Just wanted to relay some experience with FN customer service for folks that may be considering purchasing a SCAR as their primary rifle. At this point I would be hesitant to recommend purchasing anything from FN as your primary firearm. I tried to purchase a buttstock assembly (plastic non serialized part) for one of my three SCAR rifles. Obviously, I'm a big fan of the platform. Despite supporting FN through the purchase of what amounts to more than $10K in FN rifles, and despite FN pumping out truck loads of these rifles every month for retail sale (so no shortage of parts), they refused to offer me an avenue where I might be able to purchase a replacement buttstock assembly from them. Despite having sold the standard buttstock assemblies through their eStore in the past (and currently selling the SSR stock in their eStore), they deflected to Midwest Gun Works as their distribution avenue for this part. Midwest has been OOS forever on standard SCAR buttstocks. FN customer service declined to advise when they might be back in stock.

All this to say, be careful with purchasing from FN. Depending on what is in stock, a plastic non-serialized part is all that is keeping your $3000-$3500 rifle from becoming a paper weight. That being said, I wouldn't recommend the SCAR as anyone's singular primary go to battle rifle. Go with something that is better supported by the manufacturer. Plenty of alternatives out there.

It’s always been this way - they use distributors such as MGW so that they don’t have to deal with random people calling them about parts that they may or may not have allocated for whatever existing contracts they are currently fulfilling.

Nobody cares about your dumb “advisory” not recommending FN and neither does FN. Your thinking that a $10k purchase means anything in the grand scheme of operations for an entity as large as FN is laughable.

Yup. It is why I don’t have a single FN product …

MGW has been the only real source of parts for FN for over a decade. If your stock broke, I’m sure they would warranty and replace it. Spare stock purchase? You’ll have to go through MGW. I’ve seen them come in stock a few times in the last couple years. Sign up for notification and pull the trigger immediately when you get the email. Or look on Gunbroker.

As an FNC owner with a fullauto FNC, I can say if you plan on shooting an FN SCAR or any other firearm, you’d better stock up on spare parts now. Finding FNC parts is painful and expensive.

I did go the gunbroker route. Took a little bit of time, but eventually prevailed. I only post my experience because some folks take manufacturer support, and firearm supportability in general, into consideration when making an informed purchase. And they should if they're a "one gun" kind of buyer. Regarding my experience, people are free to take it or leave it. I'm fortunate to have a good number of different options in my quiver. In local shops where I'm at, you can't throw a rock without hitting a SCAR, so it's surprising that a rifle that is in full swing production should have parts availability issues. And the OEM manufacturer gives no s**ts.

Myself being a '80s preban collector of sorts, I feel your pain on FNC parts.

If you think FN is bad, wait till you try to order something simple from KAC and they tell you to get on the waitlist at operation parts.

I do have a few KACs, two in 5.56 and one 7.62. In their defense, I don't see gun store racks stocked full of KAC rifles/products. Every one of mine has been a special order from an internet retailer (including Operation Parts!). "I think" KAC does operate at a parts deficit at any given time, they're not volume manufacturer in the same sense as FN, Sig, HK, etc...

I bought a SPR-A3G rifle that wouldn't shoot accurately at all.  Customer service first blamed ammo, the scope, scope base, scope mounts, and shooter.  I returned the rifle to them 3X and they kept sending it back, and it still didn't shoot well.  Eventually, they admitted that I got a rifle out of a batch that had some bad barrels and they said they would send me a new rifle.

This all took about 1.5 years and was when FN was moving the location of their factory.  They didn't have any more SPR-A3G's in stock anywhere so I just had to wait.  The customer service rep was really great, but I realized that he couldn't magically make a rifle appear if there wasn't one to find.  The whole experience took about 1.5 years, and when they finally were able to get new models into production they sent me one, AND sent me a Leupold MK4 scope to say thanks for my patience.

The second SPR-A3G rifle wouldn't reliably feed rounds from the right side of the magazine...the rounds from the right side would jam into the flat breech face of the barrel.  Again, they blamed everything they could think of other than the rifle.  After a couple of trips to the factory, they had me send the rifle to JP rifles for evaluation...JP had the same experience I did, so FN offered a replacement rifle.  I declined their offer of a third SPR-A3G, so FN said I could pick any other products that would add up to equal value.  I selected a FS-2000 and a semi-auto 308.  Both were sold within 90 days.

The man at FN I dealt with was really great, but he was stuck with what the factory had.  I kept records of the interaction with FN and the name of the customer service rep because he was so good...I kinda felt sorry for the rep though.

I got the impression that FN doesn't really care about or have much desire for private sales, that they are mostly interested in military or large law enforcement contracts...private citizen sales are more of a nuisance to FN was my impression.

So, I avoid FN products...same with HK now.  They are both so large that private sales just aren't important to them.

It sounds like a war of attrition with FN! With their commercial handgun, rifle, and shotgun lines, their eStore and customer service portal, it would seem that they should value commercial sales to some extent. That's a lot of resources wrapped up in something they just feel "meh" about as a company.

There was a point in time when I would have agreed with you about HK CS. I did recently have to use HK CS and they were extremely helpful and responsive. A number of signs would suggest that their appetite and approach regarding commercial sales has turned a corner.

This is why I love Steyr.  Sure they're a bit "behind the times" with their upgrades to the AUG and stuff, but you can easily get spare bolts, barrels, and bolt part kits for the AUG.

They've been very helpful to us, but we're a developer.  When we want to buy screws for a product designed and made to support their products, we're told the same, have to source them from MGW.

The folks there are super nice and helpful, and we're very grateful for their assistance.  

To understand this better, I'd reference couple of examples.  Leupold and EOTech, both good companies, and both would be reluctant to sell small parts unless they're for warranty, they make enough parts for their guns and don't have a lot of spare parts, I think it's just the business model that doesn't include selling spare parts.

I’ve owned my SCAR for more than 11 years now. I always have to go to MGW for spare parts. I think FN just doesn’t want to invest in people that can take customer phone calls and send us spare parts, etc. They also are thinking of just selling whole new guns, not providing the means to keep them running indefinitely. Think of all the FNC people who need spare parts. I’m sure FN could make FALs again if they wanted to, but won’t.

HK on the other hand, despite not selling me a civilian legal 416A5/7 I crave, has sold me plenty of spare parts. I can call them on the phone at any time and order spare parts for my USC/UMP conversion or my SP5s. This includes bolts, bolt carriers, etc. Key parts that will keep my guns running long after I am gone.

So yes, let’s hope FN sells more spare parts at least through MGW now that their NRCH variant production has picked up.

Here. This commercial makes up for their sins.

Until they discontinue it 3 yrs later with absolutely 0 aftermarket support, like FN has done with almost every pistol they've produced except the 5.7. You'll be re-directed to MGW to buy parts that FN never stocked. Want a spare buttpad for a P90, wait 1+ yr. Spare bolt? good luck. I've even had LE contact their contacts at FN for spare parts and they can't even get them.  I can't honestly fathom why anyone would buy the suppressors they sell given their customer service. Their newly released 5.7 ammo is so weak it causes failures to cycle in multiple 5.7 guns, and it's touted as a home defense round..

This

+1000 KAC and LMT suck.

Okay, that is pretty awesome ad. However, for all this talk of "Gov't contract" fixation, their whole pistol line, save for the 5.7, is focused on civilian sales. I mean, does any Gov't entity use any of their handguns aside from the 5.7? I guess that I just don't buy the "they're too busy with Gov't contracts" to chase that commercial dollar. Sig has a a ton of Gov't contracts (pistols, rifles, suppressors, optics, etc...) but parts for their weapons abound. Even their MCX Spears.

LAPD uses the 509

All I want for Christmas is for PS90 parts to be stocked again.

But they won't be.