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Thread: Sig 556

  1. #1
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    Sig 556

    Recently LotBoy (occasional poster on AR15.com) got his sig 556 that he put his name on a waiting list for at our local FFL. Not sure how long it took for him to get, but it has to be over a year. So he brought it over to the house and I got to sneak a peek at the rifle.

    I have not yet had the chance to shoot it. Perhaps this weekend we’ll get it out and fire it.

    Sig 556 impressions from the AR owner perspective:

    The first thing I had to look at was the M4 style stock and buffer tube. I got a request to look at what, if anything, was inside the buffer tube. Well.. there’s nothing in there. There’s a partial restrictor plate blocking the tube, but you can see in there with a flash light, and there’s nothing there!

    The sights are the next thing I noticed. They’re pretty bad. The front (blade only) flips up. There’s no part of the FSB that protects the blade in the up position. As an AR man, this was bizarre looking and would take some getting used to. The rear flip up app does not seem like it would hold up to much abuse. I guess you’re supposed to flip it up by digging it out of the top rail with your finger nail. This is odd considering how overly complex other parts of the rifle are. I would guess that these poor sights are strictly a back up option and the gun must be meant to run with an optic on the top rail.

    Next I had to dry fire the rifle to get a feel for the trigger. I can’t even describe the trigger pull, but I’ll try. It’s hard to tell what is take up or when the trigger might break. It’s one big mushy mess from take up, through the break, and even on follow through. There’s some sort of over travel piston thingy that the trigger hits in the rearward position. It looked like it was adjustable for overtravel, but it wasn’t locked in place. This piston is under spring tension and acts like a shock absorber which further makes the trigger pull a long mushy uncertainty from hell. It would take a lot of getting used to.

    The next feature I noticed was the A2 flash hider. I like the A2 because it’s more than adequate for the 5.56 cartridge even on short barrels in my experience. The strange thing was that the crush washer used was backwards compared to how all the other manufacturers install them. No biggie, since it won’t affect any function. But the washer was also off center as though the inner diameter of the washer was too big for the barrel. Kind of sloppy looking for such an expensive rifle.

    The front handguards have the rails molded into them. They seem durable enough, but were just unimpressive. I guess you could put a light on them and it would be no worse than the simple light mounting set ups that I use on my ARs.

    Take down, on the other hand, was probably the worst aspect of the weapon. The gun basically breaks down like an AR. The rear take down pin pushes out like you’d expect. Sig has one upped Colts old screw driver pivot pin however. You need TWO slotted tip screw drivers to get the pivot pin out and separate the halves. Beyond that, I got lost. The piston and bolt disassembly were complicated to me, but I suppose you could master it like anything else. Upon reassembly, LotBoy had a hell of a time getting that front pivot pin to go together again and rejoin the upper and lower properly. Operator error? Yes. But who needs that aggravation for such a simple aspect of take down?

    The rifle came with one NHMTG 30 round mag and a cheapo hardshell foam lined case. I hope to get a chance to shoot it Sunday.

    I know I haven’t covered every aspect of the rifle, but these were the features that immediately jumped out at me.

  2. #2
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    Good review, thanks for posting it. If and when you get a chance to shoot it, let us know if the experience matches your expectations.

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    I just remembered another feature about the weapon. It has an AMBI selector. I've never handled an AR with an AMBI so I can't compare it to the SIG.

    Anyway.. When I move the selector from SAFE to FIRE while holding my finger straight along the receiver, the right side of the selector would hit the base of my index finger and thus the selector wouldn't make that crisp positive movement that I'm accustomed to on the AR platform. I would kinda have to move my firing hand around to get the selector to the FIRE position.

    When moving the selector without my hand in the ready position it had a nice positive movement. This problem could be unique to my grip or hand size, but it was an issue because I like having selector movement accomplished without thinking about it.

  4. #4
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    Mark,

    If you have an opportunity to shoot the rifle, I would love to get some feedback. A friend of mine who works at a local gun shop bought one awhile back and won't stop raving about it. The shop he worked at got on in and I have to confess that the first time I laid eyes on it, I threw up in my mouth a little bit. It was thrust upon me and once I was able to get past the furniture that SIG somehow thought was appropriate, I became a little intrigued. I, for some reason, liked the trigger. The word "Glockish" comes to mind. He showed me how to tear it down and I was impressed by the internals. It balanced better than I thought it would and after he told me that he intended to add a UBR stock and replace the handguard I realized that the rifle had potential. Of course, the proof is in the shooting, and it seems that most of reviews. including that of my friend, have been limited some range sessions off a bench. I'd really like to see how it does when being run hard.

    I am disappointed in the provision for BUIS. The SIG version is no go, however it appears that some are stepping up to the plate to fill the void.
    Last edited by RyanS; 21 September 2007 at 12:52.

  5. #5
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    Yeah! It looks like Sunday I may get a chance to shoot it. I'll give it my best shot as far as accuracy testing goes... but the sights are not the best in the world.

    The Stock and stuff that turned most people off to the rifle really doesn't bother me. I'm more interested in the practical aspects of the gun from the AR lover's perspective.

  6. #6
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    Is it practical from the AR lover's perspective though? You are certainly an AR lover and your first impressions didn't sound to me like the gun is very practical. It sounds too convoluted and goofy.

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    Well I got to shoot it yesterday!

    Of course we tried to zero it first (after a couple of function check/bore foul rounds)

    Sights – Wow! I’m certain that these are back up only, but you still have to Zero them. Just like rifle disassembly, there are too many tools involved with sight adjustment. First a small Phillips head screw driver is needed to adjust for elevation on the rear peep. There’s some marking to indicate the position of the peep, but I have no idea if they are supposed to translate into regarding movement of POI since I didn’t read the manual. (I don’t have access to it and don't know if it's addressed) The markings did at least help in the fact that you have some basis to go against when you see POI shift from an adjustment. Still however, you have a floating peep that moves freely when you loosen the screw… a little crude in my opinion, but we did get the elevation set.

    The front sight is where the windage adjustment is made. I guess they didn’t want that rear peep floating up/down and left/right when you loosen it! Anyhow, you need yet another tool to make this adjustment... an Allen wrench. Adjustments are made by turning the allen wrench on the side of the front sight assembly. There are no markings to indicate anything on the windage adjustments, so I used half and quarter turns with the allen wrench to guesstimate POI change. Pretty cheesy, but we did get it zeroed.

    Accuracy was pretty good. It’s hard to make a direct comparison to the AR because the sight radius is longer than the carbine, but the front sight is fatter than that of an AR. At a hundred yards we were probably seeing 3-4 minute groups. The last group I shot was getting better than that. No complaints about accuracy.

    The Ambi safety continued to be annoying. While zeroing, I found myself just releasing my grip and moving the selector to fire on the right side of the receiver. Not ideal at all.

    The bolt handle and Bolt catch button are both a pain. I was having trouble manually locking the bolt back between groups. There isn’t one smooth stroke to the rear like an AR so It’s hard to tell without looking when you have the bolt fully rearward. The bolt catch button does not work at all like the AR. It’s more like an up/down position, and I never did get the hang of it. Too much effort for an administrative procedure that I’m used to doing without having to think about or look at.

    I did start to get used to the trigger. It’s odd feeling, but I think you could learn to like it.

    Lotboy did claim to have one malf. A short stroke or something, but he didn’t stop to check it out or even mention it until later in the shoot. Otherwise the gun ran perfectly.

    The rifle tends to throw brass forward and to the right… Farther than an AR, but not ridiculous like an HK or something. The gun doesn’t damage brass. No major dents or chewed up case rims.

    Another odd feature that I hadn't noticed on my first inspection of the weapon was with the upper receiver/bolt handle. There are rubber lips that sort of seal arount the stem of the bolt handle as it reciprocates. They kinda reminded me the rubber pieces that keep debris out if your car door when you roll your window down.
    Last edited by markm; 24 September 2007 at 10:52.

  8. #8
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    Thanks for the update!
    The sights on the 556 alone make it unappealing to me. Tools should not be required for sight adjustment. Perhaps this is something Sig can fix.

    http://www.sigarms.com/Products/Show...&productid=114

  9. #9
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    Cool. I see that the barrel is 16 inches. In that case, I'd give it a pretty good mark for accuracy.

    I was getting as good if not better groups with the sig than I do with a 16 inch AR with Carbine Sight radius at 100 yards.

    You might be able to put a rail mount buis right over the flip up stock rear app since it's inset into the rail when it's folded down, but the front site post/blade folds down with little effort. If you had to present the rifle and be ready to fire on a moments notice, you might have a surprise when you look for the sight.

  10. #10
    JoshNC Guest
    I have a 556 and love it, but then again I have been lusting after the 551 for ten years now. I have collected a good variety of 551 parts in the last few years and immediately transformed my 556 by adding a Swiss lower.

    Here is an early pic of my 556 (I have since switched to the lower LaRue RAS2 mount):






    Where Sig went wrong:
    - M4 buttstock instead of the Swiss folder. (A SCAR/MASADA-style folding/collapsing stock would be the ideal)
    - Mag release needs an extension rearward to allow mag changes without shifting one's firing hand
    - Poor initial quality control on the receivers. The early guns have a receiver with about 11 degrees of cant, causing the picatinney rail to be slightly canted. Sig will fix this by modifying the rail to compensate for the receiver cant.


    Sig should have used the standard Swiss 55x stock interface, then used an adapter like the one Gemtech had on display at SHOT Show a few years ago. I picked this one up from Kel a few years ago:






    With regard to the flip-up sights, these are a direct copy of the Swiss emergency sights on the picatinney railed guns. The only difference is that they are taller to allow proper positioning when using standard M4-height optic mounts.

    The 556 is a good rifle in its current rendition is a good rifle, not a great rifle. That being said, I plan on buying several more 556s because I like the 551 that much and have several more parts kits to transform these almost-great rifles.

  11. #11
    clasky Guest
    Had Sig been smart and released the 556 like you have modded it, they would have a whole lot more customers. Instead, some marketing genius pushed the abomination that is the 556 we know into circulation.

    I spoke with one of the SigArms reps, at length, at last years NRA Convention. He said that they will be releasing the 556 with the 551-style stock and handguards in 2008. He even said that he won't buy one until that version is released. We'll see. If they don't, there are plenty of other innovative makers releasing awesome product next year!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by clasky View Post
    Had Sig been smart and released the 556 like you have modded it, they would have a whole lot more customers. Instead, some marketing genius pushed the abomination that is the 556 we know into circulation.
    Amen!

    I spoke with one of the SigArms reps, at length, at last years NRA Convention. He said that they will be releasing the 556 with the 551-style stock and handguards in 2008. He even said that he won't buy one until that version is released. We'll see. If they don't, there are plenty of other innovative makers releasing awesome product next year!
    I agree. For my next non-AR or non-AK rifle, it will either be the Masada or the 556 in a 551/2 type configuration.

    TS


    * Josh- Great looking rifle!!!

  13. #13
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    The one good thing about the US sig is that you can use USGI mags.

    I see some of the issues I had with the US sig are different than the original design. i.e. no screwdrivers needed on the pivot pin, the front sight post is protected, etc.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by markm View Post
    The one good thing about the US sig is that you can use USGI mags.

    I see some of the issues I had with the US sig are different than the original design. i.e. no screwdrivers needed on the pivot pin, the front sight post is protected, etc.
    HK-type sights would look really good but I don't know about the receiver-rail height on the 556.


    TS

  15. #15
    JoshNC Guest
    I installed a new Aimpoint ML3 in a LaRue RAS2 mount.






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