The Sig 550 series has always been my unicorn gun. However, unless the import laws are changed and I get more money (two things I’m not betting on anytime soon), I’ll never get my hands on a real one. I know the true Swiss 550 series guns are considered by many to be among the best rifles in the world. On the other hand, the American 556 series, and the 551A1 series for that matter, despite being based on the Swiss rifles, are considered by most here to be below average at best. I played around with a 556 and I liked the feel and concept of it, but for a rifle with quality below that of a good AR and a price above that, there’s no way I could justify buying one. Even the “improved” 556xi is getting hammered here, on TOS, and by most reviewers.
My question is: Is the problem the quality control and materials used? If Sig paid the same amount of attention to the quality of their rifles that, say, BCM did to their ARs, could it potentially be just as high quality as the Swiss 550 series? Or is the design itself too flawed to ever be viable as even a range gun? If it could be fixed, what would need to be done to make it a better design?
This is just a question out of pure curiosity and speculation.
I think the big thing would be moving back to the original design, instead of the US bastardized version. Then you would need Swiss famed QC, materials selection and workmanship.
The original 556 was, as the Gunnery Sergeant put it, so ugly it could be a modern art masterpiece. Besides the lower receiver and the rifle being aluminum as opposed to stamped metal, what was different in the designs?
The gas block doesn’t have the heat insert, so the handguards rattle.
Iron sights that are MIM and self disassemble.
Iron sights too high above bore.
Optics rail is screwed to the receiver, screws aren’t thread locked.
Rear sling mounting point moved so that it hits you in the nose.
Gas regulator has wrong sized holes.
Gas piston/op rod made of tubing instead of rod stock.
MIM CH.
Poor quality of trigger components.
Variable quality of the buttstock.
Most of the changes are directly attributable to making the rifle hit a price point.
There in lies the rub. If, hypothetically, Sig were to manufacture the Sig 556 or 551A1 rifles with similar or same quality as the SG55x rifles, we’d be lucky if we saw them under $3000 I suspect.
I can believe all of that, but at the price point they were charging at the time, they could have done much better.
They didn’t even get the barrel of mine in straight, I keep wondering where that little test target came from because it certainly wasn’t from the rifle they sold me.
Every machined screw on that thing backed out at the same time and I spent more time chasing them down and putting them back in than shooting.
Had they spent a little time looking at QC and what makes a good AR, they could have brought the whole thing in with half the issues.
As it is Sig crapped the bed and lost on the deal.
That’s assuming you’re importing them from Switzerland where factory workers get a month of PTO, work 6 hours a day, and stack big cheddah.
It is possible for a US manufacturer to match the same standard for less and still turn a profit. The problem is that SIG Exeter thinks they should make very large profits, so they junk out the guns and then overcharge the consumer to boot.
I can’t wait for FAMAE to start importing to the US…
What he said ^^^
I would pay $3K for a 550-2 American made, that will not happen because SIG American is ran by greedy
shits who think we are all stupid, kind of like our politicians.
I would imagine that you aren’t alone. Folks seem willing to shell out lots of cash, under or near to $3,000, for AR-15s from KAC/DD/Noveske etc.
The MBA types at Sig USA aren’t fools, and I am sure have done the math. The cost of building a production line here in the US far exceeds what they would make in sales, is my guess. Either way, the SG550 series of rifles are pretty unique, and people are regularly pouring thousands of dollars into rifles.
Yet FN took the other route with the semi-auto SCAR. They didn’t dumb down or cheapen the design. The only alteration from the .mil version was to remove the full auto components. But you have to pay for that quality.
OTOH, Sig USA is paying for the quality of their firearms in damaged reputation. I don’t buy new Sig USA stuff anymore because of the multiple problems I’ve had, with both the rifles and pistols.
If anything, my point was that rifles like the FN-SCAR in the civilian market show that there is indeed a market for a $3,000 piston-driven, side-folding, bomb-proof rifle. Quality costs, and FN charges for it.
Agreed. Sig Sauer USA could have done what FN, Steyr, IWI, CZ, and Arsenal have done and offer a rifle that is the equivalent of those offered overseas. Instead they chose to cheapen the product and use the SIG name to sell a turd. The 556 has been such a sad debacle for those of us wanting a quality product. Sig Sauer USA purposefully offered a subpar product to the U.S. market aimed at the Tapco and DPMS buying public.
OP in answer to your question, the 556 can be made better. It requires buying a problem-free, defect-free early rifle then spending $500 to $1k having a Swiss optic rail or rear diopter housing welded in place, +/- adding a Swiss lower, and refinishing the rifle. I have three such 556. One fully converted to a 552 SBR with rail welded in place, one 556P SBR with diopter welded in place, one 556 with a rail welded in place and a Classic lower. They are nice and still considerably less costly than a comparable Swiss 55x, but they will never be true Swiss guns and thus their resale value will always be blunted compared to Swiss guns.
A NIB SIG 553 can be had for 3K, used SIG 550 in the 15K neighborhood thanks to BUSH 41.
What does Reagan, Bush, and Clinton all have in common? Each one took a sh*t on the 2nd Amendment! Reagan banned the private ownership of “machineguns” post 1986, Bush 41 banned the importation of the so-called “Assault Weapon” in 1989, and Clinton enacted the Federal Assault Weapons on 1994. Thank goodness that Clinton’s turd had a 10 year flush clause; unfortunately, the Republican’s crap still stinks to high heaven. Rant Over.
A used 550 is really in the $7-10k range. Maybe $11-12k if truly NIB. But yes, Reagan, Bush Sr, and Clinton all royally F’d us. It is absolutely amazing that the Clinton ban had a sunset clause. Frankly the sporting clause of the '68 GCA and 922(o) need to be repealed.
One can always dream. I keep hoping that some business savvy guy from a company like BCM, Daniel Defense, or any of the other companies that have a good business model, quality products, and good prices, would take over at Sig and turn them into that. At that point, we could have near-Swiss quality 556s. Of course, good things don’t happen to me, so who am I kidding?
Yeah it really is stupid of Sig since the 550-2 is primarily precision stampings, like the HK 91, and many more.
I have some of their old pistols 226,229, 220 but I won’t ever buy anything from them again.
I totally agree with everything said about Sig Sauer USA and the sad state of affairs concerning the 556. I do however have some hope now that Sig USA and Swiss Arms are no longer doing business together and we have a solid Swiss Arms Importer in JDI. While they will always be more expensive I think we have a solid expectation of being able to acquire more of their Swiss Arms platforms & parts without Cohen’s interference.
I was unaware of all that. I knew that Sig USA had severed pretty much all connection with the original Swiss company, as well as most ties to the German branch.
If JDI is able to get in some rifles, or at least parts for them, that would be awesome. No doubt I’d be paying around 3k for them if I’m lucky, but I think it would be worth it.
