Sold my SIG556 to buy a SIG556:
My old one was a non-classic SWAT, which had an AR stock and a quad rail. The rail made it heavy as hell, and I never used all the rail estate. So I sold it and bought this classic with the "swiss" furniture. The SIG SG550 has green furniture when it's issued:
"Rex, why do you have such a boner for the SIG556?"
Well, I started with AR's, and while AR's are fun, (legos for big kids) I always felt like the design itself was better suited to a designated marksman/patrol role, rather than a mainline battle rifle. It's maintenance intensive, lacks a folding stock, and has a really high sightline over the bore. I wanted something more reliable, more rugged, but more refined than a Kalashnikov.
I first thought to myself, "Who are the baddest motherfuckers on the planet?" The answer, of course, is the Israelis, so I bought a Galil. It sucked. Heavy, not all that accurate, no good way to mount optics, did I mention it was heavy? Even Israel doesn't use the Galil anymore.
Ok, who are the
second baddest motherfuckers on the planet? The muthafuggin
Swiss. Say what you want, but they are not to be fucked with. Hitler knew that, and didn't fuck with them. The Pope knows that, so he hires them to be his muscle. Plus? Bitchin' knives.
So I was like "Yeah! A Swiss rifle would be fuckin
perfect." The Swiss issue the "SG550". To everyone. Switzerland does not
have an army, they
are an army. (Ok, by every "one" I mean every Dude and any Dudette who volunteers.) They put it through an
insane battery of tests, which it passed with flying colors. This should come as no real surprise, as the bolt and gas system design are cribbed right from Comrade Kalashnikov's playbook. But where the
Avtomat Kalashnikova is about as comfortable as firing holding a 2X4 (There is no word in Russian for "ergonomics") the SG has a sane safety location, (same as an AR) a bold-hold device with a sane bolt release (same as an AR), and a top rail for optics mounting (same as a modern AR). From the AK it steals the big extractor and the hardened steel fixed ejector, as well as the long stroke piston system, three of the four components that give the AK it's reputation for reliability.
Sweet, so I want to buy one. Then I start to look at prices for an imported SG550. Well, that would cost
more than my WRX.

They're banned from import now (because fuck you, that's why) and have been for more than a few years. (double fuck you.) But SIG loves Americans, especially American dollars, so they made an American rifle called the SIG556, a play on the different models of the SG, the SG550, 551, 552, 553, etc. (Different barrel lengths) It takes AR mags instead of the swiss mags, and uses an aluminum lower instead of the stamped-and-welded steel lower that the swiss rifles have. Otherwise, though, it's the same design as the swiss rifles, and you can take a 556 lower and put it on a 55x upper, and vice versa. It's made 100% in the United States, in the Libertarian Paradise that is New Hampshire, and it is not 10,000 dollars.
So I bought one, and it's awesome. At 50 yards on a silhouette target, keeping the eotech 25MOA circle on center mass, rapid fire strings are easily in a 4 inch circle. Not a single malfunction of any kind, and putting the rifle on a rest and really concentrating can send 3 rounds in the same hole at 50 yards. Recoil is nonexistent, and with the lighter front end (with the quad rail gone) it's only slightly front heavy, which is exactly what I want to reduce muzzle jump. Also, folding stock = win.
I used the new Lancer L5 Advanced Warfighter magazines, which were announced at SHOT show in January and just hit the streets. If any of you AR guys are looking for mags, I *highly* recommend them.
They've got steel feed lips:
![[Image: PICT0383.jpg]](http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g271/MMRex/Arfcom/PICT0383.jpg)
And you can see through them:
About the same price as Magpuls, a better deal IMHO.