"This oughtta put the fear a' God into 'em."

―Francis

"Grabbing the assault rifle."

―Nick

The Combat Rifle (most commonly known as the Desert Rifle or SCAR) is a Tier 2 assault variant in Left 4 Dead 2 that has a capacity of 60 rounds per magazine and is based on the real life FN SCAR-L. Unlike the other assault rifles, it fires in three-round bursts. Contrary to burst rifles featured in other games, where the trigger must be pulled to fire each individual burst, this weapon's trigger can be held down for multiple consecutive bursts. Sustained bursts make for a more accurate spread of fire than the M16 and AK-47. The Combat Rifle's damage falls off with distance, starting with 3% damage per 500 Hammer units and significantly greater damage falloff after 1500 Hammer units. It has a max range of 3000 Hammer units.

The Combat Rifle is preferred by Bill, Louis, Nick, and Rochelle (as well as Zoey in the older Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead 2).

Official Description

Similar in firepower to the M-16, the Desert Rifle boasts a three-round burst from a single pull of the trigger.
Sustained bursts make for a more accurate spread of fire than the M-16, with improved ammo conservation.^[1]

Tactics

• The Combat Rifle is the most accurate assault rifle in the game and a lot more accurate in bursts than the M16 Assault Rifle, making it effective for weakening and killing Special Infected from a distance. It can kill Common Infected with one burst, even on Expert. It also carries the most ammo per magazine out of all assault rifles.
  • The Combat Rifle also maintains high accuracy while moving, which allows you to cover or save teammates even while taking evasive maneuvers, moving to help another teammate, or attempting to reach a level objective.
• The Combat Rifle's ability to continually fire bursts as long as the trigger is held down makes it effective against hordes. Sweep your line of fire and swap to a melee weapon when appropriate to conserve ammunition. If you kneel down and shoot at the headline of the oncoming Horde, you can still get 1-shot-1-kill results.
• A total of 420 rounds translates to 140 pulls of the trigger, so accuracy to conserve ammo is crucial.
• Because the Combat Rifle's reload time is longer than most of its counterparts with the exception of the SG 552, it's highly recommended to reload only when you find a suitable interlude.
• The Combat Rifle has the second highest magazine capacity of any automatic weapon in the game, providing high efficiency with Explosive Ammunition and Incendiary Ammunition. This is somewhat counteracted by its burst-only fire mode which will eat up any ammo wasted over twice as fast.
• Prioritize accuracy with the Combat Rifle; an inaccurate player will waste three rounds at a time instead of one.
• By shoving, the Combat Rifle's burst fire can be cancelled. This can be useful to headshot lone Common Infected and save ammo in the process, however, excessive use of this trick can leave a cooldown in shoving.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• High accuracy.
• Burst fire helps conserving ammo and killing enemies.
• Medium damage, one burst is enough to kill any common infected on any difficulty.
• Massive magazine, allowing it to take huge advantage of ammo upgrades.
• Relatively common.

Cons

• Lower DPS than the other assault rifles.
• Forced bursting requires more precise aiming to conserve ammo.
• Slow reload.

Differences

The Combat Rifle fires in three-round bursts as opposed to fully automatic, which translates the 60-round magazine to 20 trigger pulls. The individual bursts are highly accurate, and the weapon is still greatly accurate when running or being hit by Infected. DPS (368.4) is lower than the M16 Assault Rifle (~377), the SG 552 (400) and the AK-47 (~446), and the reload time is the longest of the assault rifles; it takes a little over three seconds to reload the weapon.

Notes

• The Combat Rifle is modeled after the FN SCAR-L Mk 16, while the model texture lists it as a SCAR-H Mk 17 Mod 0. The flashlight is simply a handheld flashlight ziptied to the bottom of the gun instead of a tactical flashlight mounted to the gun's dedicated rail on the bottom of the handguard.
  • Noting the markings on the side of the gun, it seems to feature characteristics of both variants: the markings mention it being a "Mk 17 Mod 3" (SCAR-H) and chambered in "Cal 5.56mm" (SCAR-L).
    • The SCAR-L in the game is actually modeled after the FN SCAR 16S, a civilian semi-automatic version of the SCAR-L with a 16.25" barrel and a M16A2 flash-hider. Likely the developers couldn't legally get a real military SCAR-L to model and like most of the guns in the game, modeled it after more easily available models.
  • The FN SCAR stands for "Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle" and is used primarily by the U.S. Special Operations Command, indicating the possible presence of U.S. Special Operations.
  • Akin to its unique trait of having superior accuracy to the M16A2, the SCAR-L does provide impressive shooting performances as a met requirement to replace the M4 and the M16 line of rifles during the war on terror.
• The in-game commentary states that the rifles were diverted from the Middle East and shipped back home to control the Infection.
  • However, it should be noted that the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, conveniently based in Georgia, had SCARs issued to them in real life several months before the events of the games take place, also giving a valid excuse canon-wise for their lack of appearance in Left 4 Dead.
• The rifle is referred to as "rifle_desert" in the developer's console, probably referring to the weapon's tan coloring, which would blend in if used in a desert setting.
• In the "Dead Center" "Atrium" survival, the Combat Rifle model's magazine at its spawn point has a bright tan finished, but when picked up, the magazine will appear as dark tan on its viewmodel.
• The Combat Rifle was rated 5th in the Left 4 Dead 2 Top 10 FTW Weapons on Machinima.
• There are numerous inaccuracies with the in-game depiction of the real life weapon:
  • The SCAR-L locks the bolt back on empty, so there's no need to lock the bolt back manually.
  • The real life gun only fires in semi and full auto. In contrast, the M16A2 depicted in the game only fires in semi and burst in real life but is shown to fire full auto in-game.
  • The coloring on the upper receiver doesn't match what a desert camo, tanned variant of the SCAR would look like.
  • The designation on the side of the gun calls it an Mk 17 Mod 0 which is a SCAR-H when it should really be designated Mk 16 for SCAR-L. The caliber beneath the designation correctly shows 5.56x45mm though.
  • It has a 60-round capacity while the magazine modeled on the rifle is a 30-round STANAG. Said magazine is also modeled disproportionaly wide.
• During the beta version of Left 4 Dead 2, the Combat Rifle fired in fully automatic and had a 50-round magazine, but then it was changed to the current form due to balancing reasons.^[2]
• In real life, the military FN SCAR-L Mk 16 shares the same 5.56mm NATO ammunition and STANAG magazines with the M16 Assault Rifle, rather than the 60- (SCAR) and 50- (M-16) round magazines in-game. These capacities exist for their real counterparts, but in the form of far aftermarket magazines which are less common than 20 or 30-round magazines. Nevertheless, the in-game models depict 30-round magazine models.
• The Combat Rifle has a significantly higher damage per shot despite sharing the same rifle caliber with the M16A2 and the SG552. This is possibly a game mechanic to compensate for the rifle's in-game limitation of being able to fire only in three-round burst mode.
• When firing and shifting aim at the same time, three individual shots can be spread over a distance, making it possible to shoot three different targets at the same time.
• The three-round burst can be interrupted in numerous ways: melee attacking, switching weapons, or being pinned by a Special Infected such as the Hunter or Charger in the middle of a burst. Therefore, when drawing the Combat Rifle again, it will have fired only the amount before the burst was cut off.
• The actual rate of fire of the three-round bursts is at 0.07s, and the interval between bursts is at 0.15s.
• The minimum shot-interval is 0.034s, else it will consume more than three rounds despite only putting out three shots.
• By shooting while melee fatigue is imposed, the Combat Rifle will fire in full-auto, albeit in limited bursts due to the melee cooldown. ^[3]
• Prior to the PC-exclusive Last Stand update, the Combat Rifle's bolt would lock back further than it was supposed during its reload animation, resulting in the charging handle clipping behind the bolt slot.

References

External Links

• Combat Rifle in action

Weapons
Primary Weapons
Tier 1	Chrome Shotgun / Pump Shotgun / MP5 / Silenced Submachine Gun / Submachine Gun
Tier 2	AK-47 / Combat Rifle / M-16 Assault Rifle / SG 552 / Auto Shotgun / Combat Shotgun / AWP / Hunting Rifle / Scout / Sniper Rifle
Special Tier	Grenade Launcher / M60 Machine Gun
Secondary Weapons
Sidearms	M1911 Pistol / Magnum Pistol / P220 Pistol
Melee Weapons	Baseball Bat / Cricket Bat / Crowbar / Fireaxe / Frying Pan / Golf Club / Guitar / Katana / Knife / Machete / Nightstick / Pitchfork / Shovel
Special Tier	Chainsaw
Other Weapons
Grenades	Bile Bomb / Molotov Cocktail / Pipe Bomb
Upgrades	Explosive Ammunition / Incendiary Ammunition / Laser Sight
Fixed Weapons	Heavy Machine Gun / Minigun
Items
Usable Items	Explosive barrel / Fireworks / Gas can / Oxygen tank / Propane tank
Special Items	Cola / Gnome Chompski
Featured in both games / L4D1-exclusive / L4D2-exclusive (Counter-Strike weapons / PC-exclusive)