Sig Sauer SIG 556 5.56mm
Neither an AR, nor an AK, it’s a fighting rifle MASTERPIECE!
“THAT IS NOT AN AR,” states SIG SAUER President Ron Cohen. Born in the U.S., raised in Israel and serving as an officer in the Israeli military, he speaks with a distinct accent, as if he’s carefully choosing his words, placing emphasis on each. “It might very well be my fault. When we designed the 556, I thought that the American customer would want to use their AR magazines in this rifle, so I enabled the rifle to do so.” He looks straight at me and asks, “When you look at it there on the wall, why do you think it is an AR?”
Sitting in his Exeter, New Hampshire, office, I turn around to a wall with a sample of the entire SIG SAUER product line and consider his question. I think to myself, “Let’s see, it’s black… it’s kinda shaped like an AR… has a flat-top like an AR… a collapsible stock like an AR… has an AR magazine stuffed in the magazine well and a barrel sticking out a long forend that features an A2 birdcage compensator at the muzzle.” “If anything, it is more like an AK.”
December 11th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
I’ve put enough rounds through my SIG 556 Classic to have burnished a nice silver hickie on the side of the receiver where the brass kisses it… not a single FTF or FTE, ever. Brass consistently lands about 20 feet away in a 6 ft. circle.
Accracy at 100 yards: using a Nikon M233 #8487 2-8X32 BDC 600 and Fed. Gold Medal Match GM223M (69 gr.) or GM223M3 (77 gr.) it groups 5 in less than 1 MOA, SIG red dot, 4 - 6 MOA (depending on ammo), SIG diopter iron, 4 - 6 MOA, Popsicle BUIS, 5 - 10 MOA. Hot barrel results, multiply by 1.5. Using Wolf steel-case? 4 - 5 MOA using a scope, period.
For greatest accuracy, support forearm as close to magwell as possible, use one round at a time in magazine, or manually load into chamber, and don’t pull back on pistol grip… just like shooting an FN FAL accurately.
This gun combines the best of the AK-47 and AR15 into an accurate, easy to clean, compact, rugged, and dependable little fire-breather. With the “Classic” SG 551 forearm and original SG 550 folding butt-stock, it is even elegant-looking.
There is simply not a better combat carbine design out there, and, it is cost-competitive with an AR. But, if your life REALLY does depend on your tool, why would cost even enter into the discussion?
JB - Tucson, AZ
December 11th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
4 - 5 MOA is the best Wolf can do with the scope.
January 28th, 2009 at 12:07 am
How can I get a copy of the Feb 2008 issue?