I have a Sig 716 Patrol that I'm thinking about trading or selling. I've had it a few years, but it's new in box. I guess I haven't paid a lot of attention, but apparently they have 716 G2s out now, but a quick search doesn't reveal anything to me other than it's lighter. What's up with the newer ones?

I'm not asking for a price or value, but want to be honest if I sell or trade it, and I don't know what improvements have been made, or if there were any particular problems with the original. Thanks.

Well the easiest to spot difference is that the new ones have a keymod handguard instead of a quad rail.

It's been a few years since I saw the pre-production model on display at SHOT, but at the time: the receiver is shorter than the original DMPS pattern Gen1, as is the BCG. The buffer tube is a standard AR buffer tube. The rifle itself was considerably lighter than the original 716.

I believe it was primarily weight. Shaving weight from the rail and gas blocks. I also think they went from 18in to 16in on the DMR model.

Thanks for the info. Digging a little deeper online I found specs for the older patrol of 37.4 overall length and 9.3 pounds. Surprisingly, Sig shows the new one at OAL 38" and weight 9.5 pounds.

Even more confused than when I started, I called Sig customer service, and according to them the new Patrol is 8.5 lbs, so the website must have a typo in that regard. I was also told the main differences are the new one is lighter, has a 2 position gas switch vs 4 position (not sure that's an improvement), and a different barrel and stock.

So bottom line it's a little lighter? Were there any reports of problems with the older ones? Anything to be concerned about or on the lookout for? No canted rails or such?

I can tell you there are two versions of the Gen 1 716's that have the quad rail. At some point they changed the gas block and moved the position of the gas block on the barrel. They also came with Magpul or Sig furniture. There are probably some other small changes but that's the most visible.

Gen 2's have the keymod rail and are lighter.

If the one you have is literally brand new, you have a decision to make, because you don't really know if it is reliable or not. There were lots of issues with early 716's. Yours might be perfect or it might be a mess.