I didn't hate it, but I didn't really know any better. I was new to non-military EBRs and only had easy access to 25/50yard square ranges.

Mine was an original FishGill with the Folding M4 type stock. It was reliable and accurate enough, but I'm very glad that I turned it into 2 AR15s after owning it for about 18 months or so.

quote:

Originally posted by hudr:
I had three of them at one point, several years ago. I liked them. They were like a German engineered AK.
But when it became apparent SIG wasn’t really going to support them, I bailed.

I've never needed any support from SiG.

The only two I've sold is the 522 and 556R ... 522 because a friend wanted one and I had a P522 SBR and wasn't shooting it anyway. The 556R because I'd bought a P556 762Xi and SBR it as well ... the 556R also took up space in the safe that I could use for something I'd shoot once or twice a year

I guess, if I had a favorite it would be my P556-SBR (even more than my 553, which is mostly stock) ... the P556-SBR is like an old friend and goes to the range more than any other and always gets at least a mag ran through it; its nearing 20K rounds down the tube and has been completely reliable. Its also been through more configurations than ANY firearm I've got. It's an early pistol that started life with the fish-gill hand-guards and M4-styled lower. The current configuration is the MFI rail 4x ACOG NSN with Diopter and front sight for backup, SWAT rail hand-guards, Xi lower that I swapped out the standard FCG with a SiG DMR group I found on GunBroker; a 4-position gas plug that adds a settings for suppressed and single shot, lastly a MCX adapter with the retractable stock. She's a little heavy, but recoils straight back instead of the muzzle rise typical with an AR; she's more compact than an AR, great trigger and everything I've shot groups within 2" of the same POI; good ammo will group 1.25" or better out to 100yards, its not a target gun, but never was intended to be.

In all the upgrades I've done I haven't bought anything from SiG, every upgrade is parts I've found on here, GunBroker or Facebook and with every upgrade I've done, I've sold the take-off parts on GunBroker and came out close to even.
For honorable mention, I've got 4 other 556's that are nearly bone stock and while they don't get shot often, most are 10+ years old and they haven't needed anything. As a nod to the Genuine Swiss guns I've aquired since the 556 has come on the market I've been able to find a Swiss 550, 551 and 552 that are LEO trade-in's they don't appear to have had anything replaced either.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kimberkid,

I have two 556's and a 556R with real Swiss furniture on them. I also have two JDI 550's, a 751SAPR, ban era 551-2 SP SWAT, two Sig imported 553's and a JDI imported 553R.

The craptasic plastic furiniture SigSauer put on them did them no favors. Once swapped, they're very close to the originals and a great platform. Great triggers and fun to shoot, but do nothing better than a piston AR.

Love mine. Got rid of the fish gill hand guards. Put on the real hand guards from gunfactory. Upgraded it to the A1 lower. Still a favorite rifle.

have 3 including an R, brother has a classic. somehow all 4 escaped the well documented flaws over the years. never an issue with any of them. i shoot the patrol variant as often as i shoot long guns. favorite of them.
a shame sig handled their production and cease of production the way they did.

I was an early adopter of a SWAT version of the 556 and feel like I got burned. The first one never ran right and SIG replaced it. The second one was only marginally better and I figured it was time to cash out before taking too bad a hit.

Seems I lucked out considering they’ve abandoned them.

Had they made a faithful copy of the 550 series first, they’d have done well. Instead, fishgills and poor performance killed it.

Thinking back though...I think it was the 556 that brought me to SF so it was a net positive!

I have 3. First had a canted rail. Second has a poorly manufactured receiver that hits the bolthead on close and caused accuracy issues. Third was a SWAT model and the buttstock is falling apart.

I really like the original design and concept. Only EXTER SIG could screw up a design this good so badly.........

I bought a 556 Classic when they came out. Never shot it. It just didn't blow my skirt up like I thought it would. Traded it for a Lew Horton Smith 624 and never looked back.

Bona fide turds that can be upgraded to be more Swiss-like at considerable expense IF you get one that lacks the myriad of Exeter’s moronic QC/QA bungles. I have owned five or six total 556, sold all but two. One is an early JS serial number prefix 4-screw optic rail gun that was converted to a 552 SBR by AMA using a brand new 552 parts kit. I have around $4k in that rifle. Which seemed like a great price when I had it built in 2008 timeframe, as there were no 552 or 553 to be had as a non-SOT civilian. Second one is an early 556P that I had converted into pseudo 553 with a welded diopter. Again, no 552 or 553 available when I had it done. Both are very nicely done clones on problem-free guns. Well almost problem free - the 556/552 had a canter top of the upper that I carefully hammered out until level.

Exeter can never be forgiven for the horrible execution of the domestic 55x series. It would have been so easy to introduce a proper 550, 551, and 553 to the US market.

quote:

Originally posted by Shackelford:
I love my SBRs, and have been craving a real 553 or a 551 for a while now. Great ergonomics, reliable, and just plain something different.

It is not sub-MOA, but a carbine doesn't need to be. I've never quite understood the hate, it was a reliable gun at a surprising value (go price a 553 in Switzerland).

Sure, the gun Sig first came out with wasn't exactly what everybody wanted, but Sig really, really needs to be commended for the rapidity of the evolution of the 556 product line, and how closely they listened to their customers. We don't like those handguards, OK, here's a clone of the originals. We want a folding stock, here ya go... no, not that one, like the original, Gotcha. We want diopters...can do.

Seriously, how long was it before Ruger released 10/22 mags with more than ten round capacity?

The P556 was the first mass market SBR ready "pistol". Then, along came the "brace", which has revolutionized the market.

Bottom line, I still shoot mine regularly.

Man I wholeheartedly disagree. Exeter did not listen to what anyone wanted. And every factory 556 ever made is a crude jalopy compared to a Swiss 55x. The 551a1 sort of scratched the itch for many to own a pseudo 551. But they screwed that up too. They cheapened the Sig name with their shenanigans related to the 556, when the real solution was to offer a true 551 to the US market. Instead we got the Walmartization of Sig Exeter.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Did you like them or hate them? And why?

I have never owned one, but have shot a few here and there.

IMO nothing special. Not bad, not great. They function fine, Their accuracy isn't anything to write home about.

There are DI and piston ARs that function just as well, and ones that have much better accuracy. Just another AR-ish rifle that doesn't offer anything to stand out in a solid field of competitive products.

Owned five and got rid of three of them. What I really wanted was a 551 clone because I wasn’t interested in paying the ridiculous prices for a pre-ban. Even back in the pre-ban days when AKs were $300 and HKs were $600, a Swiss 551 was out of my reach at the time. Started with one of the original 556s, but it felt like an abomination with the heavy fishgill handguard and fixed M4 tube stock. The Classic was better, but not close enough. Finally hit what I was looking for when they released the 551A1, which is the one I kept. Mine came with a real Swiss stock, but I had to change the handguard to a real 551 handguard. Replaced the top rail with the MFI rail with the built in low diopter, replaced the FH with the MFI 551 look-alike FH, added a Swiss bayonet lug, and takedown pins that look like the Swiss plunger style pins, but are still the AR captive style. I’m happy with it, no problems whatsoever, and it looks the part. I know it’s just a clone and will never be a “real” 551, but that’s fine with me.

Got a 556xi in both 5.56 and 7.62x39. Sold the 5.56 since it really didn’t do anything for me that any of my other 5.56 guns couldn’t, but kept the 7.62x39 since I wanted something in that caliber that wasn’t another straight AK.

quote:

Originally posted by JoshNC:

Exeter did not listen to what anyone wanted. And every factory 556 ever made is a crude jalopy compared to a Swiss 55x. The 551a1 sort of scratched the itch for many to own a pseudo 551. But they screwed that up too. They cheapened the Sig name with their shenanigans related to the 556, when the real solution was to offer a true 551 to the US market. Instead we got the Walmartization of Sig Exeter.

I couldn’t agree more. The 556 was a disaster from a marketing and quality standpoint. That experience and their rollover in not supporting other rifle generations (556xi) makes me hesitant to consider other long arms they produce now or in the near future.

Having sold off my P220 Stainless Elite, I own zero items made in Exeter. I do however own 3 Sigs that were made across the pond.

It's not what we wanted. We wanted an exact copy of a 551 with as many Swiss parts as possible. We got disappointment after disappointment.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:

I couldn’t agree more. The 556 was a disaster from a marketing and quality standpoint. That experience and their rollover in not supporting other rifle generations (556xi) makes me hesitant to consider other long arms they produce now or in the near future.

Having sold off my P220 Stainless Elite, I own zero items made in Exeter. I do however own 3 Sigs that were made across the pond.

Yep. I still own two 556-based SBR conversions that have been Swiss-ized. I keep them because I have too much money tied up in them that won’t be recouped. It’s been Swiss 55x only for me since around 2010. The mcx is an interesting design in theory, but I won’t touch anything Exeter based on their bungling of the 556 series and all the beta testing of the mpx and mcx they foisted upon the consumer early adopters. I think Century Arms May have better QC/QA than Exeter.

The first 556's out were well into the $2k price range. That was a hard sell with the quality issues, M4 or fixed A2 stock. People wanted a Swiss carbine, not an M4 with US-made version of a Swiss AK upper.

I wouldn't be so mad about it if the only issues were the stock, sights and furniture. I see some posts above with people who actually had good luck so good for them. I had canted rails, bad barrels, broken bolts, internal mechanical issues, broken charging handles and a variety of other misc. problems that weren't of the cosmetic nature. The thing was a disaster overall on the ones I have. But now I'm looking good on spares long term since I have way more than one and sig won't supply any parts.

I have 556 and I really like it. I put an after market trigger assembly in it. I will probably keep it forever. But, I am done with any SIG products because they provided no parts, no support and then dumped them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ercarr,

You might be able to keep it forever, but don't shoot it too much as there are effectively no SIG produced parts to replace wear items...

I’m sure we can all agree the execution of the 556 was an embarrassment to SiG, or at least it should have been. By the time they finally and “sort of” got it right with the 556A1 it was too little too late, and they had already alienated much of their buying base.

It just occurred to me, if SiG hadn’t given the 556 a 55 prefix, if it would have been compared to the 551 with such scrutiny.
Or, if they had only delivered on what they first show us in the the pre-production flyers, most people wouldn’t have been so disappointed.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
You might be able to keep it forever, but don't shoot it too much as there are effectively no SIG produced parts to replace wear items...

There may not be parts available from SiG but there are plenty of parts from other sources.