined with the muzzle brake
and the very light recoiling, 223 round,
you're getting a very easy to handle package here.
That sounded weird.
So I shot a few groups with the SCR
and I never really managed to shoot
and outstanding group,
but none of them were bad.
Three, four round groups between
an inch and a half, two and a half inches,
with this little pencil barrel
and this shitty $80 scope.
You know, pushing two MOA,
two inches, roughly two inches at a hundred meters.
So that's not too bad,
especially considering I was using crap ammo.
I mean, shooting Wolf factory reloads.
So it wasn't that good to begin with.
The ammo wasn't.
So, you know, you run some Match ammo through this,
who knows.
You might be able to eek an inch out of it.
One thing I do want to note,
a barrel is one and nine twist,
so you're gonna have to stick to the lighter stuff,
unfortunately.
While the original SCR brought a lot of options
and almost black rifle capability
to you guys in banned states, it was lacking.
I had some issues, as you can see,
in the prior review,
especially with the trigger and the lack
of a last round bolt hold open.
Fortunately, with the model two,
Ares has listened to the customers
and you have, I just measured it,
it's about a six and a half to seven pound
very crisp, single-stage trigger on this gun.
Better than most GIARs.
The inclusion of a front sight's also
a welcome addition.
Like I said, the last round bolt hold open is nice,
as well as being able to drop the bolt
with the ping-pong paddle on the back.
Because racking this with a typical
AR charging handle,
because of the sporting stock,
is not really that comfortable.
But remember guys,
you can take this lower and you can put
any upper you want on it.
All you need to do is drop this bolt
into any AR upper,
and then you just have your two push pins.
Slap it right on, and you're good to go.
Ares has always been a very innovative company.
They make great products.
They stand behind them, and most importantly,
they listen to the customers.
That's why I've got the model two in my hands.
So for those of you guys in banned states
who want the closest possible thing to the AR-15,
this is it.
Or just for you guys who want for whatever reason
AR capability in a sporting, less imposing,
sporting, hunting stock platform,
this is also a great choice.
Anyways, thank you to Ares for sending me this rifle.
Thank you to our subscribers and our viewers
and thank you to our sponsor,
Ventura Munitions.
See you next week.