Sig556R

[Robert Richardson]

Have a close friend thinking of getting a SIG 556R Gen 2, I know they are discontinued and have mixed reviews. Anyone have any pros or cons?

 

[Sling10mm]

I don't have a 556R, but have had a 556 SBR (P556), and it has been very reliable, with not one issue. That's the pro.

Cons
They are heavy. The SBR isn't terrible, but I still added a UBR stock to help balance it.
I know the 556R had issues with the magazines damaging the aluminum receiver, but believe they fixed that by adding a steel reinforcement (gen 2?).
Not a lot of aftermarket support.
Genereal SIG quality issues, which it was never quite clear to me how widespread they were, but seemed like a lot of people complaining about things like bolt carrier peening, crooked top rails, etc.

I wouldn't tell him not to get one, because I really like mine, I would just say buyer beware. If it's a good deal, it might be worth it to him, but if is more than an Arsenal AK, I would just buy the AK. The SIG's are like a marriage of the AR-15 and AKM, but with a more complicated gas piston assembly.

 

[Gabriel]

Mine was an early 556 and I hated it. Apparently the top of the receiver wasn't flat enough to mount the rail, so at the factory, they put thin washers between the rail and receiver so they could screw the rail down and have it be somewhat straight (which it was not). I didn't care for the quality of the plastic furniture and ended up changing it out. The over all fit and finish was pretty poor and I traded it for a Remington 700.

I can forgive a company for releasing a product that was substandard, but then they attempted to sell them by pairing them with cheap Holosun optics. That was the death of Sig to me.