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When I first got this rifle, it had EVERY POSSIBLE FAILURE you could imagine. The very first round I ever put in it, jammed so tight in the chamber it took me 4 tries ripping the bolt open to pull the spent case out. After that it was no longer a problem. It would fail to eject, and drop the case inside the receiver, it would double feed, light strike. To keep the stock in the folded position you had to litteraly palm heel the stock onto the little claw on the forgrip, then when you'd pull it loose the claw would remain attached to the forarm..or it would come loose while shooting. The mag lugs inside the receiver were aluminum and wear quickly eaten up by steel mags. I had no choice but to return it to Sig.
They kept it for 4 weeks then shipped it back, and told me they fired 20 rounds and had no issues. They did send a new lower entierly with steel reinforcement on the receiver for steel mags, the tight chamber was solved, and the locking lug/claw for the folding stock was finnaly working correctly. It still would begin to fail after a few mags, I would switch to the second gas setting, and get about 2 more mags before it woud begin to fail so much that I'd get frustrated and leave.
Sig didn't offer any advice accept try brass ammo or send it back. So I decied that I'd just have to fix it myself...
I had to reprofile the bolt carrier, reduce the hump on the hammer face,..polish both, nylon brush the inside rails of the upper reciever. After doing all that, and only using steel mags, it ran great.
Okay thats my horror story..now heres the plus side of the gun, it does offer some really nice groups for 7.62x39. Like 1-2" at 100 yrds. Untill the barrel gets hot, then it's like any other gun. It's a bit more complicated to clean than a standard ak, but not too bad. Because of it's tighter tolerances, it does need to be ran wet to get best performance. The trigger is adjustable, and from factory very nice. Ambidexterious saftey, and a bolt hold open are nice freatures. Oh and the large relief and guide of the mag well makes for super fast mag changes. The mag well is so nice in it's angle that a novice can learn to mag swap like a seasoned vet does with a standard ak in a matter of minutes.
Honestly if had to do it all over again, I'd probably just get a Saiga 7.62 and build it up myself.. by the time I spend as much as on the sig, I'd have a very nice and unquestionably reliable AK. That said,.. I'm not in a big hurry to lose the sig either now that I've made it my own...I can be made right..just takes some love. Hope this helps in your decision.

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Thanks for the review PMI, i really like the idea of the 556R and will most likely pick one up, or a Rock River 7.62 AR/AK, when (if) thing's settle down again. I wonder if Sig has fixed any of the common bugs for the current batches. I believe i heard they are using a steel mag catch standard now but wasn't aware of the other issues. It's probably best to wait a year or so anyway. I have a S12 and hopefully S545 to build until then.

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Newer ones are solid. I wouldn't buy one used unless I knew the owner personally and knew when he bought it. They made a lot of changes, including gas port size adjustments, recoil spring and hammer spring weights, ejector and extractor tuning, different designs for the magazine well steel support inserts, and so on. I believe early models even had the wrong twist rate. Basically the entire first year's production run was a waste.

 

Overall, it just seems like sort of a pointless endeavor when an AK already does 7.62x39 and does it correctly without any stupid issues. If I was going to buy a full-on SIG rifle it would be the 551A1. Silly thing about it is that Swiss 5.56 mags are less expensive than AR mags now, so that issue went out the window.

 

The telescoping stock also sucks. The gun isn't right without the solid Swiss-style stock, which looks great on the rifle. No I don't have the 556R but I have a 522 and swapped out the telescoping stock for the Swiss stock. Much more solid and comfortable.

 

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Edited by mancat
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Gabe pushes them as the new, amazing evolution of the AK platform. He also sells them.

 

The first gen had tons of reported problems, and the 'revised' versions havent really been out long enough to get a feel. Before the panic they didnt get much play because, why spend that much on a x39 rifle when you can get an Ak for 1/2 the price? They are kind of an expensive solution looking for a problem, at least until we see some really amazing commercial 7.62x39 to take advantage of a really good <300 yard rifle.

Edited by mostholycerebus
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  • 2 weeks later...

I still want one, probably more than I've wanted a gun except my FiveseveN. I agree, there really is no reason for it with Saigas a dime a dozen but its cool to have something different too. Same reason i have a pistol chambered in 5.7x28 and a Kimber bolt rifle in 338 Federal (awesome round!), I like having guns not every 21 year old buys as soon as they can. Still love my Saigas though! Only wish i had known about the 556R before all this crazy business.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Before the Sig 556R, he was all about AKs and sorta laughed at people paying $1000s for other platforms. Not the Sig 556R is out, he's doing the same toward AKs. Seen some posts where he ridicules people paying for an AK then fixing it up.

 

I won't consider a Sig until it's been battle-tested & comes in 5.45. Plus, there are hardly any mods available out there for it.

Gabe pushes them as the new, amazing evolution of the AK platform. He also sells them.
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  • 1 month later...

I bought one yesterday. I've been drooling over this rifle for a long time. When I saw it in the window I just had to have it. I'll post a review when I get to the range. One thing I can say for sure is I'm getting a Krebs safety lever. Stock lever not good.

 

post-4831-0-81066000-1365910300_thumb.jpg

Edited by Darth Saigus
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I have been looking at the pistol version of the Sig 556. The lack of a buffer tube makes it appealing. I have seen some mag well mods that give it finger grooves that extend a bit further down the front. Seems like that probably would not count as a forward grip by BATF but would have to check. Of course a Magpul angled foregrip is another option.

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