As Josh said, the standards on these rifles in terms of accuracy and reliability are well known. They run and run. I caught the 55X bug a couple of years back. I have a Sig 550 SP2, a Sig 553 (pic rail, SBR, B&T rail, 4 position plug) that sports a Steiner 1-4, a Sig 551 pistol (diopter sights, B&T optics rail), a Sig 553R on order (stamp in hand) and a US Sig 551 A1 with swiss furniture, lower, welded on rail and sights... I need to take the US one apart and post of some pics so y'all can tell me what the hell I have. I also cleaned Ratworx out of their 25 dollar Sig 550 mags - all 44 of them.
The Sig 553 with 77 grain Razor Core was easily able to hit a 4 inch sided square of steel at 100 yards. All day long. I will through a high power scope on it next time and see whats what. In my opinion, it makes an excellent "pistol/sbr". Accurate, reliable, tiny and easy to deploy. I said "excellent" and not perfect. The minor bitch I have is the 51T AAC flash suppressor that I use to run my SND6 prevents the recoil assembly from being removed from the gun. Not a huge deal, but still a drag. In general this gun feels like it was designed to be small - it doesn't feel like a large gun that has been shrunk.
The Sig 551 pistol currently has the San Swiss M4 adaptor and an SB tactical brace on it. It is very nearly as good as a stock. I personally love the size and feel of this gun. I have put a sight rail on it (from B&T) and will move my Steiner to it, will add a rail section for a light, and call it good. I suspect that this will be my favorite "high volume" 5.56 gun. It is a perfect size. Its also gorgeous.
High hopes for the 553 R, but we'll see if it ever arrives. It is about 18 months late now. The good news is that it will seem like a free rifle, as I paid for it so long ago. If it works, if its reliable, and if its accurate, this seems like an ideal 150 yard do everything rifle.
Finally the 550 SP2. Yes, it is a huge 5.56, but it better balanced than a Galil AR/ARM. It is simply a gorgeous, accurate, reliable rifle. Has a 2 to 10 scope on it and will shoot 77 grain stuff lights out. I need to do some serious groups with it, but it is easily an MOA gun. It also has a certain cache. Most folks haven't actually seen one so it draws a crowd. It is the only "people" rifle I have that gets babied a bit. The SP2 is the way to go if you are going to pony up the money (about 10 grand). Is it worth se14 Colt 6920s? Probably not. Get one or more of those first.
There are some oddities across the line:
1) the trigger mechanisms are slightly different - even between the recent build 551 and 553.
2) the sling loops that are welded into the receivers are not consistent. Some have them on both sides, some only on one. As a left handed shooter, that is a pain.
3) the flash suppressors are different. The 553 has a removable. My 550 has a military barrel and gas block and will take the bayonet. My new 551 will not take the Gemtech Halo Suppressor. Unlike the old 551's the flash suppressor is slightly different. As its integral to the barrel, that is a shame.
4) The clip together magazines are awesome but make carrying them in web gear a pain.
Overall though, I love this line of rifles. The same way that you can look at a Webley revolver, an Enfield, or an SA80 and go "only the british...", you can handle a Swiss rifle and go "oh, this wasn't made to a price point. This was built by a craftsman".
One of these days this winter, I will take the whole swiss family to the range, run them back to back against ARs, and measure some timed drills and accuracy. It will be interesting to see whether they live up to the hype.
Damien
If a large number of people are willing to kill you for saying something, then it probably really needs to be said. .
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