the HK417 is overpriced for its abilities. it may have the best reliability and accuracy but not in comparison the the next best, based on price point. the scar is good...and now better that it worked thru its teething problems. the fucking mags are waaay overpriced.
.223 is ballistically nothing more than a varmint round. the caliber is such a failure at human-sized targets they had to redesign the bullet to be less shitty vs personnel. the caliber is still prohibited in several states for use against deer-sized game due to its dismal terminal ballistics abilities...that says a whole lot about it right there. theres too much detail to get into in such a small space but .223 should never have been adopted as a primary combat round. as a PDW it has its positive points, but nothing beyond 50 yards or so vs anything larger than a gerbil.
the smallest combat-caliber round should be the 7.62x51 for a standard issue shoulder-fired rifle....and the 7.62x63 for squad support weps.