SCAR-L


 * For the heavier variant, see SCAR-H.

The SOF Combat Assault Rifle-Light, or SCAR-L, is a modular assault rifle made by Belgian small arms company Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal (FN Herstal). This is the light assault rifle variant of the SCAR weapon system. The SCAR-L differs from the SCAR-H in that it uses the smaller caliber 5.56x45 NATO round instead of the Heavy variant's 7.62x51mm NATO round. It uses the NATO standard 30 round STANAG magazines and a number of barrel length variants are available in both calibers.

Battlefield 2
"The SCAR rifle was commissioned by US SOCOM for use by the US Special Forces. It is capable of holding either “light” 5.56mm rounds or “heavy” 7.62mm rounds. The SCAR-L is the light variant."

- In-game description

The SCAR-L in Battlefield 2 is a Tier Two unlock for the Spec Forces Kit. It features the accuracy and power of the G36C, but has a usable optic attached to the weapon, the optic similar to the M4A1 Carbine and P90 mounted optics.

Battlefield 2: Special Forces
In Battlefield 2: Special Forces, the SCAR-L is issued to the United States Navy SEALs.

Battlefield: Bad Company
"The SCAR assault rifle family consists of a Heavy and a Light type, each available in several versions, with different barrel lengths and ammunition types. This Light model is used by SOCOM forces and was accepted by them as late as 2003."

- In game description In Battlefield: Bad Companys singleplayer, the SCAR' appears as a collectible. It can be found on Welcome to Bad Company, and Acta Non Verba, outside one of the factories while the player is destroying the Russian fuel reserves at the beginning of the level.

In multiplayer, it is the default Compact Assault Rifle for the American Specialist kit. It has low damage and low rate of fire, compared to other Specialist weapons, making kills difficult to achieve. However, compared to other compact assault rifles, it does have good accuracy. It has a 60 round magazine and cannot use iron sights, as aiming simply does a slight zoom and increases accuracy (like all compact assault rifles in game).

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
In Battlefield: Bad Company 2s singleplayer, the SCAR-L Carbine' is one of the two compact assault rifles found in the campaign, with the other being the AKS-74u. It can be found as a collectible in the level Crack the Sky and Zero Dark Thirty. It can also be found with a 4X Rifle Scope in Crack the Sky.

In multiplayer, the SCAR-L Carbine is the second compact carbine issued to the Engineer Kit requiring 2,510 experience points to unlock. It has low to medium recoil, a low rate of fire and high damage. Unlike the first Bad Company, it has the ability to use iron sights and has a 30-round magazine. Compared to some of the other Submachine Guns, it can be very effective at longer ranges. It can be used like an Assault Rifle and its low rate of fire prevents overwhelming recoil. The weapon has clear iron sights, so a Red Dot Sight is unneeded, however a 4X Rifle Scope can be used if the player wishes to engage in longer ranged combat. Like the other weapons issued to the Engineer Kit, it is fitted with a suppressor. Strangely, it has identical stats to its successor, the 9A-91. Because of this, unlocking it serves little purpose other than gaining a status symbol.

Battlefield Play4Free
In Battlefield Play4Free, the SCAR-L is a purchasable weapon for the Assault Kit. It features medium damage, high accuracy and range, high recoil, and a fast fire rate. It costs 1469 or 90,000  to last forever and is unlocked at level 6.

Despite being able to be fired fully automatic, this weapon is best used when fired in short bursts at long range because of its higher recoil. At close range, this weapon can even out-perform some of the submachine guns of the Engineer Kit as it is very accurate in hip fire, but it can also be its downfall. Like most other assault rifles, this weapon sports a black paint scheme.

Battlefield 3
"The SCAR rifle system’s modularity allows for many different configurations. The Mk. 16 “SCAR-L” features a 14 inch barrel as well as a full 30 round magazine. Compared to its 20 round carbine counterpart, the heavier Mk. 17, the SCAR-L provides greater target acquisition at longer ranges due to the extended barrel length as well as more controlled fire due to manageable recoil."

- Battlelog description

The SCAR-L was first seen in the killfeed during the Battlefield 3: Close Quarters Gameplay Premiere Trailer, although it was misspelled as SCARL-L. The gun itself is seen for the first time in a player's hands in the Donya Fortress Gameplay Trailer. It is one of the ten new weapons to be added with the Close Quarters expansion pack after completing an assignment.

The SCAR-L performs much like any other assault rifle in its class, and deviates from its carbine counterpart both in statistics and aesthetics. The SCAR-H has the upper-hand in damage, but the SCAR-L compensates with less damage drop-off at range and a larger magazine. Furthermore, while the SCAR-H has very potent recoil, the SCAR-L has almost none (although it does have a highly unusual 2.75 1st shot multiplier, making accurate short bursts difficult at longer ranges). Some visual differences to the light variant include a more grayish color and duct tape wrapped around the stock. It is available to the Assault Class, and is capable of mounting an underslung weapon such as the M320 or the M26. The SCAR-L is the only assault rifle capable of mounting a Ballistic Scope. It should also be noted that the SCAR-L also has the unique advantage of having one full extra magazine over other assault rifles, meaning that the player has more ammo before running out. Out of all the available assault rifles and carbines, this gun has the most ammo.

It is obtained by completing the Set Us Up The Bomb assignment in the Close Quarters expansion pack. The requirements are:
 * Complete Shepard
 * 20 kills with underslung Grenade Launcher
 * 15 kills with Hand Grenades

The release of Battlefield 3: End Game saw the arrival of the SCAR-L Specialist assignment where the Desert Stripe and Digital Woodland camouflages could be unlocked. The requirements are:


 * Get 100 kills with the SCAR-L
 * Capture the flag 3 times in Capture the Flag

Trivia

 * The SCAR-L in Bad Company 2 seems to eject more casings than bullets it is firing, often two at the same time.
 * The SCAR-L along with the SCAR-H are the prototype models of the SCAR.  This hasn't changed in any battlefield that the SCAR is featured in.
 * In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the SCAR-L pre-release had exactly the same model as the SCAR in Battlefield: Bad Company, with the same iron sights and camouflage, with a different color scheme. It can be seen in the "'Battlefield Moments 3" trailer.
 * In the level Crack the Sky, a black camouflaged SCAR-L can be found. It is not found anywhere else in the game.
 * In Battlefield 3, the SCAR-L is the only Assault rifle to have the 12x Ballistic Scope attachment available to all players, This may be a glitch since 12x Ballistic Scopes on non-recon guns are available only to DICE developers.
 * The SCAR-L in the killfeed for the Battlefield 3 Close Quarters Gameplay Trailer is spelled "SCARL-L", which is a typo. This has been fixed before the release of the DLC.
 * Interestingly, in Battlefield 3, the SCAR-L carries one more magazine worth of spare ammunition than any other Assault Rifle or Carbine.
 * The SCAR-L uses the exact same reload as the SCAR-H, despite using a distinct model and magazine. This can be observed by looking at the way the magazine is replaced, which uses the same flip and stick motion as the SCAR-H with the fingers even clipping through the polymer magazine snag loop.
 * The SCAR-L appears on the SCAR-H proficiency dog tag.
 * Its Mastery dogtag used to be bugged and showed your ACW-R kills instead. Now it correctly shows your SCAR-L kills.
 * Oddly, in Battlefield 3, when equipped with the underslung rail and the M320, the M320 will hang off the end of the rail. This may be as such so that there is enough room between the trigger of the M320 and the SCAR-L's magazine.