So I am wondering what people are thinking of the Sig 516 now that it’s been out on the market for some time. I bought one of these a couple of years ago and have to say, it’s been a great rifle. I know a lot of people on the internet will claim “rifle a” has been great, or “pistol b” has never malfunctioned but I always wonder what kind of credence can be put into such statements. Mainly because most people out there, IMO, only shoot a few hundred rounds a year. So don’t tell me how great “pistol b” is when you only have 400 rounds through it in a static, indoor shooting range. Anyway, I digress.
So that being said, I’ve now used mine in two classes with Chris Costa: Carbine Employment 2 and Vehicle Elements Theory. The round counts in each class were 1,932 and 1,784 respectfully. Ammo used was 55g brass of sorts (AE, PMC, Wolf Gold, Independence).
When I take a class like this, I want to push my equipment to its limits to see if/when it has issues and what to do to correct it. Couple that with the fact I am kind of lazy when it comes to cleaning guns, and I don’t bother doing so when taking a multiple day class. On the third day of CE2 I got a couple FTFeeds with different magazines during a volley. So I took the bolt out (nice and cool because piston and all… I know how much you guys like piston guns), blasted it with some CLP, and it ran perfect the rest of the day. For the VET class, before class started on day three I did the same thing as a precaution to what happened during CE2, and it ran fine throughout the whole class. It did those couple failures but I will contribute that to lack of lubrication. So in the 3,716 rounds with the two classes combined, it was cleaned once and lubed twice.
I will also point out that the environment where these classes took place is very sandy and very gritty. It’s not grass, it’s not concrete… it’s sand, ranging in size from the stuff you’d find on the beach to pencil eraser size pebbles. When doing positions like urban prone – especially on the strong side – every shot fired creates a mini sand storm under the gun, right as the action is reciprocating. It’s inevitable that sand/grit is going to make its way into the action. The gun ran no problem.
I also own a KISS Bushmaster (yea yea yea, it runs well for what it is), a build (upper DD, lower RRA), and a DD V7. The Sig is my favorite. It cost me $1350+tax in 2012. Here are some bullet points on what I really like about it, and what I don’t:
Pros:
-Ambi QD mounts machined right into the lower.
-Staked castle nut (two places if I recall).
-Supported extractor (not sure how much this really helps but definitely isn't hurting anything)
-The lower is machined from billet.
-The mag release is ambi.
-Cerakoted as a factory option (I love me some FDE ARs).
-Magpul furniture from the factory.
-Came with a quad rail.
-Came with flip up BUIS.
-Rubber bushing/tensioning pin at the backside of the lower that puts some pressure on the upper, so after the takedown pin is inserted everything stays extremely tight.
-Gas/piston system with four factory settings: weak ammo, regular ammo, suppressed, off.
-Came with a sling.
-It’s a very, very smooth operating gun. Just pulling the charging handle back (which I replaced with a BCM mid) is really nice. Smoother than my DD or build.
-It’s called the 516… which happens to be my birthday (May 16).
Cons:
-Rail could be longer. It’s okay for me, but I could see where other people would want it to be closer to a 10” rail.
-Non-proprietary. This is where I’m guessing most have an issue with this rifle. I don’t believe you can put a different rail on it, or get an off the shelf carrier group (unless yours is the same as the LW guns for which Sig was sued and had to do a redesign I guess haha). I like the rail so for me this is a non-issue. However, getting replacement parts may be an issue. I guess I’ll have to see when the time comes.
-Mine is a Gen 1 so in order to get to the piston assembly out, you have to unscrew it out of the gas-block. Probably not a huge deal normally, but after three days of CE2 it did not want to unthread. I had to use a steel punch, WD40, and patients to finally get it out. I was worried the threads would get damaged but they didn’t. Before reassembly I coated them with anti-seize and after the VET class had no issues getting it to unthread. I know Sig updated the design for the gen2+ rifles.
-The BUIS that come with it are better than nothing but pretty much suck otherwise. I replaced them with Troys but put them on my build, which has a 1-4 scope.
-The current line of 516s doesn’t use Magpul furniture anymore. They run Sig furniture. I don’t personally have any experience with it. Both my 516 & 716 came with Magpul.
The internet seems to hate Sigs as of the last few years (QC this, QC that), but I have two pistols and two rifles and they’ve all been very reliable. I like my 516 so much I bought a 716. The internet also doesn’t like gas-piston systems unless it’s an HK or LW. But, I will say that during the VET my buddy’s bolt failed him day one so I let him use the bolt from my DD that I brought as a backup. After the class I couldn’t believe how much cleaner my BCG was over the DD he used. I think there’s something to be said for that.
Anyway, I think these rifles deserve a look. I run my 516 with an Aimpoint PRO, Troy shortie BUIS, Tango Down QD shortie VFG, DD 45* offset mount and X300U, and the sling it came with. Right now, total, the gun has 4,030 rounds through it and two classes so IMO, that’s enough to be able to make a quality review. As always, YMMV.
Range ground...
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