West Coast Armory / SigSauer 551 back from refinish
I got this recently...previous owner had the diopter base welded but had not refinished it yet. It also has the early round toe or "whale tail" one-piece folding stock. I buffed the cerakote with 0000 SS wool to give it a little shine vs matte finish, did white colorfill on the diopter base to match what it was before paint, degreased it to get all the residue off then soaked in CLP and wiped it down.
April 18, 2021, 07:45 AM
DCFD4
Nice job, looks good
April 18, 2021, 10:02 AM
PGT
Thanks...how it should have come for the $4250 they were charging for them a decade ago.
Very nice job! That's about the nicest 556 I've ever seen.
April 18, 2021, 07:56 PM
PGT
quote:
Originally posted by Belgian Blue: Very nice job! That's about the nicest 556 I've ever seen.
It's a 551, but thanks lol
April 19, 2021, 12:18 AM
mercedes560
quote:
Originally posted by PGT:
quote:
Originally posted by Belgian Blue: Very nice job! That's about the nicest 556 I've ever seen.
It's a 551, but thanks lol
Belgian blue was right, the guns were remarked by west coast armory but they are 556 uppers and barrels, not Swiss 551s. It’s still a gorgeous rifle.
April 19, 2021, 07:00 AM
PGT
quote:
Originally posted by mercedes560:
quote:
Originally posted by PGT:
quote:
Originally posted by Belgian Blue: Very nice job! That's about the nicest 556 I've ever seen.
It's a 551, but thanks lol
Belgian blue was right, the guns were remarked by west coast armory but they are 556 uppers and barrels, not Swiss 551s. It’s still a gorgeous rifle.
No, they were not remarked by WCA. They are US-made 556 production line uppers and barrels marked 551 and serial-matched to lowers by Sig in NH. I have a Swiss preban 551, 551P, several 553's and 550's so completely understand the difference.
April 19, 2021, 03:30 PM
HK Ag
I like the old school one piece folding stock.
From memory a very small number of the 250 units had green furniture. My WCA came with black furniture and a factory semi lower thus it has a factory grey selector.
Love the diopter sight on it.
HK Ag
April 19, 2021, 05:24 PM
gw3971
Beautiful weapon! What color cerakote did you go with? I ordered a sig 550 from JDI that is coming unfinished and I am trying to figure what color to paint mine when it comes.
April 19, 2021, 05:45 PM
Underdog
WOW that is one sharp rifle!
April 19, 2021, 07:24 PM
PGT
I have a second WCA lower....it has grey levers on it. Never occurred to me to check.
As for color, this was a custom blend. It's not a perfect match as there have been several variations in grey over the years and Cerakote's "Sig Grey" is took dark and too black. This has definite green tones to it though the early green paint is unmistakenly green in comparison.
Here's a WCA grey lower vs. a late 80's green lower.
April 19, 2021, 08:40 PM
gw3971
I have a 553 sb arriving at my FFL on Wednesday. It is green and gray. The current grays coming from the fatherland don't quite seem to match my PD 552 from back in the day at least as far as I can tell from photos. Do you know if the swiss are using the same paint and colors?
April 19, 2021, 09:19 PM
PGT
definitely not. I have a new production PE90 and 550P and they are more silverish grey. I also have a grey/green 553P on order (did you get the one with diopter and rail?)
April 20, 2021, 12:34 AM
gw3971
quote:
Originally posted by PGT: definitely not. I have a new production PE90 and 550P and they are more silverish grey. I also have a grey/green 553P on order (did you get the one with diopter and rail?)
no. The 553p sb is a pic rail only as i heard the diopter take several months longer. The 550p is unfinished with diopter only as its what sig sauer ag had avaliable and could be shipped by the begininng of May. Also ordered a 553p lb with aluminum lower in black. Can't wait!
April 20, 2021, 07:13 AM
PGT
there was a special run of grey 553's with diopter and welded pic rail last year that I ordered. I also got a black 550 and another 751 from this recent push before May.
Is the unfinished 550 coming to you that way? I thought Dave was going to have them finished and wouldn't sell raw ones.
I sort of want a bead-blasted and cleared one like Larry Vickers has (started out as a Heavy Metal but he didn't like the finish)
April 20, 2021, 01:34 PM
gw3971
Dave asked if I wanted it painted or just sent out as is. I decided to have it painted grey with all of my local cerakote folks being backed up for several months. Hopefully Dave got a deal on time from whoever he contracted with to paint all of the unfinished guns.
April 21, 2021, 09:23 PM
JoshNC
quote:
Originally posted by PGT: there was a special run of grey 553's with diopter and welded pic rail last year that I ordered. I also got a black 550 and another 751 from this recent push before May.
Is the unfinished 550 coming to you that way? I thought Dave was going to have them finished and wouldn't sell raw ones.
I sort of want a bead-blasted and cleared one like Larry Vickers has (started out as a Heavy Metal but he didn't like the finish)
Those Heavy Metal 553s were a total WTF. So terrible looking.
--------------------------------------------- "AND YEA THOUGH THE HINDUS SPEAK OF KARMA, I IMPLORE YOU...GIVE HER A BREAK, LORD". - Clark W. Griswald
April 22, 2021, 06:56 AM
PGT
quote:
Originally posted by JoshNC:
quote:
Originally posted by PGT: there was a special run of grey 553's with diopter and welded pic rail last year that I ordered. I also got a black 550 and another 751 from this recent push before May.
Is the unfinished 550 coming to you that way? I thought Dave was going to have them finished and wouldn't sell raw ones.
I sort of want a bead-blasted and cleared one like Larry Vickers has (started out as a Heavy Metal but he didn't like the finish)
Those Heavy Metal 553s were a total WTF. So terrible looking.
Yep. Looked like a kid's toy from the 80's. Here's the pic I saw that got me thinking about a raw finish
April 22, 2021, 03:27 PM
gw3971
Yeah, its an interesting look for sure. this is the first pic I saw of the unfinished guns.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: gw3971,
This message has been edited. Last edited by: gw3971,