Good Morning,

After what seems to have been a couple of years wait, I picked up my Sig 553 R pistol today. It has been so long that I have had the tax stamp for some time, so I will be converting it over to an SBR shortly. A huge thanks to JDI for importing these guns. While they were late, the communication was always prompt, always detailed, and the end product appears to be worth the wait.

The gun shipped in a rigid plastic case. The instruction manual is in English - which has not been a given. Included were a cleaning kit and a PMag - without the metal lining.

The gun itself is the pic rail version. It has rear sling loops on both sides of the receiver (which is nice as I am a lefty). Furniture is green. The barrel is 11 inches and change long and has a threaded on flash suppressor. While I like the looks of the "unified barrels" of the 551 and 550, I prefer to have the option to change out the flash suppressor. Moving back, the gun comes standard with a 4 position gas regulator. There is also a bayonet lug on the bottom of the gas block but it does not include the actual piece that goes into the handle of the bayonet. THe handguards include the holes for the pic rails.

The lower does not have a bolt hold open, which is not surprising in retrospect, but it would be nice to have the ability to lock the bolt open. I haven't done a detailed disassembly but I will this weekend and compare the bolts to the 553 bolt. The lower has a metal insert in the front of the mag well where the mags lock in. Critical to keep metal mags from wearing on the aluminum. Trigger is as good as the trigger on my preban 550. Really clean break. The reset is long but I will play with the adjustment plunger this weekend.

The gun balances well. It feels like an SBR and not a PDW. The barrel is long enough to allow QD flash suppressors to be mounted while still allowing for the recoil system to be removed (not the case with the 553 and an AAC 51T). I am super excited to get this up and running. If it is reliable, if it is accurate, this might well be the be all, do all, 200 yard rifle. Backed up with federal fusion and 8m3, it may well make a great rifle.

Pics to come this weekend. Any requests in particular.

Happy New Year.



Minor note: JDI added a DBA for SanSwiss Imports, so the import mark doesn't say JDI on it. I like it.