SIG 556 Update #1

This morning after dropping the Junior Staff at school I drove back out to our training area.  I had five magazines loaded up with Winchester White Box from the last "End Of America" buying spree four years ago.

Today I was working on Snap Shots.  A snap shot is something Cooper advocated in his rifle programs and I have found it to be a very viable technique.  The snap shot is properly applied as a proactive technique just outside of point shooting range, but short of supported position marksmanship-centric shooting.  The snap shot is supposed to be fast. A head shot at 25 yards should take no more than two seconds for example...and the goal should be 1.5 seconds.  A body shot at 50 yards and 100 yards should be 2 seconds and 4 seconds respectively.

So I arrived at the area and set up.  I put on my High Speed gear LBE and warmed up with about 25 dry presentations. Here is a group indicative of what I was doing.  I pushed the envelope hard on some, and slowed down on others.  All were inside the 2.0 seconds interval.



I will say that running things as fast as I was with this rifle would have been difficult with any of my ComBloc style AKs.  Sorry...that is the truth. This is like a race car that shoots.

Some have asked about heat.  Well...here is what I did.  On my LBE, I have three magazines on my left and one on my right.  Those plus the one in the rifle makes five...or 150 rounds.  I ran these drills continually, stopping only to reload.  My goal was not to mindlessly burn through ammo into a hillside, but rather to make the shots hit what I wanted to hit, albeit rapidly. 

The rifle got hot. But not any hotter than any one of my AKs.  At no time did I have any discomfort holding on to the handguards, something nobody can claim with an AK.

Does the AK get so hot that one has to drop it and make haste to the Aloe vera burn cream to soothe the tender hands of the young shooter as M4ists would have us believe they need to do anytime they diverge from their LWRCs?  Not at all, but we all know the AK, under the time drills I was running, would get quite hot at the handguard and the juncture of magazine and receiver. 

The SIG did not, and I could continue holding and running it without concern. The barrel got quite hot but unless you plan to french kiss the muzzle between magazines, it is a non-issue. It certainly didn't affect accuracy in any way.  The final few shots were taken at one of the binder clips I use to hold my targets in place off the back tire of my Jeep at 100 yards. I blew the (approximately 2 MOA) clip off the target on the second shot.



The TA33 ACOG I am running on this is interesting.  It is a 3X optic and I had it on the 5.45 I was using to test the TWS top cover a couple of years ago.  Due to the low power and the Trijicon Bindon Aiming Concept, I found that I can run this optic/rifle combination as fast as anything else, with both eyes open from 10 yards and in.  Some of my 5 yard head shots were as fast as point shooting, breaking the shot as the rifle touched the shoulder and I saw the red doughnut on the target's face.

This rifle, in about one week, has shown me it is everything we tried to make the AK into, without any of the associated drama or problems.  That some people, specially some members of the M4 Mafia, is very heartening as I would absolutely hate to be thought of as mainstream.  The study continues.....

 

Gabe Suarez

Comments

[Uncle Dave]

Ok Gabe,

When will this magic wand be at my local Sig Dealer? How, much so I know what I'll have to trade in?

[Bob Houlne]

Gabe, the Sig's I have handled were front heavy which can help greatly in control. How like yours in its configuration as overall weight? What barrel length are you using?

Bob H

[lepapet]

You know that the SIG's rifle are called an AK built by Rolex. Sig just take what was good from the AK, put on swiss precision, and you get a precision rifle with the reability of an AK. I shoot with the SIG550 at 600m headshoot without any problems. With the standard Swiss Army Optics of 4x24

[Jeff]

I've tried the BAC and never got it to work. Maybe I Odontoceti have a strong enough eye dominance....but I'd often be off by 1.5 feet at 10 yards. Wish I could make it work though...but the TA01, TA33 and TA44 all had the same result for me.

[larrypyzik]

Gabe,
Is the AK you write about in this article in 5.45 or 7.62?

[Gabe Walisky "PlumberGabe" on Warrior Talk]

Gabe, I have a Sig 556 SBR, I built it using a sig folding mil spec tube and a m4 stock, plus the approximate tax stamp of course, it has been better than anything else I've come across, I love my AK's but the Sig is sweet, albeit very loud with out a can.
My only issue is ammo, I love my stack of green wood crates that feed the AK's.
5.56 is more money and less metal to the meat.
I would love to make the trip down to AZ from Western CO, where I live to do some Sig training with you though, God Bless.

[Tom Bloom]

Gabe and others, Any consideration or views for the Sig 556 Pistol or SBR? The SIG SBRs are in a "551" version, 516 (AR platform) and 517 (AK style).

Thanks...

[Scott]

I had traded for a Sig 522 which is the .22LR version of the SIG 556. Just shooting this has had me looking at buying a Sig 556. One handy and great handling rifle.

[Tom]

That is what I like about your organization...it is constantly progressing and looking for a better way. Outstanding.

I am running a SIG551 as a DEA agent and it beats the M4 i had before in every way. Nice job selecting it. And by the way, with modern ammunition, the 5.56 will do everything the 7.62x39 will do.