FAL over SCAR

I am no firearms expert by any means, but I am wondering as to why the FAL is deemed the superiour over the SCAR, purely speaking from the stat perspective. Should't the much more modern rifle aka the SCAR take the top spot?

Trick question: M14. Always M14

Because in the game, FAL can one tap unarmored target, and MK17 can't due to less velocity.....which makes it the only battle rifle that can't one-shot people without armor.

In terms of game design there seems to be an emphasis with Insurgents on firepower and with Security on handling, sort of like the Counter-Strike arsenal.

In terms of real-life equivalents I'm not an expert either but I think the FAL usually has a few inches more barrel length which would give it better velocity; 21" FAL vs 13-20" on the SCAR. They have the same gas piston action and fire the same cartridge, so in terms of ballistics I don't think the SCAR is much more "modern." Its main advance is its high modularity: the SCAR can undergo barrel changes to chamber 5.56 and the Picatinny rail system makes it much easier to use attachments. Even with the slight difference in velocity you would be very dead if you got shot by either gun.

TL;DR: shooty bang bang is the same, furniture is different.

last edited by Doghead

@doghead Well, for game balance purposes I get why the SCAR-H doesn't one-shot. It does shoot .308 but I wouldn't really call the gun a battle rifle; more like an assault rifle with a bigger cartridge.

Thank you very much for your insights gents! I was thinking about barrel length before but I thought maybe the internals would be different...

I tend to play a SCAR in kind of a light breacher role, does the shorter barrel have any actual advantage in CQC? Not meaning the SCAR in particular, but guns overall? Is there a mechanic for that?

@ryuk47 Yeah they get obstructed less by the environment. Guns like MP7/Uzi won't lose muzzle direction even if you get your face right up against the wall.

Does a suppressor in-game add up to that?

No idea. I'm pretty sure suppressors reduce your damage a lot so I don't find myself loading them very often.

Maybe with new hitreg and armor nerfs I should try.

Going by the damage analysis done above, I did not notice a suppressor debuff in local play. I found myself reliably two-tapping enemies with minor exceptions that I would fault on panicking, bad aim or the limb damage model.

What gun was that? If there is a debuff it would be much less noticeable on the higher calibers.

T'was my trusty SCAR. Have made bad experiences though with both marksman rifles seemingly not one or two hitting reliably, though it was before today's patch.
On the same note, I don't really play assault rifles currently as they feel the weakest compared to Ins2, especially if played side by side. Also I find it much more easy to count my shots for magazine management when tapshooting.