Hello everyone, sorry it took me so long to get around to my first impressions of my new Sig 556xi. Sorry about the lack of pictures, I took more during my days shooting but the SD card was accidentally formatted.
One disclosure before I start: I would consider myself a novice with guns. I have probably shot less than twenty different manufacturers and calibers in my life-time, and I am using my friends' custom AR15, Yugo AK, and AK47 as reference.
First thing was getting the rifle. I won a bid for $1100 on Gunbroker through Gun Galaxy in Ohio. The dealer was very prompt in sending my rifle, but was somewhat rude to me during the process.
Upon opening the box at my FFL: I liked it. The rifle felt good in my hands, was aesthetically pleasings, and only seemed slightly heavier than the AR I had shot before. With the reviews I had read on the Sig 556 line being very close to 50/50 - love/hate, I was excited to shoot it for myself. I picked up some 5.56 ammunition and eagerly awaited the weekend.
So, onto the shooting:
This review is based on a modest amount of shooting: The first weekend I shot 100 rounds of American Eagle 5.56, 55 grain ammunition. Second weekend I used a mix of 40 rounds Federal5.56, 62 grain and 20 rounds PMC .223, 55 grain.
I'll start with the Pros.
-The ambidextrous controls made it very easy to operate, and switching the charging handle from side to side was a breeze.
-The AR style lower and three-position gas block made it easy to field strip.
-The flip up sights were a nice touch, and I much prefer the flipping peephole sight to the rotary type on the older 556.
-The heavier fore-end and ergonomics made it feel very balanced imo. Getting a good cheek-weld and sighting in was more fluid than with the AK or AR.
-Being able to buy AR magazines is great, P-mags are $12 each around here.
-This thing positively ejects! Brass landed consistently about 20ft to the right and 5ft forward. Lefties need not beware of brass in the face.
-I just felt more accurate with this rifle, I loved the overall feel of it. There was something about it that I just liked better than the AK or AR Platform.
On to the bad.
- The worst thing to start a new rifle relationship is disappointment the moment you get to the range. I loaded up the magazine, and put it in the magwell. It fell out. I tried again five times with no avail, the stock magazine would just not lock into the magwell. No problem, my friend came to the rescue with some new P-mags which seemed to fit just fine.
-The first 30 rounds went off without a hitch, it was the second magazine when the problems began. I got through about five rounds before I had seven failure to feed issues. With each one, the bullet would get lodged on the wall of the upper just beneath the chamber. Using an AR system before, it seems that having a feed ramp would solve this issue.
-This may not be a huge issue, but the thing shaved a lot of brass. The action was more brass colored than black after thirty rounds of shooting.
-The extractor pulls casings to the extreme, a vast majority of brass ejected had large scrape marks, dents, and even chunks missing.
-I am happy to say that on the second weekend, I had none of these problems arise. However, they were replaced by a new issue. There were 6/60 bullets that did not fire. The firing pin struck the primer, but not with enough force to ignite the gunpowder.
-One last thing of note: I know this is expected for such a new rifle, but there is absolutely no aftermarkert for this rifle. When I call Sig dealers about new parts, they seem unaware of any of the parts that Sig toted at SHOT show such as the Carbon-Fiber Rail or barrels chambered in 7.62x39/300BLK. The trigger assembly is a weird combination of AR and AK triggers, and the hybridity of the 556xi makes a rifle that does not fit into any aftermarket following.
Conclusion:
I really want to like this rifle, I really do. I was so excited for it to come and very giddy about having something different to all of the Black rifles and Kalashnikovs at the range. I know that these issues can happen from time to time, but I feel that these issues happening multiple times in a row is unacceptable. I expect a $1200 rifle to perform correctly out of the box, and the Sig 556xi was a disappointment.
I hope this review was useful and helps those of you that are not sure whether to buy the 556xi.
I would love any and all help with these issues, as I am a novice I am not sure what to leave up to bad quality and user error. I want to make sure I am eliminating user fault as a cause.
One disclosure before I start: I would consider myself a novice with guns. I have probably shot less than twenty different manufacturers and calibers in my life-time, and I am using my friends' custom AR15, Yugo AK, and AK47 as reference.
First thing was getting the rifle. I won a bid for $1100 on Gunbroker through Gun Galaxy in Ohio. The dealer was very prompt in sending my rifle, but was somewhat rude to me during the process.
Upon opening the box at my FFL: I liked it. The rifle felt good in my hands, was aesthetically pleasings, and only seemed slightly heavier than the AR I had shot before. With the reviews I had read on the Sig 556 line being very close to 50/50 - love/hate, I was excited to shoot it for myself. I picked up some 5.56 ammunition and eagerly awaited the weekend.
So, onto the shooting:
This review is based on a modest amount of shooting: The first weekend I shot 100 rounds of American Eagle 5.56, 55 grain ammunition. Second weekend I used a mix of 40 rounds Federal5.56, 62 grain and 20 rounds PMC .223, 55 grain.
I'll start with the Pros.
-The ambidextrous controls made it very easy to operate, and switching the charging handle from side to side was a breeze.
-The AR style lower and three-position gas block made it easy to field strip.
-The flip up sights were a nice touch, and I much prefer the flipping peephole sight to the rotary type on the older 556.
-The heavier fore-end and ergonomics made it feel very balanced imo. Getting a good cheek-weld and sighting in was more fluid than with the AK or AR.
-Being able to buy AR magazines is great, P-mags are $12 each around here.
-This thing positively ejects! Brass landed consistently about 20ft to the right and 5ft forward. Lefties need not beware of brass in the face.
-I just felt more accurate with this rifle, I loved the overall feel of it. There was something about it that I just liked better than the AK or AR Platform.
On to the bad.
- The worst thing to start a new rifle relationship is disappointment the moment you get to the range. I loaded up the magazine, and put it in the magwell. It fell out. I tried again five times with no avail, the stock magazine would just not lock into the magwell. No problem, my friend came to the rescue with some new P-mags which seemed to fit just fine.
-The first 30 rounds went off without a hitch, it was the second magazine when the problems began. I got through about five rounds before I had seven failure to feed issues. With each one, the bullet would get lodged on the wall of the upper just beneath the chamber. Using an AR system before, it seems that having a feed ramp would solve this issue.
-This may not be a huge issue, but the thing shaved a lot of brass. The action was more brass colored than black after thirty rounds of shooting.
-The extractor pulls casings to the extreme, a vast majority of brass ejected had large scrape marks, dents, and even chunks missing.
-I am happy to say that on the second weekend, I had none of these problems arise. However, they were replaced by a new issue. There were 6/60 bullets that did not fire. The firing pin struck the primer, but not with enough force to ignite the gunpowder.
-One last thing of note: I know this is expected for such a new rifle, but there is absolutely no aftermarkert for this rifle. When I call Sig dealers about new parts, they seem unaware of any of the parts that Sig toted at SHOT show such as the Carbon-Fiber Rail or barrels chambered in 7.62x39/300BLK. The trigger assembly is a weird combination of AR and AK triggers, and the hybridity of the 556xi makes a rifle that does not fit into any aftermarket following.
Conclusion:
I really want to like this rifle, I really do. I was so excited for it to come and very giddy about having something different to all of the Black rifles and Kalashnikovs at the range. I know that these issues can happen from time to time, but I feel that these issues happening multiple times in a row is unacceptable. I expect a $1200 rifle to perform correctly out of the box, and the Sig 556xi was a disappointment.
I hope this review was useful and helps those of you that are not sure whether to buy the 556xi.
I would love any and all help with these issues, as I am a novice I am not sure what to leave up to bad quality and user error. I want to make sure I am eliminating user fault as a cause.
