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What a Turk deVille. I know sometimes you can’t wear glasses but that is definitely a time when you can. I kept waiting for him to grab his eyes shooting point blank like that…
Oh well…some people’s kids…
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Off topic, but I wonder if he meant to fire that round off under the water? David
Without having actually shot one, I can say in the least that they are too heavy IMO
I had a Sig556 SWAT. It was not a bad gun, but not my first choice of 5.56 platforms. Here’s what I did not like:
- Mag release required me to shift my grip.
- Firing hand side bolt-controls.
- Very front heavy (especially in the SWAT configuration that had the quad rail)
- No tool-less removal of the upper receiver, unless you upgraded to the tool-less pin.
I liked the folding stock, and it uses a AK style bolt system. However, in the end I sold it, as I prefer my LWRC style rifles.
I recently joined some buddies out in the West TX desert for some informal shooting, one of the weapons present was a Sig 556, I was impressed, at least with its reliability.
We each had about 1000 rounds of varying quality and manufacture.
The weapons present were 2 AR-15’s (One BM, one Colt), 1 STG-556 AUG Clone, 1 FNH FS2000, 1 Sig 556
In approximately 1000 rounds (apeice) the BM AR jammed 7 times, the Colt jammed 4 times, the STG-556 jammed more than 10 times, the FS2000 jammed 0 times, and the Sig 556 jammed 0 times.
The AR’s were the most accurate, followed by the Sig, and the FN and AUG clone seemed equally (in)accurate, probably due to the bullpup triggers.
I wasn’t impressed with the folding stock of the Sig, or the front handguard. Both seemed wobbly and ‘cheap’ feeling. HOWEVER it never choked despite the conditions or volume of rounds fired, so I must say I left with a good impression of the rifle.
The long term durability of the American made SIGs might be questionable, but I have few doubts to the more immediate reliability. They run like raped apes.
Thoughts on the SIG 556, I sold mine.
I would like to thank everyone for participating in this discussion. My conclusion is that the Sig 556, which currently is $1000, is at a reasonable price point for a casual shooter who wants a piston driven rifle and doesn’t mind the possibility of shipping it back to Sig if they received a lemon.
At $1000 it’s a slam dunk deal. I have three already and I’m contemplating a patrol version now for another SBR. 
I had a swiss made 551 and absolutely loved it. Its a really nice rifle and although somewhat front heavy it was lighter then my current 14.5" AR. The trigger is nice, accuracy is good… its a good gun.
The biggest drawback to the platform is trying to adopt AR type optic setups. QD mounts that allow CO-witness aren’t available. I also don’t like fully hooded front sights so I cut the top of mine off.
It’s only a “slam dunk” deal if the value of your time in sending the rifle back to Sig is less than the recent drop in prices and if you are not putting enough rounds through it to be concerned about accelerating the loosening of the hardware.
It would be interesting if someone were to make a 550 type upper that would fit on and AR lower…
That’s exactly what the KAC PDW is, more or less.
Well to all of you who have never played with or owned a REAL pre-ban Sig 550/551 rifle the 556 is a piece of shit.
I owned a 550 for a brief period and it was by far the most beautifully crafted assault rifle I have ever touched.
I bought a “classic” 556 when they came out and it was a disappointment to be sure. Was it 100% reliable-yes. Did the rear stock wobble and look like airsoft-yes. Was the rail out of spec for multiple scope mounts-yes. Was the forearm heavy and cheaply made-yes, I replaced it with a real Swiss one and it wobbled inside the front gas block-so disappointing. The upper to lower fit was terrible, it had about 2-3mm of wobble left right and up down. The most disappointing thing was with a 4x scope it shot a BEST of 2" groups with about 10 different kinds of ammo tried, this was a $1,200 rifle when I bought it.
I sold it for $1,600 during the panic and never looked back.
I wish I could have kept the 550 but I had to buy a house for the family and it went, one of the very few guns I have sold I miss.
Huh? Hows that?
While the KAC PDW has a short stroke dual op rod piston, the carrier group is practically kalashnikov/sig550 style with a 2 or 3 lug bolt, milled cam lug, and fixed ejector on one of the guide rails.
That’s what I understand until someone corrects me.
I agree. I looked into this about 5 years ago, started putting some drawings together in AutoCad, but ultimately abandoned the idea. Now granted, this project was in the most fledgling of states. But in measuring the two systems, I came to the conclusion that it is not feasible due to the longer bolt carrier travel in the 55x series. There would not be sufficient distance allowed by the AR lower to accomodate the 55x bolt carrier travel.
The 556 is a perfectly credible rifle. The main advantage it enjoys over the AR is the folding butt stock and the fact that it’s AK style bolt will not break as a AR bolt. The legal gun is the upper which is serial numbered. That means you will not be swapping out uppers. The barrel cannot be removed and replaced by the garage gunsmith as a AR can. Parts availability is an issue. The quality of SIG rifles and pistols may be up or down, it is a very subjective thing and hard to find credible, objective information one way or the other. SIG replaced my defective P250, I don’t know how much more they could have done.
the 556 is a piece of shit.
The 556 is not a piece of shit, not by any reasonable standard. You are entitled to your opinion but you are not entitled to your own facts.
Even if the SIG 556 was $5, it’s still a shoddy knockoff of a real SIG carbine, built to low standards with rotten QC
I have two SIG 556 rifles which I shoot regularly, I see and shoot others as they come on the range and I have examined many in gun shops. They are not junk, they are credible rifles. Again, you are entitled to your own opinion but you are not entitled to your own facts.
If I only had one, two or three 5.56mm rifles none of them would be SIGs. I could go the rest of my life without shooting one. Not my first choice, not junk, somewhere in between.
Just curious, what mounts wouldn’t fit?
You’re telling me that the orginal Sig rifles had handguards that fit tight as a drum? I’ve handled very few factory rifles, short of rifles outfitted with free float tubes, that didn’t exhibit some handguard movement. Those that were tight loosened up with use.
Well said Suwannee Tim, its sad when guys like bullittboy start spouting off opinions like they are facts. It happens too often on internet message boards these days unfortunately.